Share Your Work From Home Experience and Join the Remote Architects Club

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With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many architecture firms to quickly transition into a work from home, designers are having to discover new ways to work without everyone being in the same room. The casual conversations, overheard ideas, and site visits that were once an integral part of our jobs have been put on pause, and have left some architects wondering how everyone else is continuing project work.

Launched just last week, the Remote Architects Club is bringing designers from around the world together and sparking a conversation about how to work from home. This crowd-sourced site provides architects with a singular source of information and tools for support. Not only can architects see how other offices are handling work from home mandates, but also explore a variety of available software and read personal stories from others who have found ways to stay connected in this uncharted territory. Even beyond the end of this pandemic, this platform hopes to continue to serve the greater design community as a means of sharing ideas so that working remotely can become a regular part of architecture practice.

To find more information on how to join the Remote Architects Club, or to share information about your best practices, click here.

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Share Your Work From Home Experience and Join the Remote Architects Club - ArchDaily

Across the country, design communities have mobilized to assist in the effort to fill supply gaps in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Archinect reported on efforts at Princeton, Cornell, and Columbia that are coming together to 3D-print visors and face shield harnesses, fabricate hospital gowns, and manufacture other PPE to serve the regions hospitals.

On the west coast, a project inspired by a call to arms from Cornell University Professor Jenny Sabin has sprung up around the University of Southern California (USC). There, multiple campus entities, including the USC School of Architecture, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the USC Iovine Young Academy, and theUSC Keck School of Medicine are working to create PPE face masks that come close to meeting N95 standards.

Using a regional network of 3D-printers scattered at participating architecture firms and universities, including University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and Cal Polys LA Metro program, the #OperationPPE effort is fabricating protective gear that could prove pivotal to fighting the virus if existing stocks are depleted and medical workers have to resort to improvised means of protection.

USC Professor Alvin Huang explains: This is what Keck [School of Medicine] has identified as wartime medicine, so we are working on the back-ups to the back-ups.

Working from home offices, school print shops, and firm fabrication facilities, the group has coordinated file sharing and manufacturing initiatives to optimize and perfect the 3D printing files for a N95-like mask meant for last-resort use. The 3D-printed components are designed to snap together and require the addition of a HEPA filter insert and perimeter sealant to properly function. The masks are are a step above using handmade masks and bandanas, Huang writes.

The effort was recently endorsed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who in a recent COVID-19 related televised update announced the Citys support for the #OperationPPE initiative.

In the talk, Garcetti said, Im proud to announce were mobilizing our architecture, design, and manufacturing communities to utilize 3D-printing technologies to aid in the response. Garcetti added that the city was working with local universities, design schools, and architecture firms to utilize their materials and expertise.

Huang tells Archinect that the USC team has support from Gruen Associates, AIA California, and AIALA, which are now providing USCs printing teams with material, including 60 additional spools of PLA, the plastic filament being used to fabricate the masks. Huang adds: We are, however, having difficulty finding sheets of .02"-thick PETG for the face shields, but are trying to source that now.

In addition to Gruen, the effort has received support from a variety of local architecture firms, including:KAA Associates, ARUP, CO Architects, Michael Maltzan Architecture, Brooks + Scarpa, ECM Interactive, HNTB, IBI Group, HGA, KoningEizenberg, Lorcan OHerlihy Architects, Tighe Architecture, and Huangs own firm, Synthesis Design+ Architecture.

Huang writes, Our group is now up to 130+ people with 105+ printers, 3 lasercutters, and 215+ spools of filament. Huang explains that over 80 students are involved in the project.

The designers have published a sign-up sheet for those interested in contributing to the effort. The link includes access to the Keck School of Medicine-approved .stl files that can be used to print the mask components.

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#OperationPPE puts architects to work 3d-printing protective equipment for frontline medical workers - Archinect

With a whopping 33 categories, The Architects Newspapers sixth annual Best of Products Awards is slated to be our best yet. This years new and revamped program offers manufacturers, designers, and brand representation more opportunities to enter.

