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MVRDV officially got the green light from the City of Paris for their plans to restructure the Vandamme Nord at Gaîté-Montparnasse in Paris' 14th arrondissement. Built in the early 1970s by French architect Pierre Dufau, the mixed-use complex is located on a triangular island bordered by Rue... View full entry
“Our business is more regional and high-end focused,” he said. “There are gradients of dead or dying or flat, but anything that’s caught in the middle of the market is problematic." — NYT
Nelson D. Schwartz explores 'The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls'. One response is articulated by Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones who has proposed Retrofitting Suburbia - whereby dying malls are rehabilitated, dead "big box" stores re-inhabited and parking lots our transformed into... View full entry
Most of the Bay Area roads, bridges, water systems, dams and levees fared well in Sunday's 6.0 earthquake near Napa, but the damage in the picturesque Wine Country town was a jolting reminder of the vulnerability of public services for 7 million people. A Big One -- such as a 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault that runs beneath heavily populated Oakland and Berkeley -- would inflict more damage to key infrastructure, experts said. — San Jose Mercury News
Overall, the damage caused by the Napa earthquake could have been a lot worse. But a Los Angeles Times article documenting how even retrofitted historic buildings were damaged showcases the profound vulnerability of older structures in California. According to the article: "The destruction... View full entry
How do you transform over 2 million Dutch terraced houses into more spacious, neutral-energy homes while they're still being inhabited? According to a team of TU Delft students, a solution to that is Prêt-à-Loger.Translated to "ready to be lived in," the Prêt-à-Loger... View full entry
The city of Los Angeles is considering a proposal from Councilman Bernard Parks that would pass the cost of retrofitting apartment buildings on to tenants. Currently, only 50% of major renovation costs may be passed along to tenants, with landlords and building owners paying the cost of retrofitting. — scpr.org
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have co-published a new guide for architects on deep energy retrofits. But this is not just a technical design guide; instead, the report explains why deep retrofits offer architects a good business opportunity and outlines the financial arguments and incentive programs needed to sell retrofit designs to clients. — greensource.construction.com
On Aug. 11, the Illawarra Flame House of Team UOW Australia (University of Wollongong and TAFE Illawarra Institute) won the 2013 Solar Decathlon China. Co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Administration China, the competition challenged university teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy-efficient, and stylish. Participants included 22 teams from 35 universities, with students of over 35 nationalities in 13 countries. — bustler.net
... we asked a few forward-thinking professionals in the business of buildings. The question went something like this: If we were going to remake a famous building or bridge using the materials we have today or will have in the future, what would we do differently? That's just vague enough to make things interesting. Here's what we got back. — popsci.com
