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Of the 116,242 licensed architects in the United States and its territories, just two percent are Black. Only 2,325 Black architects are building the cities and suburbs, shaping the skylines and creating the museums, housing, schools, government buildings, places of worship and any other variety of structures we live in or with every day. In a nation with a population of nearly 330,064,000 people, solely 2,325 Black citizens have the power and access to physically design our built environment.

When faced with these figures, it becomes clear that the racist systems that often bar Black Americans from competing on an equal socioeconomic playing field also extend to architecture. White people have always had a head start. Licensure laws were first passed in 1897, but the first Black architect to be licensed, Paul Revere Williams, was not bestowed the title until 1921. While this marked an incredibly important milestone, society must resist the urge to celebrate isolated successes as evidence of racial equity. Instead, it raises the question: why did this take so long?

Today, statistical outliers are more plentiful but the trend has not significantly changed; according to the data from annual National Council of Architectural Registration Boards reports, that two percent figure is in stasis and has been for at least the last five years. Non-Black people of color account for nine percent of the nations licensed architects. White architects continue to make up the vast majority of industry professionals. Its not uncommon to find a design firm where the number of Black architects is fewer than five. Black partners are even more scarce.

Since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, many architectural firms, professional institutions and media companies have pledged to correct the lack of Black equity in their staffs, coverage and projects. But with these pledges comes the risk of tokenism. Putting out statements is important because designers and architects must participate in this conversation, says Pascale Sablan, whose organization Beyond the Built Environment has helped to center the design work of her fellow Black architects since 2017. But, the architecture industry can ensure sustained, meaningful change by going beyond statements of camaraderie and solidarity, to action items. It is not enough to show up to a funeral and offer your condolences; you need to bring the lasagna, too.

In a systematically racist society, how can the industry move toward true equity? How does architectures lack of diversity affect the professional successes or challenges of Black architects? What kind of othering does it perpetuate? How do these marginalized voices want the industry to change? What are the experiences of being Black in architecture? These are a few of the questions I presented to a group of 15 Black architects over the last month. For all, one directive is clear: as the United States awakens to its embedded racism, actions speak louder than words. If the systems promoting inequality are to change, it needs to start with active reparative work by white allies.

Katherine Williams. Photo by Ti-Ka Wallace. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Katherine Williams, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA

Katherine Williams is a licensed architect in Northern Virginia, a senior project manager at Georgetown University, owner of real estate development firm Fifth Generation Holdings and a Black Women in Architecture Network organizer. She has written extensively about the architecture profession, diversity in the industry and community development. Katherine has served as editor for multiple publications and was the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) magazine editor from 2009-2014.

The first memory I have of feeling othered in my professional life was shortly after I graduated from university. I will start by saying I attended predominantly white schools for K-12. I was used to being the only Black face in my classes. When I received a full scholarship to Howard University, I had no idea the breadth of the effect that being in that environment would have on me personally and professionally. I was one in a sea of Black faces. It is not just that most of my peers were Black, it is that I now was hanging out with Black people from across the globe. My class references were rooted in the Black experience from throughout the diaspora. I carried that into my interactions on campus and my travels off campus, including trips around DC and my study abroad semester in Toronto.

When I left school, I returned to my hometown. I knew I should engage with organizations to start building my network to begin my career. I decided to do that by connecting to my local AIA chapter and attending an event. It was the summer after my final semester. I remember the event was at a location where there was a large monumental stair that led down into the space where everyone was gathered. I stood at the top of the stair, looked down, and the sea of white faces made me catch my breath. I had to reorient and re-armour myself. I had spent five years, mostly, without that anxiety of being the only Black face in the crowd, without worrying if people saw me for my skill and intelligence first or for my skin color. I entered the space and nervously engaged, having small talk and introducing myself to people there.

I dont remember much more about that evening. I do know that I felt determined to make the chapter live up to what I assumed was the purpose of the organizationto help local architecture professionalsand for me that meant helping get my career started. My engagement with the chapter actually helped introduce me to my first boss. Additionally, I went on to serve on the board and restart the ARE prep program.

As a licensed, Black, woman architect, part of a 0.4 percent slice of licensed architects in the United States, I know there will be many times where I am in a room as an other or in places without another who looks like me. I continue to be in those rooms and hopefully create space for others like me to join.

Steven Lewis. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Steven Lewis, FAIA, NOMAC

Steven Lewis is a principal of urban design and planning at ZGF Architects in Los Angeles, California and the president of Thinking Leadership, a strategic planning consultancy. Formerly, he served as the urban design director for the central region of Detroit, the president of NOMA and was a Harvard Loeb Fellow from 2006 to 2007. Dedicated to advocating for his fellow architects of color, Lewis lectures across ZGF offices and elsewhere about equity in the workplace.

You first achieve a sense of racial awareness, that you are something different than what has been reflected back to you, as a child in television and media (which at my time of growing up in the early 1960s was Dennis the Menace and The Andy Griffith Show) when you are confronted with some event that shakes that paradigm. You then become immediately aware of two parallel universes. Black folks have, as a matter of survival, had to navigate seamlessly through those two parallel universes, but most white folks dont have that racial awareness: they just are. For them, there has always been one universe. Well, when George Floyd was murdered, and, this is my Trekkie coming out, a wormhole opened up between those two universes and all the white folks got sucked into the Black universe and now see what we see. At that instant, the wall between the two crumbled and we are all in one place now with no choice but to move forward.

What worries me is that wealth and power are so concentrated in this country that the acquiescence to a new realigned society is the last thing that leaders want. They have ways of subverting these movements, which they have demonstrated in the past. Ironically the loss of John Lewis reminds us that we have been here before, maybe not quite in the same way, particularly with young white folks out in the streets saying, this is crazy; were not tolerating this. If the groundswell can build the confidence among the general population to not be paralyzed by the enormity of this task of gratitude, it then must accept that this is an arc, a lifetime journey. 43 years ago, I was told suddenly that I had to stick an insulin syringe in my arm; I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and that day forever changed my life. I have to have insulin by some other means than my own production every day to be alive. I had to accept that new variable in my life forever and there have been good days and there have been bad days, just as on this quest there will be missteps and I say to my white colleagues who are afraid of saying the wrong thing that racism is white peoples problem to dismantle. It is our job as Black folks to be the sherpas, the guides. We will pick you up when you fall off the path but we have to allow you to own it, to make the necessary steps to fix it. We are generations from solving racism but we can get on the path and we have enough momentum on the path.

My father was an architect. RIP Roger Lewis. He left us about three years ago at age 88. I knew about architecture, unlike many of my friends, from a young age. It was quite an awakening when I arrived at school, at Syracuse University, because architecture revealed itself in a much different way than what I had been exposed to through my dad. Attending a majority institution I was part of a small cohort of Black folks who were in the school at the time and there were instances where we experienced racism, but, being a product of coming of age during the civil unrest of the 1960s and having parents that were very active and aware, I had a social consciousness at an early age.

