The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and MIT’s Center for Advanced Urbanism has produced a new report examining urban health in eight of the USA’s largest cities, which has been translated into a collection of meaningful findings for architects, designers, and urban planners. With more than half of the world’s population living in urban areas - a statistic which is projected to grow to 70% by 2050 - the report hinges around the theory that “massive urbanization can negatively affect human and environmental health in unique ways” and that, in many cases, these affects can be addressed by architects and designers by the way we create within and build upon our cities.
A fire station typically is organized into two distinct zones - one that reaches outwards to the city and acts as a monumental symbol of protection, and one that contains the hidden inner workings of the station. In a large headquarters, with a diverse set of programs each with their own unique spatial requirements, such a strategy of containment is untenable.
To represent a "speculative proposal for the radical reuse and re-colonization of the bridge infrastructure," California-based Future Cities Lab has developed the “Hydraspan Bridge Colony installation: a 40-foot long, quarter-scale model that foresees a dense and agriculturally rich community suspended below the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.
A first for the AEC Industry, the AEC Hackathon is a non-profit event that brings together teams of Silicon Valley technologists and industry stakeholders to help shape the future of our built environment. Formatted as a traditional "hack", the AEC Hackathon provides a playful, exploratory environment where disruption, innovation, and creative ideas are brought to life.
In an effort to reestablish Mid-Market as an arts district in San Francisco, developer Joy Ou has commissioned BIG to design a mixed-use arts, housing and hotel complex on 950 Market St. As the San Francisco Business Times reports, Group I is collaborating with the Thacher family and the nonprofit 950 Center for Art & Education to develop the project, which could potentially include a 250-room hotel, 316 residential units, a 75,000-square-foot arts complex, and 15,000 square feet of retail. The project will be BIG's first in the Bay Area.
On November 7-9th, 2013, your favorite humanitarian design and resiliency conference presented by Architecture for Humanity is back for another round of innovative panel discussions, workshops, Design Open Mic, and inspiring dose of industry networking. This year’s theme, Designing for a More Resilient World, will highlight the intensifying need to protect livelihood in a world which is continuously dealing with the aftereffects of issues like climate change, urbanization and population shock.
With the news earlier this year that San Francisco's Presidio Trust was planning a new cultural centre on the former site of a military base, now a national park, further details have emerged on the three finalists. The competition has attracted proposals from George Lucas (for the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum), WRNS Studio and the Chora Group (for 'The Bridge'), and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (for the Presidio Exchange). Each proposals offer different visions for the eight acre site, the ex-military building of which currently hosts the retailer Sports Basement.
The Center for Architecture + Design and the Seed Fund announced the winners of the Reimagine. Reconnect. Restore What if 280 came down?, a competition that explored the idea of removing San Francisco's 280 Freeway, north of 16th Street, in an effort to pedestrianize that portion of the city while generating funds for several regionally important transit projects. The open competition, which encouraged designers to submit urban design interventions, from public art to infrastructure, awarded $10,000 in prizes.
