Harnessing the collective intelligence of plant behaviour, the reEarth project explores new forms of bio-cooperative interaction between people and nature, within the built environment.
Echoing the architecture of Buckminster Fuller, the geodesic sphere, is both exoskeleton and ecological iconography. Its core of twelve garden modules, each carrying native British species on outwardly-extending linear actuators allow the structure to become mobile by shifting its centre-of-gravity.
— interactivearchitecture.org
Find relating articles here: Science Nonfiction: bringing emerging technologies into the UK's architecture educationInnovation with a heart: Guto Requena's technological and emotional designsThis augmented reality helmet could revolutionize the construction site View full entry
School of Architecture Dean Norman Millar, who previously taught at SCI-Arc, UCLA, Pasadena Art Center and was active on both the San Diego and Los Angeles campuses of Woodbury, succumbed to pancreatic cancer on April 14. He was 62 years old. Named "Educator of the Year" in 2014 by the AIA|LA... View full entry
Turku University of Applied Sciences has received a grant of 70,417 euros to see if hemp could be used more in construction projects.
The research will involve investigating the soundproofing and fireproof properties of the substance.
Researchers will also look at how hemp decomposes and to see how it could be used as fertilizer - in order to determine how eco-friendly hemp's waste materials are.
— YLE News
The article is careful to note that hemp has far less THC than marijuana and is therefore not a psychoactive substance (obviously) – but the news still feels topical. Hemp has been used for centuries for ropes, oils and textiles. But marijuana criminalization efforts in the 20th centuries... View full entry
What happens in domestic interiors appears to be very relevant for our societies.
Bernd Upmeyer, Editor-in-Chief, April 2016
— http://www.monu-magazine.com/news.htm
What happens in domestic interiors appears to be very relevant for our societies. At least, that is what Andrés Jaque argues in our interview entitled "The Home as Political Arena" for this new issue of MONU. This issue, "Domestic Urbanism", deals with the domestic aspects of cities, and... View full entry
Many current architecture students are excited about the removal of styrene mainly because of the various health hazards...[However,] others are worried that it will negatively impact their work and productivity. Sophomore Sam Landay explained that it’s not uncommon for architecture students to put their projects before their health.
Even outspoken opponents of styrene admit the necessity of utilizing the material.
— Student Life, Washington University in St. Louis
More on Archinect:When the pressure is on, dedicated architecture students show how to power nap like a proOne night's bad sleep equivalent to six months on a high-fat diet, new study findsAnother study warns that 3D-printers pose potential health risks for users View full entry
An “Inflatable Museum” is about to be launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of bringing exhibits and educational programmes to schools in disadvantaged districts of the city.
It is transportable in a van, can be blown up in under half an hour and can accommodate a full school class. It incorporates moveable cabinets, a large open presentation area and high definition projection equipment.
— globalconstructionreview.com
Relating stories in the Archinect News: RIBA launches 2016 funding for new architecture researchThe price of keeping Britain's 'Downton Abbeys' from crumblingNew year, new you: how a few UK firms are switching up their gameRem Koolhaas to design Manchester arts center, "The Factory" View full entry
ICYMI Amelia Taylor-Hochberg published a 3 part interview with Coy Howard, by students in John Southern's “Architectural Media and Publishing” Cultural Studies seminar at SCI-Arc. Ewa Lenart was impressed "Great Work and greatly inspiring teacher!" Plus, Nicholas Korody explored... View full entry
The fellowship ... makes it possible for junior faculty to spend a year developing a body of design research based on an area of interest while teaching [...]
Maya Alam will explore new possibilities of identity and iconicity in architecture by reconsidering alternative connections between object, observer, and context.
“I hope to explore with my students new categories of form and new architectural possibilities in engagement that fall outside the disciplinary conversation”
— soa.syr.edu
Archinector Donna Sink commented on this news:"I just want to point out that Professor Boghosian (which is what we called him at UA) was also a Cranbrook grad; the fact that he went there piqued my curiosity about the place, because he was clearly different form my other professors. Professor... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Boston Architectural College. The Master of Design Studies in Design for Human Health (MDS-DHH) is the first low residency—primarily online—master’s program dedicated to health and wellbeing within the built environment. This program is available at the Boston... View full entry
The University of Virginia announced today that Ila Berman has been appointed the dean of the School of Architecture. Currently a tenured full professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, as well as a principal of SCALESHIFT design in Toronto, she will assume the role Aug. 15. [...]
Berman succeeds Dean Elizabeth K. Meyer, who will return to the faculty at the end of a two-year term.
— news.virginia.edu
Previously: Elizabeth K. Meyer named dean of University of Virginia School of Architecture More dean-ish stories in the Archinect news: Dean Frederick Steiner leaves UT Austin for Penn Design due to new "campus carry" gun lawDeborah Berke named Dean of Yale School of Architecture, will... View full entry
Everything from sidewalks and curbs to streets, building designs, urban layouts, and living patterns will change as computers take the wheel.
“We’re looking at the broader urban effects—and urban opportunities—of this technology,” says Illinois Tech architect Marshall Brown, one of the team members in the Chicago school’s Driverless Cities Project. “It’s in the news a lot, but nobody’s been discussing what it will actually do to cities.”
— wired.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:The "Impossible" Car – Faraday Future's lead designer, Richard Kim, on One-to-One #17World's first fully autonomous taxi service will arrive in Singapore later this yearGoogle's self-driving car hits bus and causes its first crash View full entry
Who better to master plan the campus of the The Williams College Department of Art and Museum of Art than daily watercolorist (and architect) Steven Holl? In addition to expanding William College's art presence in the region, the study's goals include shaping the campus space to connect interior... View full entry
“This kind of pedagogical approach, where students are engaged with a ‘real’ client, has the potential to be very informative for the design process ... Usually people view constraints as detrimentally restrictive, but I think in this case it allows students to always have parameters by which to judge their work.” [...]
[Yanbo Li ’16] said that the studio is a “perennial favorite” among senior architecture majors from year to year, and said his own experience was not an exception.
— yaledailynews.com
Related on Archinect:The client side of architectureIn anticipation of centennial, Yale School of Architecture preps "Pedagogy and Place" exhibitionBreaking CAD: from meth house to Ball State studio project"How does one teach urban planning to pre-schoolers?" View full entry
A group of fourth-year Ball State architecture students are refurbishing a former meth house in the Thomas Park-Avondale neighborhood in Muncie as a studio project.
The studio class is working with ecoREHAB, a local nonprofit that provides sustainable rehabilitation of housing and neighborhoods. “The whole goal is to revitalize the community more so than to earn money,” said Taylor Sheppard, a senior architecture major.
— The Ball State Daily
For more on drugs in architecture:Narquitectura: Inside the Fortified Palaces of Mexico's Drug LordsPowering Mumbai with Magic Mushroomsa new memorial to the victims of [drug war] violence View full entry
For the second year in a row, MIT has been named the top university in the world for architecture/built environment in the latest subject rankings from QS World University Rankings. In art and design, the Institute ranked No. 2 globally, a jump from fourth position in 2015. Ten other subject areas at MIT were ranked No. 1.
“This ranking is testament to the success of the MIT model of research and teaching and its global commitment to address complex societal problems,” says [Dean] Hashim Sarkis
— MIT
In related news:Get Lectured: MIT, Spring '16MIT and TU Delft emerge victorious at Hyperloop competition; Elon Musk drops hint about "electric jets"MIT researchers have created a new material that stores and releases solar energyStanford Anderson, head of MIT's Department of Architecture from... View full entry
