Architecture and Design
Toronto’s Newest Skyscraper Covered in Trees
Toronto’s urban canopy is already home to over 10 million trees, which currently envelops 26% of the city’s surface area. Mayor John Tory, however, has bigger plans for Ontario’s capital; he wants to transform Toronto into a waking ecological metropolis. A local architecture firm, Brisbin Brook Beynon, is helping Tory achieve his goal, in a […]
Cities Experiment with “Climate Positive” Design
Advocates say we could design city buildings and neighborhoods that cancel out more carbon than they emit, with the right policies and mindset. Cities are crucial to fighting climate change. They occupy only two percent of global land area but have an enormous climate impact, consuming more than two-thirds of global energy and accounting for 70 […]
New Florida Neighborhood has Zero Emissions, Embedded Tech and is Hurricane-Proof
In a fishing village south of Tampa called Cortez, a new community of small homes will run on solar power to reach a “net zero” energy footprint – using Google Home to help optimize how the power is used. Read the entire article at Fast Company. “It’s going to be a grid-interactive, grid-optimized virtual […]
Storm-proof Affordable Housing for Florida Keys Workers
After the destruction of Hurricane Irma, the Florida Keys Community Land Trust started building affordable cottages that can withstand the next storm. Like other tourist destinations, the Keys — a string of islands off the southern tip of Florida — require workers to staff their restaurants, hotels, and glass-bottom boats. Read the entire article at CityLab. […]
Designers vs. Climate Change
Like a growing number of her peers, architect Stephanie Horowitz believes in the design community’s inherent responsibility to address climate issues. So much so that her firm works only with clients who want to build or retrofit buildings that aim for net-zero energy use. Read the entire article at Architectural Digest. “When we meet […]
Balancing the Effect of Urban Development on Nature
Cities and the natural world seem to be at opposite ends of a spectrum, at least according to the dominant thinking of city dwellers: Keep the wolves out and the Thai takeout close. Country folks, on the other hand, readily extol the virtues of clean air, water, greenery and birdsong. Read the entire article […]
“Vertical Village” Built of Wood to Rise in Paris
Sou Fujimoto, Nicolas Laisne and Dimitri Roussel have won a competition to design a striking new mixed-use development as a counterpoint to Paris’ urban sprawl. Titled “Vertical Village,” the 164-foot-tall tower will be built almost entirely of timber, and it will serve as a “new gateway” to the east suburb Rosny-sous-Bois. The nearly 400-foot-long timber-framed […]
DFA’s flood-proof towers could survive six feet of sea level rise in Manhattan
New York-based architecture firm DFA just unveiled plans for 19 cylindrical apartment towers that can survive six feet of sea level rise at Manhattan’s Pier 40. The towers are wrapped in lattice facades with lots of vegetation, and they’re designed to address the city’s lack of affordable housing and flood-resistant buildings. Read the […]
Resilient Design Saves $6 for Every $1 Spent
A National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) study determined that every federal dollar spent on disaster resiliency and mitigation can save the U.S. an average of six dollars on disaster recovery. Read the entire article at CITYLAB. NIBS studied mitigation measures such as demolishing flood-prone homes; using hurricane shutters and other wind-resistant strategies; shoring up building […]
Sustainable “Sand Dune” Emerges from the Desert
Located in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Bee’ah headquarters’ dune-like design is both inspired by, and intended to blend in with, the local desert landscape. It will serve a Middle East environmental waste management company and is slated for LEED Platinum (a green building standard) certification. Read the entire article at New Atlas. Recycled building […]
