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The vertical-farming movement continues to grow with the recent unveiling of FARM-X's modular vertical-farming concept, which the Oakland, CA-based organization developed with Zurich-based Conceptual Devices founder Antonio Scarponi and an agronomy team led by University of Bologna Professor... View full entry
An unregulated squatter settlement, Slab City is home to perhaps 150 year-round residents — refugees from mortgages and bill collectors, former hippies, rebels and self-identified misfits — who live in personal camps made from old trailers, truck campers and crude lean-tos, and call themselves Slabbers. From October to April, the population swells to perhaps 2,000 as snowbirds, attracted by the guaranteed sunshine and zero fees, arrive in sometimes majestic motor homes. — NY Times
But now, as the New York Times article documents, the residents of Slab City are divided over the fate of their shared home. After news began to percolate that the California State Land Commission might sell the land, the "Slabbers" began to debate what to do. Should they band together to try to... View full entry
When it was unveiled in New York City in April 1931, the starkly modern Aluminaire House was an overnight sensation that emboldened an architectural movement. Designed as a case study by architects A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey, the three-story house, which was built in 10 days, became the first all-metal prefabricated house in the U.S. — Palm Springs Life
After Sunnyside Gardens was a no-go, it looks like the Aluminaire House will be heading to sunny Palm Springs, California, according to an announcement by Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet during a fundraising event at Palm Springs Modernism Week last month. The Aluminaire House Foundation plans on... View full entry
As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002... Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one... — LA Times
According to the article, written by Jay Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at NASA JPL, despite historic low temperatures this winter, California's "wet season" did little to alleviate the drought. In fact, this recent January was the driest in the state's recorded history, which goes back all... View full entry
For [Hyperloop Transportation Technologies], the Quay Valley test track is a way to test its idea of smaller hyperloop rings that could eventually connect to a bigger loop that runs along I-5. For Quay Valley and Hays, the test track is a wildly futuristic attraction [...]
It follows a narrative pulled from the world of consumer technology, rather than conventional urban planning. Quay Valley isn't really a place with people yet ... it's a collection of technologies that residents will use.
— gizmodo.com
Transit oriented developments, or TODs, are mixed-use urban nodes designed with public transit as their core. The typology emerged from the idea that well-integrated and easy access to transit supports businesses and an active urban life, and that strategic transportation planning can help make... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
Sen. Carol Liu on Wednesday announced a bill, SB 192, that will require bicycle riders to wear helmets or face a $25 fine.
“Any responsible bicycle rider should wear a helmet,” Liu said ... “This law will help protect more people and make sure all riders benefit from the head protection that a helmet provides.”
— sacbee.com
California law currently requires anyone under 18 to wear a helmet when riding a bike, nonmotorized scooter, skateboard, or wearing in-line or roller skates. Liu's SB 192 bill would extend this provision to everyone, not just minors, and also require cyclists to wear reflective clothing at night... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
Jon Jerde, founder and chairman of the Venice, California-based Jerde Partnership, passed away today in his home in the Brentwood area in Los Angeles after a longterm illness. He was 75. Born in Alton, Illinois on January 22, 1940, Jerde grew up in the oilfields of the West where his father worked... View full entry
While American airlines carry more than 700 million passengers annually, nobody wants to fly out of his own backyard. Nobody that is, except the citizens of Ontario, California. [...]
Ontario wants as many of those potential 30 million passengers as it can get. And it has been pleading, negotiating and suing for the right to do so. [...]
“The Ontario Airport is the largest economic engine in the Inland Empire ... It generates jobs, revenue to the city and to the entire region"
— nextcity.org
In the heart of Hollywood's Barnsdall Park, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House will officially reopen on February 13, as recently announced by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, and the Barnsdall Park Art Foundation. This isn't the first time the iconic house has been... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming... View full entry