Timothy Prestero: Design for people, not awards | Video on TED.com – There are so many good quotes in this 15-min TED talk that you might as well check it out for yourself. The speaker takes us through his journey of designing a device to keep newborns in developing countries warm …
Designing Colleges For More Than Just Connectivity – about the results of Gensler research into the design of Campus 3.0, the step beyond a totally wired campus. A survey of 250 students revealed a need for far more possibilities for collaboration, for inspirational spaces, and for quiet study spaces. A …
The bleeding edge of self-healing skin-like materials – BBC post about research being done by U of Illinois engineer Nancy Sottos on self-healing polymers. Inspired by human skin, Sottos creates plastics that “bleed” when cut and can heal themselves over and over again. Her work is paving the way for …
Mapping tool reveals all of NYC’s secret public spaces – post on PSFK about the new website, POPS, from APOPS (Advocates for Privately-Owned Public Spaces) showing the location of all 500+ privately owned public spaces (POPS) in New York along with descriptions, including scaled site plans. Skyscraper developers cut a deal with …
Solar Carve Tower / Studio Gang Architects – proposed mid-rise for New York City curves to optimize sunlight access for nearby High Line.
Texas Tech’s College of Human Sciences is partnering with Sky Factory Australia to study the “effects of virtual skylights on hospital patients.” The initial study will generate brain maps of the neural pathways and regions associated with patient’s perception of the SkyCeilings™ unique imagery. Read about it in …
Check out ArchitypeReview’s issue on Architectural Graphics. This site is a great place to look for examples of specific building types, as you can see from their Issues page.
Bridging the Empathy Gap – Metropolis POV post by HOK’s Henry Chao on the trend towards the “globalization of Western medicine” and its effect on the design of healthcare facilities around the world. This trend is forcing the convergence of scientific treatment with culturally responsive delivery. I call this “bridging …
Resizing the Global Contract R&D Services Market – good overview of a study of the market done by Tufts CSDD. A 2011 analysis by Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD) found a nearly four-fold increase in the number of contract research organizations (CROs) in the …
Kamppi Chapel of Silence – small chapel in a busy urban section of Helsinki was designed by K2S Architects. Light touching down on the curved surface and the feeling of warm materials define the space. The chapels inner walls are made of thick oiled alder planks. The furniture is …
Healthy Hospital Study Finds Savings in Plain Sight – a nine-hospital study from the Health Care Research Collaborative finds plenty of savings in waste management, energy use, and operating room supply procurement. “This study turns on its head the belief that introducing environmental sustainability measures increases operating costs,” said …
Newsweek’s 2012 Green Rankings: This time it’s serious – post on GreenBiz about annual ranking of 500 largest companies from around the world describes it this way: …this year’s rankings represent the first meaningful, apples-to-apples comparison of company performance in the rankings’ four-year history. Companies are ranked by three …
Large-Scale Installation Lets Visitors Walk On Air – installation by artist / architect Tomas Saraceno is layers of clear film that gallery-goers can climb around on, if they dare. See more photos and a video on this “bouncy castle” here (also the source of the image shown). …the presence and …
5 Outside-The-Box Ideas To Change U.S. Cities For The Better – Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayor’s Challenge is uncovering ways “for local governments to improve the way their cities work by taking on social and economic problems, improving customer service, enhancing accountability to the public, and making government work more effectively.” Among the …
Desktop 3D printer creates ceramic bricks for buildings – Dutch architect Brian Peters has developed a program for creating oddly shaped ceramic bricks using a desktop 3D printer.
Q&A: Designing the office of the future – interview with Allison Arieff of SPUR on trends in office design. When talking about how an office might accommodate different ways of working, she says this: …when I was in college and I went to the library there was a different place …
The ACEEE – American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has a wealth of resources on energy efficiency in the U.S. states. Here are a few: The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard – shown here; top 3? MA, CA, NY State Energy Efficiency Policy – click on a state and get a full …
German scientists create usable foam from tree bark – University of Freiburg’s Biofoambark project creates a foam suitable for insulation from tree bark. Properly processed, it can be used to produce hard foams that are not only good for insulation for buildings and molded auto parts, but that also …