CLT shines in Rogers Partners’ renovation of a former shipbuilding factory

If you were to glimpse inside Building 20 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (née the New York Naval Shipyard) some 150 years ago, you would have witnessed a spectacle of mechanical brawn and mind-boggling ingenuity unfolding within a machine shop that ranked as the most ultra-modern of its kind in the late 19th century. Completed

Concrete.ai releases tool reducing cost of concrete construction

Concrete.ai, a Los Angeles–based data science startup describing itself as being “on a mission to avoid 500 million tons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually,” announced last week the beta launch of a new software platform developed to reduce the cost and embodied carbon intensity in concrete construction. As detailed by the company, the

Carlo Ratti Associati inserts a mock tokamak reactor into a gasholder

Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) and Milan-based architect Italo Rota have joined forces with Rome-headquartered global energy behemoth Eni to explore the carbon-free potential of magnetic confinement fusion energy at a pop-up exhibition installed at this year’s just-concluded Maker Fair Rome. The spherical pavilion is realized as an ersatz tokamak fusion reactor within Gazometro Ostiense, a

Lake|Flato announced launches modular home company HiFAB

Lake|Flato Architects, a Lone Star State firm lauded for its enthusiastic embrace of sustainable design practices and emerging building technologies, is going full-on modular in partnership with a just-announced prefab homebuilding venture named HiFAB. Launched by Dallas-based real estate development and investment firm Oaxaca Interests, HiFAB recently debuted its studio and manufacturing… Read More… The

In Houston, work gets underway on a 3D-printed two-story home

HANNAH, an Architectural League Prize–winning experimental design and research studio led by Cornell University assistant professors of architecture Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic, has announced that construction work is underway in Houston on a story-story, 4,000-square-foot single-family home that, when completed, will stand as the first 3D-printed multistory structure in the United States. Serving as

An immersive LED entertainment venue coming soon to Hollywood Park

SoFi Stadium, host venue of Super Bowl LVI and anchoring site of the 2028 Summer Olympics, is getting a flashy new neighbor at Hollywood Park, the burgeoning behemoth of an entertainment complex-slash-mixed-use development located at the old Hollywood Park racetrack near Los Angeles International Airport in Inglewood, California. As recently announced, Cosm, a global experiential

Montana becomes first state to approve 3D-printed walls in construction

Montana, the first state to debut a luge track and send a woman to Congress, can now claim a new and somewhat unexpected first: the first state to give broad regulatory approval to the use of 3D-printed walls in new construction in lieu of concrete masonry units (CMUs) or standard cored concrete blocks. As reported

Google will occupy Chicago’s Thompson Center beginning in 2026

Following early morning news that the sale of the James R. Thompson Center was nearly finalized, Google has revealed itself as the future new tenant of the iconic, Helmut Jahn–designed office building in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. As Karen Sauder, head of Google’s Chicago office and president of Global Client and Agency Solutions, explained…

ICON’s U.S. Army barracks among the largest 3D-printed structures yet

This past August, Texas-based robotics and advanced materials startup ICON garnered headlines when it revealed what was then the largest completed project to date employing the company’s patented 3D-printed construction technology: a single-story barracks on the grounds of the Camp Swift Training Center in Bastrop, Texas. Created for the Texas Military Department, that structure, measuring

ICON and Lake|Flato put a 3D-printed spin on the mid-century rambler

Robotics and advanced materials construction startup ICON has revealed its first completed home in its Exploration Series, which per the Texas-based company, sets out to “develop new design languages and architectural vernaculars” with collaborating architects “based on the opportunities created by construction-scale 3D printing.” First announced last May, the roughly 2,000-square-foot East Austin abode melds

A decade in the making, Dubai’s Museum of the Future opens to visitors

The Dubai Future Foundation’s long-awaited Museum of the Future, a “new global centre for future thinking, technologies, and innovation” housed within a 252-foot-tall toroidal structure, is finally open in the heart of the city’s Financial District. Rising seven stories above Dubai’s skyscraper-lined main artery, the Paul Bunyan-sized ring with sheik-penned quotes inscribed into its metallic,

The Smithsonian and IF/THEN will drop 120 3D-printed statues of women trailblazers in D.C.

