Unless you’ve been living in a remote land, or maybe under a rock, you’ve heard about the tiny house movement. It’s all about downsizing, reducing the carbon footprint, simplifying life, and essentially living better, so they say, with less. But tiny houses aren’t really new at all. They’ve just switched to a new marketing plan…
Net-zero building design is supposed to be the modern pinnacle of ecologically sound, sustainable living and the pathway to dramatically reduced carbon emissions and waste. So why isn’t everyone excited about it? It’s already been exhibited as realistic. The U.S. Department of Energy hosts its Race to Zero college student design competition each year, and…
If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of authentic Frank Lloyd Wright history, now’s your chance. At least if you’ve got a healthy bank account. His last documented design, the Norman Lykes Home, is up for sale in Phoenix for a cool $3.6 million. This home showcases the organic nature of the architect’s late-career…
When is a smaller house not really small, perhaps not really large, but built exactly right? In a “Not so Big” house. Downsizing gets a lot of attention these days, and the tiny house movement has really taken off. But tiny homes just won’t work for a lot families. There has to be a middle…
Most architects have at least one foot in the ring for community responsibility. But those who go all out and take on pro bono work might find a more rewarding career with a wider range of experiences, even when the meanwhile doesn’t pay much, if at all. Architecture is already tasked with the greater good.…
Every year brings new and wondrous developments in engineering and architecture, and 2016 promises to reveal some of the most innovative. The groundbreaking building products in this year’s lineup are all problem solvers. Some of them, in a most unusual way. Here’s what you can expect 2016 to hold. You might not find them at…
BIM helps clients really see what makes a building. Architects who use Building Information Modeling or BIM have long had access to better and more detailed planning and design tools. But there’s another benefit to BIM, and that’s communication throughout the design and build, and assisting the client later. What BIM offers is a model…
Bruce Lee famously said, “Be like water.” Water changes course to move around objects, or it can cut a path through them. It conforms to whatever contains it, but you can’t grab it. Water, in other words, is a real problem. That’s especially true when you set out to protect architecturally significant property from it.…
Each year, World Monuments Fund (WMF) selects places around the world to watch and help preserve for future generations. These places are significant for different reasons, but all have one thing in common: They’re at genuine risk of destruction. Since 1965, WMF has played a role in numerous endeavors. Funds were raised for the restoration…
The American Institute of Architects regularly conducts compensation surveys and prepares reports to illustrate the state of architecture compensation across the U.S. In the 2015 report, which you can order here, 923 architecture firms participated and the top and bottom 1 percent was culled, giving you a more accurate representation of what’s trending. If you…
