Oct. 17, 2017 Ι CityLab To forestall the continuing growth of cities as “cancerous organisms,” the Minnesota Experimental City (MXC) was conceived in the mid-1960s by epochal technologist Athelstan Spilhaus. A modular settlement of 250,000 people or more, the city was to be powered by clean energy and run on public transit. Experimental City would be… Continue reading Experimental City: The Sci-Fi Utopia That Never Was
Category: Articles
Architecture Beyond the A-List
October 12, 2017 Ι CityLab Away from the main exhibit of the Chicago Architecture Biennial—the country’s biggest architecture festival, on show through January—there are a half-dozen smaller “anchor” shows, hosted by neighborhood arts organizations far from downtown. These reveal a different side to Chicago’s architectural legacy, famed for the White City of 1893, Frank Lloyd Wright,… Continue reading Architecture Beyond the A-List
Frank Lloyd Wright Was a Proto-Algorithmic Architect
Metropolis Ι Oct. 12, 2017 Frank Lloyd Wright’s field of influence is so wide, it’s hard to tell where it starts and ends. As America’s foremost architect, he helped popularize design concepts that are held up as evidence of progressive values and progressive architecture. His notion of building with natural landscapes takes on new meaning in… Continue reading Frank Lloyd Wright Was a Proto-Algorithmic Architect
Machine Learning Eases Construction Project Management—and Prevents Catastrophes
Redshift Ι Oct. 2, 2017 In the fragmented building industry, “every single building is a prototype,” says Dustin Hartsuiker, manager of Technology Solutions for the California-based Swinerton Builders. Devoid of standardization and often assembled from custom-made components, buildings are unforgiving and inefficient experiments in fabrication, given to levels of risk and uncertainty unheard of in the… Continue reading Machine Learning Eases Construction Project Management—and Prevents Catastrophes
From Filth to Fun: Big Designs for the Chicago River
CityLab Ι Sept. 29. 2017 Until its direction was reversed in 1900, the Chicago River was such a receptacle for effluent and filth that it poisoned Chicagoans’ beloved Lake Michigan (from which they drew their drinking water). Then it was channelized and entombed in concrete. The river has long been the city’s forgotten waterfront. But that’s… Continue reading From Filth to Fun: Big Designs for the Chicago River
Could the Humble Heat Pump be a Decarbonization Hero?
Doggerel Ι Sept. 6. 2017 Buildings are responsible for a bit fewer than half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Break this figure down further and you’ll find that building heating, in particular, accounts for about a fifth of all US greenhouse gas emissions. Building heating and hot water are a part of the… Continue reading Could the Humble Heat Pump be a Decarbonization Hero?
Fire Tests Enable New Timber Typologies
Doggerel Ι August 23, 2017 After a long time lost in the woods, architects and engineers are rediscovering timber. Wood has been a default building material for millennia. Historically, one of the easiest and most effective ways to keep buildings standing upright was to fell large trees and shape them into load-bearing beams and columns. This… Continue reading Fire Tests Enable New Timber Typologies
Office Visit: Craighton Berman
Doggerel Ι June 29, 2017 For Microsoft, illustrator and industrial designer Craighton Berman created a primer on artificial intelligence. Over a few dozen pages, his breezy little booklet used talking dogs and clunky retro-robots to explain the basics of a technology that’s fueled sci-fi dystopias and utopian TED talks alike. It was a zine in the… Continue reading Office Visit: Craighton Berman
The Final Hill
Landscape Architecture Magazine Ι October 2017 The first thing you notice is all the cars. The are a strange landscape divided by Jersey barriers and concrete retaining walls that carve up the site’s topography. Endless rows of cars are parked along its curving streets and in front of 62 three- and four-story barracks-style buildings that plod… Continue reading The Final Hill
The Houston Cistern: Interiors Awards 2017
Contract Design Magazine Ι January/February 2017 The Cistern Designer: Page Client: Buffalo Bayou Partnership Location: Houston “This memorable space makes a statement that interior design is not just about furnishings and decoration; it is about creating interesting spaces. This forward-thinking design is emotional, intellectual, beautiful, and pure. It promotes conversation.” —Jury A disused drinking water reservoir… Continue reading The Houston Cistern: Interiors Awards 2017