Roof structures of this size and complexity cannot be built without an explicit geometry that can be expressed mathematically. Without such a mathematical model, it is not possible to calculate the loads, stresses, and rotational forces to which the vaults will be subjected and to estimate the impact of wind and temperature changes on their stability. Parabolas and ellipses were Utzon's first choices for the profiles of the vaults, but neither provided a buildable option. — insidescience.org

Science Channel’s upcoming series, Strip the City, uses oversized CGI effects to take a very deep look into the engineering behind some of the most iconic municipalities and the potentially disastrous natural elements they must overcome. Working with architects, engineers and historians, the producers have unearthed the specific elements that help San Francisco’s bridge survive tremors and Dubai’s towering skyscrapers stand firm in soft, unstable desert sands. — wired.com

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple's request last week for trademarks on the minimalist design and layout of its retail outlets, the office's records show.

The description of the trademarks includes "a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade" and, within the store, an "oblong table with stools...set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall." — reuters.com

The idea for my final project, an architectural defense against drone warfare, came from the realization that law had no response to drone warfare. My own understanding of the ongoing [War on Terror pseudonym] as a civil rights issue is irrelevant, we only learn civil rights as a historical happening, not a current struggle. But architecture has a proud anti-legal tradition. Architecture is a way to protect people when law chooses not to. — chapatimystery.com

Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the ESA to explore the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations. Addressing the challenges of transporting materials to the moon, the study is investigating the use of lunar soil, known as regolith, as building matter. — fosterandpartners.com

Steve Jobs talked about his connection to the outdoors. So we said, 'Let's take that approach. Let's make sure every employee has access to the outdoors within one floor.' So we took a series of two-story buildings and stacked them on top of each other, and put gardens in between them. — latimes.com

When you walk in, you encounter what is, at first glance, a small studio apartment. Within that cube are actually 8 functional spaces. The living room and office become the bedroom with a tug of a bookshelf. Open one of the closets and you'll find 10 stackable chairs that go around a telescopic dining table for large dinner parties. An entire guest room with bunk-beds and a closet is revealed behind a wall that slides out on tracks. And of course, a well-equipped kitchen and bathroom await. — gizmodo.com

The Discovery Channel has aired a segment which gets behind the massive 3D printer D-Shape, designed by Italian inventor Enrico Dini and his company Monolite UK with the eventual aim of "printing buildings." The short film describes Dini's childhood obsession with building sandcastles, taking the viewer through the process of conceiving and designing D-Shape, which uses thin layers of bonded sand to build up its constructions. — theverge.com

Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars from Universe Architecture in Amsterdam has designed a house that is not only created using a 3D printer, but also ‘endless’ in its design. A visitor to the home could walk in a constant path continuously through the house, as it’s designed as a möbius strip — ca.news.yahoo.com

In an innovative response to the current property squeeze in China, a Beijing architectural and a design firm have combined creative forces to develop a portable house and garden on the back of a tricycle.

The Tricycle House and Garden is a sustainable mobile home with its design and construction inspired by the shape and movement of an accordion. The playful designed is also being described as the “adult cardboard box fort box.” — DesignBuild Source

The location in the south suburbs of Salt Lake City is an up-and-coming region for tech business sometimes called "Silicon Slope." Adobe's new campus will operate as the company's digital marketing division.

The company has hired designers from Rapt Studio to make sure the building design is integrated into the space at the deepest level, ensuring that, despite being an office building at its core, this isn't just one more massive tech campus. — wired.com

Richard Meier & Partners’ mixed-use building was selected in an international competition topping submissions by Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects. The challenge, Bernhard Karpf, associate partner-in-charge, said was to create a hybrid building that was “like a city in itself,” which creates “property lines” that carves out distinct areas for rentals, offices, and shops, but still comes together in a unified and coherent design. — The Architect's Newspaper

Researchers at the Stanford School of Engineering have succeeded in developing the world’s first peel-and-stick thin-film solar cells.

The idea will allow the cells to be applied to almost any surface, with successful tests having been conducted on paper, plastic and window glass. This opens up significant opportunities for alternative applications for solar technology, previously limited by traditional solar cells, which must be mounted on stiff, often heavy, fixed panels. — DesignBuild Source