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Britain said 34 high-rise apartment blocks had failed fire safety checks carried out after the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze, including several in north London where residents were forced to evacuate amid chaotic scenes. — Reuters
Two weeks ago, a low-income residential tower in London tragically caught fire resulting in the death of at least 79 occupants. The incident has sparked a national (and even international) conversation about the safety standards set by London officials for low-income residents as it has been... View full entry
There are tens of thousands of buildings in more than 87 tower blocks across the United Kingdom clad in the same aluminum composite that experts claim was largely responsible for the severity of the blaze that erupted on Grenfell Tower in Kensington and claimed at least 79 lives. The material... View full entry
Twelve people have died in a west London tower block fire and the number of deaths are expected to rise, police have said. [...]
Grenfell Tower underwent a two-year £10m refurbishment as part of a wider transformation of the estate, that was completed last year. [...]
Before and during the refurbishment, the local Grenfell Action Group claimed that the block constituted a fire risk and residents warned that site access for emergency vehicles was "severely restricted".
— BBC
While it's still too early to determine the cause of the fire, the BBC reports that "before and during the refurbishment, the local Grenfell Action Group claimed that the block constituted a fire risk and residents warned that site access for emergency vehicles was "severely restricted"." Latest... View full entry
A major project in north London has just received planning permission; a ‘pixelated’ residential scheme will replace a historic clock tower and a derelict petrol station. The architects behind the project, NEUBAU, are an emerging practice consisting of thinkers and designers with international... View full entry
London-based practice Architects of Invention (AI) has submitted a design proposal for 500 residential units in Birmingham’s Digbeth area.The practice was approached by Chinese private equity fund PGC- Capital whose The Jewel Court, 77 one-two bed luxury apartments, is already on site in... View full entry
Kwong Von Glinow Design Office was awarded 1st Prize for their New York Affordable Housing Challenge competition entry. Their project responds to Mayor de Blasio’s priority placed on creating more affordable housing in New York City, by using both new sites and redeveloping existing sites... View full entry
The standard yardstick for judging housing affordability is to look at the median level of rents or home prices. As we all remember from statistics, the median is the observation in the middle of the distribution. And while for many purposes, it’s a reliable indicator of typical prices, in some neighborhoods, particularly those with a mix of expensive and cheap housing, the median is actually a weak indicator of affordability. — City Observatory
"For an illustration of this problem, imagine two neighborhoods. In both places, the median home costs $300,000. But in the first neighborhood, every home costs exactly $300,000, while in the second, there are a range of homes from $100,000 to $500,000. Although both neighborhoods have the same... View full entry
A new report by the online property marketplace LendInvest reveals that four out of five of Britain’s housebuilders have gone out of business in the last 30 months. This is largely due to the dominance of the eight largest builders—responsible for constructing more than 50% of the country’s... View full entry
Urban policy experts and progressive activists have expressed intense concern that Carson, in keeping with his strong conservative positions, will seek to cut money for government assistance programs and wear down the social safety net. The Trump administration has recently signaled that many government agencies can expect budget reductions in favor of increasing defense spending. — Washington Post
Realizing the latent dream of every neurosurgeon to one day run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson has been officially confirmed by the U.S. Senate to start operating on the HUD. Although his plans for the agency are vague, Carson has spoken of being against granting... View full entry
While President Trump talks repeatedly about fixing America’s inner cities, it’s a good bet that in the coming years, New York and other large metropolitan areas will need to be more self-reliant in solving pressing problems, especially low-income housing. [...]
Fortunately, there’s an already tested alternative: an annual luxury housing tax, levied on new high-end condos and rentals, which would feed a self-sustaining fund dedicated to develop truly affordable units.
— New York Times Op-Ed by Eric Uhlfelder
Suppose there were a way to pump up the economy, reduce inequality and put an end to destructive housing bubbles like the one that contributed to the Great Recession. The idea would be simple, but not easy, requiring a wholesale reframing of the United States economy and housing market.
The solution: Americans, together and all at once, would have to stop thinking about their homes as an investment.
— New York Times
The architecture firm CetraRuddy has announced that it will sponsor a design studio course focusing on housing at the City College of New York. A five-semester long design and research project conceived in tandem with faculty, the program will be part of the school’s Master of Architecture... View full entry
From a self-sustaining city to refurbished-shipping containers, private sector real-estate developers are offering both big and small solutions — BBC News
Nancy Kacungira looks at how entrepreneurs are tackling the housing crisis in Lagos. View full entry
Krøyers Plads, a five-story housing project in the center of Copenhagen, has just finished construction. The site, previously a “gap” in a continuous row of warehouses, is adjacent to the Copenhagen harbor. Designed by the Danish architects Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and COBE, the... View full entry
Isn’t Ilfracombe already a town?
Yes, but Hirst was deeply involved in the application process for an eco-friendly, 750-home development known as the Southern Extension.
That’s a terrible name for a town.
Which is probably why the scheme was known as Hirst-on-Sea until recently.
Until recently?
Hirst, who lives nearby, has now withdrawn from the project. His company, Resign, says it could not find a developer to build houses “in keeping with our vision”.
— The Guardian
Looks like Damien Hirst's plan to build 750 eco-friendly homes in the English seaside town of Ilfracombe isn't going to happen after all. When we first reported about the artist's town-development ambitions back in 2012, the announcement was greeted with skepticism from Archinect readers. Two... View full entry
