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Apple's new campus has received significant attention during its development phase [...] Apple has shared with Mashable exclusive details and photos of its new corporate offices, including the theater that will serve as the venue for future Apple product launches.
While we've been hearing about the design of the campus and its facilities for nearly five years, installation of the massive, curved glass panels that surround the Main Building’s spaceship-like design is about 33% complete.
— mashable.com
Here are a few more photos of the latest construction progress. Head over to Mashable for more images.The Foster + Partners-designed structure previously in the Archinect news:Construction update: More (unofficial) drone footage of Apple's spaceship campusDrone footage shows the latest... View full entry
Glue is the future of architecture. At least that’s how architect Greg Lynn sees it. And he’s not alone. “Mechanical assembly is already waning in many industries,” Lynn says. “An airplane now is glued together. A car now is glued together. Even a lot of appliances are being glued together.” So why not skyscrapers? — New Scientist
Related stories in the Archinect news:Love Letter to Plywood. By Tom SachsMIT researchers have created a new material that stores and releases solar energyUCL researchers present a new kind of self-cleaning nano-engineered window View full entry
Workers, architects and engineers gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate a milestone in the construction of Los Angeles’ most notable skyscraper at the corner of Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard. The ceremony, known as the topping out, marks completion of the building’s central core: a pillar of concrete that rises more than 892 feet from the foundation.[...]
Upon completion, the Wilshire Grand will rise 1,100 feet and be the tallest building west of Chicago.
— latimes.com
LA's Wilshire Grand previously in the Archinect news:The daring men building LA's New Wilshire Grand towerDowntown LA to set record for world's largest concrete pour View full entry
As cranes have grown in height and girth, the controls to operate them have intensified in number and complexity...the crane units in use these days have libraries of intricate manuals, packed with details...some operators may not have time to fully understand or read completely. Same goes for the maintenance team. When something does go wrong with such large machines...the 'mess and carnage' gets magnified. — Popular Mechanics
Crane safety experts give their thoughts on the leading causes of crane collapses, and why safety regulation is more complex than it seems.Previous news about collapses:Crane collapses in Manhattan, one dead and two seriously injuredMore than 50 dead after crane collapses on Mecca's Grand Mosque... View full entry
Taiwan's Government has ordered an investigation into the collapse of a high-rise building in an earthquake after it emerged tin cans had been used in its construction.
Rescue workers found the cans as they searched for survivors two days after the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 37 people.
— independent.co.uk
However, an engineer speaking to Taiwanese TV news channel CNA explained how using cans in construction was not necessarily illegal: “For such purposes in construction, it was not illegal prior to September 1999, but since then styrofoam and formwork boards have been used instead.”Related... View full entry
The Associated Press reported that the person killed was a Wall Street worker sitting in a parked car. [...]
The accident happened as workers were trying to secure the crane against winds around 20 mph by lowering the boom, which had been extended to as long as 565 feet the day before, officials said. Because the crane was being lowered, workers were directing pedestrians away from it on a street that otherwise would likely have been teeming with people.
— npr.org
A couple of nearby construction workers took video of the collapse on a cellphone – you can watch that here. View full entry
SANAA's "River" community center emerges from the grounds of the New Canaan-based Grace Farms in less than a minute and a half in this time-lapse video by Work Cam Zone. The video captures the meandering structure transforming along with its open landscape, starting from September 2013 to October... View full entry
In an interview with The Times, Dame Zaha Hadid said that the Qataris “should do something” about the issue of migrant workers. [...]
“I’m not a defender of the Qatari situation, but it’s important to get the facts right and then we can discuss it. I’m very happy that the press make the government aware of problems on certain sites. But it doesn’t apply to this site.”
— designmena.com
To read the full (paywalled) The Times interview with Dame Hadid, click here. Previously in the Archinect news: "7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup," new ITUC report findsZaha Hadid defends Qatar World Cup role following migrant worker... View full entry
In a fresh setback for India's tallest skyscraper, Palais Royale at Worli, the Bombay high court on Wednesday held that the 13 upper floors of the 56-storey building as well as a 15-storey public parking tower next to it were "completely illegal". [...]
