As we mention more and more that 21st century will be the century of rising sea levels, depletion of energy resources and century of urban nature, we still think the solution to these problems are once again will be produced by our far superior technological society as if we know these things better.
We don't.
— architects for peace
Yesterday's gray sky and drizzle couldn't keep anxious press away from the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where Argentine artist and architect Tomas Saraceno was officially debuting his new project "Cloud City". A sculptural constellation of 16 geodesic pods, Cloud City "floats" above the museum's roof anchored by steel cables... The futuristic construction features over 100 planes... — Inhabitat
In Autodesk's words, with 123D Catch, you "Take ordinary photos and turn them into extraordinary 3D models." Now available on PC, iPad and web app. Looks interesting. Have any of you tried it yet? What do you think? View full entry
Urban planning has focused on identifying many important questions about the formation and functioning of our cities. However, there is a lack of understanding about the spatial patterns related to material and energy use in cities. This work attempts to address this knowledge gap. — urbmet.org
urbmet.org is a web-map that illustrates data on material and energy use in cities. The goal is to provide an intuitive way of understanding this complex problem using an interactive interface. We have analyzed 42 cities and estimated material and energy intensities. To make this work as useful... View full entry
So Paluska and Meyer Sound, a world-renowned audio engineering company in Berkeley, teamed up to test a relatively new technology that controls reverberation levels with the press of a button. By using a combination of sound absorption materials, microphones, speakers and a digital processor, Paluska can make his restaurant as loud or as soft as he wants. — sfgate.com
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Installations. ↑ Immerse(D) in... View full entry
Before the recession and the return of architectural probity, the phrase "like an alien spaceship" was all over architecture journalism like a cheap suit. Faced with anything that didn't look like a brick box, critics and headline writers would ransack their imaginations before inevitably reaching for the extra-terrestrial. — Guardian
As the newly restored first edition goes on show, Justin McGuirk explores an emblem of 1960s architectural utopianism, the Futuro house, designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968. If you would like to visit the cabin number 001, it went on show last week at the Weegee... View full entry
The project, which is now called Blueseed, is led by a team of execs plucked from Thiel's Seasteading Institute. Although the original plans for the floating tech village looked something like a fancy oil rig from the future, the latest plan is to either convert a cruise ship or remodel an old barge in to a swanky island anchored just outside the jurisdiction of the United States. — sfist.com
Click here for the Blueseed website. View full entry
Victoria Newhouse - "aesthetically I think they are greatly improved from what we had before...they're smaller and more intimate...more inviting...they are acoustically improved...and many of them have the ability to be reconfigured...all of this leads to a very exciting scene" — Charlie Rose
Victoria Newhouse author of The Architecture and Acoustics of New Opera Houses and Concert Halls along with Daniel Libeskind, Michael Kaiser and Renee Fleming were on Charlie Rose last month, to discuss the current explosion of "literally hundreds" of new opera houses and concert halls... View full entry
IN THE hands of Urbanscreen, buildings become toys in a surreal world in which Salvador Dali or Lewis Carroll's Alice would feel at home.
Structures get torn apart, turned to ice or covered with ants and are made to disintegrate, pulsate, morph into strange shapes or become a gigantic pinball machine.
— smh.com.au
Even tougher, Ms. Yamamoto said, would be the labor involved in grafting the system onto the city’s existing archaic reservation network or building a new one from scratch.
Jake Levitas, research director at the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, the San Francisco digital arts nonprofit that conceived Creative Currency, believes that such obstacles are best surmounted by applying the hacker mind-set to community issues.
— The Associated Press
Recently a “hackathon,” Creative Currency put together by GAFFTA, the Hub, American Express, and the City and County of San Francisco, brought together 150 people to figure out how technology could help those in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market areas of the city who do not have... View full entry
Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community...score one for preservation of the modern!"
News Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern architecture. Steven Ward, hoped... View full entry
Danish architects are building a digitally fabricated house printed from a computer file - a new concept they say minimizes waste and simplifies the building process. — reuters.com
Converting a standard shipping container into a sustainable source of energy for remote or disaster-torn regions, a team of Princeton University students took top honors in an 18-month national competition that culminated April 21 and 22 on the Washington, D.C., Mall. — princeton.edu
Stoll’s images capture vast and mind-meltingly valuable landscapes that are hidden in plain sight, housed in unassuming warehouses and suburban data centers all over the world. — fastcodesign.com