This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service announced a $50 billion plan to fight wildfires. The goal is, in fact, to reduce wildfires. But one of the side effects may be a huge infusion of ecologically harvested wood into the supply chain for building materials. For architects, this firefighting tool could also be a new source of carbon-sequestering wood for sustainable building projects. — Fast Company
The timber industry is currently under tremendous strain to meet demands as suppliers face labor shortages that have triggered high prices for their clients, who are increasingly looking to build bigger and taller buildings using what is considered to be a more sustainable material. The... View full entry
Finland’s capital is one step closer to announcing the designer of its next great urban development project. The City of Helsinki has revealed nine shortlisted candidates for the redevelopment of Makasiiniranta in the city’s South Harbor. Proposals from groups led by Foster+Partners, White... View full entry
The Softwood Lumber Board and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) have announced the winners of the 2022 Timber Education Prize. The selected courses will be taught in architecture schools across North America in the coming years and provide an excellent insight... View full entry
Dewan Architects + Engineers have unveiled Babel 4.0, a project which the firm with headquarters in the UAE describes as “the first architecturally-inspired NFT from the Middle East.” A reinterpretation of the mythical Tower of Babel, the project speculates on the role of architects and... View full entry
In March 2020, Los Angeles’ public-transit agency, Metro, stopped collecting fares on its buses as a COVID-19 safety precaution. For the next 22 months, Metro waived fares for anyone who wanted to keep riding its buses, anywhere they wanted to go (as long as they wore a mask, of course). And people did keep riding. — Curbed
A spokesperson from the agency estimates that from April 2020 to December 2021 there were approximately 281 million fare-free rides, reaching about 80 percent of pre-pandemic ridership, making it the largest free-transit experiment in U.S. history. Fare collection, however, restarted last week and... View full entry
Editor's Note: Details of this article have been updated as of January 24, 2022. The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union has announced its search for a new leader after current dean Nader Tehrani, who was appointed in 2015, shared his leave and completion of tenure as... View full entry
Canadian commercial real estate company Cadillac Fairview (CF) has announced a $77 million revitalization of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The project will see a $60 million refurbishment of its iconic galleria skylight roof. According to CF’s announcement: “The existing glass will be... View full entry
Minecraft lovers may soon be able to wander around a virtual Albany.
A voluntary group of builders associated with Build the Earth Northeast USA is building the city and other parts of the Capital Region into the game.
— Albany Times Union
The organization is made up of thousands of volunteer gamers who have produced successful virtual versions of other cities distributed across regional networks. Building in the hugely popular MMOG has seen a renaissance of late thanks to a mod intervention which produced construction techniques... View full entry
"Candela believed the campus buildings and the spaces between them were equally important. He described the campus master plans as “a small city of interconnected geometric masses and urban plazas,” and composed the buildings around structural systems of towering columns and cantilevers, connected by covered walkways." — Society of Architectural Historians
Cuban American architect Hilario Candela passed away this week at the age of 87 due to complications with Covid-19. With his partner, Peter Spillis, who passed last year in March, the duo were pioneers in the development of Miami's architectural scene with their eponymous firm Spillis &... View full entry
The German Design Council has announced its list of honorees for the tenth version of the annual German Design Awards. For the past decade, the Council has handed out awards in the three different main categories of Product Design, Communications Design, and Architecture. Projects of either... View full entry
Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is about to make a big splash — over the next eight years. The venerable cultural institution on Monday announced its Centennial Commitment, a $500 million transformation of the aquarium culminating in 2030, the Shedd’s 100th anniversary. — Chicago Sun Times
The eight-year project will be split into four phases and commence later this year. The first phase will cover major interior renovations, including the modernization of the original six historic galleries, enhancement of all animal habitats, the restoration of the original walls of windows, and... View full entry
The 2021 AIA Honolulu Design Awards award recipients have been announced, recognizing exceptional built and unbuilt projects from both students and professionals. The Student Award of Excellence was given to My Tran for “Kaiwi Floating City,” an innovative modular floating city concept... View full entry
Yet today these two pieces of fascist architectural propaganda are the centrepiece of a bold artistic experiment in addressing the debate around contested monuments, one which offers a template for other communities divided over whether to tear down or keep up monuments with racist, imperialist or fascist connotations. — BBC
Bolzano, the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, has become an important case study over its demonstrated ability to thoughtfully frame several of its local fascist monuments in a contemporary light that presents the public with a challenge to improve its own... View full entry
Searching for a new job in 2022 in the Emerald City? The Archinect Job Board features employment opportunities from hundreds of firms. For this week's curated jobs round-up, we're featuring 20 jobs from 9 firms based in the Seattle area. As you prepare to find a new job, don't... View full entry
It's a new year and a splendid opportunity to check out some of the latest architecture and design competitions listed on Bustler. Highlighted in our curated picks this week are four briefs calling for a contemporary urban makeover of the iconic OG modernist Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart... View full entry
