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INSIDE THE TEEPEE WITH ROLAND REED
By the dawn of the twentieth century, the era of the American West as a frontier had all but ended. At the same time, the life and existence of its original inhabitants, the American Indian, had reached a point of change where it would never again be as it was. — Published 2012.1114
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF PREFAB
After the Second World War there was a regular prefabricated housing boom in the United States. Some 70 companies were active in this market segment in the post-war era, ultimately leading to the construction of roughly 200,000 prefabricated houses.
However, companies such as Vultee, Lustron, and the Spartan Aircraft Company, which offered buildings built on the basis of steel frames or clad in sheet metal, were still not able to survive. — Published 2012.1003
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CREATIVE CONCRETE
When we think of sustainability, images of solar panels, thick insulation, and rainwater cisterns might come to mind. But Canadian architect and researcher Mark West is rethinking the bones of concrete structures to find ways to make them as efficient as possible.
West is director of the University of Manitoba's Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST), where the research revolves around fabric-formed concrete. The process uses pliable fabric to make innovative, efficient structural shapes. — Published 2012.0328
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SUSTAINABLE BY BIM: TWO CASE STUDIES
This pair of case studies explores the use of building information modeling (BIM) in small-scale sustainable design projects. —Editor
Ross Street House — Published 2012.0229
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AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE AWARDS 2011
On a tiny site measuring only seven by six meters (23 by 20 feet), a compact new home rises four and a half stories amidst the urban fabric of Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, Australia.
Designing for himself and his partner, Sue Bassett, architect Domenic Alvaro achieved an unexpected sense of expansiveness within this small space through the use of large precast concrete panels and plate-glass windows, with minimal additional interior detailing. — Published 2012.0125
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HIGH-RISE SUSTAINABILITY
A high-level assessment of the impact of the urban tower on the natural environment would conclude that low land use and possible higher density are the chief advantages, with high energy usage being the chief disadvantage. Concepts of density and of energy usage are relative, and should be examined by comparing high-rise buildings with their low- or mid-rise alternatives. — Published 2012.0104
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TUNING A BUILDING AT KIERANTIMBERLAKE
At KieranTimberlake, we frequently conduct postoccupancy building monitoring to verify the performance of our buildings. Preproject monitoring services are used to diagnose and treat existing buildings.
A monitoring program preceded renovation work at Yale University's Sage Bowers Hall, a 1920s-era classroom and office building. The study compared existing uninsulated construction with mock-ups that added new insulation and energy-efficient window assemblies. — Published 2011.0928
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REVIT ARCHITECTURE 2012: PART 2
This software review takes a detailed look at Revit Architecture 2012, released in March 2011, to see how much progress it has made since the last two releases. The two-part review concludes here with an exploration of improvements to worksharing, visualization and rendering tools, and other tools and changes, along with an overall analysis of the 2012 release. —Editor
Collaboration Improvements: Worksharing and Vault Integration — Published 2011.0831
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TIM ELIASSEN - STRUCTURAL GLAZING PIONEER
Implementers and enablers are found at the leading edge of any innovative and emergent technology such as structural glass facade (SGF) technology. Prominent among them is Tim Eliassen, a founder of TriPyramid Structures, a company specializing in the design and fabrication of rod and cable rigging systems and their application in SGFs. — Published 2011.0817
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HS#9 BY COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
"Revolution 9" is a song recorded by the Beatles and released on The White Album in 1968, that heady year when students were demonstrating across Europe, the Vietnam War was at a fever pitch, and Coop Himmelb(l)au was founded in Vienna. The song has been described as the best-known work of avant-garde music and the most disliked moment of any Beatles album. — Published 2011.0810
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