With a reputation for a smart, informed perspective on architecture and design, The Architects Newspaper applies the same high standards to our awards. This year, our robust jury is composed of 12 leading architects, engineers, construction, design professionals, andAN editors.Entries will be evaluated for innovation, aesthetics, performance, and value.

The Architects Newspapers Best of Products Awards is a much-anticipated event in the AEC and design communitiesyou wont want to miss out.

Independent designers, manufacturers, and brand representatives are invited to submit new products for review by July 23. This year, weve introduced a tiered entry fee structure.Early bird submissions are open until April 30 and regular submissions through July 2.

Winners will be announced online on August 31 and on our social media platforms. Winners will also be featured in our end-of-the-year Best of Design Awards special issue that is circulated to all subscribers. In addition, they will receive a specially designed trophy. One additional Product of the Year award will be announced at our annual AN Design Gala in early 2021. Further details can be found on our awards website.

More here:
The Architect's Newspaper announces its sixth annual Best of Products Awards - The Architect's Newspaper

A group of architects and engineers is working to convert shipping containers into intensive care units to help hospitals that are running low on space for COVID-19 patients.

The open-source project, dubbed Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments (CURA, or Latin for "cure") is harnessing the skills of experts from around the world to develop self-contained, mobile ICUs that can be plugged into hospitals or installed in parking lots.

"At the beginning we had around 100 people working on the design. But since making it public, over 2,000 people actually got interested in the project," Carlo Ratti, CURA co-founder and director of MIT's Senseable City Lab, told Day 6 host Brent Bambury.

Ratti said the first prototype unit, currently under construction in Italy, is nearly complete and is scheduled to be deployed in a hospital in Milan, one of the country's epicentres for the COVID-19 pandemic.

CURA units are designed to be far more than a giant metal box with a couple of beds inside. Each is set up with negative air pressure, creating a "bio-confinement" environment that can restrict the virus from leaving the chamber, Ratti explained.

It's one major advantage over the tent city-like triage centres that hospitals have been setting up to cope with the influx of patients, which Ratti said couldputdoctors and other health-care workers at risk of infection.

"By using containers, we are trying to combine the best of both worlds: having something as quick to deploy as a tent, but also safe to operate as a proper hospital with negative pressure in bio-confinement," he said.

Since the approximately six-metre-long shipping container design is more or less standard around the world, said Ratti, the CURA design should be more or less adaptable around the world.

"I think the most complicated thing is all the mechanical components inside in order to create negative pressure, to do heating and cooling. But once you sorted that out then it's quite easy to produce it," he said.

The medical equipment for two beds in each pod adds up to about $150,000 US ($210,000 Cdn) per container. Ratti said teams in Asia, Europe and the Americas are working on prototypes, and hope the price tag can be reduced if production begins to ramp up.

Federal health officials in Canada said Thursdaythere could bebetween 23,000 and 46,000 ICU admissions over the course of the pandemic, if 2.5 to five per cent of the country's population became infected with COVID-19.

In Ontario one of the provinces hardest hit bythe pandemic modelling releasedApril 3 showedit would need to add an extra 900 intensive care beds to cope with a projected steep rise in COVID-19 patients over the following two weeks.

Ratti hopes that his project will help shift a popular view both among outsiders and some in the profession that architecture is concerned first and foremost with aesthetics and beauty over form and function.

"If, as designers and architects, we keep on looking at you know, just beautifying useless objects, then it's going to be oblivion," he said, channelling a quote from American architect and theorist Buckminster Fuller.

"But if [we] are going to tackle the main challenges that we have today think about climate change; think about, in this case ... the response to the pandemic, but many, many others then architecture and design can really play a central role in our society."

Written by Jonathan Ore. Interview produced by Yamri Taddese.

