Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world with a current net worth of $125 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. And he’s investing much of his Amazon fortune in the development of space technologies through his aerospace company Blue Origin.
Why? “Because I think it’s important,” Bezos tells Norah O’Donnell of CBS Evening News in an interview which aired Tuesday.
— CBS News
In a CBS Evening News special, Amazon's Jeff Bezos shares with Norah O'Donnell the importance of his space initiatives and his aerospace company Blue Origin. In a passionate voice, Bezos exclaims, "We humans have to go to space if we are going to continue to have a thriving civilization." He goes... View full entry
...an approach known as bioclimatic design: using the environment around a building to passively manage the temperature and light inside, rather than mechanically heat and cool a space. Structures designed that way are energy efficient, which leaves them with a smaller carbon footprint. — The Daily Beast
Cities across the U.S. are experiencing heat waves. However, designing cities and structures for hot climates is nothing new. Early architects have developed design solutions for regulating temperatures. Yet, with this progression, a reliance has grown towards cooling systems like air conditioners... View full entry
Commissioned by Princeton University, this project is simple in form but sophisticated in function. It involves an “open source building” to host research on the future of construction and computation. Just as biologists use an electron microscope to study organisms, architects will use this structure to study buildings. — The Living
The idea of algorithms designing buildings may sound exciting to some and concerning to others. However, after decades of attempts at harnessing this process, companies like The Living may have cracked the system to automatically generating building designs. The New York-based research studio... View full entry
From managing job sites to working with contractors, construction managers and administrators play a key role in seeing a project into fruition. Are you an individual well versed in code compliance, managing construction documents, and contractor submittals? Can you lead building sites in and out... View full entry
The desert outside Tennant Creek, deep in the Northern Territory, is not the most obvious place to build and transmit Singapore’s future electricity supply. Though few in the southern states are yet to take notice, a group of Australian developers are betting that will change. If they are right, it could have far-reaching consequences for Australia’s energy industry and what the country sells to the world. — The Guardian
Singapore is already considered to be one of the "greenest cities" in Asia and perhaps soon the world. With plans to have at least 80% of its buildings green by 2030, steps to make this goal a reality are well underway. Although obstacles like lack of cooperation from developers and investment... View full entry
Municipal laws in New York City are hampering the city's real estate developers and building owners as they look to embrace the use of drones to perform periodic building and facade inspections on their properties, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. In New York City... View full entry
A new housing typology will be coming to the Chicago neighborhoods of West Humboldt Park and Bronzeville, where Perkins + Will architect Greg Tamborino will bring his independently-produced, competition-winning affordable housing designs to a pair of vacant lots. Tamborino was recently announced... View full entry
The plan is the fourth pillar in a five-year philanthropic effort dubbed AI for Good, which already includes previously announced target areas centered on the earth, humanitarian action and accessibility. The $10m cultural heritage initiative will focus on finding ways to celebrate people, language, places and historic artifacts, — The Art Newspaper
Microsoft, a leader in the tech industry, has initiated a new extension to their $125M AI for Good program. The company aims to use artificial intelligence as a way to preserve cultural heritage. According to an announcement made by Microsoft President Brad Smith, "We want technology to advance... View full entry
With a certain bulb-shaped observation tower in the news again, perhaps now is a good time to revisit another seminal observation tower project: The Welton Becket and Associates-designed Reunion Tower in Dallas, Texas. Crafted as a three-story, lightbulb-studded geodesic dome hoisted atop a... View full entry
Some have speculated it could be the solution to the country’s affordable housing crisis by providing a quick infusion of lower-priced homes in areas starved for housing inventory. Some affordable housing experts, however, caution that the technology is not a panacea. — Politico Magazine
We've all seen videos of a giant robotic arm assembling layers of material which would later turn into a completed home 12-24 hours later. Some companies are imagining how this type of technology could impact homelessness and affordable housing. Although 3D-printed homes are a favorable... View full entry
In the 2018 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 396,448 people were booked into an ICE detention facility, up 22.5% from a year earlier, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Between October and January, apprehensions along the southwest border rose to 201,497, up a third from the same period a year ago. — The Wall Street Journal
According to The Wall Street Journal, the private prison business is booming as a result of the hardline immigration policies of President Donald Trump. Despite the growing controversies surrounding the government's treatment of detained migrants in increasingly makeshift and inadequate... View full entry
It's a small, dense, island nation where 100% of the population is urbanized. And yet, the city-state of Singapore is the greenest city in Asia, according to the Green City Index, and arguably has few competitors in the rest of the world. As Singapore's population and economy grew, so did its green cover: it was about 36% in the 1980s and it now stands at 47%, according to the Center for Liveable cities. — CNN
Becoming one of the "must-see" places in the world, Singapore has created a name for itself amongst travelers. Even Hollywood has already capitalized on the nation's likability and illustrious cityscape thanks to the top-grossing film, Crazy Rich Asians. However, beyond the food and Instagramable... View full entry
“A Pattern Language” is not about architecture, but about how specific design choices can help us build better relationships. By fitting a series of those choices—the patterns—together, you get a room, a house, a neighborhood and eventually a city. — Curbed
Curbed architecture critic Alexandra Lange takes us on a journey through some of the key lessons from Christopher Alexander's seminal work, A Pattern Language. The book, originally published in 1977 has long been out of fashion in architecture schools, but, Lange argues, with the rise... View full entry
Amazon has increasingly turned to robots and automation technology to fetch products from the shelves of its warehouses to ship to customers. Now the company says it needs to help its workers adapt to the rapid change.
The e-commerce giant said on Thursday that it planned to spend $700 million to retrain a third of its workers in the United States, an acknowledgment that advances in technology are remaking the role of workers in nearly every industry.
— The New York Times
Amazon is planning to spend $700 million over the next five years retraining 100,000 human workers to help smooth a transition toward greater automation in its operations. “When automation comes in, it changes the nature of work but there are still pieces of work that will be done by... View full entry
Riyadh-based photographer Faisal Bin Zarah has documented the construction process of a major new project soon to be completed in his home city. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is projected to be completed next year, eight years... View full entry
