The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Upstate New York has named Dennis Shelden as the new director for the school's Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE). According to a press release announcing the selection, Shelden will head "a boundary-pushing organization at a critical... View full entry
Google Arts & Culture has launched a new online initiative calling attention to five Unesco World Heritage sites under threat from climate change. The Heritage on the Edge series reveals how rising sea levels, coastal erosion and extreme weather patterns are endangering landmarks across the world [...]. — The Art Newspaper
The five threatened Unesco World Heritage sites featured in the online Heritage on the Edge exhibit are Easter Island's iconic moai statues of Rapa Nui; the Old and New Towns of Scotland's capital Edinburgh; the flood-prone mosque city of Bagerhat in Bangladesh; Tanzania's port city of Kilwa... View full entry
Over the years, the Miami has become synonymous with its collection of ultra-luxe residential towers and its constantly evolving skyline. In fact, with over 300 skyscrapers situated across its various business, residential, and commercial districts, the city offers the "third-largest skyline" in... View full entry
After spending January focusing on Los Angeles, Archinect is shifting its focus to Florida with a month-long Spotlight on Miami. As the largest city in Florida and one of the largest cities in the United States, Miami offers a view into a unique—and rapidly changing—segment of... View full entry
In a recent interview for New York magazine, architecture critic Justin Davidson interviews Frank Gehry on his work past, present, and future, highlighting the nearly 91-year-old architect's unwavering penchant for working through complex design and aesthetic ideas while still being able... View full entry
In preparation for yesterday's Super Bowl, the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) utilized a highly detailed 3D-printed model of the Hard Rock Stadium. The model was created by students at Florida International University's (FIU) College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts along with the... View full entry
The lobby of an Art Deco office building in Boston has been transformed into an immersice digital experience that reacts to users' movements. Unreal Engine, the gaming engine behind Fortnite, Playstation, and many other gaming products, powers the ESI Design-created interactive mural and uses... View full entry
Hudson Yards has received its share of mockery. Be it Archinect's April Fools' day joke, Vessel's Shawarma like appearance or the Luxury Real Estate Dildo Experience, there has been a fair share of criticism and poking fun of the new development. Well now, there is a Hudson... View full entry
Medics in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the virus originated, have described overcrowded hospitals and a shortage of test kits, protective gear, and other medical equipment.
To alleviate this pressure, city authorities last Friday announced plans to build a new hospital from scratch in just six days, to be used beginning February 3.
— Business Insider
Chinese officials are under increasing pressure to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has already claimed the lives of at least 130 people and is quickly spreading around the world. The epidemic originated in Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China and home to more than... View full entry
Tech start-up Higharc aims to "reinvent home design for the digital age," reports the Financial Times. The company uses iterative design to create "custom" 3D models and plans. Algorithmic design isn't new to architecture, but it looks like Higharc seeks to do away with "expensive... View full entry
The legendary video game company, Atari has just announced a deal it's made with GSD Group, an innovation and strategy agency, and producer Napoleon Smith III, "to acquire the rights to build video game-themed Atari Hotels in the United States, with the first location breaking ground in Pheonix... View full entry
After years of playing third fiddle to solar and wind power, geothermal energy is poised to start growing again in California. [...]
The new plants will be the first geothermal facilities built in California in nearly a decade — potentially marking a long-awaited turning point for a technology that could play a critical role in the state’s transition to cleaner energy sources.
— Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times on California's efforts to increase, potentially double, the share geothermal energy contributes to the state's electricity mix by adding new plants. Traditionally, the much higher upfront cost of geothermal plants (compared to solar or wind farms of comparable capacity)... View full entry
Autodesk Innovator of the Year Amr Raafat has teamed with a robot software company to develop an autonomous laser scanning and layout planning robot that is being used on Windover Construction work sites.
The robot is able to move around on uneven surfaces to predetermined locations to scan indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as to measure and draw plans for walls and spaces that would need to be meticulously measured by a human...
— Construction Dive
This new development allows workers more time onsite for more essential tasks, absolving them of the tediousness that comes with measuring and documenting site conditions. According to Construction Dive, Raafat explained how laser scanning can take up to 16 minutes per space, which can be... View full entry
City Roads, an online tool developed by software engineer Andrei Kashcha, allows users to search any city and instantly receive back only the streets by pulling data from OpenStreetMap. Simply search, click, and enjoy the beauty of urban planning. You can print your city of choice on a mug... View full entry
The US has become terrible at building big things, and negligent in even maintaining our existing infrastructure. [...]
That all bodes terribly for our ability to grapple with the coming dangers of climate change, because it is fundamentally an infrastructure problem.
— MIT Technology Review
MIT Technology Review senior editor, James Temple, penned an urgent plea for a renewed, but sustainable, American public works boom that could significantly speed up the painfully slow infrastructure planning process in the face of rapidly changing climate conditions. "To prepare for the climate... View full entry
