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Make no mistake: Drones are coming, and they’re going to change a lot of things about how we shape our lives. So why shouldn’t we change how we shape our buildings to get ready for them?
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That’s the basis for my Drone Tower, which would look like a futuristic condo building, with large balconies built to accommodate small electric aircraft or shipping drones. You wouldn’t need to buy your own drone, you’d simply order a ride with an app like a taxi—and hop in right from your terrace.
— Wired
For more on the intersections between autonomous flying machines and the city, check out these links:Unequal Scenes: drone images reveal Cape Town's "architecture of apartheid"This drone video takes you on a fascinating flight through the guts of Seattle's Bertha tunneling machineDrones for Good... View full entry
In any city, space is a commodity. In South African cities space is historical and emotional. A new photo series by an American living in Cape Town captures the dramatic inequality of South Africa’s most beloved city. From an aerial view, Cape Town’s scenic beauty gives way to a stark reminder of the country’s past and the continued racial segregation. [...]
“Looking straight down from a height of several hundred meters, incredible scenes of inequality emerge,” he writes on his website.
— qz.com
On his website, Unequal Scenes, the creator of the aerial imagery, Johnny Miller, writes:"Discrepancies in how people live are sometimes hard to see from the ground. The beauty of being able to fly is to see things from a new perspective - to see things as they really are. Looking straight down... View full entry
As Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct sat free of cars overhead and drivers attempted to move around the city during the roadway’s planned 2-week closure, a new drone video Tuesday showcased again what all the fuss is about. A view inside the SR 99 tunnel won’t get much better than this until you’re actually able to drive through it. [...]
The 4-minute video captures what has been built behind nearly 1,600 feet of mining along Seattle’s waterfront.
— geekwire.com
Bertha previously in the Archinect news: Seattle's massive Bertha tunnel drill is up for repair, but still faces a shaky outlook View full entry
A drone skyscraper has been proposed by designers Hadeel Ayed Mohammed, Yifeng Zhao and Chengda Zhu that acts as a central control terminal for drones to dock and recharge, situated in the heart of Manhattan.
The ‘dronescraper’, dubbed ‘the hive’ has been proposed as an alternative to Rafael Vinoy’s 432 Park Avenue superstructure, which is set to become the tallest residential tower in the western hemisphere.
— Design MENA
The skyscraper has been undergoing some significant design reconceptualizations lately. Here's a round-up of the most interesting takes:A closer look at BIG's West 57th Street "courtscraper"Screen/Print #30: SOILED's "Cloudscrapers"A bamboo skyscraper fosters public life View full entry
Using drones for aerial photography has been a source of controversy for several years now. But amid increasing concerns over privacy and safety, some conservation scientists are hoping drone owners will help them to document sea level rise.
With an expected increase in storm activity in the Pacific Ocean this winter, scientists believe they are getting a glimpse of the impacts of climate change on coastlines.
— scpr.org
To see an interactive example of a DroneDeploy-stitched high-resolution map, click here.Related stories in the Archinect news:The Ehang passenger drone might be another way people will get around town somedayLicense and registration, please: new FAA regulations mandate drone... View full entry
The idea behind the Chinese-built 184 is that users will simply get in, power it up, select their destination using a 12-inch touchscreen tablet display, then press the 'take-off' button. The drone's automated flight systems will take over from there, managing tasks such as communication with air traffic control and other aircraft, obstacle avoidance, and of course navigation... — gizmag
Self-driving cars, self-driving bikes, the Hyperloop slowly becoming a reality, what's next for urban mobility? Self-driving passenger drones, of course. Smart-drone enterprise Ehang unveiled a single-seat, battery-powered Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) called the Ehang 184 at the Consumer... View full entry
Starting on Monday, individuals who own recreational drones will have to register their devices with the Federal Aviation Administration. The mandatory registration program applies to drones that weigh between 0.55 and 55 pounds. — CNBC
According to the report, drones that were purchased before yesterday have to be registered by February 19th, 2016. If you buy a drone in the future, then you'll have to register it before flying it for the first time.If you don't, prepare to pay a steep fine: up to $27,500. That being said... View full entry
NBBJ calls the concept No-Shadow Tower, though it would be more accurate to call it the Smaller-Shadow-From-One-of-Two-Towers, since it depends on a pair of buildings separated by an open space. For that reason, the technique is an awkward fit for New York — NY Magazine
A weeklong series of ideas for improving urban life, ranging from an examination of how Next-Generation Drones Will Save New York City’s Infrastructure, to how new building designs will usher in the Age of Shadowless Skyscrapers. View full entry
These magnanimous drones, themselves having no need for a footbridge, build a suspension bridge for their human underlings in the Flying Machine Arena laboratory of ETH Zurich.Developed as part of ongoing research in aerial construction, these two quadrocopters are capable of building the entire... View full entry
...From seemingly out of nowhere, a large quad-rotor drone drops out the cloudless sky over Dubai Internet City, hovering insect-like just above the heads of the men, watching them with camera-eyes.
Before they can even notice, a squad of policemen – wearing helmets, body armour, and carrying assault rifles – rush them...
Welcome to Dubai, and to one of the more awkward moments of an already odd competition called Drones For Good. We’re here to watch teams compete for a million-dollar prize...
— the BBC
Apple's "spaceship" campus continues to be a hotspot for drones to film the project gradually coming to life. One of those drones belongs to Silicon Valley-based photographer/videographer Duncan Sinfield, who posted a new video today showing the latest additions to the campus. As Sinfield pilots... View full entry
Verizon, the US’s largest wireless telecom company, is developing technology with Nasa to direct and monitor America’s growing fleet of civilian and commercial drones from its network of phone towers.
According to documents obtained by the Guardian, Verizon signed an agreement last year with Nasa “to jointly explore whether cell towers … could support communications and surveillance of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at low altitudes”.
— The Guardian
Currently, the Federal Aviation Authority doesn't have recourse to adequate resources or personnel to monitor rapidly-increasing drone traffic. Nasa's new unmanned aircraft traffic management system hopes to be able to enable "safe low-altitude drone flights" soon. By partnering with Verizon, they... View full entry
We have new technologies in architecture those makes us feel excited when we see them applied on a facade, a roof etc. or simply used for designing. That gives us ideas about what we can design with which technologies. And we honestly believe that designing a building with high ecologic qualities... View full entry
UK/Dubai-based media company Electric Lime Productions recently released a film for the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi called "The Arcology", defined as "a vision of architectural design principles for very densely populated habitats (hyperstructures)"The short video below is a highlight from a... View full entry
Despite its odd appearance, the Gimball is the first collision-tolerant drone that could prove itself useful in a variety of applications, from everyday tasks to hazardous situations. Designed by Flyability, the Gimball recently won a $1 million prize in the UAE's Drones for Good international... View full entry