To hear more,download our podcastor click Listen above.

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Architects and engineers are turning old shipping containers into mobile intensive care units - CBC.ca

For the duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, AN will use this column to keep our readers up to date on how the pandemic is affecting architecture and related industries. This weekly article is meant to digest the latest major developments in the crisis and synthesize broader patterns and what they could mean for architecture in the United States. The previous edition of the column can be found here.

While the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the entire country, it is hitting certain populations harder than others, particularly black, Latino, and Native American people. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the CDC released its first national data tracking race among COVID-19 patients, which showed that in March, the percentage of black [hospitalized COVID-19] patients (33 percent) was much higher than the percentage of African-Americans in the population as a whole. Local data from cities and states tracking race among COVID-19 patients showed that the health disparity is even worse in certain areas: In Louisiana, about 70 percent of the people who have died are black, though only a third of that states population is; African-Americans account for72 percent of virus-related fatalities in Chicago, even though they make up a little less than a third of the population, according to the Times; the virus has killed more people in the Navajo nation than in the much larger state of New Mexico; and, as of Thursday,all the people who have died in St. Louis so far from COVID-19 complications have been black.

Why is this the case?

The answer could have something to do with architecture, particularly housing. According to public health experts, while other factors, like implicit bias in healthcare and higher rates of heart disease and diabetes, certainly play a role in the racial coronavirus disparities, crowded housing in low-income neighborhoods could be facilitating the spread of the disease and increasing weathering, or the wear and tear of environmental stresses on the body, which increases the severity of coronavirus cases.

Urban design inequities also almost certainly play a role in transmissioneven with social distancing rules in full effect, subway stations in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods in the Bronx in New York City are packed with commuting essential workers.

COVID-19 has been a magnifying glass on the weaknesses in our systems, said Kimberly Dowdell, principal at HOK and president of the National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA). Though racialized housing disparities are nothing new, the stark death toll of the pandemic is harshly illustrating those disparities effects.

Theres a saying that when America sneezes, the black community catches a cold, Dowdell said, pointing to an enormous wealth gap between black and white Americans as one of the main reasons why black people in the U.S. suffer more acutely during crises like the current one.

The Brookings Institution recently reported that in 2016, the net worth of a typical white American family ($171,000) was nearly ten times greater than that of a typical black American family ($17,150). While a variety of discriminatory policies have sowed the seeds for the current imbalance, racist urban planning has played an enormous part. Redlining, which started in the early 20th century and often continues in some form today, is a term for the once-legal practice of denying investments and bank loans to predominantly black neighborhoodsbanks would outline such areas in red on maps. The practice discouraged investment in black-owned homes and businesses, which lost value over generations, resulting in not only a racial wealth gap but spatial disparities, as well. Many predominantly black neighborhoods have fewer grocery stores, are closer to polluting industries, and lack high-quality affordable homes.

Even after the pandemic subsides, vulnerable populations will still be at risk from the next crisis and will potentially be in even a weaker state. One answer, Dowdell said, is for communities to invest in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods to decrease the wealth gap and increase resiliency. That kind of recovery will require a mix of policy, development, and design professionals working together, ideally with teams that reflect the communities theyre serving.

Diverse teams are really important, Dowdell said. Architecture should reflect the communities that they serve form a racial perspective.

Dowdell pointed to Chicago, where she lives, and where Mayor Lori Lightfoot has focused on the citys racialized spatial inequality in her mission to eliminate endemic poverty within a generation.

If theres a team that goes into certain communities, it would be great if there were certain people who were from that community or at least have some level of familiarity with the culture and of the community, Dowdell said. For example, if were looking at the South Side of Chicago [which is over 90 percent African American], and you dont have African-African team members, thats a missed opportunity.

Building teams that reflect underserved neighborhoods could be more difficult after the pandemic, as the economic downturn may be harder on architects who come from those areas.

