Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills on Tuesday to re-establish the state’s first and only Historically Black College or University (HBCU). The former Lewis College of Business is slated to reopen as the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design in 2022. It was originally founded in Indianapolis in 1928 before relocating to Detroit in 1939 where it operated until closing in 2013. — Detroit Metro Times
This will make it the first HBCU to close and then successfully reopen. Plans for the school’s reopening were announced several months ago, however, Governor Whitmer’s signing of House Bill 5447 and 5448 has made this effort a reality. The school will operate on the College for Creative... View full entry
Continuing with our year-in-review, Bustler's editorial team highlights the winning projects of 2021. From victorious competition entries, academic research accolades, and building awards, here is our collection of the year's top projects. In case you missed our roundup of Bustler's top... View full entry
The Biden administration wants to shove more money into projects that are supposed to capture CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial facilities before they can escape and heat up the planet. But carbon capture technologies that the Department of Energy has already supported in the name of tackling climate change have mostly fallen flat, according to a recent report by the watchdog Government Accountability Office. — The Verge
According to the report, the Department of Energy (DOE) has invested about $1.1 billion in 11 carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects since 2009. Of those, only three were ever built, however, the sole participating coal plant shut down in 2020, leaving only two industrial projects... View full entry
Early into his second term, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $10 million initiative, led by his wife, that would break the bronze ceiling by introducing seven new statues of historical women to New York City’s commemorative landscape of mostly men. It was to be one of Mr. de Blasio’s signature marks on the landscape.
Days from the end of his administration, with only $1 million dedicated, none of those sculptures has yet materialized.
— The New York Times
The failure mirrors de Blasio’s much-hyped but ultimately fruitless promise to remove some $1 billion from the police budget, which critics say was an insincere attempt to assuage the Black Lives Matter movement at a time when activists were taking to the streets nationwide to protest the... View full entry
2021 proved to be another gripping year filled with moments of triumph and challenge. However, as the architecture industry attempted to regain a sense of 'stability,' architects, academics, and designers persevered. Reflecting on the year, our Bustler editorial team has curated a few highlights... View full entry
More sad news to pass along in the closing days of another tragic year as The New York Times is reporting that influential preservationist and urban planner Donald H. Elliott passed away at his home in Brooklyn this past Thursday. Elliott was chairman of New York’s City Planning Commission... View full entry
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Mayor's Office of Climate Resiliency (MOCR) have released the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan, a framework for comprehensive flood defense infrastructure to fortify Lower Manhattan in response to the... View full entry
As another year comes to a close and the industry eagerly awaits what 2022 has to offer, firms are seeking to hire entry-level, mid-career, and senior-level architects and designers to kickstart the new year. For this week's curated job picks, we're highlighting twelve firms with current... View full entry
Ryuichi Sasaki/Sasaki Architecture has returned to the international spotlight with its winning entry for the mixed-use portion of this year’s Architecture MasterPrize that adds an iconic new touch to one of Tokyo’s oldest neighborhoods. Located in the city’s Minato ward, the... View full entry
If there’s one thing that 2021 has shown us, it is that, for better or for worse, the world is evolving faster than ever. While this is a natural phenomenon, it’s apparent that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the level of uncertainty the world faces. Sociopolitical and... View full entry
What can be said of a world where one billionaire wants to build a giant tulip-shaped tower of little practical use and another wants to house thousands of students in windowless rooms in a block with all the charm of an Amazon distribution centre? — The Guardian
The Observer critic further continued his contrasting of Foster + Partner’s failed Tulip Tower with the Munger Hall development in California, claiming that each was the vanity project of a wayward billionaire. “Both projects seem driven by ego, but in the wide space between the brutal... View full entry
Alphabet’s self-driving car company Waymo is partnering with Chinese automaker Geely to create a fleet of all-electric, self-driving robotaxis. — The Verge
The cars will be designed in Sweden, where Geely owns Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Waymo will integrate the Waymo Driver, their autonomous driving technology, into Geely's electric, transportation-as-a-service (Taas)-optimized Zeekr vehicle. Waymo plans to deploy the vehicles in the US within... View full entry
The Pennsylvania city announced in August it will become a dark sky city starting in 2022, meaning that it will switch to lower wattage LED bulbs and add shades along bridges, roads and other public areas. It’s the first city in the eastern part of the U.S. to adopt such policies but it joins other cities, including Tucson, Sedona and Flagstaff in Arizona, and Fulda in Germany, in their efforts to reduce light pollution and increase energy efficiency. — Bloomberg CityLab
The dark-sky movement officially began in 1988, has produced events such as Earth Hour, and is currently expanding into other U.S. cities such as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Light pollution caused by stronger “white” LED fixtures has been shown to cause health and... View full entry
The fate of one of the most iconic artworks in the nation’s capital has been officially resolved months after The Cultural Landscape Foundation assured that its future would be set in stone. Artist Elyn Zimmerman’s massive granite Marabar installation has found a new home... View full entry
Pursuing an architecture education is no easy feat, and with the events that took place in 2020 and 2021, there were plenty of obstacles that could dampen the goals of students around the world. Nevertheless, architecture schools learned as much as they could in 2020 to help students and faculty... View full entry