What do a video game designer, a conservation photographer, a reliability engineer, a fire scientist, a dancer-slash-roboticist, an astrophysicist, a digital archaeologist, a bat conservationist, and the CEO of an aquarium of all have in common? They are among the 100-plus women of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) who will be descending in statue form

Expo 2020’s Brazil Pavilion brings the Amazon basin to the Arabian Desert

For those on the ground at Expo 2020 Dubai looking to transport themselves to a far-flung tropical locale without leaving a once-barren expanse of desert abutting the Persian Gulf, the Brazil Pavilion has got you covered. Just don’t forget to bring aquatic footwear. Located in the Sustainability District between the Sweden Pavilion and the Azerbaijan

Habitat for Humanity debuts the world’s first 3D-printed owner-occupied home in Virginia

Earlier this week, additive construction company Alquist and Habitat for Humanity formally handed over the keys to the new owner of an otherwise ordinary-looking three-bedroom single-family home in Williamsburg, Virginia. Despite appearances, however, that building was recently completed as the first Habitat project on the East Coast to be constructed with the aid of a

Nabr, a real estate startup co-founded by Bjarke Ingels, reveals inaugural apartment complex in San Jose

Nabr, a consumer-first housing startup that aims to bring a tech-driven, bespoke home designing and financing to the masses, has formally launched with the news that its first apartment building will debut in the summer of 2023 at 415 South 3rd Street in San Jose’s buzzy arts and culture quarter, the SoFA (South of First

The Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building awakens for a glimpse of the FUTURES

What do a cloned ferret, a Bakelite baby monitor, biodegradable burial pods, genderless voice assistants, a century-old artificial limb, and a deli case stuffed with fake meat all have in common? They’re all among the dizzying assemblage of innovations past and speculative designs imagining a cleaner, greener, and more inclusive tomorrow showcased at the new

The HiLo module at Zurich’s NEST pairs ancient building concepts with futuristic construction

NEST, an ever-evolving experimental structure that serves as a testbed for emerging construction and energy technologies, has gained its eighth and newest temporary building module. The eclectic agglomerate sits on the shared campus of Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) and Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) in the

SOM debuts robotically fabricated timber pavilion at the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial

In addition to the core exhibitions and dozen-plus commissioned architectural interventions now on view and activated at predominately city-owned vacant lots during the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial, over 100 civic, educational, and cultural partners have launched a range of events—exhibitions, installations, lectures, tours, and more—to coincide with the central festival programming. Among these complementary festival

a man walking up stairs onto a concrete footbridge bridge, striatus

Zaha Hadid Architects and Block Research Group unveil a swooping 3D-printed concrete bridge in Venice

A freestanding, unreinforced pedestrian bridge built from 53 3D-printed concrete blocks is now open for leisurely foot traffic in Venice. Although Striatus doesn’t carry pedestrians over one of the city’s famed canals, this first-of-its-kind structure is now open for park-bound traversing at the leafy Giardino della Marinaressa during the run of the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. The roughly 40-by-52-foot arched footbridge was

exterior of a monolithic 70s era museum building in d.c., which will be helped along by a donation from jeff bezos

Jeff Bezos gifts the Smithsonian $200 million for National Air and Space Museum overhaul

Just days before billionaire Jeff Bezos is due to be blasted into the cosmos (or close to it) aboard a suborbital space vehicle with an all-civilian crew, the Amazon founder and former CEO again emphasized his passion for all things astronautic with a $200 million donation to the Smithsonian Institution. The money will solely be

sign for williamsburg

Habitat for Humanity and Alquist partner for the East Coast’s first 3D-printed Habitat home

