Archinect - News

Bacterial cities and their building codes

2017-07-26T09:41:00-04:00

Those biophysical forces are like universal zoning rules for the biofilm cities: they govern how the inhabitants obtain food and building materials, how they can move and how they interact with one another. Just as urban planners use their knowledge of civil engineering principles and regulations to build better cities for people, microbiologists and bioengineers can use these rules to make objects more or less hospitable to the billions of cells that live in and around us.

Biofilms are, essentially, omnipresent clusters of bacteria that foul everything from sewer lines to our teeth—99.9 percent of the simple cells called prokaryotes default to living in those close quarters among millions of their compatriots. Extracelluar matrix, a sticky combination of proteins and sugars, effectively glues billions of bacteria to a surface of choice, giving biofilms their shapes and protecting the cells living at the center.

The size of the biofilm and the interaction of cells within it give the different cells the opportunity to specialize in a particular task, such as acquiring food, subverting predators or acting as a reservoir of genetic material from which to regrow the entire structure.

“We can watch these complex communities in what is essentially their natural habitat and study their structure or metabolism. There’s a lot we can learn when we can study biofilms in their whole freaky native state,” said Melissa Garren, a marine biologist at California State...

Preserving Central Asia's ancient architecture through code

2016-04-07T13:58:00-04:00

It is not enough to just catalogue these [structures] in photos and videos, it is our aim to break down the logic of these patterns, and recreate them in code in order to make them more accessible and possibly allowing them to find new life in contemporary applications. By building an open source library, accessible to architects, artists, mathematicians, and software engineers, we can carry these patterns and traditions forward for future generations.

Lauren Connell (architect at BIG), Alexis Burson (associate at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners), and Baris Yuksel (Google senior engineer) share their architectural and computer engineering perspectives on Project Agama. The collaboration aims to document and digitally preserve the intricate geometric patterns and tilework of ancient Central Asian architecture by converting the patterns to code, which will eventually become a accessible resource for architects to potentially apply in new applications.

Florida rental home wrapped in foil for art's sake, confusion ensues as expected

2015-06-11T13:53:00-04:00

Neighbors haven't quite wrapped their heads around what's going on at 402 Ashland Ave., where aluminum foil covers every inch of a house on three sides and dangles like silver earrings from trees...They've asked resident [and artist] Piotr Janowski...He explains that it's an outdoor art project, inspired by Florida's beauty. Code enforcement is still trying to determine if the project is violating any ordinances...

Janowski tells the Tamba Bay Times: "This is art. In their thick, bureaucratic books, I'm sure they have nothing against this."

Oh, Florida. Maybe this artist could give Janowski a few tips, but hey, to each their own.

Are India's cities prepared to withstand an earthquake like in Nepal?

2015-04-28T15:04:00-04:00

Most buildings in the country today use the minimum structural safety standards that the government has prescribed, say building safety experts and structural engineers. "Our codes offer the lowest level of earthquake safety protection. We are designing for one-fifth the intensity that might hit a particular earthquake zone," says Sangeeta Waj, technical director at global design firm AECOM. Experts however point out that there is no separate code in India for high rise buildings.

Urban Omnibus investigates "the tragic poetry of building codes"

2015-03-25T14:28:00-04:00

From time to time, our Omnibus columnists check in to provide commentary on issues of design, policy, and history and their impact on the life and form of the city today. Stephen Rustow’s first column scaled the heights of New York’s skyscrapers to consider “The Privatization of Prospect.” Here, in his second installment, Rustow looks at three intangible forces that greatly influence the shape of our built environment: zoning, finance, and the building code.

Architect to plead "no contest" in Los Angeles firefighter's death

2014-01-03T14:39:00-05:00

A German architect accused of improperly installing a fireplace in his Hollywood Hills mansion, leading to a firefighter’s death in February 2011, is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter Friday.

Architect, Gerhard Becker, is accused of involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles in the death of a firefighter in February 2011. He is expected to plead "no contest" and serve a 6 month long sentence.

Becker was accused of constructing fireplaces in a 12,000 square foot residence in the Hollywood Hills despite having filed drawing that showed otherwise. Prosecutors allege that he did so after final inspections in November 2010.

Investigators determined that the fire was a result of several gas exterior fire pits that were installed inside. A fire broke out and several responding firefighter were pinned when the ceiling collapsed, resulting in one death.