Demands for climate action have largely faded into the background as the covid-19 pandemic, the economic meltdown, and widespread protests over police brutality have seized the worlds attention.

But for Rhiana Gunn-Wright, the director of climate policy at the Roosevelt Institute and one of the architects of the Green New Deal, the issues are inextricably intertwined. You cant appreciate the real toll of the fossil-fuel sector if youre not looking at it through the lenses of racial justice, economic inequality, and public health, she says in an interview with MIT Technology Review.

People of color are more likely to live near power plants and other polluting factories, and they suffer higher levels of asthma and greater risks of early death from air pollution. The coronavirus death rate among black Americans is more than twice that of whites. And global warming and factory farming practices will release more deadly pathogens and reshape the range of infectious diseases, Gunn-Wright argued in April in a New York Times op-ed titled Think This Pandemic Is Bad? We Have Another Crisis Coming.

The people most likely to die from toxic fumes are the same people most likely to die from Covid-19, she wrote. Its like we are watching a preview of the worst possible impacts of the climate crisis roll right before our eyes.

One critique of the Green New Deal was that it took on too much, multiplying the difficulty of making progress on any one of the deeply polarized issues it addressed. But Gunn-Wright argues that this was its strength: tying together these seemingly distinct causes into a sweeping policy package underscored the connections between them and helped build a broader coalition of supporters behind them.

In the interview that follows, she says everything thats happened in 2020 has only deepened those convictions.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Thats such a big question, because the way I feel about how 2020 is going depends on the day. In a lot of ways, Im more scared than Ive been in a long time, just because of the scale of the crises.

Were facing a recession that could be a bad recession or worse than the Great Depression. And then we also have a public health crisis. And then obviously we have an ongoing crisis around white supremacy and racial injustice that is coming to the fore. And of course were also facing the climate crisis.

But then Im also more hopeful than I have been, with the uprising and the protests that have happened, because I feel like its a reminder that actually everyone in government serves at our pleasure.

Mostly it made me realize that we were right. When the Green New Deal came out, I did a fair amount of press, and it felt like I spent six months answering the same set of questions. What role does equity have in this? Why attach it to a climate proposal? Wont this actually make it harder?

People were nervous that attaching climate change and climate policy to calls for racial justice or economic justice was too much, that we were actually going to make it harder to make progress on climateas if they arent all connected, which they are.

We were essentially saying that climate change is not just a technical problem. Its not just an issue of emissions. Its an issue of the systems that have allowed an industry that essentially poisons people to continue, and to do so even as it further and further imperils our survival, both as a nation and as a globe. It comes down to issues of race and class and place.

And so this moment actually makes me glad that we did that work before. Because it has meant that some groups that are seen solely as climate, like the Sunrise Movement, have invested in this set of uprisings. Theyre working with the Movement for Black Lives to get their members out to protest, to connect them to actions, to help them understand how climate is connected to this.

The Green New Deal helped push the conversations around climate away from a purely technocratic space. The increasingly popular stance on itat least among climate experts, wonks, activists in the climate spaceis about the nexus of jobs, justice and environment. And I think all of that actually makes it a lot easier for climate change to continue to be talked about in this moment and not be shoved aside.

Yeah, I can say Im not seeing enough for sure. Im saying it was from nothing to, you know, something. And I have noticed before that when other big things happenednot quite this bigthere will always be a silence. But then I would watch people have, like, three-day-long conversations about utility tariffs.

So I do think that theres still that divide. Theres still a fair amount of people who think of climate as something thats outside of our social systems.

I think part of it is the discipline silo. People have fought back against climate change in the public sphere by questioning if it was really happening. So it has become a really technical and scientific space, because one way to fight back against that is to continually produce more data, and new ways to prove whats going on.

A downside is, sometimes it can feel like if its not scientific, you shouldnt talk about it. Unless you have reams of data to support it, you shouldnt introduce it. Which is a problem, because data doesnt tell us whats true; data tells us what we decided to measure.

