Image courtesy Dennis Findley 'Architects in the U.S. are not looked to for leadership the way they were in the early part of the 20th century or the way they still are in European countries,' says Dennis Findley, AIA. If you follow the prevailing Washington metaphors, the United States sounds like a nation of frustrated drivers. We need a “road map” for everything from the Middle East to Afghanistan to health care. But to the McLean, Virginia, architect Dennis Findley, AIA, we’re actually more like clients with a tricky building project. Instead of a road map, he would like us
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill has broken ground on the $1.7 billion Digital Media City Landmark Tower in Seoul, South Korea. With a planned height of 2,100 feet, it is expected to be East Asia’s tallest tower by the time it’s completed in 2014. Image courtesy SOM The 725,000-square-foot skyscraper appears to swell slightly as it rises, evoking traditional Korean pottery that is slender at the base and flared at the top. Related Links: Work Under Way on Songdo City in Korea KPF Unveils Design for Korean Super Tower Construction of World's Worst Building ResumesEwha Womans University Campus Center “The Korean
The Dept. of Health and Human Services has awarded $508.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to build or renovate 85 community health clinics around the country. Competition was stiff for the Facility Investment Program grants, whose winners were announced on Dec. 9. HHS received about 600 applications for the funds, says David Bowman, a spokesman for HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees the community health center program. Bowman says that the latest batch of ARRA awards involves larger awards than those contained in a round of HHS stimulus capital funding announced in June. That earlier
Today, the United States Artists Foundation announced the 50 winners of its annual award program. Each winner, including five in the category of architecture and design, will receive a $50,000 grant. United States Artists is an advocacy group dedicated to supporting America’s artists working across diverse disciplines. The organization launched in September 2005 with $22 million in seed funding provided by a coalition of leading foundations—Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential, and Rasmuson. This initial investment enabled the organization to pilot the program, which is now in its fifth year. For a full list of winners, visit the organization’s Web site. Photo courtesy
Italian architect Paolo Soleri became famous for Arcosanti, the urban laboratory he built in the Arizona desert in the early 1970s. His first major design, however, was a bridge for an exhibition in the late 1940s. It was never constructed. Other bridge concepts also were never realized.
The Copenhagen-based architectural firm of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), featured in Record’s Vanguard issue (December 2009, page 52) has expanded its partnership as of December 1.
Construction's unemployment rate continued to to rise in November, climbing to 19.4% from October's 18.7%, while the nation's overall jobless rate declined slightly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. Job creation has become a prime topic in Washington, as congressional Democrats work on new measures aimed at bringing more people back to work. Infrastructure spending is emerging as one component of those possible measures. Construction Unemployment Rate, Last 13 Months 2009 November 19.4% October 18.7% September 17.1 August 16.5 July 18.2 June 17.4 May 19.2 April 18.7 March 21.1 February 21.4 January 15.3 2008 November 15.3 December 12.7 Note:
In an effort to accelerate the development of cost-effective, sustainable concrete, Masdar, the developer of the planned carbon and waste-neutral Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, is holding a concrete mix design competition. The first prize is $150,000, for a sustainable concrete production method. The second prize is $50,000 for the lowest-carbon- footprint concrete mix. This is the first of several competitions to help Masdar, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., achieve its goals for sustainability at Masdar City, says Omar. M. Waqfi, Masdar's specifications manager. "We are pushing and challenging people on all aspects [of sustainable development],
RSS