My dad, having grown up in Harlem, was able to start a firm around 1970 with two partners, as were other colleagues of his (J. Max Bond Jr., etc.) and I was in the room as a teenager when they would meet as NYCOBA,the New York Coalition of Black Architectswhich still exists today as a chapter of NOMA. I was horrified by what they had to encounter just trying to establish themselves as architects and professionals in that society. That was it. I had that consciousness and I was living in those parallel universes where if I saw racism, or if it affected me or touched me, I would name it, call it out and attack it intellectually, not emotionally.

That just rolled through college and out into the world. Because I never met a word I didnt like and communication is probably the greatest gift I have been given, I became a natural spokesperson on these issues. Part of my role right now is helping build strength and confidence among my white colleagues. Ive been invited to have a seat at the AIA Large Firm Roundtable and Im talking to their CEOs and Im offering them wisdom and advice that they are very open to and have an appetite for. For example, just the other day they were allocating funds within each of the firms to financially support the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Out of over 100 HBCUs, only seven have accredited architecture programs and its those seven schools that are responsible for graduating 85% of Black architecture students, yet those schools are underfunded and under-resourced. Theres a recognition that this is the farm; weve got to grow these crops and make them strong and well. Theyre throwing money at other resources who are attacking the problem directly and I said, why dont all of you reprogram a chunk of that money, create a JEDI bank (Justice, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion) within the firm, and that way, instead of giving the money to someone else to do the work, you can do it yourselves? You have many people in your firms, particularly young people, who want to take direct action and they are somewhat limited because they may not have a charge number to bill their hours. They loved that idea.

Its one thing to throw money at it and its another to be the action. With best intentions, they were putting money into good causes, but youve got to do the work. Thats the hard part.

Samantha Josaphat. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

On Tokenism In the Workplace

My early experience in architecture required me to seek mentors who understood the direct and/or passive aggressive behaviors towards me in the workplace. The lack of diversity in the profession provided the opportunity for a former boss to tell me she was using reverse racism with me. Once I got licensed and I kept being treated differently from my colleagues who got licensed after me and had equal qualifications and responsibilities, I decided that I wouldnt let years go by letting others who dont want to see my worth have control over my career. My true value was never recognized until I provided myself with the opportunities when starting my own practice. Samantha Josaphat, RA, NCARB, NOMA, LEED, is the principal of Studio 397 Architecture in Brooklyn, president of NYCOBA|NOMA and an assistant professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College in New York.

I think the biggest struggle is having only a handful of Black architects in leadership roles to look up to, work with and learn from. Being one of a handful of Black students in school was never a non-normal thing, having grown up in a predominately white city (Madison, Wisconsin), going to predominantly white schools (UW Milwaukee for my BS Arch Studies and IIT for my Masters of Architecture) and working in a predominantly white profession. It wasnt until I became heavily involved in NOMA that it hammered home that there is a ton of diverse talent out there, but that group is comparatively so small that I can know many of them on a personal basis. Its encouraging to see so many successful and talented Black and brown designers around the country and always an adrenaline boost to whatever I am working on when I am around them. Id love for the profession to be so diverse that I dont automatically become friends with all of the Black employees, if for no other reason than there are too many of them. Richie Hands, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NOMA, is an associate at Lamar Johnson Collaborative in Chicago and the NOMA National Project Pipeline Co-Chair.

Being othered means the reality of being or feeling as though I am the only person of color in architecture over my 25 years of an academic and professional career. Conversely, it also means you can often be in high demand because of your otherness. I dont view this peculiarity as a spectacle anymore, but as a true indicator that, unlike many other professions which may have reached a higher percentage of minority participation, architecture is not one of them and frankly neither is design. The othered has been a part of my experience from 6 years of university, studying in Europe and India, practicing in several American cities, Asia and the Caribbean.

The profession, like many others, is built on experiences and relationships. It would be ideal if there was a system of meritocracy but we dont live in a utopia. There exist conscious and unconscious biases, however, moments such as this one have forced us collectively to recognize and openly discuss these biases. I am well aware of the need to label certain firms minority firmsthe bias is real and design firms need a bona fide seat at the table. The question then becomes what is our perceived value, a check on a mandated minority participation box, or being recognized as equally talented design professionals and business owners? This would be a worthwhile change. Daimian S. Hines, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, is a principal of Hines Architecture + Design in Houston, Texas and the president of the Houston chapter of NOMA.

Dr. Kwesi Daniels. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Dr. Kwesi Daniels, MArch, MSc Sust. Mgmt, ABD

Dr. Kwesi Daniels is a department head and associate professor at the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science at Tuskegee University, a historically Black university in Tuskegee, Alabama.

The experience of being Black in architecture involves learning about a discipline that does not include the contributions of African American architects like Paul Revere Williams, Robert R. Taylor, Walter T. Bailey and Wallace Rayfield within the canons of the profession. It involves being taught to admire and replicate planning strategies like Levittown, Long Island as examples of successful community developments, without being taught how they were developed to maintain racial segregation. It means learning how architects have been at the center of social engineering and how their efforts have been responsible for creating conditions that have adversely affected so many communities of color for generations. The experience of being Black in architecture requires you to unearth the accomplishments of other Blacks in architecture to understand how they navigated the often tumultuous waters of the profession. It involves developing your own methods to address the challenges that face communities of color because the projects we work on in school do not prepare us to design our spaces. My experience of being Black in architecture involved me teaching myself how to use design to celebrate my culture.

YOMA Headquarters by Daimian S. Hines. Photo by Daimian S. Hines. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

On the Importance of Genuine Allyship

As someone employed at a large firm, my biggest concern was not so much tokenism as it was optical allyship for the purposes of improved perception. Its important the firm not only recognizes me as a licensed Black architect, but also, a skilled designer who is a contributing member of every team that I am on. I avoid tokenism by engaging with my colleagues ideas about equity and diversity. If they send me links to initiatives and strategies used by other organizations, or have suggestions about how the firm can improve its approaches to equity and diversity, I always turn the onus back on them and ask, Thats great, do you want to lead that initiative? or Sounds good, how can I help you get that off the ground?

Its important for allies and co-conspirators to understand that the pledges made by firms recently are not the sole responsibility of the BIPOC employees to execute, but are instead instilled in the mission of the firm itself. As such, every employee is a steward for that mission. Firms should not publicly dedicate themselves to uplift the Black community, then ask their Black employees to be the only ones making it happen. During my conversations with our firms leadership, I remind everyone this is the firms mission, not the mission of a limited committee. I learned this strategy from watching my mentor, NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell. She invites everyone to the table and makes them a stakeholder, and ensures that each person has a committed interest in the improvement of our profession. Melanie Ray, AIA, LEED Green Associate, NOMA, NCARB, is an associate at Hord Coplan Macht in Baltimore, the NOMA Northeast university liaison and a founding member and treasurer for the Baltimore chapter of NOMA.