And especially when youre talking about race, and racial justice, there are a lot of lived experiences that havent been quantified.

Theres a growing consensus that for an economic recovery from covid to be robust, decarbonization has to be a significant part of it. In my estimation, it should be centered around decarbonization.

Its not, like, a nice thing to have. It makes economic sense. Investments in clean energy have better multipliers, right? They give you more bang for your buck. They create more jobs. They catalyze more innovation.

And most of all, they help stabilize the climate, which is crucial economically speaking, particularly given the levels of temperature increases were looking at by the end of the century. Fixing that is an incredibly stabilizing force.

Were going to be left with an economy where you have to generate huge numbers of jobs, and where you have to offset a really significant drop in demand. And decarbonization is one of the only spaces that can do that. Its one of the only spaces where we can generate that many jobs, where theyll also create new industries, and where you have the chance to spark new innovations that essentially help continue to grow the economy even after the initial investment is made.

And so you have all those arguments stacking up for a green stimulus. It by far makes the most economic sense. Really, the only reasons to not do it are political reasons.

But in the US, thats not whats happening so far. A lot of our recovery money is going to oil and gas industries, and renewables are losing ground. Theres no targeted support for them in the CARES Act [the economic relief bill passed in late March].

One is hire people of color. And particularly people of color who dont have the same educational background as I think is common in climate or policy work in general.

If we want to actually be serious about supporting other movements that are aligned around justice, we have to make sure that the inside of our organizations actually looks like that. And that means not just hiring people of color, but also not just hiring people of color from the Ivy League. Hire people who have been activists for a long time and have learned about a topic from being in it.

Even if people are deep in this discipline, its important to not silo ourselves off intellectually. Its always important for us, particularly if were not activists out in the street, to remember that the ways that we theorize around or think of a problem is not actually necessarily the way its happening.

Read more:
A Green New Deal architect explains how the protests and climate crisis are connected - MIT Technology Review

IT automation began as simple scripts passed to a system's command-line interface, but became much more sophisticated -- and programmable -- with infrastructure virtualization. IT staff members have had to broaden their skills accordingly.

IT automation can now exploit powerful APIs and intent-based systems, which add another layer of abstraction, enhanced by machine learning models that adapt to changing conditions. The integration of highly automated IT and application development requires careful planning, design, product evaluation and testing. This has fostered a new IT role within many organizations, and particularly DevOps shops: the automation architect.

The IT automation architect role is new enough that there isn't a widely accepted definition for the job. The role undoubtedly gained IT executives' attention amid the costly proliferation of often-redundant automation tools and processes -- a trend identified by analyst firm Gartner. The firm contends that this proliferation hinders infrastructure scalability, and that by 2025, the most sophisticated IT organizations will have a formal strategy to address ad hoc automation issues.

In general, an automation architect is one of the most senior positions in IT, overseeing all decisions related to IT and development automation strategy and policy. As such, architects must work with a variety of technical teams and business units to assess needs, define projects, win support for key initiatives and manage them to completion.

Specifically, IT automation architects have the following responsibilities:

IT automation architects are typically found in DevOps organizations. It's fruitless to focus on a comprehensive automation strategy without a cooperative, integrated DevOps structure already in place. Because of the specialized nature of the job, architects are typically found in larger enterprises or those, like many cloud-native startups, that have mature DevOps practices.

There's a wide variety of job titles and associated skills found under the DevOps umbrella. For example, a recent DevOps skills report from the DevOps Institute, a learning association for DevOps professionals, identified more than a dozen DevOps job titles for which organizations are hiring. "DevOps engineer/manager" was the most common title, cited by 51% of survey respondents -- who were comprised of IT professionals, DevOps practitioners, HR managers and consultants. "Automation architect" was the 9th most cited job title at 15%. The following chart summarizes other notable job titles and their response rates.

