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Engineering: The Latest Architecture and News

Algiers20xx /////// International Ideas Competition

/// Algiers20xx
International Ideas Competition
Disruptive[Radical] Urbanism

/// Mentorship
Rem Koolhaas (Netherlands)
/// Support
City/Governor of Algiers (Algeria)
//// Sponsorship
EPAU - École Polytechnique d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme d'Alger (Algeria)

/// International Jury
>> Rem Koolhaas (Mentorship)
>> Fathallah Baghli (Professor in Architecture, Algiers)
>> Saskia Sassen (Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Co-Chairs The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University)
>> Jean-Louis Cohen (Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University)
>> Rodolphe el-Khoury (Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture)
>> Tsouria Kassab (Dean of EPAU, Algiers)
>> Hou Hanru (Director of the MAXXI Museum, Rome)

More inspiring people are joining us!

2018/19 Fentress Global Challenge: Re-Envisioning the Airport Terminal Building for the Year 2075

Global commerce and the unprecedented demand for travel and have resulted in the proliferation of airports around the world. In their short history, terminal buildings have been criticized for employing generic architectural forms that are unapologetically disconnected from their context and cultural identity. Technical complexity and functional design have often taken precedence over quality and comfort for users.

Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing Planet

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our planet. There has never been a more important time to understand how to make the best use of local natural resources and to produce buildings that connect to ecosystems and livelihoods and do not rely on stripping the environment or transporting materials across the globe.

The culmination of years of specialist research, Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing Planet, a once-in-a-generation large format publication, gathers together an international team of more than one hundred leading experts across a diverse range of disciplines to examine what the traditions of vernacular architecture and its

SOM Scale + Form at the 2018 Venice Biennale

Today, a new exhibition opened in Venice featuring the work of the global architecture and engineering practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Presented at the European Cultural Centre, "Time Space Existence" is a collateral exhibition of the 2018 Venice Biennale of Architecture. The show includes work from leading architects, photographers, sculptors, and universities from around the world.

Call for Entries: CTBUH 2018 International Student Tall Building Design Competition

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is pleased to announce its 7th International Student Tall Building Design Competition. The goal of the competition is to shed new light on the meaning and value of tall buildings in modern society. The deadline for submission is July 23, 2018.

The age of the tall building as a single iconic piece of sculpture, standing in isolation from its surroundings, is coming to an end. Designers have a responsibility to ensure that these permanent urban structures engender a future-oriented urban response to the greatest challenges of our time: unprecedented population growth; mass

7 Myths in Architectural Detailing that Are Changing in the Digital Age

The recent availability of automated design and production techniques is changing the development of building details. With parametric and algorithmic design methods and the use of digital fabrication, new abilities are required from architects for the design of details, at the same time as new players are beginning to take part in their development.

Although not always given the necessary attention, architectural details are of extreme importance for many aspects of a building. They can define its theoretical expression and technical character, and impact its production process, its assembly method and even its ecological footprint. Contemporary architecture shows a new interest in detailing, which should not be confused with a return to the appreciation of artisanal work.[1] This new interest is related to the recent re-involvement of the architect with the physical making of buildings, as a result of the use of digital technologies.[2] The new “digital master builder” [3] counts on file-to-factory processes, in which the morphology of construction details is directly related to the knowledge of the available production processes.

The Science Behind the Next Generation of Wood Buildings

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At a time when engineers, designers, and builders must find solutions for a resource-constrained environment, new wood technology, materials, and science are accelerating efforts to enhance safety and structural performance.

International Building Code requires all building systems, regardless of materials used, to perform to the same level of health and safety standards. These codes have long recognized wood’s performance capabilities and allow its use in a wide range of low- to mid-rise residential and non-residential building types. Moreover, wood often surpasses steel and concrete in terms of strength, durability, fire safety, seismic performance, and sustainability – among other qualities.

How Bridges Evolved Into Signifiers of Urban Identity

Increasingly close collaboration between architects and engineers has caused an explosion in bridge design over the last few decades, resulting in structures that are both bold yet rational. As a result, cities have exploited bridges as great monuments of design, to foster pride in the residents and promote themselves as a destination for tourists. These ideas have inspired photographer Greig Cranna as he travels the world, capturing the elegance of today's bridge infrastructure.

Cranna has been documenting some of his stunning photography on Instagram, collating it over the past 20 months into a forthcoming book, Sky Architecture—The Transformative Magic of Today's Bridges. In capturing these entrancing structures, the photos show the impact of the bridges as an addition to the landscape and revel in their contemporary silhouettes and designs.