Just weeks after it announced a partnership with the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech to design, build, and study America’s first 3D-printed, private-public partnership grant-funded single-family home in Richmond, Alquist has revealed another unprecedented project underway in Williamsburg, Virginia. This time, it’s the East Coast’s first 3D-printed Habitat for Humanity dwelling. The project, spearheaded by additive construction company Alquist with Habitat for

a man operates a 3D printer at a construction site labeled Habitat for Humanity on the pump

Habitat for Humanity kicks off work on its first 3D-printed U.S. home in Tempe, Arizona

In Arizona, the state with the fourth most dire affordable housing shortage according to National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)’s recently released Gap report, the Central Arizona chapter of global nonprofit Habitat for Humanity is looking to pave the way for new modes of sustainable, scalable low-cost housing across the Grand Canyon State. How? With the aid of ample local largesse and a

rendering of a single-level home

Alquist and Virginia Tech team up for America’s first 3D-printed, public-private partnership-funded home

Additive construction company Alquist and the Virginia Center for Housing Research (VCHR) at Virginia Tech have partnered to design, build, and study a 3D-printed single-family home that’s the first of its kind in the United States: funded by a private-public partnership grant. Work on the three-bedroom, 1,550-square-foot home broke ground earlier this week at 217 Carnation Street in Richmond’s Midlothian neighborhood.

rendering of a ranch-style 3d-printed home

ICON teams with Lake|Flato Architects for a 3D-printed, ADU-equipped Austin home

ICON, the Texas-based robotics and advanced materials construction company with lunar ambitions, has announced a new series of (earthbound) 3D-printed homes designed in collaboration with a slew of top architects. San Antonio- and Austin-based Lake|Flato Architects is the first to be tapped for the so-called Exploration Series, which according to ICON, will “develop new design languages and architectural vernaculars” with collaborating architects

Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP complete TECLA, a 3D-printed earthen abode

Bologna- and Milan-based Mario Cucinella Architects (MC A) and leading Italian 3D printing company WASP have revealed a newly-completed TECLA, a high-performance prototype dome house that marries primordial materials and advanced construction technology. Built from locally sourced clay using Crane WASP, a newly developed modular 3D-printing system, the deeply sustainable two-room dwelling is the first 3D-printed structure to be realized using indigenous

BQE Software announces significant growth investment from Serent Capital

BQE Software, a cloud-based staple of architecture and engineering firms, has announced that it has secured a significant investment from Serent Capital, a growth-focused private equity firm headquartered in San Francisco. Founded in 1995 by Shafat Qazi, an engineer by trade, and currently headquartered in the coastal Los Angeles County city of Torrance, BQE’s signature product is all-in-one accounting and

rendering of a boxy pavilion structure

Community “living room” and food hub designed by SOM and TnS Studio is coming to Chicago’s South Side

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has announced that it will colead the design of a community gathering place/small business incubator/“eco-food hub” in Englewood, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. TnS Studio, a self-described “Black-owned, Woman-powered” Chicago architecture firm headed by Taylor Staten and Courtney Harris, will spearhead the design of the space—dubbed Englewood Connect—alongside SOM as part

rendering of two modern homes with large lawns

ICON goes “mainstream” with production of 3D-printed single-family homes for new Austin development

Just a year after Austin, Texas–based construction technology startup ICON first unveiled a half-dozen 3D-printed homes at a 51-acre community established to provide affordable, permanent housing for formerly homeless residents of the city, the fast-growing (and Bjarke Ingels Group–backed) company has announced, in partnership with Kansas City, Missouri–based real estate developer 3Strands, the arrival of a new development in East Austin populated by two-to-four-bedroom homes that

a covered bridge in a park

Exhibit Columbus announces virtual 2021 Design Presentations lineupv

The organizers of Exhibit Columbus 2020-2021, the third cycle of the nonprofit Landmark Columbus Foundation’s keystone program, have announced the second major public event for the annual celebration of art, design, and community centered around the famously modernist architecture-rich Indiana city. Scheduled for March 19 and 26, the four-session Design Presentations event will give the public the opportunity to preview and