When the same group of survey respondents was asked to rate the importance of various skills to DevOps work, proficiency at automation ranked at the top, with 66% citing it as very important and only 1% listing it as optional or unimportant. Of equal importance were process skills and knowledge, with only 3% listing these as unimportant. It's not surprising that these are ranked as the most essential DevOps skills; you can't automate a process you don't understand and haven't fully defined.

Aside from a thorough understanding of DevOps processes, other valuable skills for the automation architect and engineering role include:

The automation architect role is an excellent career path to upper management, as it exposes practitioners to a variety of technical problems, business requirements and management situations.

Automation architects are still a rare breed in enterprise IT organizations. Nevertheless, with the rising complexity of cloud infrastructure, a desire to deliver new products and services more quickly, and current financial requirements to do more work with fewer resources, holistic process automation will become a critical component of top IT organizations.

As the leader of automation strategies and projects, architects will emerge as some of the most valued members of IT leadership teams. Indeed, Gartner predicts that more than 90% of enterprise infrastructure and operations organizations will have an automation architect by 2025 -- up from less than 20% in 2020.

The benefits of automation to IT are many, including higher efficiency and process repeatability. However, the benefits to individuals pursuing the architectural role are equally great. For example, recent data from job site Glassdoor suggests the average salary of automation architects is about $80,000, with many listings in six-figures. As more IT and development tools add AI automation features, it will only increase the value for highly trained and experienced automation architects.

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Prepare for the rise of the IT automation architect - TechTarget

7 Seventy House is defying the odds in Hudson Countys rental market, recording a high level of spring velocity thats propelled the luxury new. apartment building in Hoboken, N.J. past the notable mark of 70% leased.

While much of New Jerseys Hudson River Gold Coast has experienced slowed activity as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, The Marketing Directors, the exclusive leasing and marketing agent at 7 Seventy House, has reported steady leasing at the 424-home building.The landmark Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects (MHS Architects)-designed building features a 14-story high rise tower with multiple terraced setbacks, a glass and brick exterior and a distinctive columned entryway.

The uninterrupted pace has been fueled by the large pool of renters exclusively seeking brand new apartments, and the implementation of a comprehensive digital presentation that allows prospects to remotely view 7 Seventy House with one-on-one interactive virtual tours of the fully-furnished model apartments and world class amenities.

The newsworthy leasing mark was achieved simultaneously with another significant milestone at 7 Seventy House. Developer Bijou Properties and partner Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation have announced the building is now over 50% occupied.

7 Seventy House was developed in conjunction with a two-acre public resiliency park right outside the building. The 7th and Jackson park features a public plaza with step seating and tilted lawn panel, large plaza to accommodate vendors and seasonal markets, a childrens playground, a one-acre green space designed for active and passive recreation uses and a state-of-the-art 6,835 square-foot community gymnasium.

7 Seventy House boasts a comprehensive 90,000 square-foot resort-style amenity package that includes its residents-only outdoor spaces. Theres also a penthouse pool with lounge seating, expansive amenity deck with BBQ stations, bocce ball court, state-of-the-art multi-level gym, play room, game room, indoor bike storage, on-site dog park, dog grooming room, alcove with coworking lounge and coffee station and a conference room with access to an outdoor lounge with a fire pit. Many of the amenity spaces boast views of the Manhattan skyline.

Beyond the private amenities, 7 Seventy House will offer services that include a 24-hour attended lobby, Hello Alfred concierge service and covered parking. Theres also approximately 24,000 square feet of ground floor retail space that will serve residents and the Hoboken community.

Studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences at 7 Seventy House feature open floor plans with red oak engineered wood floors and expansive windows that bathe the homes in natural light. Kitchens boast Quartz countertops, white ceramic tile backsplashes, custom cabinetry, and a premium GE stainless-steel appliance package, with in residence Bosch washer and dryers. Luxury baths are outfitted with grey mineral stone tile and Kohler fixtures.

