The bad news: In many cities, classrooms are officially shuttered for the rest of the school year due to the novel coronavirus crisisand the status of summer camps isnt looking too hot either.

The better news: While certainly no substitute for in-person experiences, many cultural institutions, museums, and even individual architecture firms are now offering architecture- and design-focused online educational opportunitiesfrom Zoom-based workshops to downloadable coloring e-books toamusing, family-friendly video seriesthat cater to stuck-at-home kids and the parents and caretakers. And because creativity (and coloring as a de-stressing tool) knows no age limit, many of these opportunities hold strong appeal to listless big kids, too.

Check out just a few of these online activities and workshops below. Many are free and some require advance registration.

The Chicago Architecture Center has retooled its upcoming calendar of family-and youth-oriented programming to accommodate for virtual learning while in-person events are on pause. Debuting in conjunction with each weekly edition of the CAC@Home newsletter, offerings include a remote iteration of the Girls Build! program, three new video series (Architecture Essentials, Neighborhood Strollers, and Storytime with CAC), and more. Schools may be out of session and museums are closed, but the CAC is working to keep children, parents and teachers learning about architecture and design, including the buildings around them, while practicing spatial distancing at home in their own neighborhoods, said Nicole Kowrach, the Centers vice president for education and audience engagement, in a statement.

In partnership with the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, the Center for Architecture has launched #ArchitectureAtHome, a series of fun, family-oriented activities to engage, inspire, and pass the time. They include drawing activities, Google Map-based scavenger hunts, and tutorials on how to make pop-up buildings out of paper bags.

Sympathetic to frazzled parents in need of new distractions for restless broods, London-based mega-firm Fosters + Partners recently launched a robust at-home educational initiative dubbed #Architecturefromhome that includes drawing, making, playing, thinking, reading, watching, and other activities to keep them [out of school kids] entertainedfor at least a few hours! Templates for activities, including Paper skyscraper, Create your own city, and Drawing trees, are available to download through the #Architecturefromhome micro-site. The firm encourages participants young and old to share their completed creations on social media.

Through May 20, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundations education department is hosting a virtual classroom for K-12 students with new lessons and corresponding videos being introduced each week. Says the Foundation of the free educational initiative, which is based on a curriculum developed in collaboration with the Paradise Valley School District: The Virtual Classroom combines fun, real-world lessons with Wrights famed principles of organic architecture and solutions-based design, each STEAM-focused lesson will offer students its own variation of hands-on activities that encourage them to think critically and creatively. Although the six-week series is now in week three of lessons, its never too late to join in. Upcoming lessons include Circles and The Impact of Color.

Normally held at the Taliesin West campus in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Foundations popular Summer Art and Architecture Summer Camp is also going virtual, and for the first time, is also free. Virtual campers enrolled in the program will meet via Zoom for an hour every weekday during three two-week sessions kicking off on June 1.

The Texas-based offices of global architecture firm Gensler have banded together to release two coloring books, Amazing Cities and Amazing Cities Kids, geared toward housebound families looking for a fun, architecture-centric distraction. The free downloadable coloring books together span over 200 pages and feature a slew of Gensler-designed buildings across the Lone Star State including in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. In the wake of recent COVID-19 events, weve been channeling our creative energy into finding a way to educate and inspire people of all ages during these challenging times, Gerardo Gandy, an associate at Gensler who conceived the series, told D magazine. We hope this series allows the public, especially young minds, to use their creativity and imagination, and that it extends the spirit of our firm and the passion that we share for our practice to our friends, clients, and community.

Every Wednesday and Saturday at 3 p.m. during the month of May, Jeff Hopkins, teaching artist at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, will tell stories about the history of the Guggenheims iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Manhattan home through a series of sketches. Each sketch is followed by a prompt meant to inspire young viewers to create their own sketches at home. Participants are encouraged to share their finished work on Instagram or on Twitter with the hashtag #SketchWithJeff.