I do think that black communities are going to have a harder time recovering, Dowdell said. Its going to be a challenge for everyone, but I think that given the wealth gaps, architects of color will probably struggle to get back to where they were.

As jobs, internships, and salaries decline, even if only temporarily, as a result of the pandemic, those without a cushion of family money or who financially support loved ones could have to leave the profession for greener pastures. The racial wealth gap means that black and other minority architects may flee in greater numbers, damaging diversity in a profession that is already overwhelmingly white. As of 2019, only 2 percent of NCARB certificate holders identify as black or African American, and less than 1 percent identify as Latino.

What can architects do? Dowdell touted NOMAs national network as a way for architects of color to support each other and find opportunities, including the groups new NOMA Foundation Fellowship, which offers a stipend and internship for architecture students. NOMA is launching a new weekly web series, Stay All In for NOMA, which will help members stay informed during the pandemic. Dowdell also suggested that architects get involved with local NOMA chapters to organize and advocate for city and state planning policies that invest in underserved neighborhoods. For those already working on projects advancing social justice, NOMA is partnering with the NAACP and the SEED Network advocacy group on the Design Awards for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI), which will recognize excellence in those categories.

No matter what, Dowdell said, an architect can do something.

In other corona news from this week, AN covered new hospitals and healthcare spaces deployed for the pandemic, and the AIAs new assessment tool for adapting existing buildings into coronavirus treatment sites. The crisis continues to demand innovative thinking, and in Florida, autonomous vehicles are delivering medical supplies. For the housebound, we also highlighted many exhibitions you can check out from home, including robot-assisted gallery tours, a French show exploring AI and architecture, virtual Frank Lloyd Wright tours, and a virtual exhibit on a balmy shore. We picked some picks to catch up on, too.

Enjoy, and be well!

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How architecture is exacerbating the coronavirus crisis for minorities and black Americans - The Architect's Newspaper

in a rural area of northamptonshire in the UK, will gamble architects has completed a sensitive extension to a grade 2 listed victorian house. the project makes use of a disused cattle shed and the ruins of a former parchment factory and scheduled monument. using a selection of honest materials, the new intervention is inserted into the remaining traces of the structures, blending the past and present together in one symbiotic relationship.

all images johan dehlin

the clients initial brief was to convert the cattle shed and demolish the factory ruins to make way for a new extension. rather than viewing it as a constraint, will gamble architects saw the ruin as a positive asset and instead proposed a building within a building where two lightweight volumes could be delicately inserted within the masonry walls in order to preserve and celebrate it.

a palette of honest materials was chosen both internally and externally which references the sites history and the surrounding rural context. externally, corten steel, oak, and reclaimed brick has been used. the extension was built out of upcycled materials predominantly found on site which was both cost effective and sustainable, while allowing the proposal to sensitively blend into its surroundings.

internally the structural beams of the existing cattle shed were exposed as well as the steelwork to the new parts the stone walls were re-pointed and washed in lime to create a mottled effect and a concrete plinth was cast along the base to create a monolithic skirting. a contemporary kitchen (also designed by will gamble architects) juxtaposes the uneven and disordered nature of the ruin and continues the theme of a modern intervention set within a historic context.

project info:

project name: the parchment works house

project type: residential

location: northamptonshire, UK

architect: will gamble architects

duration: 2017 2019

photography: johan dehlin

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readershere.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom

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will gamble architects inserts a contemporary extension into factory ruins in the UK - Designboom

entitled 12, a cabin dwelling designed by ORTRAUM architects is completed along the edge of helsinkis jollas peninsula. the 72 square meter timber house was planned as an addition to an existing 150 square meter home built in the 1960s. the client couple needed two main spaces a ceramics workshop and a music composing studio while the organization of the plan needed to be flexible enough to function additionally as a guest house and future home for one of the two children in the family, so bathroom and kitchen spaces were included.

