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GREEN GAS STATION?
The irony of a LEED-certified gas station includes the fact that U.S. gas stations each currently deliver, on average, about 850,000 gallons of fossil fuel per year, representing about 8,200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per gas station annually — not to mention the wide range of environmental impacts along the overall petroleum production chain. This station is a beautiful structure — but how green can it be? Does a greenwashing project like this — however elegantly designed as a structure — deserve coverage in a professional architecture magazine? What about the designers of such a project? Author Philip Jodidio discusses the broader context below. Comment online. — Editor — Published 2010.0407
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PRITZKER PRIZE GOES TO SANAA
The Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2010 goes to Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in the Tokyo-based firm SANAA. The jury lauded the pair's work as "delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever... creating a sense of fullness and experiential richness." SANAA has several significant built works in Japan, with noteworthy projects in Europe and the United States as well. — Published 2010.0331
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HAITI EARTHQUAKE — LOOKING FOR LESSONS
Is the lesson of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake simply about poverty? Poverty and a lack of building regulation seem to be the main culprits identified in most media coverage to date. But ArchitectureWeek thinks there's more to the quake than that. — Editor — Published 2010.0407
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GSA'S GREEN OFFICE BUILDINGS
Kevin Kampschroer was recently named the permanent director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings in the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Here's some of his perspective on green building, as shared with Congress in testimony on converting federal buildings across the country into higher-performing, more-efficient green buildings. — Editor — Published 2010.0303
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ROYAL GOLD MEDAL FOR I.M. PEI
The RIBA Royal Gold Medal for 2010 goes to an architect whose renown has been built over several decades of consistently producing a very particular kind of structure — often aspired to, rarely achieved.
The characteristic buildings of I.M. Pei stand serene with the elemental dignity of high modernism, while at the same time expressing both the dynamism of muscular structural sculpture and the deep subtle touches of sensitivity to context. — Published 2010.0210
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AUTODESK UNIVERSITY 2009
At Autodesk University 2009, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass said he was encouraged by signs that the economy seems to be improving. He also acknowledged that Autodesk customers worldwide are being challenged to stay competitive. He suggested that this translates into being able to work more efficiently and being able to do more with less — an idea echoed in every presentation at AU 2009. — Published 2010.0113
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YALE'S GREEN ARK
Every so often, an exceptional work of architecture emerges from an opportune convergence of just the right client working with just the right team of architects, engineers, and consultants on a building that is just right for the times. Kroon Hall at Yale University is one of these. — Published 2010.0106
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GREENBUILD REPORT 2009
"Almost 40 percent of the global warming pollution in our country comes from old, inefficient, leaky buildings that don't have to be that way."
So said former Vice President Al Gore as he opened Greenbuild 2009. — Published 2009.1209
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PARKING GARAGE: GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE
As we face up to the needs of climate protection over the next few years, we'll see that the decades-long trend of steadily increasing automobile vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the U.S. will be reversed for decades to come. Contemplating a nation, and ultimately a world, with declining total VMT, it's increasingly clear that henceforth, most construction of new auto infrastructure — almost any new lane-miles of highway, for instance — represents soon-stranded investment, at best. The parking garage may be an outstanding exception. As U.S. communities transition toward the more mixed-use, closer-in, denser development patterns that will support our restless lifestyles with less driving, "structured parking" can help finesse the fact that most of us will still be using cars for many years to come. — Published 2009.1202
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CHICAGO AIA AWARDS 2009
A utility plant stands in glass at the edge of the University of Chicago campus, the geometric tangle of its technical systems revealed inside the radiused crystalline form. — Published 2009.1118
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