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For the Harvard professor, founder of the university's Healthy Buildings Program, our building design and public health officials have ignored indoor air systems for too long – that is, until the COVID pandemic hit. [...]
"If you look at the way we design and operate buildings –and I mean offices, schools, local coffee shop[s] – we haven't designed for health," Allen said. "We have bare minimum standards."
— CBS News
Professor Joe Allen, who also does consultation work for developers, recently advised on the Amazon ‘HQ2’ project in Virginia from NBBJ. He and his colleagues at Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program center their work around six research areas (Homes, Schools, Business, Materials... View full entry
The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is planning to build a 250,000-square-meter quarantine complex in response to the growing threat of highly transmissible Covid-19 mutations such as the Delta variant. The announcement was made by Zhong Nanshan, one of China’s top epidemiologists, who... View full entry
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rebuilding part of New Delhi, but the mammoth undertaking is drawing fire [...]
The massive project — which local media have estimated could cost about 200 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) — has grown more controversial as India’s coronavirus cases have exploded. On social media, some questioned the need for spending on new government structures at a time when the nation is dealing with severe fallouts from the pandemic.
— Bloomberg CityLab
As India struggles to contain a new devastating wave of Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, opposition is further growing to Prime Minister Modi's controversial redesign plan of the historic Central Vista in the capital Delhi which will include a new parliament building and several... View full entry
More than 50 countries are racing to vaccinate their populations to fend off the rising death toll of a third wave of infections. To supplement the existing network of hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies and other healthcare facilities, many are establishing mass vaccination sites capable of processing crowds — often sports arenas, convention centers and stadiums, but also parking lots and deserted shopping malls. — Bloomberg CityLab
Bloomberg CityLab takes a look at how large sports, cultural, and civic facilities are being converted into mass vaccination sites in cities around the world. View full entry
The pandemic has underlined how broken the UK’s model for urban development is. [...]
It is hard to see now amid the depression and anger, but the pandemic did briefly show cities acting on the basis of general human need: rough sleepers being housed, mutual aid groups being set up, evictions being suspended. Yet the possibility of any long-term change is rapidly being lost.
— The Guardian
Tribune culture editor Owen Hatherly's new housing opinion piece for The Guardian. View full entry
The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright sheds light on the incredible exploitive workplace abuses happening in the UK in a recent piece titled Furlough fraud, snooping and firings: architects speak out over lockdown exploitation. From never-ending work days, to secret webcam recordings, and even bizarre... View full entry
Urban design and architectural practice Gómez Platero had unveiled designs for the world's first large-scale memorial to the victims of COVID-19, due to reside on the edge of a section of urban waterfront in Uruguay. Dubbed the "World Memorial to the Pandemic,"the monument will be an... View full entry
Carlo Ratti Associati has completed and installed the first unit of CURA in Turin, Northern Italy. Previously reported on Archinect, we reported on the project, which stands for "Connected Unites for Respiratory Ailments" was spearheaded by Carlo Ratti Associati and Italian architect Italo Rota... View full entry
New guidance from the Treasury Department appears to allow any U.S. firms with 500 or fewer employees to qualify for the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program regardless of revenue, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The initiative was created as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill enacted late last month. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, President Donald Trump's administration released the new guidance April 7th after the AGC raised concerns that many small construction firms appeared to be excluded from the initially drafted program. View full entry
With construction deemed essential during the citywide "Safer at Home," order, work has continued at many building sites across Los Angeles - though with new regulations to account for the outbreak of coronavirus...
Faced with a deluge of complaints about noise and vibration from Angelenos sheltering in place, 5th District Councilmember Paul Koretz has proposed temporary limits on construction hours during the COVID-19 emergency.
— Urbanize Los Angeles
According to Urbanize LA, Councilmember Koretz proposed a motion to shift construction hours in residential and multi-family residential zones from 7 am to 9 pm on Monday through Friday to 9 am to 9 pm during the week, from 8 am to 6 pm on Saturdays, and on holidays to 9 am to 6 pm, giving... View full entry
We can see our cities for the first time without the choking traffic, dirty air and honking horns that have so often made them intolerable.
Throughout the world, the coronavirus has forced extreme changes in our behavior in just days. And we’re already seeing the impact of those changes: On Monday, for example, Los Angeles had the cleanest air of any major city in the world.
— The New York Times
In today's NYT Opinion piece, Allison Arieff attempts to look at the benefits of the global social distancing experiment, from the cleaner city air through unprecedented street access for pedestrians and cyclists to potentially lasting design interventions in the public urban space. "Covid... View full entry
In an effort to lessen the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and to take advantage of fewer vehicles on the road during a 30-day stay-at-home order, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the state DOT to accelerate $2.1 billion of transportation projects. — Construction Dive
In an April 1 briefing, according to Construction Dive, the Florida Governor said the state is moving up construction on the $865M Howard Frankland Bridge project between Tampa and St. Petersburg by four weeks; a road widening project in Palm Beach County by three months; the $... View full entry
What will happen to home-sharing in the wake of coronavirus? It’s one of many questions about the fate of pre-pandemic sharing-economy juggernauts like Airbnb.
[...] with tourism on hold, national economies staggered, and public attitudes about shared space very much in question, the prospects for that industry are now murky.
— CityLab
Feargus O'Sullivan on the consequences of the short-term rental market's collapse, with particular focus on the industry's dominating player, Airbnb. In the aftermath of a worldwide wave of coronavirus-related booking cancellations, some apartments are reportedly returning to the local... View full entry
For most architecture students, faculty, and staff around the world, working from home has become the new normal since campuses closed in response to the sweeping pandemic several weeks ago. Archinect wanted to find out how things had been going so far for the architectural academic community and... View full entry
Architecture firms Weber Thompson of Seattle and MZA of Bellevue are helping supply face shields and goggles to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic locally.
Over a two-week period, Weber Thompson plans to print 100 bands — the rigid plastic piece to which the clear face shield attaches to protect the wearer. The bands will be delivered to Seattle Makers, which will attach them and distribute the shields.
— Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
According to the Seattle DJC, the group's goal is to provide 5,000 shields for "local hospitals, essential businesses and facilities, homeless shelter workers, and others fighting COVID-19. Weber Thompson is using their 3D printer to create the bands for the face shields, each takes... View full entry
