 |
YALE MOD
When you hear "modular classroom building," what do you think of? Cheap gray boxes on cinderblocks? Tacky trailers covered with vinyl "brick" siding? Such makeshift classrooms can be seen next to schools and colleges all across the United States — temporary solutions to space shortages that seem to hang around for years. — Published 2006.0524
 |
 |
WALLS STILL GROWING UP
Thousands of years ago, a primitive mortar helped transform a pile of stones into an enclosure of habitable space. Since then, a complex interweaving of technical and social change has continually redefined the way we build, culminating in the modern practice of architecture and building design. — Published 2006.0510
|
 |
TRANSITIONAL SHELTER
Whipped by winds on a mountain slope in northern Pakistan, Graham Saunders moves carefully amid the shattered remains of a mud-walled village, surveying the damage caused by a powerful earthquake in October, 2005. Sliding a digital camera from his hip pocket, he photographs each pile of splintered timber and stone. As an architect who has encountered many similar scenes for the last decade, his mind is already on what it will take to rebuild here. — Published 2006.0426
|
 |
SERENITY ON A BUDGET
A "not-so-big" house is not necessarily an inexpensive house. But if you keep the size of the house small and stick with common materials, basic construction methods, and simple details, you can indeed build or remodel on a limited budget. — Published 2006.0412
|
 |
SACRAMENTAL RESTORATION
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament has been an impressive landmark of California's capital city of Sacramento ever since its 1889 completion. But by the turn of the 21st century, it had deteriorated and been found incapable of withstanding the next big earthquake. Now, a $34.5 million restoration has rescued this spiritual oasis in a political city. — Published 2006.0329
|
 |
CONSTRUCTING OSAKA ART
Until recently, the site of Osaka Japan's National Museum of Contemporary Art, one of three national contemporary art museums in Japan, was at the far edge of the city, on the former site of the 1970 World's Fair. The museum had planned to move from this distant suburb to a central urban location in the middle of Nakanoshima Island, part of a planned cultural arts district that has great potential to activate and energize an integral part of the city. — Published 2006.0222
|
 |
SOFT WALLS FOR CURVY SPACES
Vancouver, BC-based architects Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen (Forsythe + MacAllen Design) have been studying ways to create simple and beautiful objects designed from a single material. Their latest effort is "softwall", a flexible partition prefabricated from 250-400 thin layers of soft, translucent paper or polyethylene nonwoven textile. — Published 2006.0208
|
 |
CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM
Designers of the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario could have merely created a protective envelope for Canada's wartime artifacts. Instead they designed a monumental structure to inspire a nation by integrating artistic symbolism with pragmatic innovation. — Published 2006.0125
|
 |
NEW SHAPES FOR WORKSPACE
Flexible and open plans have been standard in corporate offices for several decades. During this time, architects have struggled to design open spaces that still provide private, supportive environments for the workers. — Published 2006.0308
|
 |
QUARRY TO KITCHEN
For thousands of years, people have used granite and marble to protect their places of power and wealth. Communities have built palaces, libraries, temples, and banks from stone, but most individuals have found it too expensive to install in their homes or workplaces. Recently, a group of companies from southern Brazil have joined forces to provide affordable finished products made from these luxurious materials. — Published 2005.1109
|
Building Articles page: [