On May 22, the Glass House, in participation with the New Canaan Library, is hosting an hour-long, hands-on color workshop led by Fritz Horstman, director of education at The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. Working from Josef Alberss book Interaction of Color, we will experiment with colors that you may already have around your home. We will try our hands at exercises that Albers invented in his time teaching at the Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale, such as One-Color-Becomes-Two, Reversed Grounds, and Afterimage, explains the event page. No prior artistic experience is required to participate although those registered must have a list of necessary materials on hand before the workshop begins. Self-directed, video-driven color workshops specifically for kids are also available through the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.

MODAs calendar of upcoming online workshops for pint-sized design aficionados is impressive: A three-part series in skatepark design, an intro to using Minecraft as a CAD tool, and ongoing educational sessions for aspiring architects and designers ages eight through 15.

Although the National Building Museum has canceled all public programming through the end of September (and doesnt list any upcoming virtual events on its calendar), the museums website has a rich resource of at-home learning opportunities (Newspaper forts! Bell pepper architectural drawings! Building surveys!) for cooped-up families including the nifty, recently launched Neighborhood Exploration series.

While the New Museums First Saturdays For Families programming has been canceled, the New Museum Kids Menu series is continuing to provide families with activities to learn about contemporary art and ideas at home. Past family-friendly activities include At Home With Portraiture: Jordan Casteel and The Faces of Places: Jordan Casteel. Keep abreast of upcoming activities here.

Originally posted here:
Keep architects- and designers-in-training busy with these online workshops and activities - The Architect's Newspaper

Kimberly Dowdell began her architecture career just as the Great Recession started to drag down the U.S. construction industry, leading developers to cancel many ambitious projects. A lot of architects were soon out of work, including many minorities, a setback to diversity in a profession that, much like commercial real estate, remained white-dominated.

With a pandemic now wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy and millions of young people losing jobsat the beginning of their careers, Dowdell worries that history may repeat itself. As head of the National Organization for Minority Architects, the Chicago-based director of business development at HOK is making plans to help firms hold onto new talent, rather than stand by and watch as economic pressures force them out, perhaps never to return to their chosen field.

Courtesy of Lauen Kirk

Lauren Kirk in Venice in 2019. Kirk lost her architecture job during the Great Recession and never returned to the industry.

We definitely saw many people who graduated with architecture degrees between 2005 and 2010 who had to find a different path, Dowdell said.

She graduated from Cornell University with an architecture degree in 2006, along with about 60 others.

Today, of the 60, maybe 20 are still practicing architecture in the traditional sense, and thats being generous, she said.

After having risen steadily for more than a decade, the number of African Americans securing an architectural license went into a steep decline in the recessions wake, according to the Directory of African American Architects, a project sponsored by the Center for the Study of Practice at the University of Cincinnati.

In 2009, 71 African Americans received a license, the most since 1995, the group found. That pace slowed in the next few years, falling to just 34 in 2014, the fewest since the 2001 recession.

Dowdell attributes some of the losses to the professions lack of financial rewards, at least for beginners, who typically serve long apprenticeships where they focus on mundane tasks such as researching fire codes or designing a buildings plumbing. The median salary for a newly minted graduate in the U.S. is about $53K, according to a 2019 compensation report by the American Institute of Architects.

The starting salaries in architecture are nowhere near where other professions start out, so strictly from an economic perspective, architecture doesnt make sense, she said.

Although she saw people of all ethnicities and backgrounds leave the profession, the economic downturn in 2009 cut deeper into minority communities, Dowdell added. She pointed out that according to a 2020 Brookings Institution study, a typical white family in the U.S. has 10times the net worth of a typical black family.

If you get let go, its probably harder for you to weather the storm if you dont come from a wealthy background, she said. There was a larger percentage of people of color who had to find a different path.

Courtesy of Directory of African American Architects

Lauren Kirk, another 2006 Cornell graduate, was one of the many architecture rookies pushed out by the 2009 economic downturn. It had been the career she always dreamed about.

My dad is an architect, so its in my blood, and I always knew I wanted to do it, she said. I never wavered, I never looked at anything else.

Kirk was three years into an internship at tvsdesign in Atlanta, doing all of the grind work commonly handled by beginners, when she was laid off and faced a decision.

