How A Small Texas City Rewrote The Rules Of Development
Last month, Bastrop, Texas, adopted a new building code, known as Bastrop Building Block, which radically alters how the city will approach development. The new flexible system was designed to address three interrelated issues hitting municipalities across the county: population growth, aging infrastructure, and outdated development patterns.
A New Start-Up Wants To Use AI To Replace “Expensive, Architect-Designed” Homes
Tech start-up Higharc aims to “reinvent home design for the digital age.” The company uses iterative design to create “custom” 3D models and plans. Algorithmic design isn’t new to architecture, but it looks like Higharc seeks to do away with “expensive, architect-designed plans that take forever to produce.”
The Future Of Airliners?
One that could shake up the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus to force competition and new designs? Take a look at the D8, nicknamed the Double Bubble, developed by Aurura, MIT and with the help of NASA.
How To Create A Playable City
Technology may be reshaping how we engage with urban spaces, but does it risk sucking the life out of them in the process? We explore some of the creative projects that are making our cities more playful.
The Lonely City: Adventures In The Art Of Being Alone
Loneliness is difficult to confess; difficult too to categorize. Like depression, a state with which it often intersects, it can run deep in the fabric of a person, as much a part of one’s being as laughing easily or having red hair.
These Skyscrapers Suck Pollution From The Air
A look inside Milan’s Bosco Verticale, a pair of residential high-rises designed by Stefano Boeri with greenery designed to suck pollution out of the air.
The 737 Max Skyscraper Vertically Stacks Boeing’s Planes To Turn Them Into Residential Complexes
Designed as an entrant for the 2020 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, the 737 Max Tower turns one of the world’s most controversial aircrafts of modern times into housing.
Russian Startup Wants To Put Huge Ads In Space
The first of StartRocket’s space-based ads could go up by 2021. The ads — a bit like skytyping, only in low-Earth orbit rather than in the atmosphere — would be visible only at night but could be seen from just about anywhere on the planet.
Parking Has Eaten American Cities
Parking eats up an incredible amount of space and costs America’s cities an extraordinary amount of money. That’s the main takeaway of a new study that looks in detail at parking in five U.S. cities: New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Des Moines, and Jackson, Wyoming.
Inside China’s Ghost Cities
Australia’s 60 Minutes TV program visited China’s eerie ghost towns. An entire city – all the buildings, the roads, schools, hospitals, you name it – except the people. There is not a soul to be seen.
How The “IKEA Effect” Explains Today’s Startups
Having customers do most of the work, feel great about it, and at the same time perceive they have attained value for their money is the Holy Grail in business. Ikea gets it–and so do many of today’s hottest startups.
I’ll Take You There: Breaking The Myths About Public Housing
In the 1930s, Atlanta was the first city to build modern public housing units. They were marketed largely to working-class white people, a temporary stop on the way to presumed home ownership. But as lenders approved more loans to white Americans, black families became the face of public housing.
What If We Automated Construction?
The rise of technology is a huge opportunity for the construction industry; enabling it to overcome many of its challenges while broadening its appeal to young talent. From predictive design to 3D printing and even autonomous machines on site, this is what the future could look like if we automated construction.
XTU Architects Imagines Offshore Oil Rigs Transformed Into Radical Housing Of The Future
No stranger to an unconventional project, XTU Architects presents their latest fantastical proposal titled ‘x_lands’. The concept looks at life after oil, and in particular, what to do with all the offshore platforms that have been built in the last century to drill for the earth’s natural resources.
New IKEA Store In Vienna Omits Parking And Celebrates Nature
The querkraft-designed IKEA store in Vienna seeks to create a friendly, open, unconventional, and informal experience for users. The new building will be situated in an urban setting, and with no allotted parking, customers are expected to arrive by means of public transportation.
3D Printed Housing For Those Who Need It Most
New Story, ICON, and Échale have completed the first two printed homes in the world’s first 3D printed community in Mexico. The 3D printed homes feature two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bath. Co-designed with feedback from the families who will live in them, the homes have been created to meet the specific needs of the community.
Lenovo Shows Off The World’s First ‘Foldable PC’
Lenovo has just announced what it says is the world’s first “foldable PC:” a prototype ThinkPad that iterates the foldable tech we’ve already seen from phones on a much bigger scale.
Will Upzoning Neighborhoods Make Homes More Affordable?
Housing affordability is a growing issue in America, and there’s a battle over how to fix it happening on blocks across the country. Zoning—the rules that govern how cities use their land—is on the front line. Cities and states across the country are proposing new upzoning laws to combat the housing crisis. Will they work?
You Can Own This Former ICBM Silo In The Arizona Desert
A former Titan II missile complex, the complex is a fixer upper and ready to become one of the few homes that once stood ready to pummel America’s enemies with the destructive force of 9,000,000 tons of TNT. The realtor posted a listing price of just $395,000.
What Comes After TV?
A mobile-storytelling platform called Quibi has loomed on the content horizon, promising that, when its app launches this spring, it will be a home to a huge library of short-form shows made specifically for your phone. But Snapchat has been operating in that space for years. It’s harder than you’d think.
The World’s Most Beautiful Homes Are Also Down To Earth
‘The Art of Earth Architecture: Past, Present, Future’ is both an informative global survey of buildings made from the technique—from ancient Egypt to today—and a call to action: Conventional construction is killing the planet, and we need to introduce more ecologically minded techniques into the fold.