Monthly rents start in the $2,600s, with limited-time incentives that include six weeks free on a 13-month lease.

Situated just steps from the 9th Street Light Rail Station, 7 Seventy House blends an upscale living experience with the convenience of quick access throughout New Jerseys Hudson River Gold Coast, including Hobokens PATH, New Jersey Transit and Ferry terminals with service to Manhattan. Closer to home, theres a wide range of services and cultural attractions available in the Monroe Center, the premier arts and business community in Hoboken, which boasts artist studios, childrens activities, fitness facilities, eateries and much more.

7 Seventy House has launched a newly produced virtual tour program to remotely accommodate prospective residents. The tour is part of one-on-one interactive presentations being conducted by leasing agents through personal Zoom meetings. Please visit the buildings website atwww.7SeventyHouse.comor call 201-795-0770 to schedule a virtual tour.

Original post:
Over 70% of Luxury Apartments at MHS Architects-Designed 7 Seventy House in Hoboken, NJ Now Leased | Dean Marchetto Architects, PC (now Marchetto,...

Transformation The Hinge / Niels Olivier Architect

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Text description provided by the architects. In the woods just north of the city of Arnhem a new neighborhood is being developed under the name 'Buitenplaats Koningsweg'. This former military site will be transformed into a cultural enclave. The complex is known as 'De Scharnier', or in English 'The Hinge', is situated at the heart of the enclave. These interconnected buildings, erected at right angles to one another, used to accommodate the military theater in one 'leg' and the restaurant in the other, but have now become the home, workshop, and studio of a well-known artist.

Most buildings on the military site date back to the 1960s and 70s and are in a bad state, but for reasons of sustainability, it was decided to reuse and repurpose the buildings as much as possible. When it comes to The Hinge, were forced to renew the facade or the roof we chose contrasting materials like steel and timber. All exterior walls are now insulated in compliance with Dutch building regulations. The colors used in the transformation, different tones of gray, were prescribed by the main urban plan, but also the use of industrial, bold materials. This also meant that all the original brickwork had to be painted gray. The whole complex is heated by means of an energy-saving pellet installation. With solar panels on the roof of the House, it will ultimately be almost energy neutral. The swimming pool is unheated, being purified by natural filters such as plants and gravel.

In its original state, the southern 'leg' of the building was strikingly unsuitable to house a family. The building comprised a block of toilet rooms, a restaurant kitchen with a bar, and a dining area, spread over two floors. Therefore, we introduced two major interventions. Firstly we designed a void in the center of the building, linking the living room on the first floor to the garden by means of staircases. This void also divides up the former large restaurant area on the first floor into two well-defined spaces: the family kitchen and the living room. The bedrooms and bathrooms are situated on the ground floor on either side of the void. Secondly, we added an extension at the head of the House, which provides the first floor with a dining room and a balcony. The roof is supported by beautiful wooden trusses. These were cleared of several layers of paint and were treated with a transparent coating to bring out the warm color of the wood.

The facades of the House were partly renewed. The north side looks out on the quiet, enclosed private garden. Slim aluminum window framing was placed within the original structure. Plenty of daylight comes in without the problem of overheating in Summer. On this side the charm of the original sixties architecture is evident. The south side of the building, looking out on a public road and a small restaurant, is much more closed, so as to guarantee privacy. The decayed original facade and the roof were replaced by contemporary well-insulated versions consisting of wood and steel. A quirky composition of large square windows and elongated horizontal ones symbolizes the transformation. The windows are equipped with electrically operated folding panels, perforated to filter the sunlight and designed to prevent people from looking in. The main entrance hall is a divergent mass that links up the House with the office and workshop. Facing southwards, the large windows as well as the front door are covered with horizontal louvres in a vertical framework made of thermally preserved Accoya wood.