Its a big hit to your ego, and young people who dont come from independently wealthy families cant sit around a whole year with no income, wait for something to come along and then compete against other out-of-work architects who may have 20 years of experience, she said.

Kirk decided to return to school, got an MBA in real estate management from Ohio State University and then spent nine years at Macys, eventually becoming responsible for a portfolio of around 200 stores.

The lateral career move brought some advantages, not all of them financial. Kirk was handed more responsibility than she would have had as an architect and led teams of architects and contractors reconstructing such iconic downtown stores as Chicagos State Street Macys.

Kirk recently started a new job as project director for Brixmor Property Group, a REIT that owns open-air shopping malls across the U.S.

I definitely miss the creativity of architecture, but from a relationship standpoint, I am no longer behind a desk, so I would not have the network I now have if I had stayed in architecture, Kirk said. Looking at my peers and judging myself against them, I think Im doing very well.

Her new profession also has a long way to go to achieve diversity.

I can count on my hands how often Ive attended meetings where there was another African American in the room, and only once was there a black woman," she said. "So one meeting in nine years.

Courtesy of Kimberly Dowdell

Kimberly Dowdell

Luck may have played a role in keeping Dowdell on the path of to an architecture career. As the economy cratered in 2008, she was at HOK in New York City. Much of the work was on a design for Doha International Airport in Qatar, and projects backed by such wealthy countries were immune from the economic pressure afflicting other development work, she said.

Dowdell later took a detour from architecture, getting a masters degree in public administration from Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government and going to work as a planner for the city of Detroit, her hometown. She returned to HOK last year.

For those without her kind of luck, Dowdell hopes architectures professional associations, along with its influential firms, will respond to this downturn by putting together plans to hold onto talent.

I would like to think that the profession has better infrastructure in place, but Im not sure we do, she said.

In 2015, black architects began a bit of a comeback when 73 secured licenses, according to the directory. But the total number of African Americans working as practicing architects remains low. The directory found 2,306 living African American licensed architects at the end of 2019, or around 2% of the approximately 115,316 total architects licensed in the U.S.

As head of NOMA, Dowdell leads its efforts to construct a pipeline for aspiring minority architects. The organization recently launched a minority fellowship program thatwill help 25 architecture students get their foot in the door. NOMA will match the fellows with firms, pay each a stipend and hopefully secure more funds for real salaries.

Wed love to offer this to more students, and we are encouraging other organizations, firms and companies to help us take the initiative and solve this problem head-on, she said.

Kirk said she is worried what will happen to architecture if it loses another generation of minorities.

We live in a diverse world, but if you only have one group of people designing buildings, there is no diversity of thought, and we will be missing out on many ideas," she said. "We dont want to live in a vanilla world. Thats no fun.

Excerpt from:
New Great Recession Threatens Loss Of Another Generation Of Minority Architects - Bisnow

The car is the star in each of these eight private residential projects, each designed for a client keen to show off their beloved automobiles.

Autohaus, USA, by Matt Fajkus Architecture

Built for a car collector in Austin, Texas, Autohaus' entire ground floor is given over to a garage and workshop.

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls frame the parking space, and the gabled living area cantilevers over an outdoor parking space to frame and shelter the car below.

Find out more about Autohaus

House in Takamatsu, Japan, by FujiwaraMuro Architects

FujiwaraMuro Architects designed a single opening in the bunker-style facade of this house in Takamatsu to draw attention to the owner's sports car.

The all-white home is otherwise highly private. Inside, a glass wall gives a full view of the car from a downstairs living room.

Find out more about House in Takamatsu

Smilgu House, Lithuania, by Plazma Architecture Studio

A glass-walled corner of the ground floor of this house in Vilnius puts the owner's car proudly on display.

Timber cladding helps the house blend with the trees, making the garage a focal point of the front facade. To the rear, the house has huge double height windows looking out over the garden.

Find out more about Smilgu House

Garage House, Portugal, by Fala Atelier

Fala Atelier converted a garage in Lisbon into a house for a young couple and kept its original purpose.

Their little car can be driven straight into the open-plan house, which can be divided into separate rooms using brightly-coloured curtains.

