The review highlights the sector’s dysfunctional training model, its lack of innovation and collaboration, and its non-existent research and development culture.
Low productivity continues to hamper the sector, while recent high levels of cost inflation, driven by a shortage of workers, has stalled numerous housing schemes as they have become too expensive to build.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Read more UK industry news here: Mayor of London launches probe into the impact of foreign investment in city's real estateEngineering giant Arup announces imminent layoffs following Brexit voteThe former-football stars tackling England's affordable housing shortage View full entry
Aecom, America’s largest design engineer, will have its skills tested with a contract to build a high-tech factory for Chinese electric vehicle start-up Faraday Future (FF) in Las Vegas.
The work will have a construction value of $500m, signed on a guaranteed maximum price basis, but FF has said in the past it wants the factory built in half the normal time.
In all, FF is reported to be investing $1bn in its new plant.
— Global Construction Review
Related:The Netherlands considers a ban on gasoline-powered vehiclesFaraday Future holds groundbreaking ceremony for $1B Nevada factoryThe "Impossible" Car – Faraday Future's lead designer, Richard Kim, on One-to-One #17Wired takes a look inside Tesla's car factory of the future View full entry
This post is brought to you by PPI. It’s an exciting time to be an ARE candidate. With the release of ARE 5.0, new information is revealing itself daily. Keeping up with these updates can be difficult, but not impossible. Read on to discover essential ARE updates from NCARB that will help you... View full entry
Mexico City is notorious for its gridlock (and the smog it produces). The ride-sharing platform Uber has taken advantage of this captive audience with an unusual advertising medium: drones.As reported by Bloomberg, Uber has sent off a fleet of sign-bearing drones to hover over windshields... View full entry
Aside from their role as workshop co-chairs for the ACADIA conference, this week's One-to-One guests are both architects who work and teach at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. Their focus on fabrication led them to their roles at ACADIA, with McGee... View full entry
What’s extraordinary about a smart contract is that it gives blockchain the power to not only record property rights but enforce them. Once deployed, a dozen lines of computer code can fulfill the same role as the county records office, the courts and the police. You can have “the function of a trusted bureaucracy without the expense of putting together a trusted bureaucracy”, Waldman explains. — the Guardian
The homeowner posts a price for the rental. The renter sends the money through her smartphone. Inside the front door is a very small computer connected to the internet. The computer knows when the renter is allowed to enter and unlocks the door for her when she pushes a button on her phone.Smart... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Kennesaw State University. Architecture’s relationship to technology is as old as the primitive hut. Material and construction technologies have shaped design and detailing throughout history. But with the dawn of the information age came a new category of... View full entry
There are dozens of Frank Lloyd Wright houses across the country that fans of the architect can visit. There are a handful that can be rented. There is only one where you can sleep overnight for $148, which includes a personal guided tour by the 90-year-old owner and breakfast in a Wright-designed “great room.”
The Cooke House in Virginia Beach, Va., built in 1959, is one of Wright’s last commissioned works.
— The New York Times
For more on Frank Lloyd Wright:Lloyd Wright's LA Samuel-Novarro House for saleWhen 'Frank Lloyd Wright' and 'historic designation' are holding back your home’s value, what’s a seller to do?New Jersey’s Oldest and Largest Frank Lloyd Wright House Listed for $2.2M View full entry
Of the countless DIY YouTube channels out there, Primitive Technology has to be one of the most impressive. Starring an unidentified Australian protagonist—known as "Prim" by some within the channel's millions of followers—the videos document our primitive hero building huts, spears, a forge... View full entry
Driverless cars will trundle around the UK in their first public trials today.
The demonstration of the autonomous electric vehicles is going to take place on the pavements of Milton Keynes.
These tests will be the culmination of an 18-month research project which involved virtually mapping the town and updating regulations for driverless vehicles.
— Sky.com
For the latest on advances in self-driving cars:Uber lets you hail its self-driving cars in Pittsburgh later this monthHow autonomous vehicles will accelerate suburban sprawlThis startup hopes to bring autonomous campus shuttles to colleges by 2017 View full entry
The confluence of Google mapping, 3D printing and the desire for inventive home decor has produced a Kickstarter for One Hundred Tokyo, a fully-fledged three dimensional map of Tokyo that is divided into 100 handy pieces. Pick your favorite palm-sized square(s) or collect all 100; it's up to you... View full entry
This week is one of the first in the season to demand a coat. With nights starting to draw in, the temperature dropping, and with many galleries and events opening later in the evenings, now is the perfect time to replace parks with free exhibitions. This year’s Stirling Prize winning project... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Learn how this Brisbane-based architectural firm is enjoying faster cash flow now. About Based in West End, Brisbane, Tim Bennetton Architects is a small, private architectural firm with a single director and three employees. They work in an... View full entry
In August, after a multibillion-dollar, year-and-a-half-long battle, Uber agreed to sell its business in China and depart the country.
It was a face-saving retreat for Uber, which got a 17.7 percent ownership stake in Didi and $1 billion in cash. [...]
Investors recently valued Didi at $35 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Uber, with operations in almost 500 cities on six continents, is worth $68 billion.
— bloomberg.com
More stories from the Uber-verse:The view from inside a self-driving Uber: "the technology is not quite ready"Uber and the future of on-demand public transitGoogle, Uber, Lyft, Ford and Volvo join forces to lobby for autonomous vehiclesWomen-only Uber alternatives face pushback from... View full entry
OMA's Axel Springer building, which received the official launch from its namesake company today, visually confronts the disparate nature of modern office work. The 30-foot tall atrium with 3D facade elements creates a stage for unscripted interaction, while the more discreet sections of the... View full entry
