Continuing the rollout of federal agencies’ economic-stimulus plans, the Interior Department’s National Park Service has released its $750-million list of projects to be funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The list, published on April 22, totals 766 projects, including work on buildings, monuments, trails, and water and sewer lines. Photo courtesy Ken Thomas/Wikipedia The Ellis Island site, in New York, will receive $8.8 million. Related Links: The Final Stimulus Bill, Sector by Sector HUD Releases Plans for Stimulus Grants How Architects Can Land a Government Contract Special Section: Construction Stimulus California receives the largest allocation, $97.4 million for
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced how it will divide $980 million that the economic-stimulus legislation—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—provided for Community Development Block Grants. The CDBG aid will be split among about 1,200 state, city, and county governments. CDBGs, established in 1974, can be used for many different purposes. Over the program's history, the most popular uses have been affordable-housing rehabilitation and upgrades to infrastructure such as streets, sewers, and community centers. But for the stimulus CDBGs, HUD says in a technical guidance document released May 5 that it “strongly urges grantees to use funds
Michael Kaufman, AIA, describes a scenario many architecture firms in the Midwest are facing: Projects already under construction are continuing, but the market has slowed. “I don’t think there really is a hot market right now and that’s what is really troubling to me. Virtually everywhere there is retrenchment,” says Kaufman, a partner at Goettsch Partners, a Chicago-based design firm. He’s predicting a 30 percent drop in revenues at his firm compared to record results in 2008. Photo courtesy Goettsch Partners In Chicago, construction of a 25-story expansion to the Blue Cross-Blue Shield tower is progressing despite the downturn. Goettsch
On April 30 at its national convention in San Francisco, the American Institute of Architects released replacement construction manager documents and an updated version of AIA Contracts Documents software. The CM documents cover CM as advisor (CMa) and CM as constructor (CMc). The CM documents replace those released in 2007 and 2008. They include a dispute resolution check box that enables parties to select the method of binding dispute resolution. They incorporate the concept of an initial decision maker fill point where the owner and contractor may identify a third neutral party IDM other than the architect. The documents include
Correction appended May 22, 2009 When former Vancouver B.C. mayor Sam Sullivan introduced the city’s groundbreaking Eco-Density initiative in 2006, one of the key goals was to increase the amount of affordable infill housing. Several years later, the Vancouver city council has followed up on that promise—by approving the use of “laneway housing” in the city’s single-family home neighborhoods.
Correction appended August 27, 2009 Beijing and London made headlines last year for building sustainable facilities for the Olympic Games. Now, Vancouver is continuing that trend by going for LEED Gold. All 16 residential buildings in the city’s 2010 Winter Olympics Athlete’s Village will meet the USGBC’s Gold-level sustainability standards, according to Ian Smith, manager of the development office for Southeast False Creek, the district where the complex is located. Additionally, a 30,000-square-foot community center will be certified LEED Platinum. Image courtesy Millennium SEFC Properties The 1.4-million-square-foot complex will accommodate 3,000 athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Related Links:
In comparison to the building boom that was the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Vancouver Games have had little architectural fanfare: Most of the venues are existing stadiums, either left alone or slightly renovated. Even accounting for the lesser requirements of a Winter Games, the Olympics won’t leave much of an architectural stamp on their host city. Images courtesy Vancouver Convention Centre A 6-acre green roof tops a 338,000-square-foot addition to the Vancouver Convention Centre. Related Links: "Laneway Housing" Gets Green Light in Vancouver Olympic Village Aims High on Sustainability Scale Amid Gentrification, Vancouver Seeks Balance Bing Thom Designs New
The Cuban-born architect Max Borges Jr. passed away at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, on January 18, after an extended illness. He was 90 years old. Borges was born to a well-to-do family in Havana on July 24, 1918. He received a bachelor’s degree in architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology (1939) and subsequently earned a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard (1940). He maintained a successful Havana practice founded by his father, Max Borges del Junco, until departing for exile in the United States in 1959.
The economic woes affecting architects nationwide are echoing through the ranks of the AIA. The association has announced sweeping plans to cut costs as a means of combating slumping revenues brought on by the recession. “The Institute is feeling the impact of the recession just as we are in our firms and practices,” said Marvin Malecha, FAIA, 2009 president of the AIA, in a March 23 statement. In the first quarter of the year, the AIA saw a shortfall in membership dues, as some architects deferred payments and others ceased membership completely. Malecha also cited a decrease in revenues for
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