Find out more about Garage House

Pagoda House, Bulgaria, by I/O Architects

Pagoda House takes its name from the owner's beloved vintage Mercedes Pagoda, which has pride of place in a glass-walled garage.

The house is partially submerged into its sloping site, with the classic car located at the bottom of a timber staircase and framed against a raw concrete back wall.

Find out more about Pagoda House

Basic House, Thailand, by Brownhouses

This house in Bangkok for an avid car collector has space for six cars to be parked two abreast in a glass-walled garage on the ground floor.

A home office runs along the side of the car display area, and a playroom complete with a sand pit and toy cars for the owner's children sits at the end.

Find out more about Basic House

Family House, Czech Republic, by Stempel & Tesar

Czech architecture studio Stempel & Tesar built this house for a racing car driver with an open-air garage sheltered under a balcony.

Much of the ground floor of the house is given over to a workshop, where the owner has space to tinker with two more cars.

Find out more about Family House

Garage Loft, Netherlands, by Studio OxL

This single-storey house in Arnhem that was once a carpenter's workshop has doors that open up to allow the client to park their electric sports car in the middle of the shiny white living room.

Because it's electric, it can sit in the middle of the house without the risk of pollution or damage from its exhaust fumes.

Find out more about Garage Loft

Continued here:
Eight houses designed to show off their owners' car collections - Dezeen

As part of the Universitys COVID-19 Preparedness Committee, a host of personal protective equipment is being 3D printed and fabricated to safeguard medical personnel.

Looking like something right out of a Hollywood horror film, smoke billowed from the patient simulators mouth and nose, filling a pyramid-shaped acrylic chamber that encased the mannequins head.

Standing nearby was Dr. Richard McNeer, an anesthesiologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

The chamber, he observed, was working flawlessly, preventing the smokein this case, theatrical fog used to mimic COVID-19 respiratory particlesfrom reaching him and the team of other health care experts who had gathered to test the device as part of a mock intubation procedure.

But then, McNeer had one of those aha moments. He discovered that a Yankauer, a special suctioning tool used in many medical procedures, could actually evacuate most of the aerosol particles if it were positionedprior to intubationstrategically near the opening of the mannequins vocal cords.

It was a serendipitous discovery, McNeer recalled. Suction has been used to remove everything from stomach contents to blood. But this is perhaps the first time its been considered for use in suctioning out aerosols. This is something that can be done upstream of just about any of the other strategies and safety measures to prevent exposure to the virus during intubation.

A formidable one-two punch, the chamber, or intubation box, and suction tubing are part of a broad University of Miami initiative to 3D print and fabricate devices and personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel on the front lines of the war against COVID-19.

From low-cost ventilators and powered air-purifying respirators to surgical helmets, filter caps for N95 masks, and even nasal swabs used to test for the coronavirus, a multitude of products are either in the design and testing phase or, as is the case with the intubation box, in actual use.

Departments and divisions from across the University are involved in the endeavor, helping to ramp up stockpiles of medical supplies at a time when demand has outpaced supply.

Were responding to the needs of all those in the health care field who are caring for COVID-19 patients. Thats our guiding principle, said Jean-Pierre Bardet, vice provost of strategic projects, who is spearheading the Universitys COVID-19 Preparedness Committee.

Doctors and nurses still need better PPEs. And when the crisis subsides, the public will need more effective personal protection and more testing, Bardet said. How will we address those challenges? How will we deal with the second COVID-19 wave? Ventilators are no longer in short supply in the U.S., but what about other parts of the world like South America? Our goal is to produce badly needed supplies and equipment that will be used, not squandered.

Global pandemics, said Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, require local responses and quick action by the entire community. It has been impressive to see the mobilization of faculty, student talent, and institutional leadership in responding to emerging and evolving needs.

Of all the fabrication projects now underway, the intubation boxes are at the most advanced stage, with physicians and nurses at Ryder Trauma Center, Jackson Memorial Hospital, and Nicklaus Childrens Hospital already using them as protective shields during certain medical procedures.

Made from acrylic, the reusable, clear enclosure covers a patients head and has two circular ports through which an anesthesiologist inserts his gloved hands and arms to perform an airway procedure.

