The Internet is already demonstrating its indispensable value as the fourth utility. [...] However, this presents strains to online infrastructure as the number of simultaneous online collaborations increases dramatically. Service companies, businesses, and individuals must be prepared for continued strain on private and public networks. [...] Likewise, businesses must evaluate their infrastructure and policies to ensure they can support remote participation, both technically and socially. — Brad Kult, HGA
Brad Kult, HGA's Director of Technology Design & Planning, gives an overview on the increasingly crucial role of technology in order for businesses and schools to continue operating, amid social-distancing efforts to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Kult offers some helpful reminders for... View full entry
Pandemics [...] are anti-urban. They exploit our impulse to congregate. And our response so far — social distancing — not only runs up against our fundamental desires to interact, but also against the way we have built our cities and plazas, subways and skyscrapers. They are all designed to be occupied and animated collectively. For many urban systems to work properly, density is the goal, not the enemy. — The New York Times
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, waxes wistfully over the inherent collectivity of urban life as the COVID-19 pandemic shuts down cities around the globe. Describing the current state of affairs, Kimmelman writes, “Today’s threat is altogether another... View full entry
Robert Ivy, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has penned a letter to AIA members offering advice and resources for how firms and individuals can navigate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The global spread of the novel... View full entry
Cities around the world are taking necessary precautions to help contain and mitigate the widespread effects of the coronavirus strain COVID-19. And although the United States has slowly increased its efforts to keep the virus at bay, some cities handling looming uneasiness and building panic... View full entry
As coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spread and disrupt the daily lives of people across the globe, forcing many to self-quarantine, we are compiling the best online offerings from artists, museums and galleries. Whether you are staying at home or your local museums and galleries have closed, here are some of the best digital initiatives to satisfy your creative cravings. — The Art Newspaper
With prominent events around the world canceled or postponed and cultural institutions hunkering down during this COVID-19 outbreak, online art exhibitions and virtual museum tours can, or at least attempt to, fill the gap. The Art Newspaper's roundup includes Google Arts & Culture's vast digital... View full entry
Pratt Institute in New York City has launched a new initiative honoring and celebrating the institution's historic legacy of female design leadership. Organized by the School of Architecture, the Mistresses of Pratt program presents "a multifaceted project focused on the... View full entry
UPDATE: 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture has been postponed On Thursday, March 12th, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a directive to City departments outlining new measures to be taken to limit the spread of COVID-19. With the 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture scheduled to begin... View full entry
Historic New England, one of one of the oldest and largest regional architectural heritage organizations in the United States, has announced that the archives of Boston-based architecture firm Royal Barry Wills Associates will be made available to the public for the first time. Founded... View full entry
In a statement released March 13th, National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) National President Kimberly Dowdell announced that the organization will cancel or postpone events with more than 20 people. Dowdell writes, "We are levaraging technology to replace many of our in-person events... View full entry
Los Angeles-based Stockdale Capital Partners, which purchased the property in 2018, said this week that it has closed a $330 million construction loan, meaning the first phase of the redevelopment project is fully funded on track for completion in early 2022. — San Diego Tribune
Plans for the wholesale redevelopment of San Diego's beloved Horton Plaza, designed by the Jon Jerde, have taken a key step forward. Los Angeles-based architects RCH Studios and EYRC Architects are the designers behind the revamp; RDC is the Architect of Record for the project. View full entry
A forest of dessicated trees will rise amid the verdant canopy of Madison Square Park in a forthcoming project by the American artist and environmental activist Maya Lin. In the immersive work, Ghost Forest, which will be on view from 8 June to 6 December, 30 to 40 spectral cedar trees will be replanted in the oval lawn of the park, creating a visually striking micro-landscape that decries the impact of climate change on woodlands around the world. — The Art Newspaper
Commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York, Maya Lin's site-responsive installation Ghost Forest aims to address the impact of climate change on woodlands around the planet. "Ghost Forest will take the form of a towering grove of spectral cedar trees, all sourced from the region... View full entry
Architects are no longer builders but healers. They have to get off their computers and out of their cars to heal the social, physical and environmental aspects of our landscape. What architects build is not a finished product but a part of a city’s changing eco-system. — WOODBURY UNIVERSITY
James Rojas as an urbanist with close ties to his home, from its community values, feel, art to neighborhood stories and legends. All materializing in his inimitable urban visioning. His brand of Latino Urbanism via his beloved East LA neighborhood are series of performances, installations... View full entry
The world’s richest people are chartering private jets to set off for holiday homes or specially prepared disaster bunkers in countries that, so far, appear to have avoided the worst of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Many are...taking personal doctors or nurses on their flights to treat them and their families in the event that they become infected. The wealthy are also besieging doctors in private clinics in Harley Street, London, and across the world, demanding private coronavirus tests.
— The Guardian
According to the Guardian, Robert Vicino, founder and chief executive of Vivos Group, a California-based company constructing underground shelters designed to withstand a range of natural disasters and catastrophes, said his firm had seen a surge in inquiries and sales since the... View full entry
Where are the female-led architecture firms, and are they hiring? A question many may be thinking about, especially since the year 2020 has brought a continued sense of inclusion, growth, and commonplace for female architectural professionals and their impact on the industry's evolving... View full entry
A nonprofit consortium consisting of the Getty Research Institute, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution has taken another step toward preserving the photo archives... View full entry