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Transformation The Hinge / Niels Olivier Architect - ArchDaily

Architect Alex Josephson, co-founder of Toronto studio Partisans, speaks to Dezeen in a live Screentime talk sponsored by Enscape as part of Virtual Design Festival. Watch the broadcast live from 2pm UK time.

Toronto-based architect Josephson will speak to Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about the work of Partisans, the studio he co-founded alongside Pooya Baktash and Jonathan Friedman.

Amongst the studio's recent projects is The Orbit, a futuristic masterplan for the rural Canadian town of Innisfil that includes drone ports and infrastructure for autonomous vehicles.

Last year, Partisans collaborated with Google's urban planning wingSidewalk Labs to create a prototype for a 'raincoat' that extends from a building's facade to protect the pavement in front of it in harsh weather.

The prototype was developed as part of Google's recently abandoned plan for Sidewalk Toronto, a smart city proposed for Toronto's waterfront.

Partisans also created The Grotto, a wooden lakeside sauna with a burnt-timber exterior and a cavernous cedar interior, located on the shore of Lake Huron, north Toronto.

The studio is also behind the mahogany interior of Toronto's Bar Raval, which references Barcelona's art nouveau pintxos bars.

Other creatives featured in our Screentime series includedean of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture Harriet Harriss,trend forecaster Li Edelkoort,UNStudio founder Ben van Berkel,The World Around curator Beatrice Galilee,filmmaker Gary HustwitandBritish-Israeli architect Ron Arad.

This Screentime conversation is sponsored byEnscape, a virtual reality and real-time rendering plugin for architectural design programmeAutodesk Revit.

Virtual Design Festivalis the world's first online design festival, taking place from 15 April to 30 June. For more information, or to be added to the mailing list, contact us atvirtualdesignfestival@dezeen.com.

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Live interview with Partisans architect Alex Josephson as part of VDF - Dezeen

The M Station office/retail redevelopment will be both functional and beautiful, project attorney Frank Vitolo told the Morristown planning board on Thursday.

For nearly three hours, architects pitched a people-centered design for a vibrant new destination in town.

They said elements will include a green wall and polyester scrim murals, possibly depicting local historical scenes, on the six-story parking deck.

Two terra-cotta sided office buildings, standing six- and seven stories, will be in slightly different shades of umber, to appear less monolithic.

A terraced plaza will be suitable for concerts and poetry readings, the board was told. Light-colored pavement, new trees near the deck, and plantings in the proposed traffic roundabout should prevent the four-acre site from becoming a heat island. Low-reflection windows should prevent birds from killing themselves.

The overall look is informed by George & Marthas American Grille, across Morris Street, and an apartment building under construction at 45 Market St., according to project architect Peter Wang of the Gensler firm.

Youre filling in a piece of land that has meaning and context to it it forces the architect to respect what is there, what Morristown looks and feels like. You cant just drop something in like its from outer space, Wang testified.

Slideshow screenshots by Kevin Coughlin. Click / hover on images for captions:

Scotto Properties and SJP Properties aim to replace Scottos Midtown Shopping Center strip mall at Morris and Spring streets with nearly 400,000 square feet of offices and retail, a parking deck, promenade, plaza and traffic roundabout.

Big Four accounting firm Deloitte has been announced as an anchor tenant.

Approved by the town council last October, M Station needs site plan approval from the planning board.

Thursdays meeting, conducted via Zoom because of the pandemic, was M Stations third before the board. An engineer and a traffic consultant testified previously.

When everyone Zooms back on June 11, 2020, Vitolo intends to present details on stagingwhen each piece will be built, and how those pieces will function as construction unfolds.

A fly-through by project consultant Roger Smith showed board members renderings of M Station as viewed from Morris and Spring streets; Spring Place; the Spring Hills assisted living center behind the site; and from the post office, near the Morristown Green.

Board Chairman Joe Stanley described it as one of the better design presentations hes seen. Wang insisted the real thing will surpass the drawings.

PENTHOUSES?

