Housing has instead become one of the primary drivers of global capitalism, through commodification and financialization, making its function as real estate more important than its use as lived, space. It is the result of spatial developments being market-driven. Madden and Marcuse: “housing is not produced and distributed for dwelling at all,” but “as a commodity to enrich the few.” — Failed Architecture
The German documentary City for Sale that came out last year and the recently released book In Defense of Housing are the perfect match for anyone who wants to learn about the broken nature of housing markets, the crisis currently happening in all big cities worldwide. City for Sale consists of... View full entry
First, given their robust physical characteristics, like, reinforced concrete, between 18-30 feet high, the concrete border wall prototypes are designed to deter illegal crossings in the area in which they are constructed.
Second, the concrete border wall prototypes will allow CBP to evaluate the potential for new wall and barrier designs that could complement the wall and barrier designs we have used along the border over the last several years.
— U.S. Customs and Border Protection
On Thursday, CBP announced that it had awarded contracts to build several 30-foot-high concrete wall prototypes, which are supposed to inform future design standards and will likely continue to evolve to meet the U.S. Border Patrol’s requirements. The four companies that will build the... View full entry
“The Structure of Design: An Engineer's Extraordinary Life in Architecture” examines the long career of Leslie Earl Robertson, one of the most celebrated structural engineers in modern architecture. Thanks to publisher The Monacelli Press, Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to... View full entry
The program was tested in states like New York, California, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania and involved viaduct construction, pavement rehabilitation and highway development projects. The study was extended for five years in January, just before President Trump took office.
Advocates of local employment allowances say hiring from the neighborhood helps offset longstanding racial and gender imbalances in the construction industry.
— The New York Times
The Trump administration is relinquishing another Obama-era regulatory provision, which was proposed in 2015 aiming to allow cities to set aside work for local residents on federally funded public works projects. No reason has been given for the Department of Transportation termination of the... View full entry
The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on 17 August, that an Islamic extremist caused €2.7m in damages when he destroyed shrines in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012. This is the first time that the ICC has made a ruling solely on cultural destruction, setting an important precedent. [...]
Islamic extremists used pickaxes and bulldozers to destroy nine mausoleums and the centuries-old door of the Sidi Yahya mosque, built during a golden age of Islam [...].
— theartnewspaper.com
By ruling that "the destruction of the protected buildings has caused the suffering of people throughout Mali and the international community," the International Criminal Court in The Hague acknowledged the demolition of cultural heritage as a war crime — potentially treating recent acts of... View full entry
Take a walk through BIG's controversial 2,800 m2 Bunker Museum that opened this summer in Denmark— View full entry
Amazon says the new fulfillment center will create some 2,000 jobs “with benefits and opportunities to engage with Amazon Robotics in a highly technological workplace.
The company will spend $177 million to build the new fulfillment center, and job listings will start appearing six to 10 weeks before the facility opens.
— Gizmodo
Amazon says workers at their new 855,000 square feet warehouse in North Randall, Ohio, “will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items such as electronics, toys and books.” In other words, the new employees will be filling Amazon-branded boxes with the exact same sorts of goods that were... View full entry
In this round-up of notable architecture in Africa, Wired takes a closer look at projects from Morocco to South Africa, including the Lideta Mercato in Ethiopia by Xavier Vilalta and the Bosjes Chapel by Steyn Studio. As the piece notes, "Contemporary African architecture is extremely varied: it... View full entry
Months later than usual, the US State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs has finally announced that the exhibit for the 2018 Venice Biennial will be put together by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. Titled “Dimensions of Citizenship”... View full entry
But what if there were a way to see gentrification long before the coffee shops, condos and Whole Foods appear? What if city planners and neighborhoods had an early warning system that could sniff out the changes just as they begin?
[...] neighborhood advocates would have the opportunity to implement policies ranging from reserving affordable housing units to educating residents of their renting rights to helping small businesses negotiate long-term lease extensions.
— NPR
In his NPR piece, astrophysics professor Adam Frank explains how various big data sets, like housing prices, eviction records, census data, or social media usage, can be utilized for "predictive analytics" to detect early onsets of gentrification for specific neighborhoods at an increasingly high... View full entry
Houston calls itself “the city with no limits” to convey the promise of boundless opportunity. But it also is the largest U.S. city to have no zoning laws, part of a hands-off approach to urban planning that may have contributed to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey and left thousands of residents in harm’s way. — The Washington Post
Hurricane Harvey is drawing renewed scrutiny to Houston's 'Wild West' approach to planning and its unusual system for managing floodwater that, according to environmentalists, greatly diminishes land's natural ability to absorb water. While local officials have defended the city's take on... View full entry
Church officials, who have created what they are calling a “stone cemetery” from fallen masonry, say the cathedral remains safe to visit.
Entry is free and the French state, which owns the building, devotes €2m (£1.9m) a year to repairs. But that is not enough to embark on major restoration works, the last of which were carried out during the 1800s, officials at the cathedral and charity said.
— The Guardian
The archbishop of Paris launched a €100m fundraising campaign for Notre Dame's extensive restoration works. The 12th century cathedral on the Seine river—one of Paris' biggest landmarks, is visited by up to 14 million people visit per year. “Gargoyles are what people want to see when they... View full entry
In a moment when the powers at be can't even fund the country’s shambling roads and bridges, the 2,000 organizers and volunteers who run Burning Man put together—and then take apart—a 70,000-person city in the space of two months. — Wired
As Burning Man is taking it's 31st annual round, Wired takes a look at how the famed festival occupies the land of the Black Rock Desert. While temporary and free of the bounding presence of permanent residents and buildings, it nevertheless bares some resemblance to a city. Springing out of... View full entry
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's newest project, "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors," is set to open in October of 2017. The famous provocateur was commissioned by the Public Art Fund, in celebration of its 40th birthday, to build one of his largest public works ever. In total, the project will included... View full entry
Where we would be without the energetic (if usually misinformed) enthusiasm of youth? Apparently, without the Centre Pompidou as we know it. In this comprehensive and enjoyable profile in The Guardian, Richard Rogers reflects on his early days as an architect after he and his freshly-made friend... View full entry