We knew that anesthesiologists were at risk of being exposed to splatter and respiratory droplets when performing intubations, so we were trying to find a way to protect them, said Suresh Atapattu, a biomedical engineer at the Miller Schools International Medicine Institute. Were not anesthesiologists, but we wanted to come up with something to help those physicians at the tip of the spear in this fight.

As Atapattu and cardiologist Eduardo de Marchena, associate dean for international medicine, searched for a solution, they found inspiration from half a world a way. A physician in Taiwan, they learned, had constructed and used a clear barrier device to protect health care workers when intubating COVID-19 patients.

So Atapattu quickly sprung into action, designing a version of the box and then driving to a local Lowes home improvement store to buy the acrylic to build it. He constructed the first prototype in the garage of his Plantation, Florida, home, using Crystal Clear Gorilla Tape to attach the sheets of acrylic, and a Dremel tool to create the ports.

It was a learning process from the very beginning, Atapattu recalled of building the first box. The design had to be clean, which meant we couldnt use screws to attach the sheets because there couldnt be any places inside where the virus could hide.

He initially built two boxes, giving one to Nicklaus Childrens Hospital, where pediatricians praised the functionality of the design, and another to McNeer, who tested the device on a patient simulator at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies Simulation Hospital for Advancing Research and Education (SHARE).

In the latter case, the box turned out to be a bit cumbersome. So, McNeer and two nursing school clinical faculty members, who participated in the testing phase, reimagined the design. They suggested to Atapattu that the boxes be pyramid-shaped and collapsible, so they could be easily stored when not in use.

With the design now finalized, Atapattu turned to the School of Architecture, where Maxwell Jarosz, architect and manager of the fabrication lab and model shop, employed a precision laser cutter to build more intubation boxes. The lines are now cleaner, and the design is more prism-shaped, Atapattu said. But the key elements are still thereacrylic and Gorilla Tape.

Six of the boxes were recently delivered to Ryder Trauma Center, where McNeer works as an anesthesiologist, performing airway procedures on patients who are brought in with serious and often life-threatening injuries.

Sometimes, we have to intubate them because of the injuries theyve sustained, not knowing if theyre COVID-19 positive or not, he explained. Weve intubated patients who have subsequently been shown to have the virus. Were trying to protect ourselves as much as possible. But its different than what a lot of the frontline caregivers are experiencing, where they know that a patient is COVID positive. In our situation, we have to prioritize. If a patient is febrile, we treat them like theyre COVID-19 positive.

A total of 30 intubation boxes will be fabricated, with the College of EngineeringJohnson & Johnson 3D Printing Center of Excellence Collaborative Laboratory donating additional acrylic to complete the construction phase.

A lot of architects have skill sets that are valuable, knowing about 3D printing for one, Jarosz said. Doctors can do a very good job describing what they need, but because of their clinical obligations, they arent always able to make it. So, weve been able to contribute in that regard. Its been a very interesting collaborationone I thought Id never be in but am happy to be a part of.

As for the suction tube to be used in tandem with the intubation box, Jarosz is working with McNeer on a design that is more ergonomically friendly. Once the design is finalized, the tubes will be 3D printed in mass quantities at the School of Architecture.

Were exploring some modifications so that were able to perform the suctioning while staying out of the way of the person who is inserting the endotracheal tube, McNeer said. And we want to make sure that were better able to place it in the proper position before the intubation is attempted. The aerosol is generated once you start to look for the vocal cords. So, the actual suctioning has to be started before then.

A prototype will be ready soon. Im anxious to see how it performs in the simulation hospital, McNeer said.

The intubation box and use of periglottic suctioning, as it is formally called, are applicable not only to anesthesiologists, but to anyone in the medical field performing intubations, said Jeffrey Groom, professor of clinical and associate dean for Simulation Programs at SHARE, who participated in the simulations.

From paramedics in the pre-hospital setting to emergency department personnel to physicians and nurses, as well as the anesthesia and ICU folks, it has implications across the health care setting, said Groom, a former City of Miami paramedic for 12 years. Beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic, the routine use of barrier boxes and periglottic suctioning should be considered for use with all endotracheal intubation procedures where there may be an exposure or infection risk.