all images by marc goodwin

12 by ORTRAUM architects is designed to serve as a model structure for environmentally friendly architecture and infill projects within its suburban finnish context. the building is built on top of the existing 6x6m concrete foundation of an old garage, avoiding groundwork on site completely. timber elements were ordered tailor-made, and installed on top of the concrete base within one day, creating a minimal impact on the neighborhood. the building is ventilated naturally. the roof slopes towards the south and is equipped with solar panels, providing the energy for running the ground source heat pump of the main home.

the massing of the house is divided into two levels, an organization expressed visually from the dwellings exterior. formalized as an irregularly shaped volume stacked upon a rectangular block, these volumes each represent two different programs. the design team playful formal strategy generates a dynamic and sculptural architecture which expresses a different character when viewed from each perspective, reacting to the corner location on the property with by-passers moving closely around the building. the exterior timber cladding will turn grey with time and blend in with the adjacent forest and rocky surroundings.

project info:

project title: 12

architecture: ORTRAUM architects

location: helsinki, finland

photography: marc goodwin

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ORTRAUM architects plays with volumes in the design of its dwelling: '12' - Designboom

How Will the $2 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package Affect Architects? | 2020-03-27 | Architectural Record This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn MoreThis website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.

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How Will the $2 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package Affect Architects? - Architectural Record

I dont have a creative mind can i still be an architect? | Forum | Archinect '); }, imageUploadError: function(json, xhr) { alert(json.message); } }}); /*$(el).ckeditor(function() {}, {//removePlugins: 'elementspath,scayt,menubutton,contextmenu',removePlugins: 'liststyle,tabletools,contextmenu',//plugins:'a11yhelp,basicstyles,bidi,blockquote,button,clipboard,colorbutton,colordialog,dialogadvtab,div,enterkey,entities,filebrowser,find,flash,font,format,forms,horizontalrule,htmldataprocessor,iframe,image,indent,justify,keystrokes,link,list,maximize,newpage,pagebreak,pastefromword,pastetext,popup,preview,print,removeformat,resize,save,smiley,showblocks,showborders,sourcearea,stylescombo,table,specialchar,tab,templates,toolbar,undo,wysiwygarea,wsc,vimeo,youtube',//toolbar: [['Bold', 'Italic', 'BulletedList', 'Link', 'Image', 'Youtube', 'Vimeo' ]],plugins:'a11yhelp,basicstyles,bidi,blockquote,button,clipboard,colorbutton,colordialog,dialogadvtab,div,enterkey,entities,filebrowser,find,flash,font,format,forms,horizontalrule,htmldataprocessor,iframe,image,indent,justify,keystrokes,link,list,maximize,newpage,pagebreak,pastefromword,pastetext,popup,preview,print,removeformat,resize,save,smiley,showblocks,showborders,sourcearea,stylescombo,table,specialchar,tab,templates,toolbar,undo,wysiwygarea,wsc,archinect',toolbar: [['Bold', 'Italic', 'BulletedList','NumberedList', 'Link', 'Image']],resize_dir: 'vertical',resize_enabled: false,//disableObjectResizing: true,forcePasteAsPlainText: true,disableNativeSpellChecker: false,scayt_autoStartup: false,skin: 'v2',height: 300,linkShowAdvancedTab: false,linkShowTargetTab: false,language: 'en',customConfig : '',toolbarCanCollapse: false });*/ }function arc_editor_feature(el) { $(el).redactor({minHeight: 300,pasteBlockTags: ['ul', 'ol', 'li', 'p'],pasteInlineTags: ['strong', 'br', 'b', 'em', 'i'],imageUpload: '/redactor/upload',plugins: ['source', 'imagemanager'],buttons: ['html', 'format', 'bold', 'italic', 'underline', 'lists', 'link', 'image'],formatting: ['p'],formattingAdd: {"figcaption": {title: 'Caption',args: ['p', 'class', 'figcaption', 'toggle']},"subheading": {title: 'Subheading',args: ['h3', 'class', 'subheading', 'toggle']},"pullquote-left": {title: 'Quote Left',args: ['blockquote', 'class', 'pullquote-left', 'toggle']},"pullquote-centered": {title: 'Quote Centered',args: ['blockquote', 'class', 'pullquote-center', 'toggle']},"pullquote-right": {title: 'Quote Right',args: ['blockquote', 'class', 'pullquote-right', 'toggle']},"chat-question": {title: 'Chat Question',args: ['p', 'class', 'chat-question', 'toggle']}, "chat-answer": {title: 'Chat Answer',args: ['p', 'class', 'chat-answer', 'toggle']}, },callbacks:{ imageUpload: function(image, json) { $(image).replaceWith('