There has been quite a bit more attention being given to my work over the last two months since George Floyd was publicly stripped of his right to live in America by an officer of its most cherished institution. However, none of that attention has turned into any kind of offer for new design commissions or ways of expanding my professional practice. It has mostly resulted in more Instagram followers and a few invitations to explain to the rest of America what its like to be a Black architect. Each of these instances has made me feel othered. Sekou Cooke, RA, is the owner or Sekou Cooke Studio in Syracuse, New York and an assistant professor at Syracuse Universitys School of Architecture.

Advocacy work can and should start on your block, in your neighborhood, in your community. See what injustices are impacting your town and take that as a beginning standpoint. Once youve identified the communitys specific oppressions, whether that be architectural or other, you should reach out to the community leaders and get more information, understand the politics of the issue, understand the institutions and the characters that perpetuate the injustice. Together with that deeper level of understanding, ask how you can get involved. Lets make the fight for justice personal; bring it home to your family, your neighbor, your block and your community and make them better and more just. Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED, is a senior associate at S9 Architecture and the founder and executive director of Beyond the Build Environment.

Ibrahim Greenidge. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Ibrahim Greenidge, AIA, NCARB, NOMA

Ibrahim Greenidge is managing partner at BOLT Architecture in Brooklyn and is on the Black Gotham and ONENYC 2050 advisory boards. He is the former president of the New York Coalition of Black Architects and the author of the forthcoming book, Its Going to Be Brick: Being Black in Architecture.

Its 1982, Im born to two Muslim-converted parents who are first generation Americans. They move to Brooklyn. When I was a young kid and Gavin Cato was killed, the environment started to shift around me. There were metal detectors at school. The kids werent looting and rioting during the Crown Heights Riots but because the school that we lived in had predominantly white female teachers, there needed to be some sort of safety in place. What also starts to resonate with me is the lack of public spaces. The lack of spaces for us to congregate outside of Prospect Park. In a lot of other communities there are bath houses, private spaces, yoga studios, meditation spaces. I didnt have the words for this. No one is telling me that architects, engineers, and urban planners designed this.

I moved to Long Island, New York to a completely suburban lifestyle. I go from being a majority Black kid to one of only a few Black kids. What started to happen was that my high school started to see a shift in migration and culture because of its education. The demographic of the school started to see white flight. I am fortunate that I grew up in a very mixed environment. I thought the world operated that way.

I was always great with my hands. In 10th grade, people began asking, what do you want to do? No one ever mentioned architecture. Its not in their vocabulary. They had never met an architect. So, one summer, my granddad asked me to help him build a backyard shed. What I started to appreciate was the art and science of building. I went back to school and told them that I wanted to become an architect and they said, you should become a janitor or a mechanic. My father said to me, why do you have to be a mechanic, why cant you be the one designing things?

As a Black man in college, the movie Get Out is a perfect example of how it felt: surrounded by white fraternities, surrounded by these acts of subtle racism, your models being destroyed at night, people leaving you in parking lots when you had asked for a ride, teachers giving you different grades because they dont feel you participated meanwhile your classmates are saying, he is doing even more than us. Unfortunately, this has been my reality since I was a young boy: being in the streets and stopped by police, learning how to be Black in corporate America, what projects dont you want to work on. Why is the Black person the only one being put on the jail projects?

I came to a point in my career where I had to think, do I want to continue building these structures that I consider unethical? Without these events, I probably would have never thought of quitting my job and beginning my own practice. When youre in college and youre in this environment, its about survival. Youve got your blinders on. Its just your reality. You think that this is what its like in architecture. But then, when you join a firm, you realize this is only happening to you.

Has it been made clear in architecture that I am one of a few? Absolutely. Have there been moments where I am in the room with Black engineers and Black contractors? Yes, sure there have been. But those are far between. My work experience has given me the pleasure of working on projects of all scales and types. But, I found out everything that I didnt like in the corporate structure and, in my own firm, I dont do that here.

COS Store in Toronto by Samantha Josaphat. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

On The Importance of Mentorship

In order to change the face of architecture we have to dedicate time and resources towards solidifying the pipeline for the next generation of minority architects and designers. Over the last 15+ years Ive invested the majority of my time and energy outside of work to the ACE Mentor Program and NOMAs Project Pipeline Architecture Camp, two national programs focused on exposing career opportunities to young students in underserved, under represented, and under resourced communities. Each program employs different tactics and strategies to expand their catchment areas across the country with the support of various industry sponsors and partnerships.

Within ACE I have served as a mentor, team leader, Associate Board member and co-instructor for the Summer Design Build Workshop over the last 13+ years in Chicago. I have mentored students along their journey towards ACE professions, first as young high school students solidifying their plans to pursue ACE disciplines and degrees, followed by coaching to help them land their first summer internship as college students, and then finally connecting them with potential employers to help them land their first job out of school as young professionals. To be with a student through that journey and see the mission and process come full circle is honestly one of the most rewarding feelings as a mentor, and gives me reassurance of the impact were making on young students lives as we work towards changing the face of our profession. Jason Pugh, AIA, AICP, NOMA, LEED AP, is an associate at Gensler in Chicago, the NOMA President-Elect 2021-2023 and on the associate board for the Chicago ACE Mentor Program.

Richey Madison. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Unlike many colleagues, I didnt go to a Historically Black College for undergraduate education. I attended Iowa State University on a full academic scholarship, and was also a scholarship athlete in Track and Field. During my undergraduate career, four faculty members stand out as advocates for me, and were instrumental in helping me define and discover my potential and passion in the architecture industry.

David Block was a former collegiate student athlete and successful residential architect who I will always have gratitude for. Without him as an advocate, Im not sure what my career would be like, because I would have transferred to another school and started off in a completely different environment. He was the earliest influence I had on design, professional practice and sustainability. He helped me build my confidence and ignore stereotypes related to architecture as a predominantly white profession.

Brenda Jones was the first Black faculty member I met at Iowa State. She was a visibly strong Black woman who was one of the best at what she did. She was in the Art department and I attribute the refinement in my rendering and drawing skills to her. My drawing capabilities and eye for compositions became a major key to my success as a designer.

Kate Schwennsen, who later became the Chair of the Architecture program and President of the American Institute of Architects, was one of my instructors. She pushed me. She supported me. And she inspired me. She was the first female licensed architect that I encountered and is a big part of why Ive become an advocate for gender equity on my teams and in my firm.