There were some questions. Board member Dick Tighe asked about lost revenue from metered parking spaces that will be eliminated on Morris Street and Lackawanna Place. Vitolo said he will discuss that next week with the Morristown Parking Authority.

Mayor Tim Dougherty said hes not convinced that 11-percent reflective windows and dimmed lights at night will avert bird strikes. He also sounded lukewarm about the terra-cotta design, saying he wanted to observe New York offices in that style.

And what happens when the murals 10-year warranty expires? inquired board member Debra Gottsleben. Wang said he hoped it would be a matter of pride for any future owner to maintain the scrims.

Renderings showed mechanical equipment atop the two buildings shielded from view by boxy structures Wang called penthouses.

To me, that doesnt look like a penthouse, said Board Planner Greer Patras.

And despite the architects efforts to create texture with cornices, colors and contrasting window patterns, Patras felt the buildings still appeared flat. She also contended the bright white parking deck clashed with the rest of the color scheme.

Morristown requires major developments to underwrite public art on their properties. Questioned by Patras, Wang said the murals are not meant to satisfy that obligation.

Project art will be discussed at a future meeting, said Vitolo, the M Station attorney.

Patras also wanted to know if M Station will include non-binary (gender-neutral) bathrooms (it wont), and whether the coronavirus, with its emphasis on social distancing and low-touch fixtures, has prompted any design changes.

Were still in the throes of the pandemic its definitely an ongoing dialogue we are having, Wang said.

A reporters questions about Deloittes lease status, and the viability of office buildings in a COVID-19 world, were not entertained; public questions were limited to specific testimony.

Large audiences brought plenty of questions to last years council hearings. Nobody watching from home on Thursday posed any queries to the board.

Responding to board questions from last weeks hearing, Vitolo said the developers have agreed to extend water lines to the roundabout for plantings. They also will monitor on-site air quality during construction, for the benefit of the Spring Hills assisted living center, he said.

In one of the Thursdays more interesting exchanges, Wang explained why windows represent 45 percent of the two buildings facades. Sunlight makes for happier, healthier employeeshe claimed hospitals with more sun have better patient outcomes.

Windows also symbolize transparency for companies like Deloitte, he asserted.

We want you to see us, and we want to see you, Wang said.

MORE ABOUT M STATION.

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Here's what architects say M Station will look like in Morristown - Morristown Green

In his upcoming book, California Homes II, architect William Hefner showcases six years of work, ranging from modern and sleek to historic and rustic, all celebrating his holistic approach to design and the spirit of Southern California.

His namesake Studio William Hefner, located in Los Angeles, has increased its range of modern projects and opened an office in Montecito, all while expanding its horizons across the regions cinematic landscape of canyons, palisades and grand Old Hollywood neighborhoods, as Hefner writes in the book, which features architecture, interior design and landscape design by the firm, founded in 1989.

We have 10 projects in it, and I spent almost two years working on every detail, Hefner said of the 400-page opus, set for release this month. Its predecessor, California Homes, also from Images Publishing Group, came out in 2013.

Hefner describes his style, whether the design is contemporary or traditional, as combining luxury and simplicity tailored and restrained but not austere.

Theres nothing monastic about what we do, Hefner said. Theres enough detail and complexity happening visually that it feeds you, in a way.

Im more concerned with things being classic and timeless than trendy, if possible, he added. I really like trying something that weve never really tried before, but dialing it into something that will resonate for people.

Such was the case with one of the ambitious projects featured in the book, the playful yet slick Brise Soleil. The modern Beverly Hills abode features heat-protective metal louvers, whimsical pink-and-mint glass panels and a massive L-shaped pool wrapped around a backyard lounge, creating an 82-foot swimming lane.

When we asked the owner what he was looking for, he said, I just want something really out of the box. I mean, what client tells you that? That was a real dream project, Hefner said.

