Benoy has been shortlisted along with three other British design firms including HOK, Grimshaw and Zaha Hadid to create a a new concept for the country's global gateway. The architects were asked by Heathrow to consider the purpose and potential of an airport with the resulting designs... View full entry
Philosopher Jason Millar claims to have originated the idea of the ethically challenged self-driving car in a 2014 paper on robotics...
In the “The Tunnel Problem,” Millar’s driverless car (let’s call her Porsche again) is fast approaching a narrow tunnel, the entrance of which is blocked by a child who has fallen in the roadway. The car can either kill the kid or hit the wall of the tunnel, killing the driver (who is really just a passenger).
— Daniel Albert | N+1
"Millar insists programmers need to build such scenarios into their code. I imagine them writing something like this:if (kid_in_tunnel > 16) { kill kid_in_tunnel;lp “We are sorry for your loss.”;} else { kill ass_in_Porsche;lp “Serves you right... View full entry
If the founders of a new face recognition app get their way, anonymity in public could soon be a thing of the past. FindFace, launched two months ago and currently taking Russia by storm, allows users to photograph people in a crowd and work out their identities, with 70% reliability.
It works by comparing photographs to profile pictures on Vkontakte, a social network popular in Russia and the former Soviet Union, with more than 200 million accounts.
— the Guardian
"In future, the designers imagine a world where people walking past you on the street could find your social network profile by sneaking a photograph of you, and shops, advertisers and the police could pick your face out of crowds and track you down via social networks."For related content:France... View full entry
Google will introduce its much-anticipated entry into the voice-activated home device market on Wednesday, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Named Google Home, the device is a virtual agent that answers simple questions and carries out basic tasks. It is to be announced at Google’s annual developers’ conference in Silicon Valley.
[...]
Questions are already arising about privacy, disclosures and the quality of the information being doled out.
— New York Times
The project will compete against Amazon's Echo.For more on new forays into smart home technology, check out these links:Mark Zuckerberg's resolution for 2016: build an at-home AI "like Jarvis in Iron Man"A city for the future but devoid of peopleSamsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing Home... View full entry
Proponents of the material, called cross-laminated timber, or CLT, say it can be used to erect buildings that are just as strong and fire-resistant as those made from steel and concrete. Those qualities have helped excite the passions of architects and environmentalists, who think it could unlock a greener method for housing the world’s growing population, and timber producers, who hope to open a U.S. market for the value-added good. — Bloomberg
Right now the structures are mainly proposals, but CLT could be the principal element of a 100-story tower nicknamed "The Splinter" in London as designed by PLP Architecture, while there's an ornamental 40-story timber tower in Stockholm on the boards, as designed by Anders Berensson... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) invited six contemporary architecture practices to create speculative responses to the UK’s housing crisis for the exhibition, At Home in Britain: Designing the House of Tomorrow.
Drawing on materials from the RIBA archives, the studios from the UK, France and the Netherlands produced designs that re-examine the familiar housing typologies of the cottage, terrace and flat.
— thespaces.com
Read relating article here:Architects advice to London's new mayor Sadiq Khan£950 for a mouldy 'central' flat? Welcome to London.The root of London's housing crisis lies beyond its bordersLondon's Bleak Housing View full entry
To mark the beginning of it's first ever Engineering Season, the V&A has revealed a new large-scale installation in the John Madjeski Garden; Elytra Filament Pavilion. The pavilion's components have been fabricated by a robot at the University of Stuttgart and then assembled on site... View full entry
Green Light is an artistic workshops that responds to the current situation in Europe, in which countless refugees are caught up in legal and political limbo. Together with TBA21 in Vienna, Olafur Eliasson has invited people from different backgrounds – refugees and locals – to take part in... View full entry
In a major reversal, Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking state funds for a fledgling earthquake early warning system for California, which would allow for a limited rollout of alerts by 2018...Though the governor’s proposed funding is a big step for the system, it does not come with ongoing funds to operate it. An earthquake early warning system for California alone will cost about $23 million to build and $12 million annually to operate[.] — Los Angeles Times
More on Archinect:Checking in on Nepal, one year laterDeath toll climbs to 350 after powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hits EcuadorIn Los Angeles, landlords and tenants will share seismic retrofit costsShigeru Ban builds earthquake-proof homes in Nepal: "I'm encouraging people to copy my ideas. No... View full entry
This post is brought to you by FunderMax. With the Modulo and Scaleo Rainscreen Cladding systems, FunderMax offers panels, mounting system and all the necessary accessories from a single source. Thus, you not only efficiently save time with your purchase and installation, you can also be... View full entry
Elevator manufacturer Otis will build the world’s tallest elevator test tower in Shanghai, as part of the company’s bid to develop lifts for skyscrapers in China and around the world.
The elevator test tower will be 270 metres high and it is an anticipated to be the tallest above-ground test tower in the world upon completion, Otis said on Tuesday.
— GB Times
In addition to being the home of the tallest building in the world with Gensler's Shanghai Tower, in 2018 Shanghai will also have the distinction of having the globe's tallest elevator test tower, which, to judge from Otis' renderings, could be described generously as occupying the extreme end of... View full entry
The Elizabeth line will link London and the South East from Reading to Heathrow with 10 new stations and upgrades to 30 existing stations. Currently Europe's largest infrastructure project the £14.8 billion scheme began in Canary Wharf in 2009 and is now 75% complete. Services will begin in... View full entry
Not content to merely redefine skyscrapers, football stadiums, and the agency of the architect, Bjarke Ingels Group is now leaping into the realm of transportation, joining up with Hyperloop to "transform the future of public infrastructure." Bjarke explained it thusly: "Traditionally, the work... View full entry
A six-percent upfront investment reduced energy consumption by 19% — and carbon emissions by 34% — in a pair of 100-year-old brick buildings. Add solar panels and those numbers drop to 39% and 65%.These are among the findings of an ongoing experiment conducted by students, faculty and staff... View full entry
For the past several years, tutors Arthur Mamou-Mani and Toby Burgess' University of Westminster design studio DS10 has helped students develop installation designs for Burning Man, many of which have gone on to be realized on the festival's grounds. This year, the parametrically-inspired... View full entry
