We posed the question, what is the role of the architect doing hybrid design? Gadi Amit writes that hybrid design dispenses with theory and relies on nimble, multi-faceted teams of experts to tackle the complexities of a design challenge. We will share our thoughts on hybrid design in a series of short blog postings. In the first of the series, Dan discusses how the role of the architect is evolving as technology advances.
Augmented reality is an expanding technology, which layers digital, computer generated information over a physical, real-world environment. It "augments" one's view of reality.
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A team consisting of Chapman Construction, RDK Engineers, & map-lab, performed a hybrid of a typical energy audit for an industry leader that recognized the connection between sustainability and health/wellness is critical to growth and long-term success - both internally and externally. There was a clear initiative to build on top of an already strong perception of the company’s commitment to sustainability from employees, outside investors and partners in their industry.
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On February 24th, 2010 a seminar will be held in Cambridge, MA to discuss the effects of the implementation of the new Massachusetts "Stretch Code".
As some of you may remember, the adoption of the Massachusetts Green Communities Act of 2008 marked a step forward for sustainability for the Commonwealth. The Green Communities Act requires Massachusetts to adopt each new International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) edition within one year of its publication. Through an amendment process, the Massachusetts Building Code, 7th Edition, has been updated on January 1, 2010 to ensure it agrees with the 2009 IECC requirements. The changes will affect both residential and commercial construction.
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With the recent news of Boston's Downtown Crossing seeking to become a new Business Improvement District, as well as the ongoing problems of the stalled development at the old Filene's Building and a growing number of empty storefronts in the area, map-lab decided to take a more in depth look at possible solutions.
To understand where Boston's future should be, obviously we must first examine its past. As with many cities in the post-WWII era, Boston adopted the super block mentality for spurring development. In the case of Downtown Crossing, it destroyed a viable & beautiful building fabric and streets themselves to make way for large-scale suburban-esque retail approaches. With them came more knockdowns to make way for the parking structures thought to be needed to draw suburbanites to the urban centers for their shopping. We learned that it fails over time due to the eradication of smaller businesses and the “turning of the back” to the residents themselves.
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map-lab's proposal for a Picnic Pavilion located within a local recreation area sought to create a space that is in balance with its surroundings through an understanding of the site on which it sits and what opportunities that brings us. Through site and environmental analysis, we determined that the existing landscape was the culprit of costly erosion of a nearby beach. Rather than simply design a pavilion, as requested in the original scope of work, we promoted the idea that the site issues of drainage present an opportunity to create a beautiful "room" that extends beyond the pavilion but does not feel apart from it.
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From Wednesday October, 18th thru Friday, October 20th map-lab will relocate to the floor of the Build Boston Conference at the Seaport World Trade Center. We come to the conference not as salespeople, but as collaborators looking to meet fellow building industry professionals and learn from them as well as share our ideas.
We invite you to stop by to meet us and have a chat. Throughout the 3 days we will be presenting our thoughts and hosting presenters who are willing to share their knowledge with the greater community. We will be constantly posting from the field, so be sure to follow @maplab on Twitter to stay up to date.
We look forward to meeting with all of you!
map-lab, inc. proposed a temporary, modular "sampler" of the Downtown Crossing neighborhood restaurants to temporarily occupy the stalled development project where the Filene's Building once stood. The idea would be to bring a single menu item from each of the existing restaurants in the Downtown Crossing neighborhood to provide a place for people to gather in the center of the stalled project.
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While creating a map of map-lab's massive collection of snow-globes from around the word (which can be viewed here), I came across an interesting shot above the border between San Diego, CA and Tijuana, Mexico. Even without the graphical line, it is easy to see the border between the two countries.
I'm not sure of the significance of this (it is just an observation from Google Maps) but here is a look at retail, housing, and recreation from a few square miles along the Mexico - United States border.
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In an on-going discussion, here is an article from the New York Times this past Tuesday that gets to the heart of one facet of the closed-loop (cradle-to-cradle) systems that will become of the utmost importance going forward. Businesses that "make" goods eventually will be required to build into their business plans what happens to their goods when their useful lives are complete. Some companies such as Apple, Herman Miller, and Milken Carpets are already working at honing this responsibility.
- Stephen
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