The late John Rice was initially one of the hardest on me about my athletic distractions. He was a tireless advocate that I acknowledge for giving foundation to my design process and design thinking. We would go on field trips, look at buildings, and talk about design, structure and proportions, as well as the interactions between interior, exterior and landscape architecture. Richey Madison, RA, NCARB, NOMA, is a principal in higher education & science+technology leader at Stantec in Irvine, California.

I look up to past and present industry leaders like Theaster Gates, Michael Reynolds, Buckminster Fuller, J. Max Bond Jr., Phil Freelon, Paul Revere Williams and Robert R Taylor. All of them have been thought leaders and have pushed the envelope beyond whats possible. They have questioned the rules that society has imposed on everyone and found ways to reframe those rules to achieve results that are worthy of respect. My mentors have been architects like Eddy Todd of Pensacola, Florida; Ken Casey of Chicago; Bryan Hudson of Chicago, a past president of NOMA, and Ian Smith of Philadelphia. They have all guided me in different ways and have encouraged me to stay in the profession. Dr. Kwesi Daniels, MArch, MSc Sust. Mgmt, ABD

Anzilla R. Gilmore. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

Anzilla R. Gilmore, FAIA, NOMA

Anzilla R. Gilmore is the assistant director for project management and engineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas and is a founding member of the Houston chapter of NOMA.

I am very aware of my race in my experience practicing architecture and working as a project manager as an owners representative. It is rare to walk into a room and see anyone that looks like me. That can be isolating when you are young. But I think it has helped me to become more unapologetically Black. When I am the only one in a room, I like to believe that everyone there must know I am pretty special to have made it to the table, at least that it is what I tell myself.

I cannot say that the lack of diversity has been an obvious professional challenge for me. I suspect that is because I have never known anything other than what I am experiencing, so it is normalized. In fact, the lack of diversity has been the thing that drives me. I am driven to diversify the profession and have made it my lifes work. When I became licensed in 2004, I realized I had never met a Black female architect. I have done my best to be visible enough to the students and emerging professionals around me to make sure that no Black female in architecture can ever say they have not ever met a Black female architect.

I felt othered during my time in graduate school and as an intern at a large firm. My first interaction with my graduate advisor came with an insult to the degree I received from an HBCU. That set the tone for the rest of my time in that program; 4.5 years spent building confidence in my ability was quickly torn down at this majority institution. The firm I worked for was also not nurturing in any way. I liken it to a high school with popular kids: if you were not in the in-crowd, you would not succeed. The firm showed no interest in me or my future with the firm. The insecurities I developed during that experience as the only Black woman in that program and at that firm took years to shake.

I dont believe tokenism should be a concern. As long as universities are committed to producing capable professionals, no Black person should feel like a token and no one should assume they are a token. The idea that the handful of Black students that make it through the rigors of an architecture program would somehow only get a job because of tokenism is in itself offensive. I have never felt like a token because I know I am capable, talented and worthy.

Jason Pugh. Graphic design by Katie Brown.

On Actionable Ways the Industry Should Change

Our profession needs an expanded view of successful design. Great design is often viewed through a euro-centric, elite-focused prism. Projects that serve/transform communitiesoften with extremely small budgets/limited resources available for designare regularly overlooked during awards cycles. These, coincidentally, are typically the projects that many small Black-, women- or other minority-owned firms work on. The self-generated perception that the architecture profession hyper-values highly visible buildings produced for wealthy/elite patrons and/or public clientele has disconnected us from society and, in my opinion, rendered mute our voices in shaping society. Renauld Deandre Mitchell, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, is managing partner of the Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices of Moody Nolan, the largest Black-owned firm in the United States.

There are many of us who did not come from a solid foundationwe are building from scratch on a very shaky one. We dont come from inheritances, connections, or parents who are college graduates. The removal of racist monuments is slight progress, but the actual work will come when we remove racist systems. When that happens, the industry can take the necessary steps toward equity. It should be a common practice to provide opportunities for minorities to lead, individually and in joint ventures. Society should revisit systemic barriers in promotion policies and companies should diversify their boards of directors. Universities should diversify those who are considered scholars as well as their notions of scholarship. Bring in professionals to train your leadership, professors and employees on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Tiffany D. Brown, Assoc. AIA, M.B.A, NOMA, is a project manager at SmithGroup, executive manager at NOMA, founding member of NOMA Detroit and the founder of 400 Forward, a nonprofit that introduces young girls to architecture and helps guide them to become licensed architects.

Whitney M. Young, the past president of the National Urban League, said it best in his 1968 keynote address to the American Institute of Architects: Only when our profession reflects the demographic composition of the society that we serve will we truly be on the right track. Dr. Kwesi Daniels, MArch, MSc Sust. Mgmt, ABD

Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

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15 Architects On Being Black In Architecture - Cultured Magazine

The UK government'splanning reform proposals, which were revealed yesterday, will fail to address the root causes of England's housing crisis according to architects and critics.

The government's Planning for the Future white paper, which aims to reform the planning system, prioritises the interests of developers over the building of good-quality, affordable housing, architects told Dezeen.

"The government are proposing to hand volume housebuilders the right to build whatever they want," warned architect Charles Holland. "This is unlikely to be either beautiful or affordable."

"While there's no doubt the planning system needs reform, these shameful proposals do almost nothing to guarantee the delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes," said RIBA president Alan Jones.

White paper aims to fast-track development

In the Planning for the Future report, the government laid out proposals for ways to fast-track schemes that conform to pre-set beauty standards or will be built in areas earmarked for development.

Prime minister Boris Johnson called the proposals "radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the second world war". The current planning system was created in 1947.

But the proposals are an attempt to "destroy" the planning system, according to Dezeen columnist Owen Hatherley, who noted that while affordable housing was a focus of the white paper, the question of social housing was conspicuously absent.

"Since 2010, the government has had only one idea for planning," he said. "To attempt to at once destroy it and social housing along with it, while also preserving the pickled villages and protected landscapes that make up the Tory base."

"There's not enough provision for social housing"

Co-founder of architecture firm dRMM Sadie Morgan called on the industry to "make the best of the reforms proposed" but agreed that there "are aspects in the reforms that are of concern", especially relating to social housing.

"There's not enough provision for social housing, which needs much greater investment," Morgan told Dezeen.

"The target for carbon-neutral homes by 2050 is too slow and design codes are only ever as good as the client and architect who interpret them,".

"But I do welcome the commitment to good design; the involvement of local people in the planning process as early as possible; and the recognition of local services through a hopefully non-negotiable infrastructure levy," added Morgan, who was given an OBE for services to the advocacy of design in the built environment.

Housing crisis caused by "structural inequalities"

The report aims to tackle the housing crisis afflicting the UK, with an estimated 8.4 million people living in unaffordable or insecure houses according to the National Housing Federation.