Nichole Crenshaw, assistant professor of clinical and director of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program, who performed the mock intubation procedure at the nursing school, recognizes the critical need for health care workers to protect themselves as the pandemic continues to rage.

Being a part of this project has been a way to make sure were all staying safe, said Crenshaw. Theres been a heightened sense of taking care of each other during this crisis. And, thats what has stood out to me more than anything.

See the original post:
Engineers, architects, nurses, and doctors team up to protect health care workers - University of Miami

Project Manager with Revit (5-7 years experience)

The Architects Collective (TAC) is a group of designers working collaboratively to enrich the lives of people through the practice of architecture. Each member of the collective applies their unique perspective, skills, expertise, and creative approach to the process of analysis, design and implementation of projects. By working in a collective, both the design process and results are rich and multi-layered. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

TAC works with project owners to design mixed-use and multi-family projects including both affordable housing and market-rate. We apply decades of design and construction experience to studying, testing, and enhancing the qualities that make successful built environments.

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager to help support the firms continued growth. As a self-directed and independent member of our team, you will:

Requirements:

TAC is an equal opportunity employer. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, and the opportunity to grow with our team in a collaborative studio environment. All applicants should submit a portfolio with CV and references to info@thearchitectscollective.com. Please specify job title in the subject line. No phone calls, please. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Back to Job List...

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The Architects Collective is hiring a Project Manager in Los Angeles, CA, US - Archinect

Oliver Chapman Architects has added a garden room to a house in Edinburgh, combining an Arts and Crafts approach with smart-home technologies.

Flitch House is an extension to an end-of-terrace family homein Trinity, built in 1895 by prominent local architect Alexander Hunter Crawford.

To respect the house's architectural character, the extension is designed by Oliver Chapman Architects asa contemporary interpretation of the Arts and Crafts style a movement that promoted traditional craftsmanship and honest use of materials, rather than mass production.

The garden-room extension celebrates its construction, with brick walls visible both inside and out, a pattern of ceiling beams exposed overhead, and custom furniture elements dotted throughout.

However unlike the Arts and Crafts houses of the 19th and early 20th century, the building also embraces technology, with integrated gadgets including wireless lighting and automated blinds.

The architects describe it as"Arts and Crafts without the bell pull".

"Many of the ideals of Arts and Crafts materiality, craft, open and connected spaces scaled to different uses are virtues that continue to be highly valued in architecture today," explained project architect Nick Green.

"The movement initially arose as a rebellion against mass production and a wave of industrialisation," he continued, "but in today's world it is modern product developments that are allowing us to maximise the performance of our building elements and create details that make the most of the materials we use."

Digital devices are not the only use of technology in Flitch House.

As the project name suggests, the design includes Flitch Beams, which are dual-beams with steel ribbons sandwiched into the centre.These give additional strength to the roof structure, allowing it to lift up at the edges, to preserve views over the Firth of Forth.

In line with the Arts and Crafts approach, these details are left uncovered and visible.

A pale Danish brick was chosen for the walls, to contrast but complement the original red brick.

"Our approach at Flitch House was to choose materials which could be both structural and aesthetic," Green told Dezeen.

"While the new walls and roof are necessarily not as simple as they appear, with insulation and waterproofing membranes hidden from view, they nevertheless allow the basic construction of the building to be read and understood clearly."

A split-level floor divides the extension into two rooms. On the upper level is a dining space, connected to the family kitchen, while the lower level is more of a conservatory space.

Architectural details help to give these rooms extra character. Steps integrate upholstered seating areas and storage, while a projecting corner creates a reading nook, furnished with a bookcase and sofa.

There's also a mini recessed kitchen, lined in Douglas fir joinery, which provides a space for preparing drinks.

"Intimate spaces, or nooks, are characteristic of Arts and Crafts houses, and we were keen to develop this idea in a contemporary approach," explained Green.

"Our clients enjoy entertaining and so we designed this nook as a discreet bar area off the new dining area, allowing the main space to be as open as possible," he said."It references the existing panelled alcove around the fireplace in the kitchen."