Another example, Romero Canyon in Montecito, was the realization of a more personal dream for the architect, one shared with his late wife and longtime creative partner, Kazuko Hoshino. She died in April.

A rustic family home hugged by the Santa Catalina Mountains and 200-year-old California live oak trees, it groups neighboring structures into a compound to share with family and friends.

How did you get your start as an architect?

When I was a kid I used to sketch floor plans; it was a no-brainer, it just seemed like what I would always do. I ended up going to graduate school at UCLA and for eight years designed high-rise buildings all over the world for an international company called Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It was a good education, but it wasnt what I loved, so I started doing homes. Almost 30 years a long time.

Where do you pull inspiration for your work?

Probably travel; remember those days when we could do that? After graduate school I lived in Greece for a year, and as a kid lived in Ireland for a summer. Kazuko and I were married for a while before we had kids and would just take off and go whenever there was sort of a lull in work. Because of her being from Japan, we traveled a lot through Asia Vietnam, Singapore, Bali. And also in Europe.

Tell me about your environmental building and sustainable architecture practices.

Sustainability is important to us, and we were fortunate to get a good lesson in green building and design on a house we did for [actor and passionate environmentalist] Ed Begley Jr. It was really fun because he had very lofty goals everything had to be sustainable and off the grid. Planting and irrigating were OK only if it grew food; we had rainwater catchment, gray water, lots of solar panels and battery backup. It was like a post-graduate degree, in a way, and a tremendous learning experience that Ive tried to apply to other projects over the last couple of years.

You also do historical restoration work.

Ive lived in Hancock Park for the last 25 years, and its been really satisfying taking a house that is almost 100 years old and modernizing the floor plan a bit, without losing the character. I think weve done over 20 restoration projects in the last few years for ourselves and other people my art history background has paid off doing that. Its a really fun part of our practice, and much better in terms of environmental impact.

How did you and Kazuko meet and end up working together as designers?

We met about five years into my own practice. After five years of being married, I dared to ask the what if we worked together question, being a little afraid of the whole thing. I thought that proposal was riskier than the first one. The office was growing, and I couldnt really cover the interiors, the architecture and the landscape all myself, so it was great timing. Then she came in and led that part of the firm.

See more here:
Architect William Hefner's style: luxury and simplicity - Los Angeles Times

Not only is the studio working extensively on a global portfolio of projects, Tatiana Bilbao is also a visiting professor at Yale she has also taught at Harvard, Columbia and Rice and the studio has exhibitions (not currently open to the public) of their work at the Louisiana in Denmark (opened in October 2019) and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (due to open in October 2020). While working abroad may be partly in response to commercial pressures, it is certainly also part of a more complex idea of cultural interchange in architecture today. There can be no doubt that a developed international recognition can help professional status in Mexico, but it must also be true that her deep regional understanding of a different set of issues in her immediate context gives her a voice and well-grounded credibility in that international scene.

Speaking to Tatiana Bilbao, there is a sense of pride in being a Mexican architect, and the professional solidarity that she enjoys with her contemporaries such as Frida Escobedo, Fernando Romero, Michael Rojkind, and a strong connection to the countrys art community her first project was for the artist Gabriel Orozco. It is a very knitted together community, she says, because the formal institutions dont help. I have the impression that this self-constructed community is reinforced by a sense of belonging to an extraordinary lineage of Mexican architects, confirming the cultural role and status of architects in Mexico, as well as maintaining strong discourse on the purpose and the role of architecture in changing their country. Few countries can boast such an important modernist heritage with Luis Barragn, Flix Candela, Pedro Ramrez Vzquez, Ricardo Legorreta, Francisco J. Serrano, Jos Villagrn Garca, Juan OGorman, Mario Pani, Enrique del Moral, Agustn Hernndez Navarro, Teodoro Gonzlez de Len, Abraham Zabludovsky, to name just a few. Boosted by the patronage of the government in the 1940s and 1950s as they sought to build an image of modernity, these architects developed a local modernism rooted in the movements universal social ambitions and in response to the realities of their surrounding context. The lineage has continued through to contemporary masters such as Alberto Kalach and Enrique Norten and is alive today in this new, younger generation despite the different political terrain in which they operate.