The possibility of scrapping section 106 a legal agreement between a planning applicant and the planning authority to provide infrastructure to make an otherwise unacceptable planning application acceptable was floated in the paper.

The plans would turn the existing community infrastructure levy into a single tax based on floor space that would be paid by the developer to the local authority upon occupation. A discount would be available for including affordable homes in developments.

"While the government has identified a lack of affordable housing as a major problem, this isn't an effective plan to deal with it," Holland told Dezeen.

"The white paper blames the planning process for delays and blocks to housing development and therefore proposes deregulation as the answer," he added.

"The housing crisis is really about structural inequalities between different areas of the UK. What we should be doing is addressing how to create jobs and places to live across the country as a whole."

"Marginalisation of architects here is shocking"

The proposals also marginalise the opinion of architects, according to Holland.

"It is also very noticeable how absent architects and architecture is from government thinking," he said. "If you want to increase the quality of housing design in the UK then the marginalisation of architects here is shocking."

RIBA president Jones agreed that the proposals missed the point, warning the changes could "lead to the creation of the next generation of slum housing".

"The housing crisis isn't just about numbers, and deregulation won't solve it," he said.

"If the government is serious about addressing the dominant position of large housebuilders and the lack of quality social housing, the secretary of state needs to make changes to the tax system, look at why land approved for development lies untouched for years, and give local authorities power and resource to promote and safeguard quality."

The architecture community responded with similar energy last year when the government announced its commission into improving design quality. The Building Better, Building Beautiful final report eventually recommended the fast-track for beautyincluded in the Planning for the Future document.

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UK government attempting to "destroy" planning system say architects and critics - Dezeen

Written by Oscar Holland, CNN

A pair of skyscrapers are set to become the tallest prefabricated buildings in the world.

And while the two 192-meter-tall (630 feet) towers will rise in densely populated Singapore, large parts of the structures are being built over the border in Malaysia.

The residential project, named Avenue South Residences, will see 988 apartments formed from almost 3,000 vertically stacked "modules." The firm behind the project, ADDP Architects, says the building method, known as Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC), is less labor-intensive and can help reduce waste and noise pollution.

The towers' facades will feature balconies, sun-shading screens and a number of "sky terraces" filled with trees and plant life. Credit: ADDP Architects

The individual modules are factory-made in Senai, Malaysia, where a series of six-sided boxes are cast in concrete. The units are then transported to a facility in Singapore to be fitted out and furnished before being moved to the construction site.

By the time they arrive, the boxes are 80% complete, according to ADDP Architects. They are then lifted into position by a crane and "stitched up" to form a strong, load-bearing frame, said one of the firm's associate partners, Markus Cheng Thuan Hann. Final touches, such as doors, are added afterward, the architect said.

"It's like a car manufacturing concept, but for the building industry," he added in a phone interview.

Benefits of prefabrication

Limiting the amount of construction work carried out at the site, which is located in Singapore's residential Bukit Merah district, can help minimize disruption to those living nearby, Hann said.

"But this construction (method) really helps to reduce noise," he said, of the benefit to the surrounding public housing estates. "And it can reduce waste... because the workmanship in a factory is much better controlled."

The area surrounding the towers is described by the architects as "an inclusive oasis-like community space." Credit: ADDP Architects

Another unforeseen benefit has emerged in the light of Covid-19: Fewer people are needed at the construction site at any one time. "It's easier to control safe distancing and logistical planning in the factory, rather than having all the (workers) on site," Hann pointed out.

The prefabrication industry first boomed in Europe and America during the post-war period, with urban planners using it to quickly and affordably address housing shortages. But the market for prefabs is now increasingly dominated by the Asia-Pacific region.

The building method has proven especially popular in Singapore, with the country's Building and Construction Authority actively encouraging the use of PPVC, citing an 8% cost saving and a 40% boost in productivity versus traditional construction means (it credits the latter to more productive "manpower," and "time savings"). Since 2014, the agency has even made prefabrication a requirement for certain sites.

Pushing the limits

Construction on Avenue South Residences has already begun, and the developers hope to finish the project by the first quarter of 2023. Once complete, the towers' facades will feature balconies, sun-shading screens and a number of "sky terraces" filled with trees and plant life.

The project is set to overtake Singapore's -- and the world's -- current tallest prefab, the 140-meter-high (459 feet) Clement Canopy, which was also designed by ADDP Architects. Among the world's other tallest modular buildings is a 135-meter (443 feet) tower in Croydon, South London, and a 109-meter (359 feet) residential development in New York.

The individual modules of the building consist of six-sided boxes cast in concrete. Credit: ADDP Architects

Hann said he cannot see his firm's latest project being surpassed in height anytime soon.

"We are (building upwards) progressively, working with the engineers, studying 3D simulations to make sure the design can withstand the wind loads," he said. "But I think 56 stories will be the tallest in Singapore for the time being. I don't think we will stretch any further.

"It's concrete, and we have to lift it very high. But depending on if new technology or more lightweight construction (is developed), maybe there's a chance we can go higher."

Read more:
World's tallest prefab skyscrapers will rise in Singapore -- but they're being built in Malaysia - CNN

BKSK Architects will again appear before the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) seeking approvals to construct a sizable commercial expansion and restoration in Manhattans Gansevoort Historic District, also known as the Meatpacking District. The historic row townhomes carry an address of 44-54 Ninth Avenue and 351-355 West 14th Street at the corner of 14th Street and Ninth Avenue.

If approved, developer Tavros Capital can break ground on a new commercial structure with updated retail spaces at the ground floor.

According to the LPC, previously submitted designs removed too much of the historic masonry faade and the proposed exterior changes were too great a contrast to the historic foreground. The commissioners also felt that the project team had failed to demonstrate the appropriateness of the infill itself, and that the proposed office tower was too tall and thus out of scale compared to the surrounding block.

In an effort to appeal to the LPC, new renderings illustrate a reduction of overall height from 133 feet to 102 feet, which translates to the removal of one full floor. The architects also removed the roof-level wind screen and reduced the typical floor height from 13 feet to 12 feet. Over all, the tower component will top out at eight stories.

The faade of the new construction imitates the envelope of the historic structure, and will now be comprised of terracotta with custom matte glazing, a range of red and gray brick, and minimal quantities of gray metal paneling.

Previous rendering (left) and newly proposed property (right) at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue BKSK Architects

Updated rendering of street walls at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue BKSK Architects

The new proposals also call for the preservation of all original exterior walls and partial party walls from ground floor to the roof. Previous proposals planned for the substantial removal of existing masonry walls, which drew ire from the LPC. The team will also restore, not replace, the original slate roof, the historic wood shutters of the second floor windows, and the historic balconettes also outside the second floor windows.

