In the fourth quarter issue of arcCA, 2009, a look at Infrastructure—much in the news, where the attention has been on “shovel-ready” projects, not perhaps the best place to look for coherent opportunities to ennoble the public environment. We have taken the opportunity to be a bit more reflective and forward-looking.
As always, we perforce omit far more than we include. Key example: the WPA 2.0 Competition, sponsored by city-LAB at UCLA, which sought “innovative, implementable proposals to place infrastructure at the heart of rebuilding our cities.” Learn about it at http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu. You might also look for the lucid new Street Design Manual of the City of New York, available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/streetdesignmanual.shtml; and The Tennessee Valley Authority: Design and Persuasion, a volume I edited on the early design work of the TVA.
Following up on arcCA 09.3, “Beyond LEED,” Rocky Mountain Institute has unveiled Green Footstep, a free, online carbon calculator for reducing carbon emissions in building construction and retrofit projects from pre-design through occupancy. It’s also an educational tool that helps users understand a building’s life cycle carbon footprint. For more information about Green Footstep, including a free user account, check out www.greenfootstep.org.
2010 Editorial Calendar
In 2010, our first quarter, “professional practice” issue will look at two movements driven by new digital tools: the emergence of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) in mainstream practice, and the use of parametric modeling in schools of architecture and some highly exploratory practices. Where and how do these methodologies meet? What are the hurdles to be faced by each and by the two together? What opportunities do they present?
In response to arcCA 09.3, “Beyond LEED,” reader Yvonne Vail asks, “Why does no one mention anything related to population increase and how it will affect buildings and infrastructure?” It is a question we will ask in the second quarter of 2010, when the theme of our “architect in the community” issue will be “The Future of California.” We will look at a handful of big issues—population, water, governance, climate change, and others—and ask how they may affect architectural practice over the coming years, and how architectural practice can affect them.
For the third quarter, “AIACC Design Awards” issue, we will be looking at architecture education—not only how our schools of architecture are responding to a changing world, but also how an understanding of architecture might be shared more broadly in our society.
In the fourth quarter, our “works/sectors” issue, we will feature buildings that deal with questions of faith and loss.
Originally published 4th quarter 2009 in arcCA 09.4, “Infrastructure.”
