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HOKI MUSEUM BY NIKKEN SEKKEI
When we are astonished by a building, it is often because we don't fully understand it. In such a case, we strive to close the gap between what we see and what we already know of architecture. — Published 2012.0425
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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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CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM - SAFDIE IN ARKANSAS
For those familiar with the remote and quiet beauty of the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas, the sudden appearance of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville seems somewhat miraculous. — Published 2012.0201
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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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THE STORY OF SAARINEN'S JOHN DEERE HEADQUARTERS
Carefully tucking away "the car's fat shine" was integral to the definitive Deere & Company Administrative Center in Moline, Illinois, later renamed Deere & Company World Headquarters.
The exemplar for all subsequent corporate estates, it brought together landscape, site plan, and architecture into an elegant and commanding solution. Deere definitively proved the corporate value of the high-image, high-style suburban headquarters. — Published 2011.1207
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AMERICAN LANDSCAPE AWARDS
When it originally opened in 1978, the Portland Transit Mall created a transit-focused corridor in downtown Portland, Oregon. For a distance of 11 blocks through the commercial core, a pair of one-way streets combined dedicated bus lanes and limited car traffic with wide brick sidewalks and an abundance of trees, benches, and shelters. But despite being an icon for progressive urban planning, the mall suffered deferred maintenance and deterioration over time. — Published 2011.1102
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UP ON THE ROOF
More than half of all the single-family homes in the United States were built in the last three decades of the 20th century, and it is estimated that half again of the current total number of dwellings — about 80 million — will need to be built in the next three decades of the 21st century. — Published 2011.0727
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POCKET NEIGHBORHOODS
Architect Ross Chapin defines a "pocket neighborhood" as a "cohesive cluster of homes gathered around some kind of common ground within a larger surrounding neighborhood" — achieving a small scale at which meaningful neighborly relationships are fostered. Here he discusses a 19th-century precedent for the pocket neighborhood, along with three modern examples. —Editor
Workingmen's Cottages of Warren Place — Published 2011.0525
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AIA HOUSING AWARDS: SINGLE-FAMILY
In the Towerview neighborhood of Racine, Wisconsin, a strikingly modern two-story home stands apart on a lakefront site. Though its architects credit nearby Victorians as inspiration for the vivid colors highlighting its facade, the playful tone, rectilinear massing, and structurally expressive detailing seem to make more recent references — as well they might. — Published 2011.0406
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ON 'TRAVEL AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT'
News flash: The distance between a residential development location and the metropolitan center is one of the strongest factors influencing how much residents will drive.
The density of a neighborhood, in and of itself, turns out to be the weakest of the commonly considered "D" variables, key dimensions of the built environment that influence how — and how much — people move around. — Published 2010.0818
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