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As rescuers in Haiti struggled to locate victims of a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the island at 4:53 p.m. on Jan 12, the U.S. government and construction industry mobilized to assist. U.S. engineers familiar with the Caribbean also speculated that impoverished Haiti and its structures may have existed in a seismic safety time-warp with 1970s standards or worse. Photo courtesy Airports Council International Goods destined for Haiti being loaded at an airport in Costa Rica. Related Links: Can you help in Haiti? Let us know Groups Mobilize to Help Haiti Tragedy in Haiti The extent of the devastation

...search-and-rescue efforts, preventing spread of diseases and providing food and shelter, in my opinion, takes precedence over reconnaissance efforts.” Naeim says the situation on the ground needs to be stabilized first before a reconnaissance team can do its job. “I believe that although reconnaissance teams from the U.S. are and will be assembled, it will take considerable time before they will be dispatched,” he says. Degenkolb Engineers is assembling its own team. There are no specific plans yet but Chris D. Poland, chairman and CEO of the San Francisco-based firm, says he expects to deploy a team in a few

“The President is alive but has nowhere to live.” That was U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s stark assessment of Haitian President Rene Preval’s situation Thursday and it applied to hundreds of thousands of Haitians who had survived the quake but faced immediate problems of surviving. Government buildings in Haiti were severely damaged and the nation’s infrastructure, never solid, was in tatters. “There is no communications system,” said Clinton. “We are attempting to help set up a communications capability for the government." Corporacion Quiport S.A. Ecuadorian army personnel gather up items to ship to Haiti. Related Links: Assessing the Damage

"Competing Visions" Lead to Demise of Costas Kondylis and Partners Photo courtesy Costas Kondylis Design Costas Kondylis, designer of Donald Trump towers, has broken up his longtime firm and formed a new one. Architect Costas Kondylis, AIA, who is perhaps best known for the New York high-rises designed for Donald Trump, has broken up his longtime firm and formed a new one. In December, Kondylis announced the launch of Costas Kondylis Design, a New York-based practice emphasizing projects that aspire to certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED). His former firm, Costas

Born 1928 in New York, Rossant attended the Bronx High School of Science before receiving a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of Florida in 1950, then under the leadership of Paul Rudolph.

In September, American architect Steven Holl won an international competition to design a new studio and classroom building for the Glasgow School of Art.

Photo © Jay Elliot Malcolm Wells Malcolm Wells, a green design pioneer best known for his underground, or “earth-sheltered,” buildings, passed away on November 27 in Brewster, Massachusetts. He was 83. Wells grew up in New Jersey and joined the Marines shortly after high school. Though he never received a college degree, he studied engineering at both Georgia Teach and Drexel Institute of Technology, now Drexel University. He went on to work as a draftsman for the electronics company RCA and apprenticed at a small architectural firm in New Jersey. Achieving a perfect score on the state examination, Wells became

Though experts may dispute the role of human activity in climate change, evidence is mounting that temperatures and sea levels are rising. With 10 of the world’s largest 15 cities located on the coast, metropolitan areas could be greatly affected. In fact, according to a January 5 editorial in The New York Times, New York City “will face a tidal rise of 2 feet or more by 2080” if global warming continues at its current rate.  Image courtesy Guy Nordenson and Associates, Catherine Seavitt Studio, Architecture Research Office The 'Rising Currents' project was inspired by a study conducted by the

Moshe Safdie and Associates, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, designed the base of the five-story building, which is clad in precast panels to blend with its neoclassical neighbors and features a sweeping white glass roof intended to make a strong statement of the institute’s mission.

In a case that could have larger implications for the architecture profession, an Ohio firm has sued a client after being fired, with the hope of being put back on the job. Image courtesy Wikipedia The medical center would feature 480 beds and a cancer center. Karlsberger, a mid-sized firm based in Columbus, claims that nearby Ohio State University acted in bad faith this fall when it terminated a contract for a $1 billion, 1-million-square-foot expansion of its medical center. The glassy, soaring addition, which is to feature 480 beds and a cancer center, is the largest construction project on