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It’s easy to imagine CLT becoming the next luxury building trend to invade the skylines of rapidly gentrifying cities, giving an eco-friendly excuse for remaking the city in service of maximized profit. [...]
In order for mass timber to truly engage with the regenerative power of forests to help alleviate our current climate predicament, it must be linked to a greater movement towards ecological reformation at all scales.
— Failed Architecture
In his latest piece for Failed Architecture, writer and architect Alexander Hadley takes a critical look at the future economical and environmental impact of the accelerating cross-laminated timber boom. "Building from regenerative materials like trees instead of intensively extracted substances... View full entry
...architects have been working with the International WELL Building Institute, an organization that’s developing standards for healthy buildings and is now run by Hodgdon. Since the pandemic, the Institute has been registering more than a million square feet of real estate a day in its certification program, putting buildings on the path to wellness. — WIRED
A new article by WIRED's Sonner Kehrt explores the long term effects of 'healthy' design. "Over the past several months, the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a surge of interest in the role that indoor environments—where we spend 90 percent of our time, even in a normal... View full entry
Results of a new five-year study of recycled concrete show that it performs as well, and in several cases even better, than conventional concrete. Researchers conducted side-by-side comparisons of recycled and conventional concrete within two common applications -- a building foundation and a municipal sidewalk. They found that the recycled concrete had comparable strength and durability after five years of being in service. — Science Daily
Find the complete study Recycled aggregate concrete from large-scale production to sustainable field application by University of British Columbia Okanagan researchers here. View full entry
In true parametric fashion, the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects reveals their plans for a new museum located in Shenzhen, China. The new Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum will be the "pearl" of the city's technology and innovation corridor in the Guangming Science City. The... View full entry
One of the UK’s most famous architects has withdrawn from an environmental coalition in a dispute about the destructive role of aviation in the escalating climate crisis. [...]
The decision follows a row over Foster and Partners’ work on airports around the world – seen by critics as incompatible with tackling the climate and ecological emergency.
— The Guardian
Airport designs have been key projects in Foster + Partners' portfolio for years, with prominent recent commissions and competition entries in Saudi Arabia, Marseille, Chicago, Mexico City, and Beijing. Following Foster's decision to withdraw from his initial commitment, Architects Declare issued... View full entry
[...] the European Union sees a chance to create a new common aesthetic born out of a need to renovate and construct more energy-efficient buildings.
The proposal for energy retrofits is part of the climate actions at the core of the EU’s 1.8 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) coronavirus recovery plan and could result in a sweeping architectural makeover, one that leaders have compared to a new Bauhaus movement for the continent.
— Bloomberg
For Bloomberg CityLab, Kriston Capps and Laura Millan Lombrana contemplate how the European Union's bold $2.1 trillion coronavirus recovery plan, and its embedded measures to make buildings more energy-efficient, could shape architecture and urban design on much of the continent. A new Bauhaus... View full entry
Buro Happold and the Battery Park City Authority have published a 10-year sustainability plan that aims to achieve carbon neutrality for the 36-acre district situated on the southern tip of Manhattan by 2050. The district, which sits just beside the World Trade Center site, contains over... View full entry
Imagine plugging in to your brick house. Red bricks — some of the world’s cheapest and most familiar building materials — can be converted into energy storage units that can be charged to hold electricity, like a battery, according to new research from Washington University in St... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published new and updated AIA contract documents that are designed to "support businesses with reaching their sustainability goals and programming." The latest set of documents focuses on AIA's renewed efforts to center environmental design... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has outlined the initial phases of new strategic and climate action plans. In a recent virtual meeting that took place between April 14 and 17, leaders of the organization convened to outline guiding principles for AIA's next five years. The AIA... View full entry
When Pacific Northwest architecture firm Mahlum set out to design its new Portland, Oregon headquarters, one question the firm asked itself was whether it was willing to “walk the walk” with regards to environmental sustainability. The firm’s response, as its newly completed Living... View full entry
The recent recipients of the 2020 Pritzker Prize, Grafton Architects, have been chosen by the University of Arkansas to partner with Modus Studio to design the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation. Founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are... View full entry
Members of the architecture community know too well the infamously gaudy and ugly reputation of the "McMansion" housing type. Despite the fact that esteemed architecture critics like Kate Wagner have been roasting these buildings (and their owners) for years, more and more of these... View full entry
“Stone,” says architect Amin Taha, “is the great forgotten material of our time. In 99% of cases, it’s cheaper and greener to use stone in a structural way, as opposed to concrete or steel, but we mostly just think of using it for cladding.” — The Guardian
Oliver Wainwright's takeaways from The New Stone Age, a current exhibition at the Building Centre in London. The "great forgotten material of our time" appears to be bracing for somewhat of a comeback with architects like Amin Taha of London-based practice GROUPWORK (also one of the exhibition's... View full entry
