What Indigenous Architecture Can Teach Us About Incorporating Nature
Indigenous architecture provides some important lessons in building with nature rather than against it.
Sustainability
Alex Steffen's Overly Optimistic, Yet Inspiring, Book on Climate Change
A new e-book by futurist Alex Steffen argues that cities are the key to environmental salvation.
Seattle Embraces Mazria's 2030 Challenge
The executive director of the Seattle 2030 District talks about the birth of his organization and the way forward.
Q&A: The New York Times' Andy Revkin on Edward Mazria
Andy Revkin talks about his view of the environmental road ahead
Living on Sand: The Rockaways & The Folly of Waterfront Development
New York City’s densely populated waterfronts may need a rethink in the future.
New Action Group to Expose The Ingredients of Our Building Products
Healthy building materials—and a transparent system to evaluate them—are the keys to healthy buildings.
The Empowerhouse Moves From Solar Decathlon to Neighborhood Anchor
With Empowerhouse, students from various schools have designed a passive home in Washington D.C.
AIA's Robert Ivy on Committing the Profession to Public Health
The American Institute of Architects is committed to creating solutions for public health.
I am a Climate Refugee
A refugee from Hurricane Sandy discusses climate-related issues that will plague costal cities in the future.
It's Alive!
How many times in the last week, or even in the last day, have you looked at your smart phone, iPad, car, television, some type of technology, and said, “I love you”? We often treat machines as if they are…
Harvard GSD Releases App on Ecological Urbanism
Tablets are revolutionizing how people interact with information. We can now walk around with libraries in our knapsacks and the touch screen interface has enabled us to bridge the physical-abstract divide. The universe is now pushed and prodded, and just…
Call of the Wild: Taking Up Paolo Soleri's Mantle
Jeff Stein, photo by Jared Green At 42 Arcosanti, a community north of Phoenix, Arizona has been celebrated, yet generally ignored, by the world at large. Nevertheless, the place that architect Paolo Soleri and his followers built in the desert,…
Rereading Victor Papanek's "Design for the Real World"
Why does Victor Papanek’s scathing, 41-year-old critique of the profession still read as if it were written today?
Will Open Source Architecture Perpetuate Old Mistakes?
Open Source architecture can give everyone access to design, but it has a long way to go before it can solve everyone's problems.
Learning to Live With Water from the Dutch
New York could learn how to handle water near the city from Dutch methods.
Can Design Help Solve Our "Wicked" Problem of Waste?
We have a wicked problem. As a society we waste an awful lot of materials. Consider, for instance, the sheer volume of packaging that hits the recycling bin after we open cheap consumer electronics and then replace them in rapid…
Who in the World does Research Anymore?
Research is an important part of the design process, and doing it right can make a big difference.
Q&A: Green Cars Expert John O'Dell on the Auto Industry
One auto expert's take on the future of cars.
HOK Pushes for Early Energy Modeling
An outline of HOK's plan for sustainable energy systems.
Ecomimicry Design: Humans Must Become a "Keynote Species"
Humans need to interact with their environment in the same way that keystone species do.