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I dont have a creative mind can i still be an architect? - Archinect

Bungie has earned a large fan base with the popularity of its Halo andDestiny franchises, but the developerseems to beworking on something new. Previous statements suggestDestiny 3 isn't coming anytime soon, and Bungie confirmed last September that it's looking beyondDestinyto develop new franchises. Little is known about Bungie's next game, but one fan may have figured out what it will be about.

The current season of Destiny 2, called Season of the Worthy, has brought the game into a bit of a content drought. There's still the returning Trials of Osiris PvP mode, of course, but the general lack of other exciting things to do has led some fans tobelieveBungie's focus has turned away from Destiny 2 entirely. With Bungie hinting that Destiny 3 might not launch until after 2020, it appears the studio's focus is on its new IP, rather than a Destiny 2 follow-up.

Related:Destiny 2's Rasputin Bunker Slide Is The Game's Freshest Content

Reddit user DovahSpy recently shared a theoryon what this next game could be about. In the Halo series, players who went out of bounds during a multiplayer match were automatically killed and received the message "Killed by the Guardians."In Destiny, player characters - called Guardians - instead receive the message "Killed by The Architects,"so it follows that Bungie's next IP will star a player character faction called Architects. It's a simple theory, but a sound one, as Bungie's games have a habit of referencing one another. A Halo: ODST Easter egg, for instance, teased Destiny before it was announced.

If the protagonists of Bungie's new game are indeed called Architects, it could shed some light on the new game's premise. Since Destiny's Guardians protect humanity and Halo's Spartans are legendarily skilled warriors, Architects might build or design something in the new game's world. Still, this alone isn't much to go off of, but Bungie has indirectly revealed other details about its new game that create a clearer picture.

Bungie filed a trademark for a project called"Matter" in 2018, which suggests an emphasis on physical substances (and, if it's about Architects, perhaps building materials). Additionally,BungieMatter job listingshinted at a "comedic," "lighthearted," and "whimsical" game focused on competitive play, as well as an emphasis on "combat animation" and on "how character design can enable fan cosplays."While mentions ofRPG-like gameplay systems and loot drops suggest otherwise, these other details bring to mind Fortnite, a whimsical, competitive shooter with iconic character designs and in which players build things. Perhaps Bungie is aiming to capture some of Epic Games' success with its next game, whetherMatter turns out to be Destiny 3 or an entirely new franchise.

Next:Bungie Says Destiny 3 Fans Will Need To Wait A Little Longer

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Camden Jones is a freelance reporter and regular contributor to Screen Rant. He also contributes to sites like GameRevolution and ESPN Esports, and he is a former Game Informer intern. A graduate of the the Missouri School of Journalism, Camden writes mostly about video games and the people who play them, but he has dabbled in topics such as the Missouri state government and artificial cattle insemination.Visit Camden's website to see his full portfolio of work, including features, podcasts, and videos. You can also follow him on Twitter @CCJ1997 for updates on his latest work and thoughts on gaming, environmentalism, and K-pop, or email him at ccj1997(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Why Destiny 2 Fans Think Bungie's New Game Will Be About Architects - Screen Rant