The space is finished with a micro-concrete floor, which matches the colour of the garden terrace beyond.

Previous house renovation in Edinburgh include architecture studio Archer + Braun red sandstone extension to a Victorian villaandIzat Arundell conversion of a former blacksmith's workshopinto a compact apartment.

Photography is by Angus Bremner.

Project credits:

Architect: Oliver Chapman ArchitectsStructural engineer: David Narro AssociatesQuantity surveyor: Thomson GrayMain contractor: Ballina Construction

See the rest here:
Oliver Chapman Architects combines technology and craft in Flitch House - Dezeen

Miller Architects & Builders recently started construction on Encore On The Park luxury apartments in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The community features 105 luxury apartment homes with modern features and convenient access to many of the city's amenities.

The community features 105 luxury apartment homes, will be situated close to nearby retailers with convenient access to many of the citys amenities. Located next to Heritage Park, Encore On The Park will feature three stories of upscale apartment homes surrounding a courtyard with a walking path and access to Heritage Park. Also, two attached enclosed parking garages with a car wash, and one 18-stall detached garage.

Encore On The Park will consist of studio, 1-, 2-bedroom apartment homes and offer views of Heritage Park. The three levels of wood-framed apartments will wrap around a courtyard with a patio, barbecue area, sport court for basketball and pickle ball, and a dog park. The ground floor will include a beautiful two-story lobby with fireplace, a mail center, community room, 3-season porch, and fitness center. The second and third floor will also include a resident business center, yoga room, and game room.

Interiors of the pet-friendly apartment homes will be equipped with modern features such as energy-efficient stainless-steel appliances, in-unit washers/dryers, granite counters, tile backsplashes, luxury vinyl flooring, patios or balconies. Included in the apartment homes, the community will feature one guest suite.

Encore On The Park will open in the summer of 2021.

Miller Architects & Builders, LLC, St. Cloud, MN, is a full-service architectural and construction firm providing design/build, architectural design, pre-construction, construction, and construction management services for commercial projects in the upper Midwest. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.millerab.com.

Originally posted here:
Miller Architects & Builders Breaks Ground on Encore On The Park Luxury Apartments - PR.com

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Architect and educator Jennifer Yoos, FAIA has been named as the new Dean for the University of Minnesota School of Architecture.

Yoos is the principal and CEO of Minneapolis-based architecture practice VJAA. She is also an alumna of the University of Minnesota and the Architectural Association in London.

Throughout her career as an educator, Yoos has taught at the Cooper Union, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Minnesota. Additionally, Yoos studied at Harvard University in 2013 as a Loeb Fellow in the Harvard Graduate School of Designs Urban and Environmental Studies department. Yoos was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2013, as well.

Yoos comes to Univesrsity of Minnesota to replace the schools previous Dean, Blaine Brownell, who was named as the new director of the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlottes College of Arts + Architecture earlier this year.

In a statement highlighting her selection, Yoos made the following remarks: I am honored to return to the University of Minnesota as the head of the School of Architecture. The school and its graduates are critical to the success of the architecture community and to the region. I am indebted to the School for providing a solid foundation for my academic and professional career, and look forward to working closely with faculty and students to further the Schools success and increase its influence.

Yoos is expected to take up her new position at the University of Minnesota on June 8, 2020 following formal approval of her selection by the schools Board of Regents.

Read more from the original source:
Architect Jennifer Yoos selected as the new Dean for the University of Minnesota School of Architecture - Archinect

Swedens unique strategy to deal with coronavirus will ensure it has only a small second wave of cases unlike other countries that could be forced to return to lockdown, according to the architect of the contentious policy.

Anders Tegnell, Swedens state epidemiologist who devised the no-lockdown approach, estimated that 40 per cent of people in the capital, Stockholm, would be immune to Covid-19 by the end of May, giving the country an advantage against a virus that were going to have to live with for a very long time.

In the autumn there will be a second wave. Sweden will have a high level of immunity and the number of cases will probably be quite low, Mr Tegnell told the Financial Times. But Finland will have a very low level of immunity. Will Finland have to go into a complete lockdown again?

