Florida State University College of Education's Fengfeng Ke, an assistant professor in the Educational Psychology and Learning Systems department, is creating a computer game called Earthquake Rebuild that encourages creativity in design and uses architecture to teach geometry and other math skills. Ke and her team of fellow educators have been awarded a $549,937 National Science Foundation grant to support the creation of this game-based learning platform. — news.fsu.edu
Ikea is to sell solar panels at its British stores for the first time in an attempt to tap growth in the heavily subsidised green energy market.
The world's biggest furniture retailer, best known for cheap basics such as its Billy bookcases and Ektorp sofas, plans to offer solar panel packages at all of its 17 British stores within the next 10 months.
— theguardian.com
Mark your calendar for the upcoming ACADIA 2013: Adaptive Architecture conference that will be held at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada on Oct. 24-26.
Now in its 36th year, the international conference will present an array of current research and creative design happening in the ACADIA community, an international group of digital designers and researchers dedicated to supporting critical research in computational design.
— bustler.net
Very immediately I’m working on the Persephone Project which is concerned with the design and implementation of a giant natural computer that will form the ‘living’ interior to a world-ship. It is going to be officially launched at the Starship Congress, in Dallas, from august the 15 of this year. I will also talk about Persephone further at Future Fest in the UK which runs over the weekend 28th to the 29th September. — Next Nature
Earlier this summer Alessia Andreotti spoke with Dr. Rachel Armstrong about living buildings, Venice’s foundations, millennial nature and how to improve our future. The two also discussed Dr. Armstrong's involvement in the Persephone Project, which is "charged with the... View full entry
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. — U.S. Department of Energy
Students from around the world will bring their designs for solar-powered houses to Irvine, California this October, as part of the 2013 Solar Decathlon. First held in 2002, the Solar Decathlon is a biannual student competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Decathlon will take... View full entry
A giant purple structure believed to be the world's first inflatable concert hall is to open on Japan's disaster-hit north eastern coast.
British sculptor Anish Kapoor and Japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the unusual Ark Nova, a balloon made of a coated polyester material that has been erected at a park in the town of Matsushima.
The structure, which organisers say is a world's first, measures about 18m and 35m wide when fully inflated with room for about 500 guests.
— dailymail.co.uk
The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. Bot & Dolly produced this work to serve as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration. It is the culmination of multiple technologies, including large scale robotics, projection mapping, and software engineering. We believe this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations, and define new genres of expression. — botndolly.com
When aircraft Shelter 610 opens its ruthless doors, a monstrous black behemoth slowly comes driving out. The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry. At an almost excruciatingly slow pace, the artwork uses its caterpillar tracks to cross the seemingly infinite runway. — Rietveld Landscape
Lending a new meaning to "think tank", the formidable Secret Operation 610 is now slinking its way across Airbase Soesterberg in the Netherlands. Both art piece and educational practice, the structure is designed by Studio Frank Havermans and Reitveld Landscape for SKOR |... View full entry
In the latest Showcase feature Archinect highlighted, the Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame by Trahan Architects. The building which opened this past June, is located in the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase on the banks of the Cane River Lake. The project engendered lots... View full entry
Check out our latest roundup of Kickstarter fundraisers that we picked from Archinect's curated Kickstarter page! 1. Made in the Lower East Side: miLES Storefront Transformer by miLES The Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) Storefront Transformer is a portable 6-ft cube that can be easily set up... View full entry
In creating associated descriptive metadata, in tagging building entries to describe their materials, types, and, perhaps most especially, their styles, the author of metadata is practicing the historian’s craft and engaging in the historian’s stock in trade. "Name it, then we’ll know what it is," Reyner Banham suggested at the end of “The Great Gizmo.” We can name it metadata creation, but we already know what it is: architectural history. — Places Journal
For several years Gabrielle Esperdy has been part of a team working on the development of SAH Archipedia — an online encyclopedia of American architecture sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians. Here she explores the critical challenge of creating structural and descriptive... View full entry
The project identified nine key trends; More globally than city wide connected communities, Neighbourhoods become more important, Collaborative production as well as consumption, Active aging population, Flexible working, Fragile energy supply and environment, Inequality causing skills and housing divides, Increasing collection and use of personal data and Socially divisive access to communication technologies — Future Londoners
Future Londoners is a series of imaginary characters, created by Arup, Social Life, Re.Work, Commonplace, Tim Maughan and Nesta, to explore the possibilities of urban life in the future. h/t Bruce Sterling/Beyond the Beyond View full entry
"Our collaboration has been since 1989, and now it's long-term," Toyota says of Gehry. "With Frank, I learned many, many things."
Chief among them, he says: "Flexibility."
"His thinking is very free and without restrictions. His spirit and creative mind is [open]. And we were able to work together in this way," Toyota says.
During the construction of Disney Hall, Toyota, ... was inspired by Gehry's design and perfected what he sees as his personal style of acoustics.
— latimes.com
"We are some distance from understanding the jet stream well enough to manage the natural risks associated with structural integrity," adds Prof Keith Hjelmstad. — BBC News
Leo Kelion writes about the 'Tall Tower Project' an initiative inspired by author Neal Stephenson's simple question: how tall can we build something? Seeking the answer/limits Mr. Stephenson has begun exploring plans for a 20km (12.4 miles) tall tower. To learn more about the project or get... View full entry
Simply put, the AIA Viewfinder by Studio H:T Architecture in Downtown Denver is like an amped-up version of the viewfinders used in photography, film, or just for fun. A co-winner of the AIA Viewfinder Colorado Competition last year, the Studio H:T AIA Viewfinder is a 9-foot-tall "lens" that... View full entry