The builder also sought to claim that the tower with 900 parking spaces was in public interest. The HC disagreed, saying "but for the incentive FSI (that the developer could claim) they would not have constructed it for social service".
— The Times of India
H/T CTBUH.Related stories in the Archinect news:World's first Slum Museum is coming to MumbaiSteven Holl Architects wins star-studded competition to design Mumbai City Museum North WingAre India's cities prepared to withstand an earthquake like in Nepal? View full entry
The city of Rio de Janeiro canceled the construction contract for the Olympic tennis center on Thursday, just 200 days before the start of the games, fining the consortium responsible for delays and breach of contract for the mostly finished venue. [...]
Rio City Hall, which is responsible for the construction, did not say how the tennis center, which is 90-percent complete, will be finished.
— reuters.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Will Rio's Olympic venues be ready in time for the 2016 Games?Brazilian engineering companies building Olympic venues "very probably" broke laws, accepted bribesOlympic Infrastructure Displaces Brazilian Families View full entry
[The International Construction Costs Report 2016] found that New York, London and Hong Kong ranked as the world’s most expensive cities to build in, with strong currencies and significant resource constraints resulting in higher prices.
Elsewhere, the gradual recovery in the Eurozone has meant that these markets have avoided this high construction inflation. While, in Asia, the Chinese economic slowdown and weakening demand in many cities means that overall growth in Asia is expected to ease
— arcadis.com
More on the construction market: As the U.S. loses more Mexican immigrants than it gains, the construction industry must adapt“I thought, ‘What?’ when I heard it would cost ¥252 billion,” Tadao Ando says about National StadiumThe dawn of construction worker robots?In weaker market... View full entry
North Korea held a ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate Mirae Scientists Street, the residential sector dedicated for scientists or engineers of North Korea.
Mirae (“Future”) Scientists Street, located in the center of Pyongyang, directly next to Pyongyang Station adjacent to the Taedong River, is nearing completion. [...]
Wednesday’s report emphasized the term “Pyongyang Speed,” the idea that North Korean workers can produce miraculously fast construction speeds.
— nknews.org
"KCNA reports revealed that one of the buildings is 53 floors high, designed with an artistic exterior and guided under Kim Jong Un’s orders. The street also had a kindergarten, daycare center, school, stores, sports park and more, according to KCNA."h/t CTBUHRelated news on... View full entry
New York’s Kings County is likely to have the most new apartment units delivered in 2016 of any submarket in the U.S., by Axiometrics’ estimation. Some 6,073 units have been identified for delivery in Brooklyn next year as of Nov. 16, a huge increase from the 969 that came to market this year. [...]
renters are able to pay the submarket’s average effective rent of $3,823 (asking rent minus concessions), according to October apartment data.
— forbes.com
More news from the borough:First rendering revealed for Brooklyn's first skyscraperHow an "egalitarian incubator" music venue hopes to revive Brooklyn's art sceneWork finally resumes at Brooklyn's modular prefab towerThe Chinese government is building affordable housing in BrooklynLife After... View full entry
The number of Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has declined. In 2014, 5.6 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico lived in the U.S., down by about 1 million since 2007. [...]
Mexican unauthorized immigrants are more likely than unauthorized immigrants overall to work in the construction industry ... Among Mexican unauthorized immigrants ages 16 and older who were employed in 2012, 19% worked in construction and 13% worked in a wide range of businesses
— pewhispanic.org
The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the trend of declining Mexican-born workers in the U.S. construction industry, leading to a total loss of half a million laborers since 2007. According to a Pew Research Study in "Hispanic Trends" from March of 2015, citing the most recent data... View full entry
A persistent water leak is among the problems that have delayed the opening of the mall, which was supposed to be operating by now, to the first half of 2016. It is the latest setback to bedevil the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the $3.7 billion rail terminal that will also house Westfield’s $1.4 billion shopping center. [...]
The latest twist involves water penetration around the construction site of 3 World Trade Center, an office tower abutting the hub, which began in late summer.
— nytimes.com
Related on Archinect:Massive 'spine' skylight in Calatrava's WTC Oculus nears completionThere's a chance the Hudson is leaking into the WTC siteNYMag talks to Santiago Calatrava about his WTC Station, budget, reputation View full entry