Sweden and Mr Tegnell are under the global spotlight as their response to the pandemic has made them a global outlier.

Primary and secondary schools, restaurants, cafs and shops are mostly open as normal in Sweden, with health authorities relying on voluntary social distancing and people opting to work from home. Schools for over-16s and universities are closed and gatherings of more than 50 people are banned, but it is still the most relaxed approach of any EU country.

Swedens virus-related death toll on Thursday reached 3,040. This is significantly higher than Nordic neighbours Denmark, Norway and Finland, which have registered fewer than 1,000 between them.

Mr Tegnell said it would take about one to two years to know whose strategy had worked best and at what cost to society. He stressed that Swedens approach was to look at the wide public health matter in which an important consideration was that people should be able to keep a reasonably normal life.

The epidemiologist has become something of a cult figure in Sweden, with reports of people having tattoos done of him.

Public trust in Swedens public health agency has increased during the crisis, which Mr Tegnell in part attributed to his efforts to communicate openly, answering the same questions hundreds of times. He said he found the attention on himself rather absurd, such as his daughters laughing hilariously about a fashion magazine analysing his dress sense.

Mr Tegnell argued that nothing [to do with lockdowns] had a scientific basis, particularly decisions to close schools, because there was no evidence that children were a major cause of transmission.

He believes European leaders, fearful that their health systems would be overwhelmed, felt they needed to copy Chinas approach, the first country to lock down because of the disease.

About a quarter of people in Stockholm had the virus at the start of May, according to a mathematical model by Swedens public health agency, which Mr Tegnell said was part of the reason the number of cases in the capital had fallen recently.By contrast, tests this week in Norways capital Oslo suggested that under 2 per cent of the population had been infected.

But Mr Tegnell said uncertainty about how long virus immunity would last meant it was unlikely Sweden would reach herd immunity, a level of the disease where so many people are infected usually about 80 per cent that it stops spreading. I dont think we or any country in the world will reach herd immunity in the sense that the disease goes away because I dont think this is a disease that goes away, he added.

Many countries hope is that they can keep the virus at bay until a vaccine is found. But Mr Tegnell said that, even in the best-case scenario, it was likely to take years to develop one, before it could be administered to an entire population.

Its a big mistake to sit down and say we should just wait for a vaccine. It will take much longer than we think. And in the end, we dont know how good a vaccine it will be. Its another reason to have a sustainable policy in place.

Swedens approach has been to have a strategy that could last for months, if not years, without the need for big changes. That contrasts with nearly all other European countries, which are grappling with how to reopen their societies without sparking an increase in transmission.

This has led to some criticism from those who say Sweden should be trying much harder to curb the number of Covid-19 deaths. Per-capita death statistics show that Sweden is behind only the UK, Italy, Belgium and Spain at this stage of the pandemic.

The Financial Times is making key coronavirus coverage free to read to help everyone stay informed.Find the latest here.

One area where Sweden has done poorly is in trying to keep the virus out of care homes. Mr Tegnell, who suggests the higher infection rate in such homes in Sweden is the main reason why it has had more deaths than its neighbours, said: Its something that we deeply regret.

He made the point that care homes in Sweden like in the rest of the Nordic region were for the very old and the very sick, as most elderly people live at home, and that there were known quality problems with care providers, often private companies.

Unfortunately those quality problems have proven to make the elderly very vulnerable to infection, Mr Tegnell said, adding that an investigation had begun.

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Architect of Sweden's no-lockdown strategy insists it will pay off - Financial Times

You can always find light in the darkest of places, but it can be depressing to search for it when you are working from home and realise that yours is a gloomy, chilly house. The point of recognition can hit you like a cold wind on a sunny day, when the light leaves the home office if it was ever there in the first place and you have to pop on an extra layer of clothing or turn on the heating. If Ciara Murray and Sinad Bourke, of Newmark architects in Dublin, have one mission, it is to bring as much light into Irish homes as possible.

A well-placed mirror brings light into a courtyard

MARIE-LOUISE HALPENNY

The pair have been in business together since 2017 and, recently, one of their projects reached

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Ciara Murray and Sinad Bourke, the architects who make light work of dark homes - The Times