SAINSBURY LABORATORY - STIRLING PRIZE A stately temple of science has recently been added to the University of Cambridge campus. The limestone-clad Sainsbury Laboratory, a major plant science research center in Cambridge, England, has received the Stirling Prize for 2012 from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Rooted in Darwin's Garden — Published 2012.1024
	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
	AIA NATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS Viewed at a distance from the southwest, 8 House looks almost like a strange landform: two vegetated roofs form a massive green "V" reaching from the ground-floor roof all the way to the top of the building, nine stories above. The logic of this mixed-use building is better understood from a bird's-eye view. In concept, the plan is a 230-meter- (750-foot-) long loop that has been twisted to form a giant, angular figure eight. — Published 2012.0215
	SOLAR DECATHLON 2011 In the U.S. Department of Energy's recent Solar Decathlon, architecture and engineering students competed to build the most efficient, innovative, economical, and attractive home powered by the sun. — Published 2011.1012
	LEED FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS The Empire State Building made headlines recently for achieving LEED Gold certification following a major green retrofit project that will reduce the skyscraper's energy consumption by more than 38 percent. The building's electric chiller plant was rebuilt, electric meters were installed at the tenant level, and all 6,514 window units were removed, refurbished to improve their energy efficiency, and reinstalled. — Published 2011.1012
	STUDY IN ENGINEERING Architecture as a teaching tool is a very old idea. Think about those cathedrals whose stained glass and sculpture indoctrinated their congregations on the lessons of Christianity. And when Thomas Jefferson was planning the University of Virginia, it is said that he intended the architecture to function partially as text; he had designed the pavilions along the great lawn in different architectural styles to instruct students on Western architecture's greatest achievements. — Published 2011.0824
	AIA TOP GREEN BUILDINGS 2011 The Kubala Washatko Architects faced a real challenge: create a large yet sympathetic addition to a Frank Lloyd Wright landmark. And the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin, wanted this new structure to be very green to boot. — Published 2011.0420
	RE-SKINNING AWARDS These five outstanding recladding projects received Zerofootprint Re-Skinning Awards in the first year of this innovative awards program. —Editor 355 11th Street, San Francisco — Published 2011.0209
	CLIMATE LETTER TO CONGRESS We think this public letter, signed by 18 prominent climate scientists, coordinated by the Project on Climate Science, gives a succinct and accurate view of the current situation, addressed to our national legislators. Meanwhile, the "Better Buildings Initiative" announced by the White House on February 3, 2011, is an important climate- and architecture-related package moving forward administratively, even as Congress fiddles. —Editors To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate: — Published 2011.0202
	GREEN SCIENCE IN SALT LAKE CITY The new Meldrum Science Center, certified LEED Platinum, provides an outstanding teaching and laboratory facility for the Westminster College campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. The airy, daylit interior of the four-story, 60,000-square-foot (5,600-square-meter) building provides a fertile matrix for interactive learning about science — in the curriculum and in the building. — Published 2010.0929

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