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Zurich-based architects and roboticists have created the In-situ Fabricator, an autonomous construction robot capable of laying bricks into pre-programmed structures. Designers at the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication laboratory believe a future generation of the robot could be used widely on building sites. — Reuters
According to Mathias Kohler of ETH Zurich, "The benefit from an architectural point of view is that you can really design the construction directly, so you can plan for how it is built instead of designing your plan and then that plan afterwards being converted on the construction site. So it... View full entry
Construction safety netting may not sound like the stuff which picturesque cityscapes are made of, and yet: Vancouver, B.C. was host to an art installation known as "City Fabric" this past August and September which produced more gorgeous visuals (and sly references to real estate speculation)... View full entry
A shortage of US curtain walling makers caused by the 2008 crash is so severe that it is halting projects and has even forced one developer to open its own factory. [...]
As a result the price for curtain walling systems has risen between 35% and 45% in the past 18 months, and lead times have increased dramatically [...]
In New York, the availability of cladding systems has become the single main determinant of programme and schedule.
— globalconstructionreview.com
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
After a boom in construction and investment in real estate projects in recent years, work is drying up amid a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy. Property developers are cutting back on new projects, and with construction starts down 16% in the first half this year from a year ago, many firms are cutting salaries or letting staff go. [...]
“We are adjusting to a slower pace of urbanization in China with a recovery of the American and Middle East markets”
— blogs.wsj.com
More from the architecture market in China:How the "Chinese Steve Jobs" is trying to build the ideal cityConstruction stalled on 'world's tallest building', so locals made its foundation into a fish farmA landscape architect just joined China's roster of billionairesChinese prefab company builds a... View full entry
ThyssenKrupp's MULTI elevator test tower is happening, indeed — and at a seemingly impressive rate. Less than 10 months after starting construction, the currently 232-meter structure in the German city of Rottweil recently celebrated its topping out. ThyssenKrupp is aiming to have the tower... View full entry
Santiago Calatrava said the roof would open.
And evidently it will.
On Friday morning, a 5,700-pound glass panel was hoisted into place as a 355-foot-long operable skylight took final form in the Oculus pavilion of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by Mr. Calatrava. Another panel went up in the afternoon.
Those are among the last of 996 pieces of blast-resistant glass to have been installed at the Oculus since March 15. The glazing should be finished on Monday [...].
— nytimes.com
Here are some more photos of the skylight's construction progress in the past few weeks (courtesy of WTC Progress).More about the WTC Transportation Hub in the Archinect news:NYMag talks to Santiago Calatrava about his WTC Station, budget, reputationHow Cost of Train Station at World Trade Center... View full entry
work stalled after concerns from regulators over the safety of the skyscraper and its environmental impact and funding.
With no progress on the project in sight, villagers nearby have started to raise fish in its 2.6-hectare water-filled foundations [...]
One villager started to raise fish in March and has invested over 20,000 yuan in his business. “I raise fish on the construction site. It is not in secret, neither have I ever been stopped”
— scmp.com
Construction on the would-be world's tallest building, known as Sky City in Changsha, China, began in 2013, under leadership of Broad Sustainable Building. Sky City made headlines not only for its proposed record-breaking height, but for the speed at which it was to be completed – Broad... View full entry
"There were many meetings when the Apple representative would pick up your [iPhone] and say: 'That's what we're building.' What that means is — if you look at the phone, there's the sheen on the phone, there's the bevel on the phone, there's how much shine they have ... every piece of that phone is engineered, and the building is the same way." [...]
The project is so extensive — and Apple is so demanding — that Apple Campus 2 has effectively "raised the bar for construction standards"
— businessinsider.com
For more news on Apple's under-construction second campus in Cupertino:Apple under fire for not hiring construction workers with past felonies for their new campusDrone footage shows the latest construction status of the Foster-designed Apple campusApple CEO Tim Cook says new spaceship campus will... View full entry
City of St. Petersburg officials formally approved a $5.2 million contract that will ultimately lead to the construction of the new St. Petersburg Pier. The team consisting of Rogers Partners, ASD, and WORKSHOP: Ken Smith Landscape Architect had the winning proposal for the second run of the St... View full entry
Builders pulled back from Mauna Kea as hundreds of protesters set up roadblocks to oppose construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on top of Hawaii’s sacred mountain. State and local police arrested a dozen demonstrators. — RT
"Protesters say they are taking a stand to defend Mauna Kea, sacred to native Hawaiians, from the international conglomerate attempting to build the mega-telescope, also known as the TMT. They say the 18-story building represents an unacceptable desecration of the mountain."The Thirty Meter... View full entry
This relatively low-tech method is among a battery of tests that materials scientists are using to determine why several anchor rods securing the newest portion of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the region’s busiest, failed their earthquake inspections. The first alarms sounded in 2013, when seismic tests found 32 faulty rods. They’d been sitting in a large pool of water, corroding. — wired.com
Previously:Bolts along Bay Bridge bike path failAfter $6.4 Billion, San Francisco Bridge Remains a MessTime-Lapse of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Construction View full entry
A groundbreaking ceremony yesterday marked the beginning of construction for the new Maggie's Centre Barts that's coming to Northeast London next year. The 18 Maggie's Centres across the UK offer free practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer and their loved ones. During the... View full entry
“Our work creates actionable strategies, integrating healthy building protocols, healthy products and green science with design research to directly impact the health of our building materials,” said Alison Mears, dean of the School of Design Strategies at Parsons and director of the [Healthy Materials Lab]. — The New School’s Parsons School of Design
Co-founded by The New School's Parsons School of Design, Healthy Building Network, Green Science Policy Institute and Health Product Declaration Collaborative, the Healthy Materials Lab (HML) is focused on reducing the amount of toxic substances found in building materials, while also encouraging... 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