Architects, officials, and villagers confirm the trend: People are discarding traditional materials, mostly mud, in favor of concrete, as soon as they can afford it. As living standards increase making concrete more accessible, some of the world’s hottest, poorest landscapes are rapidly morphing from brown to cinder block grey. — National Geographic
Architects like Francis Kéré have been attempting to buck the trend of using concrete by experimenting with upgraded versions of terrestrial materials like mud bricks that simultaneously provide tools for community-building in developing countries like Burkina Faso. Facade detail of Kéré... View full entry
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a new list from therichest.com has ranked the world’s top ten architects in terms of their total net worth. Big A architecture remunerates extraordinarily well for some, with the total list’s net worth nearing three-quarters of a billion... View full entry
As part of the AEC sector’s effort to decarbonize in light of the industry’s contribution to climate change, architects, engineers, and researchers are increasingly devoting efforts not only to the design of space but to the composition of materials, structural systems, and façades. In the... View full entry
This idea was met with skepticism and didn’t move beyond the whiteboard. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation creating a right to housing, saying he worried it would be too expensive. During that time, Steinberg continued chewing on the idea, looking at places such as New York City and Scotland for ideas on how to enact legislation that would compel government to act and aid homeless people. — The Los Angeles Times
California is home to more than one quarter of the nation’s homeless population. If approved, the law would guarantee the right to housing with a dual “obligation” that requires the individual to accept whatever living situation is offered. The law would take effect beginning in 2023. ... View full entry
Relph’s collection might be described as the first post-internet expression of the genre. The images mostly show buildings that are, in one sense, real or in the process of becoming so. But the rendering posters, created by design firms and developers, are also highly fictive, cinematic branding documents created to comply with a city law requiring public images of buildings under construction. — The New York Times
The arch flaneur Nick Relph has been documenting the city’s whirlwind transformation since the Gulliani administration and, for the past seven years, incorporating a VuPoint digital scanner into his work to produce a physical record of the changes that first made its debut in 2015 in MoMA... View full entry
Mecanoo has shared updated imagery of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. the firm revamped together with OTJ Architects. Photographers Robert Benson and Trent Bell have provided new photos detailing the modernization of the landmark building that was completed in... View full entry
The debate surrounding Herzog & de Meuron's Tour Triangle is picking up this week amidst news that the €670 million ($757 million) project will begin construction within the next month in spite of a torrent of backlash that has beset the development since its announcement in 2008. As the plan... View full entry
Despite some ongoing litigation, New York City took a major step this week toward making outdoor dining a permanent part of the city's infrastructure. On Monday, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously for a zoning text amendment that will create a clean slate for the city to develop and regulate a permanent program, and will ultimately allow more restaurants to set up outdoor dining structures across the city. — Gothamist
The amendment removes geographic restrictions on where outdoor dining spaces can be located in New York, making the application process for sidewalk and roadway eateries much simpler. The City Council and mayor will now have to approve the text amendment. Confidence that it will go through... View full entry
Goettsch Partners has announced the completion of the Pepper Family Wildlife Center, a $41 million renovation, restoration, and expansion of the historic lion house at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. Image: © Tom Harris The new 54,000-square-foot facility nearly doubles the size of the... View full entry
The winning entries have been announced for the 10th iteration of the CTBUH International Student Tall Building Design Competition. Four winners have been selected from over 150 entries, including two teams hailing from Malaysia. The four winners focus on a variety of pressing topics in urbanism... View full entry
Lakisha Woods, CAE has been named as the 15th Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects. Woods is currently the President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences as well as the Secretary and Treasurer of the U.S. Green Building Council... View full entry
The World Monuments Fund has just announced the winner of the Knoll Modernism Prize: Preston Bus Station, restored by John Puttick Associates, was named this year’s stand-out building. The win represents a first for any UK firm since the prize was founded in 2008. WMF President and CEO... View full entry
With the spiritual and material well-being of its next-generation patients in mind, the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine has opened an inpatient facility from Foster + Partners and others that is being heralded as a “hospital of the future.” Located on Penn’s... View full entry
MASS Design Group will be honored alongside the city of Minneapolis by the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design in a public celebration held at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy this evening. The Boston-based firm will receive the prestigious Kanter Tritsch Medal... View full entry
According to Archinect’s Guide to Job Titles, an Architectural Designer exists as a polymorphic phenomenon so varied and nuanced that there subsists no exhaustive description of their fundamental nature. Some might run their own projects, working through all phases of a project... View full entry
