Smart phone applications that relate to architecture are on the rise, but they're not always easy to track down Apps for Architects Here is a sampling of apps that architects might find useful. 1. Project Photo $2.99, plus purchase of related application Archives photos taken with an iPhone. Each photo is tagged with its GPS point. Photos can then be linked to construction drawings and plans. Offered by Cosential http://www.cosential.com/iphone-apps/projectphoto.cfm 2. Concrete Calc 99 cents Figures the cubic yards of concrete needed for a job. Offered by Jeremy Breaux N/A 3. Smart Thermostat Free, with purchase of a thermostat Remotely
Only about 125 miles separate Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but the Persian Gulf emirates can seem worlds apart in terms of opportunities for architects. In Dubai, unfinished high-rises litter the horizon, as the emirate dramatically suffers the effects of the housing downturn. In January, the emirate even experienced its first foreclosure when the British-bank Barclays won a case to take back a property (details are undisclosed). More foreclosures are expected in coming weeks. Photo courtesy Wikipedia (top); Leo O Daly (above) Work is reportedly progressing in Abu Dhabi (top). 'It can feel a bit like the California Gold Rush,' says
Architect Steven Holl might not have nabbed this year’s Pritzker Prize, like some predicted he would, but he is on a winning streak nonetheless. Image courtesy Steven Holl Architects Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Related Links: Holl’s Glasgow Commission Rankles Scots Holl Wins Half-Million Dollar Prize Linked Hybrid by Holl Linked Hybrid Named Best Tall Building Last fall, he won an international competition to design a new building at the Glasgow School of Art, alongside Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece. More recently, he was victorious in two competitions: one commission is for a campus building in Iowa, the other
Cubellis, the Boston-based architecture firm that was written off for dead five months ago when it closed over problems with creditors, has staged a phoenix-like comeback. Related Links: One of Boston’s Largest Firms Shuttered Former principals John Larsen and Christopher Ladd, and former partner Richard Rankin, have launched a new firm, CI Design, Inc., which appears to be a spitting image of its predecessor. For one, the firm, which opened in December, just a few weeks after Cubellis was shuttered, takes its name from the initials for “Cubellis International.” It also focuses on familiar markets, with offices in three cities
As architects get involved in rebuilding Haiti after its devastating January 12 earthquake, and debate swirls about what new homes there should look like, a Miami architect has designed a series of prefabricated house and has teamed up with a manufacturer to get the dwellings built.
A film legend who’s taken on D-Day, slave revolts, and the Holocaust is aiming his cameras at the site of a solemn modern-day event. Steven Spielberg is serving as executive producer of Rebuilding Ground Zero, a six-part television documentary about the construction efforts at the former World Trade Center. The show, which began shooting in mid-February in Lower Manhattan, is set to air on the Science Channel in fall 2011, in time for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Photo ' Joe Woolhead Related Links: A Tale of Two Building Efforts at Ground Zero Little Progress After Seven
Like many architects, George Gekas saw the destruction caused by a massive earthquake in Haiti and wondered how he could tap his talents to help. But, as the resident of Mt. Desert Island, Maine, placed phone calls and clicked around the Internet, he realized options for immediate, hands-on action were limited. “It was very frustrating,” he said. “I thought, ‘There’s no time to waste.’” Photo courtesy International Federation of Red Cross "It's just going to take a really long time before people start focusing on construction," says Cameron Sinclair of AFH. Related Links: Structural Engineers Survey Devastation Who Will Lead