| News about architecture and design for A/E/C professionals in the buildings industry |  |
| Architecture Update |  |  |
|
- Precast structural system: Affordable technology for safer buildings
A precast seismic structural system is one of the inexpensive building design methods for quake-resistant structures, and it was recently used for a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand, according to Structex Director Gary Haverland. The precast concrete walls and post-tensioned frames installed in the city's Southern Cross Hospital in 2010 helped the building sustain only "minor" damages during the earthquake in February of last year, Haverland said. Stuff (New Zealand)
(3/14)     
- Why Wang Shu deserves the Pritzker Prize
Wang Shu's "culturally sensitive and contextually responsive" work along with its stunning aesthetics are reasons he deserved this year's Pritzker Prize, writes Evan Chakroff, an architectural designer. Chakroff argues his point by analyzing the design of the Xiangshan Campus at the China Academy of Art. Work in "Phase One can be read as a grafting together of the dominant styles of China’s past," Chakroff says, and work in Phase Two was "an attempt to reconcile these two traditions in a new vernacular architecture." Archinect
(3/11)
- Beyond brutalism in designing with concrete
Architects are pushing boundaries on the innovative ways to use concrete in building designs. For instance, Zaha Hadid's 29,000 concrete panels for the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion in Spain, ECDM Architects' RATP bus center with "embossed concrete that looks like perforated metal" in France and Bachman & Bachmann Architects' "translucent concrete wall" for the Cella Septichora Visitor Center in Hungary depict how concrete is being reinvented, according to this piece. FastCoDesign.com
(3/11)
| Sustainable Design | | |
|
- L.A. to replace bridge "sick" with alkali-silica reaction
The Sixth Street Viaduct Bridge in Los Angeles that has been featured in several movies has alkali-silica reaction, and needs to be replaced. The new $401 million bridge will have a cable-stayed design, including two prestressed-concrete viaducts. Several bridges over the Los Angeles River have ASR. "We now know how to proportion the concrete mixture so you don't get ASR," says Rachel Detwiler, an engineer and editor-in-chief of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Journal. "But at the time that the bridge was built, they did not know about alkali-silica reaction." Engineering News-Record
(3/12)
| Technology, Trends and Research | | |
|
- Survey: BIM tops the list of best tech tools
BIM tops the list of technology tools, according to a survey of ENR readers, but other tools were touted as well. The one thing many respondents wanted, however, was greater interoperability. While progress has been made, that could still be a distant dream. One respondent said no new tools are needed, just "better use of existing investments." Engineering News-Record
(3/12)
| Project Spotlight | | |
|
- Miami Art Vault uses precast to add to sustainability
The integration of precast concrete in Chad Oppenheim's design for the Art Vault and Valuable Services building in Miami is one of three works of sustainable architecture discussed in this article. Precast helps the building become energy-efficient, and it's facade is "made up of revolving panels where visual images can be displayed," writes Jennifer Shockley. Green Building Elements
(3/10)
| News from PCI | | |
|
-
Now accepting entries for the 50th Annual PCI Design Awards
The PCI Design Awards program recognizes design excellence and construction quality using precast concrete. Be a part of the search for excellence and submit your project today! All winning projects will be showcased at the PCI Convention and National Bridge Conference and included in a summary article that appears in the PCI Journal, Aspire and Ascent magazines. Together, these publications reach over 65,000 industry stakeholders. We encourage you to take advantage of this great opportunity to showcase your project! The deadline for entries is May 21. Get more details.
-
PCI Offers Designer's Notebook on tolerances
PCI has recently published a Designer's Notebook on envelope tolerances for architectural precast concrete. The Designer's Notebook explains the three groups of tolerances established for architectural precast concrete: product tolerances, erection tolerances, and interfacing tolerances. The Designer's Notebook is registered for 1 LU/PDH of CE credit. Take a look (PDF).
| SmartQuote | | |
|
 | I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."
--John Burroughs,
American naturalist and essayist
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
| | Recent PCI Building Industry SmartBrief Issues:
- Thursday, March 08, 2012
- Thursday, March 01, 2012
- Thursday, February 23, 2012
- Thursday, February 16, 2012
- Thursday, February 09, 2012
| | | Lead Editor: Jennifer Hicks
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 | |
| |
|
| © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information |
|