With regard to the appropriateness of the infill, the team had this to say: From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, open space reserved for manufacturing uses yielded to dense, fully built blocks. The proposed infill addition is a continuation of historic, as well as current, district development patterns.

While this argument may seem trite or unnecessary, it directly addresses the complaints of the LPC.

Current proposed restoration of rear walls at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue BKSK Architects

From top to bottom, the image depicts the existing storefront along 14th street, previous alteration renderings, and updated renderings of proposed alterations along Ninth Avenue BKSK Architects

From top to bottom, the image depicts the existing storefront along 14th street, previous alteration renderings, and updated renderings of proposed alterations BKSK Architects

As previously reported by YIMBY, the buildings were originally completed in the 1840s and are rare surviving examples of pitched-roof row houses in Manhattan. In their existing condition, the brick faades have been stuccoed, painted white, and converted for partial residential use at the upper levels. Their first floor and cellar levels are occupied by retail and dining tenants.

A virtual public hearing for the updated proposals is scheduled for Tuesday, August 11. It remains to be seen if the LPC will deem the project appropriate.

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Updated Design Revealed for Commercial Expansion at 44-54 Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District - New York YIMBY

Paraqueira Pedra do Sal (1987) Gerson Castelo Branco Share Share

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Gerson Castelo Branco is a self-taught architect from the state of Piau in Brazil. His architecture is a collection of references and experiences that he describes as "an expression of freedom," the Paraqueira.

We architects, always so formal, often use the term international to describe what in reality is just another renowned way of building. The architecture of Gerson Castelo Branco is not: it is original and fits anywhere on the planet without losing its essence, which reveals a pure, untouched and, therefore, one-of-a-kind, unique Brazilian country. - Olga Krell, architect and journalist.

This statement demonstrates the unique way in which Gerson Castelo Branco conceives his works: far from academic canons and languages. His architecture is inspired by nature, respecting it, and focusing on the users' well-being. His work has been compared to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright in a publication by the Architectural Digest in September 1995. Following a conversation with the architect, we gathered part of his trajectory which, despite being published in several countries, still does not have the proper recognition.

Gerson Castelo Branco was born in 1948 in the city of Parnaba in the state of Piau, northeast Brazil. Early in his childhood, he discovered his connection with the field of arts, and very early on he realized that "every system was inverted, the intention was to manipulate, [at school] when we were more daring with any kind of innovation, there was some scrutiny. My eyes were not on girls, they were on boys, this created an extremely uncomfortable situation in such a backward city." When he was 18, he left his family home and arrived in Salvador, the capital of the northeastern state of Bahia. When he came across the Bay of All Saints, the "fantastic colors" of the steep slopes and local population, he found himself introduced to a Brazil he didn't know, "an intense Brazil." He took a university entrance exam for architecture but was accepted in his second option, Fine Arts. "It was incredible to be there, Novos Baianos, Carnaval of Bahia, everything was very intriguing, new customs, new culture, however, it was very difficult to have the resources to stay in the city."

It was the brother of a friend, who was living with Gerson, that commissioned his first architectural work proposal: a renovation in the city of Teresina, Piau. The project was successful and soon came another request from the same client to design a project from scratch, according to his desires. During that time, Gerson was interested in subjects such as astrology and extraterrestrial phenomena and started to be influenced by the architecture he saw in Salvador, which featured elements such as gardens that invaded the spaces and pools very close tothe houses, that impressed himand ledhis way in the field of projects.

After three and a half years, without graduating from Fine Arts, Gerson returns to Fortaleza, the state capital of Cear, northeast Brazil, where he meets his brother Cabeto, in his family home.

We were very modern in our behavior, I don't know if this is the right word, but we were the reference ofdifferent people in that conservative city of Fortaleza, I looked at all that, and I could not live there anymore.

So he decides to go on a trip to the Andean countries, in which he acknowledges that, despite his Christian upbringing, he was having his values put to the test. This experience carried him into a new phase in his life and work.

When returningfrom his trip, he decided that he could not live in Teresina, where he had works of his own being built, nor could he return to Fortaleza. For this reason, he chose to go down the coast of Piau and settled in a fishing village 30 km away from Parnaba, his hometown. There, Gerson recognized a kind of behavioral freedom between the fishermen and the women, who carried out the handicraft work. It was a behavior that could not be found in urban centers. He came across a sexual fluidity and non-judgemental approach that provided "thepossibility of being creative regardless of the rules of the system."

The community was protected by a few sand dunes and small lagoons. Gerson settled in a fisherman's hut, made of Taipa (rammed earth), and with low ceiling height. Inspired by:

My grandmother's recipe for high ceilings, with half walls and ventilation circulating in all rooms.

He did a renovation in several stages, knocking down a wall and lifting a roof to make room for a mezzanine.

Carnaba - a material that was being discarded in the demolition of warehouses in Parnaba and therefore very cheap - was picked for structural purposes and also for panels and revolving doors, in order to create integrated spaces and to dialogue with other local textures such as the cattailand monkey vine mats, also used to make walls that provide natural light.

The staircase was inspired by Lina Bo Bardi's iconic stairs at Solar do Unho, and this design becomes an element that he will incorporate in most of his future projects, as well as the permeability between the interior space and the surroundings. This hut, in particular, had abathroom witha large window facing a pathwayfor the fishermen, who interacted with Gerson while he was taking a bath.

On a trip to Fortaleza, he was introduced to Olga Krell, who at the time was developing Claudia magazine and was interested in publishing the photographs of this renovation. Since then, his name started to get national recognition from several different publications, aiming to promote an architecture beyond those from So Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

And so was created what would become the first Paraqueira - the name he calls his architectural works. The inspiration for this title comes from the nickname he received in his teenage years, Paraca, because they say he "looked like a parachute, always opening up to life." "Since I was the Paraca, feeling good about life, these architectures could be theParaqueiras, that's where this expression came from," he explains.

In the early 1970s, Gerson was asked to design a house to be built on Praia do Futuro, in Fortaleza, where "there was nothing but flying objectsat that time." The project consisted of a regular brick house in the shape of a sail. However, the city government did not allow the construction, which he considers a boycott of his work at the time. Fortunately, around the same period, one of his neighbors requested a project which allowed him to adapt the design for a new plot of land.

Finally, the house was built on another beach and was included, amongst forty projects selected by Oscar Niemeyer, in the book Art in Brazil, organized by Pietro Maria Bardi.

From this moment on, Gerson's career was divided into two types of work: more urban projects carried out in Teresina - where no architect was working at the time, allowing him to pursue several lines of projects in the city such as bank agencies, factories, landscape designs, and plazas - and another type of architecture that he considers "totally carefree regarding concepts and rules established by architecture schools." Always accompanied by an engineer who was responsible for the structures and construction.

