Futurity.org » architecture

Low-cost way to heat chilly rooms

Patricia Donovan-Buffalo — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:09:22 +0000

U. BUFFALO (US) — Two architects devised a low-cost, low-tech way to create comfortable microclimates from the vast, cold rooms of a 162-year-old building in Hexham, England.

The Hexham building is a masonry structure that now serves as an artists’ facility. It is not insulated, and ordinarily would require intensive heating much of the year to maintain temperatures warm enough for its occupants.

Bats movin’ on up with high-rise apartment

Charlotte Hsu-Buffalo — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:42:41 +0000

U. BUFFALO (US)—A twisted tower is raising awareness about bats and the fatal disease threatening their population in the Northeast.

Bats were first afflicted with white-nose syndrome in 2006, when a caver exploring terrain west of Albany, N.Y. photographed hibernating bats with a strange, white substance on their muzzles—a telltale sign of infection.

Architecture returns to its eco roots

Greg Johnson-Penn — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:13:08 +0000

Ali Malkwai, (below) an architecture professor who is developing ways to encourage complex and eco-friendly building design, says concern for sustainability is not a new idea. The architectural concept of energy-efficient building has been around “since people first built buildings.” Indigenous architects searched for the best ways to utilize the sun for light, heat, and airflow. These buildings were simple constructions, but sustainable. (Credit: iStockphoto)

U. PENN (US)—In recent years, there has been a heightened focus among American architects on energy-efficient building design, a growing movement to meld form not just with function but with social responsibility, too.

Buildings account for 40 percent of society’s total energy consumption, burning enormous amounts of fossil fuels for light, heat, cool air, and other forms of energy, says Ali Malkawi, professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

(Credit: Candace diCarlo)

Audibility maps help tune out office buzz

Lowri Jones-Cardiff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:32:08 +0000

Above, an audibility map showing the intelligibility that would be experienced by a listener in every part of a room with a lot of echoes. Intelligibility is best (red) near where the person is talking and weakest at the blue area which is close to a noise source. The software can make similar predictions for any number and distribution of noise sources. (Credit: Cardiff U.)

CARDIFF U. (UK)—Sound-mapping software based on human hearing could take the overhead noise out of open office and meeting spaces.

The new technology generates audibility maps of proposed room designs and shows hotspots where conversations would not be intelligible if the room were busy.

Lesson in nurture from Mother Nature

Susan Hagen-Rochester — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:59:37 +0000

In a series of studies, participants were shown a selection of four images on a 19-inch computer screen for two minutes each. Half of the subject viewed buildings, roads, and other cityscapes; the other half observed landscapes, lakes, and deserts.

U. ROCHESTER (US)—Paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better, finds a new study. The researchers say the results highlight the importance of creating green spaces in cities and have implication for urban planners and architects.

“Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits,” says Richard Ryan, coauthor and professor of psychology, psychiatry, and education at the University of Rochester.

Rome digitally rebuilt in hours

Futurity-Jenny Leonard — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:04 +0000

The Colosseum as seen in the digital reconstruction. Each triangle is where a person was standing when he or she took a photo. The building’s shape is determined by analyzing photos taken from all these different perspectives.

U. WASHINGTON (US)—Using a new computer algorithm, researchers were able to take 150,000 tourist photos tagged “Roma” or “Rome” downloaded from the photo sharing Web site Flickr and combine them into a single 3-D digital model in about 21 hours.

“How to match these massive collections of images to each other was a challenge,” says Sameer Agarwal, acting assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington.

Evidence of early hunters deep below Lake Huron

Futurity-Jenny Leonard — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:29:54 +0000

A potential stone hunting blind beneath Lake Huron. (Courtesy: John O’Shea)

U. MICHIGAN (US)—The first archeological evidence of human activity preserved beneath the Great Lakes has been found on a 9,000-year-old land bridge more than 100 feet deep in Lake Huron.