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Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s announcement earlier this week halting all but essential construction work in the city has left contractors in other areas of the country wondering if their jurisdictions will also order a temporary stop to their projects.
[...] other areas are under orders that ban nonessential services, causing some construction leaders to wonder whether their work is considered essential or not.
— Construction Dive
With the growing coronavirus pandemic calling for frequently adjusted federal, state, and local orders, a fair amount of uncertainty has gripped the US construction industry. While Boston has completely shut down all nonessential construction activity for at least the next two weeks, contractors... View full entry
The Berlin government said on Tuesday it would create a new hospital to cope with a likely huge increase in coronavirus cases.
The facility, which will house up to 1,000 patients, will be set up in the Berlin Messe trade fair exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district of the German capital.
The hospital will be built with the help of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
— DW
As the coronavirus outbreak rapidly expands also in Germany, officials in Berlin hope to prevent potential bottlenecks in the capital's hospital system with a new medical facility specifically for COVID-19 patients. The country now has more than 10,000 confirmed cases — the third highest in... View full entry
Light, air, and hygiene [...] were the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.
The design and construction of specialized sanatoria coincided with the advent of Modernism. Architectural elements like flat roofs, terraces and balconies, and white- or light-painted rooms spread across Europe. Not unlike the sanatorium, the new architecture was intended to cure the perceived physical, nervous, and moral ailments brought on by crowded cities.
— CityLab
The collective desire to cure and prevent the seemingly unstoppable tuberculosis epidemic through deliberate design choices had given tremendous momentum to a revolutionary movement in our fairly recent architectural past: Modernism. Staircase inside Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium. Photo courtesy... View full entry
Cities around the world are taking necessary precautions to help contain and mitigate the widespread effects of the coronavirus strain COVID-19. And although the United States has slowly increased its efforts to keep the virus at bay, some cities handling looming uneasiness and building panic... View full entry
As coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spread and disrupt the daily lives of people across the globe, forcing many to self-quarantine, we are compiling the best online offerings from artists, museums and galleries. Whether you are staying at home or your local museums and galleries have closed, here are some of the best digital initiatives to satisfy your creative cravings. — The Art Newspaper
With prominent events around the world canceled or postponed and cultural institutions hunkering down during this COVID-19 outbreak, online art exhibitions and virtual museum tours can, or at least attempt to, fill the gap. The Art Newspaper's roundup includes Google Arts & Culture's vast digital... View full entry
As a preventative measure for the spread of coronavirus, Mayor Eric Garcetti took to Facebook Live to announce that he has now taken executive action to close all movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues and gyms until March 31. Restaurants will remain open but will only provide takeout and delivery. However, grocery stores, food banks and pharmacies will remain open. The restrictions go into effect Sunday at midnight. — Deadline
The announcement comes after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced called for the closure of all movie theaters in New York City, Deadline reports. See Mayor Garcetti's full address below: View full entry
In a recent post on instagram, Roto Architects offered a remote working tool it's been developing for virtual collaboration. Called Second Studio, the tool is open source and available for download on github. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"... View full entry
In a statement released today, the 2020 Conference on Architecture announced its postponement due to the progressing developments of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will no longer take place May 14th to 16th in Los Angeles. This comes after Mayor Garcetti's directive to City Departments issued... View full entry
UPDATE: 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture has been postponed On Thursday, March 12th, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a directive to City departments outlining new measures to be taken to limit the spread of COVID-19. With the 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture scheduled to begin... View full entry
In a statement released March 13th, National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) National President Kimberly Dowdell announced that the organization will cancel or postpone events with more than 20 people. Dowdell writes, "We are levaraging technology to replace many of our in-person events... View full entry
In a statement released March 12th, NCARB announced it has adjusted its testing policies to protect the health and safety of licensure candidates. Among those adjustments include: Effective immediately and continuing through the end of April, all ARE appointments can be rescheduled at no cost to... View full entry
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a sweeping executive order on Thursday that allows the state to commandeer hotels and medical facilities to treat coronavirus patients and permits government officials to hold teleconferences in private without violating open meeting laws.
Newsom issued the order hours after he called for the cancellation of gatherings of 250 or more people, marking the first time he has applied so-called social distancing practices to the entire state of California.
— Los Angeles Times
According to the Los Angeles Times, the governor said 198 people tested positive for COVID-19 in California and that the executive order will enhance the state's ability to fight the pandemic going forward. Additionally, the order also granted a 60-day extension for people or businesses to... View full entry
The world’s richest people are chartering private jets to set off for holiday homes or specially prepared disaster bunkers in countries that, so far, appear to have avoided the worst of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Many are...taking personal doctors or nurses on their flights to treat them and their families in the event that they become infected. The wealthy are also besieging doctors in private clinics in Harley Street, London, and across the world, demanding private coronavirus tests.
— The Guardian
According to the Guardian, Robert Vicino, founder and chief executive of Vivos Group, a California-based company constructing underground shelters designed to withstand a range of natural disasters and catastrophes, said his firm had seen a surge in inquiries and sales since the... View full entry
As the spread of the novel coronavirus prompts a cascade of event cancellations and school closures, the rest of the Spring 2020 semester hangs in the balance for many design students and educators. Just this week, Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University, The Ohio State... View full entry
As concerns increase for COVID-19, many cities, institutions, and events have been taking precautions in an effort to mitigate the risk of spreading the disease. The architecture industry has seen its share of impact, with the cancellations and postponements of many prominent events across... View full entry
