The Future of the Office Is Cozy

Nov. 26, 2023 Ι Bloomberg CityLab It didn’t take long for Jon Race to diagnose the problem with his new office. Race, the CEO of the London architecture firm MCM, moved his 50-some staffers to a small co-working space in 2020 — his previous office lease ended just as the Covid-19 pandemic wound up. The… Continue reading The Future of the Office Is Cozy

Bamboo Transcends the Tropics for Carbon-Negative Construction

Autodesk’s Redshift Ι Aug. 7, 2019 It can be argued either way: Bamboo is a building material that’s criminally underused in construction or one destined to remain a quirky, regional curio. Long ignored beyond the developing world, bamboo (a grass, not a tree) has the compressive strength of concrete and the tensile strength of steel. Unlike… Continue reading Bamboo Transcends the Tropics for Carbon-Negative Construction

Can This Chicago Apartment Factory Make New Homes Affordable?

The Atlantic’s CityLab Ι July 8, 2019 Skender, an established, family-owned builder in Chicago, is making a serious play in a sector associated with young startups: modular construction. The company is building steel-structured three-flats, a quintessential Chicago housing type that consists of three apartments stacked on top of each other in the footprint of a large house.… Continue reading Can This Chicago Apartment Factory Make New Homes Affordable?

Do Legacy Construction Companies Have the Inside Track on Modular Building?

Redshift Ι January 8, 2019  Fresh-faced, tech-oriented startups get most of the attention in the modular-building world, but despite their “it” factor, they’re still startups. Is there a market share in modular just waiting for companies with the approach and know-how that come with legacy experience? Chicago-based legacy construction company Skender has been researching modular construction… Continue reading Do Legacy Construction Companies Have the Inside Track on Modular Building?

Inventive Design Turns a Gantry Into a Low-Cost “Vertical Village” for Creatives

Autodesk’s Redshift Ι Oct. 18. 2018 In East London, The Trampery on the Gantry is doubling down on the “creative” aspect of creative reuse. Part of the massive broadcast center used during the 2012 Olympic Games, the former HVAC gantry structure has been retrofitted by architecture firm Hawkins\Brown as an arts and media innovation hub. The… Continue reading Inventive Design Turns a Gantry Into a Low-Cost “Vertical Village” for Creatives

New Views into an Unheralded Element of Mies

scan made from original HB 8x10 BW negative

Architectural Record Ι June 25, 2018  A new exhibit at the Elmhurst Art Museum in Illinois explores a little-studied corner of Mies van der Rohe’s career: his brief fascination with pre-fabrication.  The show, curated by Columbia University’s Barry Bergdoll, is physically and thematically anchored by Mies’ McCormick House, which was built in 1952 as a prototype… Continue reading New Views into an Unheralded Element of Mies

Could Modular Wood Stadium Construction Be a Game Changer?

Redshift Ι June 19, 2018 Imagine a sports stadium that could expand and contract with its fan base and team’s fortunes, one that could pick up and move to greener (and more lucrative) pastures. Given team owners’ history of playing fans against each other, making stadiums more mobile isn’t likely to give pennant-wavers a sense of… Continue reading Could Modular Wood Stadium Construction Be a Game Changer?