 |
GREEN OR GREENWASHED?
What would you call a green building standard that, on balance, tends to interfere with environmental reform more than help?
In March 2009, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television show featured the first house in the country to win certification under the new green building standard from the National Association of Home Builders. — Published 2009.0422
 |
 |
ASU POLYTECHNIC GREEN
The new academic complex on the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University (ASU) was built to withstand the insistent, erosive forces of the desert around Mesa, Arizona.
"Being out on the eastern part of the valley, the site is very exposed and gets hit very hard with wind and rain," says Beau Dromiack, design leader for RSP Architects, the architect of record for the project. "It requires a durable architecture which we call 'desert tough.'" — Published 2009.0422
|
 |
GREEN SYNAGOGUE
When the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, Illinois, set out to build a new synagogue, they found the goal of achieving LEED Platinum certification arising naturally from the spiritual context.
"The Torah teaches us that the earth does not belong to us, that we are but stewards of God's creation," says Rabbi Brant Rosen. "Building the most sustainable facility possible was for us a religious act." — Published 2009.0415
|
 |
HELLO LEED V3!
The U.S. Green Building Council is rolling out the long-awaited LEED Version 3 on April 27, 2009. It's been ten years since the first LEED version was released in 1999, and this release is intended to initiate a pattern of biennial updates.
The green building industry has been asking for changes to LEED for some time. One of the criticisms of the current LEED Version 2 has been the inequity of the one-point-per-strategy system. — Published 2009.0415
|
 |
FUNDAMENTALS OF CONSTRUCTING SUSTAINABLY
In the new fifth edition of Fundamentals of Building Construction, Allen and Iano set a new benchmark by incorporating sustainability issues into a mainstream construction textbook, section by section, as in this concise overview from the first chapter. We also look forward to a future edition of their outstanding book in which appropriate sustainability considerations have penetrated every topic and page. — the Editors — Published 2009.0408
|
 |
ADAPTIVE REUSE OF CLAY-TILE ARCHED FLOORS
This article about antiquated structural systems is the second in a series aimed at structural engineers involved in the repair, restoration, or adaptive reuse of older buildings for which no drawings exist. —Editor
Concrete and steel-framed floors constructed in the late 1800s and early 1900s often included hollow clay-tile arches that spanned between beams and girders. The arches were typically covered with a concrete topping and often had plaster applied directly to the soffit of the exposed tiles. — Published 2009.0513
|
 |
AIA/ALA LIBRARY AWARDS
In León, Mexico, a white stone-and-glass-clad structure expresses monumental solidity while maintaining indoor-outdoor connectivity. A three-story pergola of white-painted steel covers a plaza and rooftop terrace, adding a rhythmic lightness to the composition. This is the new library designed by Pei Partnership Architects for the state of Guanajuato. — Published 2009.0408
|
 |
SELF-MASS DAMPER AT TOKYO SWATCH
The Swatch Group's new flagship structure in Tokyo, the Nicolas G. Hayek Center, featured in ArchitectureWeek No. 416, is built with an array of innovative elements, ranging from elevating showrooms and multistory retractable glass exterior walls to moving floors for reducing seismic forces induced in the building. — Published 2009.0401
|
 |
MULTI-ELEPHANT HOUSING BY FOSTER
The Copenhagen Zoo's new Elephant House by Foster + Partners emerges gently from the surrounding park grounds, its two leaf-patterned glass domes topping walls of pink-hued concrete. At once playful and serious, transparent and solid, this modern menagerie provides both high-quality living conditions for the animals inside and an exciting and interactive visitor experience. — Published 2009.0401
|
 |
THE TEXTILE BLOCK HOUSES
As the Hollyhock House neared completion in 1920, Frank Lloyd Wright received a second Los Angeles commission, from antiquarian Alice Millard, who had arrived in Pasadena from Chicago in 1914. With her late husband she had commissioned a classic Prairie-style house from Wright in 1906; now she wanted something new, inspired by the palazzi of Venice. — Published 2009.0318
|
The Facade page: [
