The California Water Commission, responding to a fourth year of drought, approved sharp new limits on the amount of water that can be used on landscapes surrounding newly constructed buildings, such as houses, businesses and schools.
The revised ordinance will limit grass to about 25% of a home's combined front, back and side yards in all new construction. [...]
Additionally, grass will be all but banned in landscapes of new commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.
— latimes.com
More on California's historic drought:The sudden drought gold rush for California landscapers may be overThe best lawn for California's drought may still be greenAs Californians let their lawns turn golden, water conservation targets were exceeded in MayCalifornia's desert resorts struggle to... View full entry
When a new terminal called The Ark opens next year, 178,000 sq.ft of posh amenities will include everything from a resort with suites that have large flat-screen TVs, to climate-controlled stalls, showers, massages, a private space especially set aside for penguin mating, a paw-shaped dog swimming pool, a jungle for cats made of live trees...and stables full of the finest hay a horse could hope for...But how much will this cost you? Don't expect flea motel rates. — Huffington Post
More on Archinect: JetBlue tapped as prospective developer for JFK TWA terminal Ball-Nogues and other LA artists unveil public art commissions at LAX More details on BIG's cage-free “Zootopia” redesign Archinect's Lexicon: "Dark Tourism" View full entry
Balconies in Berkeley must now pass a safety inspection every three years, and new ones must be built of rot-proof wood or steel, under measures passed Tuesday as the campus community addresses the deaths last month of six young people and grave injury of seven more. [...]
With pressure from one council member and the lawyer for one of those killed in the June 16 tragedy, the City Council agreed to shorten the time between mandatory inspections [from five] to three years.
— latimes.com
The deadly balcony collapse that took place almost exactly a month ago today prompted an investigation into Berkeley's building codes and safety inspections, culminating in this new inspection practice. Primary in the discussion of safe and best building practices here on Archinect was the use of... View full entry
World-famous architect Tadao Ando was astonished to learn that the design he chose for the new National Stadium would cost ¥252 billion to build, he said at a press conference Thursday, where he spoke for the first time since the swelling cost became an issue. — The Japan News
According to Reuters, the massive ballooning in the construction costs of Zaha Hadid's relatively unpopular proposed design for Japan's National Stadium are not the fault of the chairman of the design committee, Tadao Ando: "Soaring construction and labor costs, along with a rise in Japan's... View full entry
The 300-square foot office, located in Chongqing city, consists of 40 layers of bottles that Li and his father laid out over four months. — Oddity Central
Although full-scale installations in architecture are gaining ground as a method of successfully exploring and testing out spatial, material, and interstitial concepts (see the recent "Bigger Than a Breadbox" competition) Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology graduate Li Rongjun's... View full entry
Many people have been in the frustrating position of waiting in line for a single-stall restroom while the restroom designated for the other gender sits empty. In establishments that have two single-user restrooms, making those restrooms inclusive of all genders will double the options for everyone. — Public Comment on Changing Gender Neutral Bathroom Code
The Transgender Law Center, along with numerous educational institutions, lawyers, architects, and building code experts, are petitioning the International Building Code to make all single-occupancy restrooms unisex. The petition will be submitted to the International Code Council by noon PDT... View full entry
The Golden Reel will be the 'centerpiece attraction' of the soon-to-[be]-opened Studio City resort. It will be located between the hotel's two central towers, 427 ft off the ground. The movie-inspired design is said to be based on the idea of two flaming asteroids crashed through the building, leaving two large holes around which the figure-eight shape is made. — Gizmag
Your call, Vegas.More on Archinect:End of weird architecture in China?UNStudio Designs Giant Observation Wheel ‘Nippon Moon’ for JapanTallest observation wheel in the Western Hemisphere expected to break ground in Staten Island soonJason F. McLennan selected to design Leonardo DiCaprio's... View full entry
Telephone poles, scaffoldings, abandoned utility plants: like taxpayer-sponsored dark matter, these elements form the largely ignored visual majority of our daily urban experience. K O S M O S, a self-described "virtual firm," whose four partners occasionally physically convene in New York, Basel... View full entry
To the amateur eye it can be puzzling, but with some education about its juxtaposition of traditional design against more complex forms, its status as a groundbreaking residential design becomes clear. — Realtor.com
Long inspired by historic modernist concrete structures throughout the last century, Mumbai-based product designers Nitin Barchha and Disney Davis of Material Immaterial made an artful ode to concrete's lasting architectural influence in "SPACES", a collection of miniature blocks cleanly carved... View full entry
In his Untimely Meditations, Friedrich Nietzsche asserts, “…We must seriously despise instruction without vitality, knowledge which enervates activity, and history as an expensive surplus of knowledge and a luxury…” History must be at the service of living, he advocates, not the other way... View full entry
Rotterdam recently welcomed The Luchtsingel, a communal endeavor to spruce up the long-neglected Hofplein neighborhood in the heart of the city. Locally based architecture practice Zones Urbaines Sensibles (ZUS) devised The Luchtsingel in 2011. The focal point of the emerging "three-dimensional... View full entry
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the Tree Church in Ohaupo, New Zealand. A heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a 3-acre landscaped garden, the church boasts walls made of living trees planted around an iron frame. In 2011, Barry Cox, who runs a tree relocating business, decided that his backyard was missing an old stone church like the ones he had studied and admired on travels to Europe. — Slate
Get a glimpse inside the Tree Church in the video below.And here's more tree love and cool churches on Archinect:Tree-hugging in the modern ageIt's official: trees are good for your healthNew photos of E. Fay Jones' Thorncrown Chapel unveiled to mark 35th anniversaryGreat Synagogue of Edirne in... View full entry
Todd Conversano never thought he'd be able to enlarge the 1950s ranch-style home he and his wife bought a decade ago. Two previous geological reports on the property north of Beverly Hills suggested that it would cause drainage problems or, worse, destabilize the steep slope above the lot.
Instead, he came up with a smarter, cheaper and less intrusive solution. [...]
"I figured out how to do it without touching the building,"
— latimes.com
Using a "moment frame" as the platform, Conversano was able to lift the new addition to sit just above the existing house without adding any additional load to it. The new master suite was then connected to the rest of the house by a staircase, bridging the two structure's interiors. Conversano's... View full entry
The construction firm VolkerWessels unveiled plans on Friday for a surface made entirely from recycled plastic, which it said required less maintenance than asphalt and could withstand greater extremes of temperature– between -40C and 80C. Roads could be laid in a matter of weeks rather than months and last about three times as long, it claimed.
The company said the environmental argument was also strong as asphalt is responsible for 1.6m tons of CO2 emissions a year globally
— theguardian.com
Related: Taiwan tests recycling's limits with bus stops out of bottlesAfrica's First Plastic Bottle House Rises in Nigeria View full entry
