World

Climate, Housing and Health: A Tripartite Challenge for the Poor

Recent weather related news usually includes mounting death tolls, as typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters devastate populations. The intensity and frequency of, and damage inflicted by, these natural occurrences are directly related to climate change, and sadly, those most vulnerable are also the least prepared. The shift in climate has severely impacted life in informal settlements (slums), not the least of which is the already inadequate state of health.

5 November 2009 - 5:00am

Starchitecture and Sustainability: Hope, Creativity, and Futility Collide in Contemporary Architecture

Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.

1 November 2009 - 10:41pm

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From Contrast to Continuity: A New Preservation Philosophy

With the emergence of new traditional design patterns among contemporary architects, the standards and rules that have defined historic preservation are becoming obsolete. Steven W. Semes calls on planners and designers to create a new ethic of harmonious intervention into historic settings.

22 October 2009 - 5:00am

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Simulating Mount Rushmore

Experts from heritage group Historic Scotland have developed a technique using lasers to create precise digital representations of enormous sites. Mount Rushmore is the next location to be captured.

7 November 2009 - 7:00am

The New York Times

U.S. is 9th in List of Most Prosperous Countries

The Legatum Institute, a London think tank, has published a report ranking countries in terms of prosperity. The U.S. took a big hit for health care.

3 November 2009 - 2:00pm

Foreign Policy

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2 comments

Wind Power Gets Airborne

The motherlode of wind energy up, up in the air, say scientists. A handful of new technologies are being developed to harvest it at the source, roughly six miles up.

3 November 2009 - 5:00am

Miller-McCune

How Architects Learn: The Debate

Geoff Manaugh at BLDBLG talks about the role of the architecture student. Should they be allowed create experimental designs, even when the field of practice is so narrow it is unlikely they'll ever be able to design like that again?

1 November 2009 - 1:00pm

BLDBLOG

Hearing Acoustics Before The Building Is Built

A new computer modeling technique called "auralization" does just that, turning architectural drawings into simulated spaces.

27 October 2009 - 1:00pm

ArchiTech

Emissions Impact of Biofuels Undercounted

A new report claims that the way the global warming impact of biofuels is measured leaves out the land use component of clearing land and growing crops.

27 October 2009 - 5:00am

The Washington Post

The Great Cities in History

A new book edited by John Julius Norwich with that title selects the 68 cities that have made the most impact on history. The Wall St. Journal has a review.

26 October 2009 - 1:00pm

The Wall St. Journal

What To Do With Unused Phone Booths

This project offers a new idea about how to make use of dead phone booths.

25 October 2009 - 1:00pm

Blade Diary

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Parcel Map Data Added To Google Maps

GIS folks are Twittering about this new addition to Google Maps. Blogger Joe Francia talks to Michael Jones, Google's chief technology advocate, about what the new data means, and where it's coming from.

24 October 2009 - 7:00am

All Points Blog

The Real Inconvenient Truth: Global Land Use

Global warming is a problem, says climate scientist Jonathan Foley, but it's not the only one. The other major problem facing the global environment is a pattern of land use for agriculture that is grossly unsustainable.

23 October 2009 - 9:00am

Yale Environment 360