Excerpt from:
Tatiana Bilbao: Addressing poverty is the context of Mexican architects - Domus

IIDA has announced JKMM Architects as the Best of Competition winner for the 2020 Interior Design Competition for their project Amos Rex. The annual competition celebrates outstanding interior design/interior architecture that encourages new ideas and techniques in the design and furnishing of interior spaces.

Located in Lasipalatsi, Mannerheimintie, Helsinki, the world-class museum features a complex of domed, subterranean galleries that emerge from the ground to form a one-of-a-kind art landscape. "The designers did a fantastic job playing with scale in this project and melding current design with history," commented Michael Davis, founder and principal, Michael Davis Architects + Interiors, on behalf of the jury. "They have created an iconic and sculptural adaptive re-use project that celebrates the experience of art in a warm, eclectic space bathed in natural light."

The firm was chosen from 12 finalists and six category winners and was announced as the Best of Competition winner during a virtual celebration on June 2. "We appreciate the design team's fresh and lively use of geometry to create an iconic and original experience to view art," stated IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon, FIIDA. "The underground gallery is a playground for both art-lovers and inquisitive minds alike."

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IIDA Announces JKMM Architects as 47th Annual Interior Design Awards Best of Competition Winner - Dexigner

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Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

In collaboration with the Danish Design Center (DDC) and trade organization of Design Denmark, the annual awards aims to provide a look into "the best design solutions" within the country. This year, across 15 categories, winners were selected for their design's impact within "industry, society, and everyday life."

For the Livable Cities category, the design award went to Copenhagen-based architecture firm JAJA Architects and their project Parking House + Konditaget Lders.

The practice used their expertise in architecture and urban planning to help transform the roof of a parking structure in the neighborhood of Nordhavn by transforming it into a new sports and play facility. According to a statement from the team, "instead of concealing the parking structure, we proposed a concept that enhances the beauty of the structural grid while breaking up the scale of the massive facade."

Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Konditaget Luders is owned by By & Havn and made in collaboration with Totalentreprenr 5e byg, Sren Jensen Engineers, LOA, DGI, and Rama Studio. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

Jury's Comments: "This is the first time we have seen a parking house come alive. The living roof has been incorporated into the building in a very intelligent way, allowing people to run and play, while giving them access to a view,you would normally have to pay for. There are parking houses all over the world, and with this example Denmark can position itself as a leader in this field. Other major cities will want to copy this solution and/or hire Danish companies to design it. We haveseen the use of rooftops for leisure before e.g. for private tennis courts and pools but with its public access, this solution has a democratic appeal."

Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

ChristianBason, CEO, Danish Design Center shares in a statement: "Corona has changed a lot - also the format for this year's Danish Design Award.But one thing is certain: Design has never been more important.We know we need the creative solutions when we need to restart Denmark and the world - which is why it has been a very special privilege this year to help celebrate the difference that design can make.

Parking House + Konditaget Lders. Image courtesy of JAJA Architects

Learn more about the listed winners below and their works here:

Melbourne Affordable Housing Challenge

Register by Tue, Jun 16, 2020

Submit by Tue, Dec 8, 2020

Looking for an internship? BIG, CHIPPERFIELD, LIBESKIND: discover internships and lectures of "Architecture for Exhibition" - 2020 edition

Register/Submit by Fri, Jul 17, 2020

Prisons Redesigned!

Register by Thu, Jun 18, 2020

Submit by Thu, Dec 10, 2020

Outer Space 2020

Register by Thu, Jul 23, 2020

Submit by Thu, Aug 6, 2020

See original here:
JAJA Architects is one of 15 winners for this year's Danish Design Awards - Archinect