Gerson tells us: "Because I traveled a lot, on the roads I noticed something that ended up opening my head to timber resources, many trucks were carrying them, I looked at that and thought 'is no one using this?'" He cites names such as Severiano Porto, Zanine Caldas, and Cludio Bernardes, but insists that there was hardly a sense of alternative architecture.By combining the local peculiarities of Piau, with his memories of his grandmother's house, the experiences on the beach and the climate, Gerson begins to adopt a style in which the roofs are shaped like tall sails and, due to the possible influence of Burle Marx's work in Braslia, always includes water in his environments, resulting in a natural dialogue between the houses and their surroundings, a way of sheltering part of nature in architecture.

When asked about his creative process, Gerson states: "I am absolutely sure that it is nature. For me, creating is a stone, it is a tree, it is the very definition of terrain, which can change, bringing whatever reference, literally a process of transmission of nature through thought, imagination, from the electric field to the magnetic."

The architect goes on to say that he likes to ask the energy fields for permission before making a project for a specific location. About his project in Loiba, Spain, he says that it was "very full of crosses everywhere, a land where people were protecting themselves from witches, I have to ask them for permission, I believe they exist, and they do exist! So I ask for permission to arrive." As for the work process, he indicates that most parts of his projects are carried out on the drawing board.

As an example of creation, he cites his own house, in Viosa do Cear:

"I had already made many hang glider roofs on the coast of Teresina. So, this time, I decided to make a roof with enough space to fit three floors: the ground floor, the second floor as a living area, and the third floor where the bedrooms are. The first thing I did was the sleeping cabins, which I call Camarinhas, composed of two wooden beams attached to the sides, divided by babassu stems that sustain awnings and curtains from one side to the other. I welcomed many friends, groups of couples, and I used to say 'look, let's get settled, but don't move around too much and don't have sex. If you're going to have sex, arrange it!', everyone laughed, enjoying a unique energy field."

These spaces are literally integrated, open, with no concern for anything established by the concepts of morality and behavior. There was no promiscuity, but the human being living in freedom with nature itself. For me that was the fundamental point.

Gerson says that duringhis career he felt very confident about doing his work despite the differences from what had been proposed. In the 1970s and 1980s it was easier to let people be carried away and even today some clients are extremely open and ask for concepts, ideas, and shapes. However, he faces today more difficulties in this sense due to the "decoration trade fairs, the saturated market, a huge number of professionals being trained together with suppliers who are payingthem commissions, prostitution in the business. It is no longer the client who pays the architect, but the supplier, who also sustains this great catwalk of architecture, fads, finishings, and determines what should be and what shouldn't."

When giving lectures in several Brazilian universities, I felt bothered by the old-fashioned nature of architecture schools, by the constraints they impose on the minds of young people in Brazil. A lack of self-direction, a subordination to the market, to materials.

In general, one can say that Gerson expresses his dissatisfaction with the current scenario of architecture, just as he was unable to see himself inside the city, "getting along normally, I have spent my whole life hiding, looking for shelter on the beach, in the countryside."Finally, the lack of academic background, the non-subordination to the ruling market, the societal castrations opposed tothe freedom and proximity to nature he experienced, together with the way he appropriates the climates, are some of the main factors that helped to shape his character and way of thinking the spaces. Without a doubt, it is a unique way of approaching architecture and has a lot to teach us.

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Gerson Castelo Branco: The Impressive Works of a Self-taught Architect - ArchDaily

Developer, architect, lay out design for Class A-plus office tower at entrance to West Palm Beachs downtown tent site.

WEST PALM BEACH -- Developer Charles Cohen on Monday gained conceptual approval for what he promised would be a world-class office tower at the entrance to West Palm Beachs downtown, one he said would enhance its surroundings and draw top tenants.

And it will get done, he said -- something that has eluded the citys efforts to build on the property nicknamed the tent site for 24 years.

"We are going to make this happen. Weve never undertaken, as a company or me, myself, any project that we havent completed within the time frame that we made our commitment to accomplish."

City commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, voted 4-0 for the West Palm Point project to rise on the 2.4-acre property at the corner of Okeechobee Boulevard and South Dixie Highway. Commissioner Cory Neering was absent.

Cohen Brothers Realty now is to spend several months refining plans for the 338-foot glass tower, conducting traffic studies and seeking city approvals for project details before construction begins.

Cohen and chief architect Kristin Hawkins of world-renowned Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects presented the board with their concept for the project. It will include an elliptical tower with 23 floors of offices, rising beside a 10-story garage adorned with art and topped with a sky terrace with a reflective pool and landscaped seating areas.

The tower and garage will separated by a walkway called a paseo, 45 feet across at its widest, with tables and chairs, "a very active space, kind of a destination space," as Hawkins called it. Shops will line the garages ground level, along Dixie and elsewhere.

Mayor Keith James asked Cohen whether the project could attract tenants in a COVID-19 world that has thrown into question how strong office demand will be.

The developer responded with a reference to the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams.

"If we build it and do the job right, which we have every intention of doing, they will come," Cohen said. "We have time," he said, adding that development is a long process and this project has the advantage of an environment of available financing with low interest rates.

The company has yet to address one of the biggest concerns facing downtown -- traffic. Cohens attorney for the project, Brian Seymour, said traffic studies could not be done until the conceptual design was completed but that now they would be.

The developer recognizes the building will not exist in a vacuum, Seymour said.

"We know traffic on Okeechobee is an issue for the community. I cant tell you how were going to deal with all of it, because were not at that stage yet but we are going to deal with that," he said.

The developer will look for ways to integrate trolley service, scooter-share and bike-share facilities with the design, he said, forms of transportation the city has encouraged to reduce dependence on cars.

Hawkins, with Pelli since 1985, was design team leader for Cohens Red Building, the 800,000-square-foot final building of the award-winning Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. She is leading the design team for a natural history museum in China.

"Its deeply ingrained in our process that our buildings become good citizens," she told commissioners. "We design them to fit into their context, not necessarily to be the same as, but to fit in so that they complement the existing context and become positive additions to the fabric thats already there."

The architects approached the project as almost a campus master plan, with components that relate to each other "without talking over each other," she said. At West Palm Point, the main components are the tower, the garage and the paseo.

Early on, they considered having the garage as part of the tower but decided that would look too massive, she said. Instead the two will be linked only by the ground floor paseo and a small garage-top bridge.

The tower, with its main drive-up entry on Quadrille Boulevard, will be of lightly tinted glass, she said. Its designed to look transparent, airy and open, so you can see through the lobby to the paseo, she said.

The tower will taper slightly toward its top, with subtle "fins" on the sides, to accent its verticality.

The garage is designed not to be disguised, as in some buildings, but to be as "soft" and attractive a structure as possible, with colorful art by Felice Varini wrapping around its sides, around its corners and into its interior, with fragmented geometric shapes that look different from different angles.

