Silicon Valley Tech Giants Plan Super-Green Campuses – a number of high tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, Samsung, Nvidia) are planning corporate campuses in California that, in addition to being designed by big name architects, go beyond the standard requirements for sustainability in new buildings. Apple’s campus, designed by …
Links and Resources for Water Conservation Information Water – the website Water – Use It Wisely. has a great page of water-related resources. It includes links to state, regional, and federal water conservation organizations in the U.S., general conservation organizations, research organizations, water conservation tips, drought info, landscaping and xeriscape, …
Biomimicry used as a guiding force to design Lavasa Township – post on World Architecture News’ Metroblogs about HOK’s award-winning masterplan for 12,500-acre town of Lavasa, near Mumbai. The development is expected to [be] complete in the year 2020 and will include five planned urban villages that can accommodate …
Here’s another good architecture magazine that requires a non-subscriber to visit a library, though it looks like they’ve got a pretty nice iPad app. Arquine 61 | Public space, space enabled – quarterly magazine focuses on the architecture of Mexico and Latin America, but includes projects from around the world. …
A Timeless View From the Cloisters Faces a Modern Intrusion – the view across the Hudson from the Cloisters a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that makes you feel you’re in medieval Europe, is being threatened by a 143 foot tall headquarters building for LG Electronics that’s being …
A number of architecture and design magazines make their content accessible online only to subscribers, so the best way for a nonsubscriber to see this material is to visit a local library. Here’s what caught my eye during my latest library visit. Landscape Architecture Magazine (Jan 2013 issue) i-Tree article (p 22) …
The Importance of Soil and Its Conservation [Video] – this 5+ min video is packed with statistics about soil and how we use and thoughtlessly misuse this most valuable of resources. See more at Global Soil Forum, a European partnership that recently sponsored the first Global Soils Week. The Global Soil …
A second life in the South Bronx – commentary on WAN (World Architecture News) about one project – Hunt’s Point Landing – in the 20-project South Bronx Greenway effort to reclaim the brownfields and industrial sites that make up much of the riverfront of the South Bronx. Details and background are …
Living Architecture Monitor magazine – if you’re into green roofs and walls, take a look at the quarterly publication Living Architecture Monitor. It works with the organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), and is focused on North America. Scroll down on the home page to see past digital editions. …
Henry Ford Hospital West Bloomfield greenhouse producing food – and wellness – about hospital’s new $1 million hydroponic greenhouse. Dozens of kinds of vegetables and herbs — five types of kale, 23 kinds of tomatoes, five varieties of basil, eggplants, squash, hot and sweet peppers, fresh herbs, microgreens and …
The Architect and the Plantsman – short piece on the collaboration of Peter Zumthor and Piet Oudolf, first on last year’s Serpentine Gallery (2011, image shown below; source) and now on the transformation of a former factory, De Meelfabriek, in the Dutch city of Leiden into high-end lofts. From Zumthor on …
The Secret Life of Plants: Plant Communication – scientists may discover the physiology behind the old adage that talking to your plants makes them grow better. This article gives a brief overview of the different ways plants communicate – autosignaling (within themselves), plant-insect, and plant-plant communication. Though plants do not …
Green City, Clean Waters | Philadelphia Water Department – “Green City, Clean Waters is Philadelphia’s 25-year plan to protect and enhance our watersheds by managing stormwater with innovative green infrastructure.” Image is of stormwater wetland.
Mapping tool reveals all of NYC’s secret public spaces – post on PSFK about the new website, POPS, from APOPS (Advocates for Privately-Owned Public Spaces) showing the location of all 500+ privately owned public spaces (POPS) in New York along with descriptions, including scaled site plans. Skyscraper developers cut a deal with …