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Reimagine the New York State Canal System

The New York Power Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation launched a competition seeking ideas to shape the future of the New York State Canal System, a 524-mile network composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal. Selected ideas will be awarded a total of $2.5 million toward their implementation.

Behind the Tech That Moves 2 Million People During The Hajj

Every year, 3 million Muslim pilgrims from over 120 different countries travel to Makkah (commonly transliterated as Mecca), Saudi Arabia, to perform Hajj (pilgrimage) in the Islamic month of Zilhaj. Due to the ever-increasing number of visitors each year, overcrowding has led to deadly accidents and stampedes in the past; to ensure crowd safety and better circulation, the Makkah Development Authority (MDA) engaged Otis, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of people-moving products, and successfully oversaw the redesigning of the Jamarat Bridge.

Watch the video above for a summary of the architectural design of the Jamarat Bridge, or read on to see a 7-minute mini-documentary about the structure's development.

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Margot Krasojević Designs Bridge That Sails Like a Ship

Dr. Margot Krasojević, known for creating impossibly futuristic architecture has unveiled her latest project: a bridge that can sail across the water. Dubbed the “Revolving Sail Bridge” - the experimental project was commissioned by the Ordos government in the Kanbashi District of Inner Mongolia (China) to be built across the Wulamulum River. Featuring a main floating section topped with a carbon-fibre triple sail, the flexible structure is capable of sailing anywhere across the river to relocate itself.

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World's Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge Opens in the Swiss Alps

The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened to the public in Switzerland, offering adrenaline seekers unprecedented views of Europe’s most famous mountain, the Matterhorn. Spanning 494 meters (1620 feet), the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge cuts the 2-day travel distance between the towns of Zermatt and Grächen by nearly 3 hours. The bridge spans the country’s “deepest cut valley,” reaching a height of 85 meters (279 feet) above the ground at its highest point.

Engineers Have a Solution for San Francisco's Sinking Millennium Tower

As reports have emerged that San Francisco’s infamous sinking skyscraper, the Millennium Tower, is continuing to settle downward, engineers from LERA and DeSimone Consulting have unveiled a potential fix for the building’s woes.

Since construction began in 2005, the 58-story luxury condominium tower has sank approximately 17 inches downward and while leaning 14 inches to the North. And according to a new report from Arup Ground, the issue doesn’t appear to be resolving itself anytime soon: in the past 7 months alone, the building has sunk an additional inch and tilted a further two inches, causing cracking in the building to worsen.

Triggered to action, developer Millennium Partners brought in LERA and DeSimone to devise a solution that would return the building to its original siting and secure it against sinking, all while allowing the building to continue operating through the repair process.

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo

Excitement is building as preparations take place for the 2017 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, scheduled for Nov. 8-10 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, MA.

Greenbuild, owned and operated by Informa Exhibitions and sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the nation’s largest conference and expo dedicated to sustainable building design and construction. The three-day conference attracts 18,000 attendees and over 500 exhibitors annually from across the green building sector, spanning commercial and residential professionals, architects, building owners and operators, students, advocates, and educators.

VAA / Summer School

From 15th to 23rd July 2017, a ten-day interfaculty summer school will take place in Vignola (province of Modena) Italy, in a Renaissance palace by Giacomo Barozzi. The workshop aims to connect architectural heritage with 21st-century manufacturing processes through experimental practices and invites international students of architecture, design, and engineering to take part.

Architects and Structural Engineers: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Charles Thornton, one of the world’s preeminent structural engineers, once said that the greatest challenge facing the profession of structural engineering is that “I don’t think we have enough self-esteem and enough confidence in ourselves to believe that what we do is so important... Architects are trained to present, to communicate, to sell, to promote themselves, to promote their industry, and to take credit for what they do.”

As a structural engineer with over a decade of experience, I agree with Mr. Thornton—to an extent.

VAA Summer School

From 15th to 23rd July 2017, a ten-day interfaculty summer school will take place in Vignola (province of Modena) Italy, in a Renaissance palace by Giacomo Barozzi. The workshop aims to connect architectural heritage with 21st-century manufacturing processes through experimental practices and invites international students of architecture, design, and engineering to take part.

Design by Data Advanced Master in Paris is Breaking Boundaries Between Architecture and Engineering

The Design by Data Advanced Master® in Computational Design, Digital Manufacturing and Building Technologies provides attendees with a cross-disciplinary culture of computational design and a comprehensive knowledge of cutting-edge technologies in the fields of parametric architecture, robotics, digital manufacturing and 3D printing for the construction industry.