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On July 24, 2021, the AIA California Board of Directors officially declared a climate emergency to immediately accelerate the de-carbonization of the built environment. This action calls on each of us to make immediate and meaningful impacts in our profession, it enables AIA CA to move rapidly and boldly to influence public policy, and it challenges other organizations to join us in recognizing the importance of climate action and the immediacy of the issue. — AIA California
Wildfires have dominated the news cycle for three of the last four fire seasons. Architects all over the state have been proffering solutions ranging from ICFing homes to fireproof prefabricated Quonset huts. The AIA declaration comes on the heels of the UN’s devastating Climate Action... View full entry
A Chico-based general contractor with a degree in architecture is attempting to use pre-fabricated, non-combustible, eco-friendly and customizable home packages to help rebuild homes in Paradise and other areas of California where replacement homes due to natural disasters still must be built. — The Mercury News
The city of Chico was in the crosshairs of the 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed over 18,000 homes in and around Butte County over a 17-day span. This week, an entire town in Plumas County was razed by the Dixie Fire. Steelmaster has more on Vern Sneed's Q Cabin Kit here. Related Reading... View full entry
Across southern Europe, large wildfires have so far killed eight people and caused mass evacuations while also threatening to damage ancient cultural sites. In Greece, authorities have partially closed the Acropolis and other major archaeological sites while battling with dozens of conflagrations around Athens. — Hyperallergic
Greece is currently in the midst of its worst heatwave in over thirty years, and the capital region has been squarely in the crosshairs as the heat has combined with encroaching wildfires to create an emergency situation in Athens. The UNESCO World Heritage Site has recently been... View full entry
The USC Architectural Guild Charrette is an annual design competition held by the school that invites fourth-year, fifth-year, and graduate students to compete in a one-day charrette geared around a specific design prompt. This year, the prompt challenged students to design a fire-resilient... View full entry
The samples he collects will help scientists better understand how the massive increase in seasonal wildfires burning through residential areas might be affecting our health. Where smoke once contained the remnants of only biomass (trees and other organic matter), fires are now burning up homes—structures that contain thousands of synthetic chemicals, paints, plastics, and metals that smolder and combust into tiny particles. — National Geographic
As the state of California begins preparing for another wildfire season, November's Camp Fire—the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date—offers up some important lessons. A new analysis released by McClatchy looked at property records in order to make sense of... View full entry
Nearly 16,000 structures have been destroyed in the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in the history of California. (The next nine worst blazes in the state together destroyed 20,500 structures.) The devastation is in part a story of how climate change–induced “boom and bust” cycles of rainfall and drought have made firetraps of California forests. But it’s also a story about the way we build. — Slate
In lieu of recent events, California has been hit with a wave of wildfires. Affected in both the Southern and Northern areas of California, the recent months have left many Californians with nothing. Areas have been reduced to ash, leaving homeowners to evacuate the area. The blame can be pointed... View full entry
The Woosley Fire, as of Wednesday morning, had burned through 97,620 acres of LA County's famed Malibu Canyon and neighboring communities nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains. Long home to an unruly mix of surfers, hippies, and celebrities, the fires have devastated numerous firebelt suburb... View full entry
After a week of wildfires raging through the town of Fort McMurray and the surrounding area, more than 500,000 acres of forest and 2,400 buildings have been destroyed in Alberta, Canada. Rachel Notley, Alberta's premier, said that 90% of Fort McMurray remains intact, though several neighborhoods were complete losses...While the last fires in town are put out, and infrastructure repaired, more than 80,000 residents will have to wait at least another two weeks before they can return. — The Atlantic
More on Archinect:Fire on 50th floor of Chicago's Hancock Center left five people injuredTrial by fire: man waits out raging wildfires in concrete homeFlying firefighters: the jetpack is quickly becoming a realityIn case of fire, use elevators View full entry
As the dry, beetle-kill pine blew up in the West Fork fires, which have charred more than 110,000 acres, firefighters used helicopters and air tankers to divert the fire from valuable resources and dug a "dozer line" to defend the town of South Fork. In the Rio Grande National Forest, where rugged terrain presents dangerous conditions for ground crews, firefighters have battled the flames judiciously, on their own terms. — sgvbtribune.com
As the West Fork fires rage on in southwestern Colorado, local firefighters have come to understand the dangers involved with fighting fires in areas plagued with beetle-kill trees. Typically, after beetles attack and kill these trees, the dry needles become an ignition source. The real danger... View full entry