"What makes the building important in today's world is that It has all the latest technological advances," Cohen said, touting its quality level as Class A-plus.

"Were in a different world now and we will use that to educate ourselves, to make a building that will be not only world class in its planning and construction," the developer said, "but in the building systems and how it will be a healthy environment that is all focused on wellness and allowing people to feel safe and secure in an office environment."

tdoris@pbpost.com

@TonyDorisPBP

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We are going to make this happen: Developer gives more details on next-gen office tower for West Palm - Palm Beach Post

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

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Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

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Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

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Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

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Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers, Lahofer Winery, Dobice, Czech Republic, 2020

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Lahofer Winer by Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers follows the rhythm of the viticultural landscape - Domus

Argentinian architect Emilio Ambasz is considered a pioneer of green architecture, has taught at the School of Architecture at Princeton University, and served as curator of the MoMA from 1969 to 1976. He has been the recipient of major international awards, such as the Honorary Fellowship at the American Institute of Architects and the Honorary International Fellowship at the Royal Institute of British Architects. One of his important works, the ACROS centre, which stands for Asian CrossRoad Over the Sea, designed in Fukuoka in Japan, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. The project is the result of a line of research that the Argentinian architect had embarked upon fifteen years prior, based on the idea of giving back to nature the land taken from it with the construction of a building, neatly summarised by the saying green over grey. Indeed, the need for new government offices in Fukuoka was nearly irreconcilable with the fact that the only available site was a two-hectare public park in the city centre. The idea of using this last green area for a new construction, albeit for public purposes, was met with strong opposition and protests from citizens. The design proffered by architect Emilio Ambasz had the merit of reconciling the two opposing positions, allowing for the same span of green land to be preserved whilst still constructing the new offices, with the added benefit of obtaining an iconic building representative of the entire city.

The Argentinian architects idea, based on a system of garden terraces, allowed for the expansion of the buildings faade, all whilst compensating for the portion of green land taken up by the construction. The structure features 14 large terraced gardens, each alternating with pools and water courses. Finally, on the roof, there is a belvedere that offers panoramic views over the port and the areas surrounding the city. All this is accessible and open to the public, along with the land in front. Talking about his project, the architect Emilio Ambasz said: The building is at the heart of a city that previously had a two-hectare square and which still has a two-hectare square. Inside, a surface of over 97,000m2 is home to: multipurpose spaces with an exhibition hall, a museum, a 2000-seat theatre, conference rooms, government and private offices, an information centre for tourists, commercial spaces and four underground levels.Emilio Ambaszs green pyramid has had a profound influence on subsequent projects which sought - and still seek - to establish a relationship of coexistence between architecture and nature. The ACROS centre has won major international awards, such as the American Institute of Architects Business Week/Architectural Record Award and the first prize from the Japanese Institute of Architecture. Twenty-five years after its construction, there are two solid tests proving that the Argentinian architects intuitions remain valid to this day. The building has shown significant natural development: whereas at its opening, the green pyramid was home to 76 plant varieties and 37,000 plants, today it boasts 120 varieties and 50,000 plants. In addition, a thermal environment measurement survey conducted by Takenaka Corporation, Kyushu University and the Nippon Institute of Technology has certified that the ACROS centre makes a significant contribution to reducing the heat island around it and to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, making for a 15C difference between the exterior and interior of the building in the hotter seasons.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Architects: Emilio AmbaszLocation: Fukuoka, Japan

Continued here:
Architecture and nature: 25 years of Emilio Ambasz's ACROS centre in Fukuoka - Floornature.com

CHICAGO Hours after Mayor Lori Lightfoot scolded a large, maskless crowd at Montrose Beach on Twitter, city crews erected fencing to try to block off access to the closed beach.

Its called a pandemic, people. This reckless behavior on Montrose Beach is what will cause us to shut down the parks and lakefront. Dont make us take steps backwards, Lightfoot warned in a tweet.

In a follow-up tweet, Lightfoot said she visited Montrose Beach personally.

In case you were wondering, I stopped by to see for myself. Its being addressed, Lightfoot wrote.

By Sunday, approximately 300 yards of fencing was installed between the grassy area that leads to the beach and the sand.

Less than 24 hours after Lightfoots tweet, people continued to gather near Montrose Harbor and the nearby lakefront. Many people walked around the fencing.

Some entered the area by walking past The Dock at Montrose Beach, the newly reopened beachside restaurant. But owner Luke Cholodecki said he does not let customers wait outside his restaurant and none of his patrons were involved in the partying condemned by the mayor.

Amy Osborne of Lakeview who was at the beach with two friends said she didnt see the mayors tweets.

I dont think its really a problem, she said.

Chicago Park District spokesman Michelle Lemons confirmed that park district employees installed fencing Sunday to deter large gatherings.

While the lakefront trail is open, Chicagos beaches and parkland east of Lake Shore Drive remain closed under the Chicago Department of Public Healths executive order, Lemons wrote in an email.

On Sunday evening, Chicago Police and emergency workers blocked cars from entering the driveway that leads to the beach from both Montrose and Wilson Avenues, but were not stopping pedestrians on foot.

Another woman at the beach who declined to give her name said she did see the mayors warning. She shrugged her shoulders in response.

Her boyfriend, who accompanied her, responded with a shrug, too, and a laugh: That says it all.

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City Fences Off Montrose Beach After Lightfoot Scolds Beachgoers: 'It's A Pandemic, People' - Block Club Chicago

Clinton was hit very hard from the storm last night. Clinton County is one of many that Governor Reynolds has declared a disaster area, which means they are eligible for federal aid.

Trees are down all over Clinton, and one was in the middle of a road. Local Four News spoke with one neighbor who had some property damage.

David Martensen just moved into his new house in Clinton a couple weeks ago. Last night was a wild one and its one that he will never forget.

I came home. I came with my mom in a car and we came here to see the damage at my house and I witnessed branches and trees laying on my shed here and its pretty devastating. I was pretty frightened.

As the severe weather was rolling in, Martensen immediately went to his mothers house to pick her up and get her to safety.

I cant really get her down in the basement so I figured it would be safer to get her in a car and find some shelter somewhere. So we found kind of like an overpass to just hide under.

Matensen didnt have any damage to his house, but his shed and fence in his backyard werent so lucky.

I was renting another house up in the north end of town, central part of town and I loaded it up on a trailer and just brought it down here because I thought it would be a nice little extra shed to keep lawnmowers and stuff in and I wasnt really expecting a limb to fall on it and destroy it the way it did.

Considering the extent of the storm, Martensen knows it could have been a lot worse.

I was surprised that was all there was. It was just a shed. Im not complaining at all.

Original post:
Clinton man has shed and fence destroyed from severe weather - WHBF - OurQuadCities.com