Technology

 
the new weave bridge at the university of pennsylvania creates a pedestrian passage over the amtrak train tracks that currently separate the main campus from athletic fields along the schuylkill river.

Weave Bridge

Cecil Balmond and Arup’s Advanced Geometry Unit, London

Cecil Balmond and Arup's London-based Advanced Geometry Unit unveil a new pedestrian bridge in Philadelphia.

 
when collapsed, the 3,800-square-foot screen's 888 led panels form a near-continuous surface to show videos of the band.

Expanding Video Screen

An expanding video screen built for U2's world tour incorporates 500,000 LEDs.


Glass Link

James Vincent Czajka creates a 144-square-foot glass connector between two buildings at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New...


 

Detail

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    Repeating Structural Node

    Gosdorf, Austria's Mur Nature Observation Tower shows off the digital fabrication chops of the young architecture firm Terrain:loenhart&mayr.

     
  • Structural Pillar

    The lone column standing in the plaza of Mario Botta's Bechtler Museum of Art is structurally necessary, but its girth is an illusion.

     
  • The matrix of frames created by the windows scatters reflections on the outside.

    A 'Vision Machine' for New York City

    Behind its veneer of chance, the unitized façade of Jean Nouvel's 100 11th Avenue is about ordered complexity.

     
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    A Moebius-Like Skin for a Design Museum

    The simple boxes that are the Design Museum Holon's gallery space are enveloped in a 300-ton sculpture that is itself a kind of building.

     
  • The Yas Hotels grid shell comes alive at night thanks to 5800 programmable LED luminaires one at each vertex of the latticework. The structure has an equal number of glass panels each unique in size shape and angle of tilt. Frits in the panels reflect the LED light outward without affecting hotel occupants visibility.

    A Building Skin Worthy of a Formula 1 Racetrack

    As designed by Asymptote Architecture, the Yas Hotel's undulating, hovering carapace of glass panels and LED fixtures creates an instant landmark.

     
 

Software & Hardware

Building Materials

 

Fabrication

 

Engineering

Green Technology

 

Structure

  • Image

    Repeating Structural Node

    Gosdorf, Austria's Mur Nature Observation Tower shows off the digital fabrication chops of the young architecture firm Terrain:loenhart&mayr.

     
  • Structural Pillar

    The lone column standing in the plaza of Mario Botta's Bechtler Museum of Art is structurally necessary, but its girth is an illusion.

     
  • Jordahls Anchor Channels, distributed by Decon USA, are embedded in concrete and used to securely transfer high loads for flexible connections of glazing panels to high-rise buildings, as well as elevator shafts, tunnel construction, and masonry connections. The channels provide anchoring without damaging a concrete structure or its reinforcement, require no welding or drilling, increase load capacity near reinforcement, and have a high capacity for static and dynamic loads. They come in cold-formed and hot-rolled profiles, in either hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel. Welded-on rebar channels are available for small slab thicknesses or corner pieces. deconusa.com

    Jordahl Anchor Channels

    Distributed by Decon USA, these concrete channels provide anchoring for high loads without damaging the structure.

     
  • Versa-Lok top-pinning segmental retaining wall system is now available in a bronze blend color. The concrete system is finished in either a traditional split-face or a vintage weathered texture and readily accommodates soil reinforcement to build walls 50' or taller. It can be used to build walls, curves, multi-angle corners, stairs, and freestanding walls and columns. No specialty pieces are required, and no hollow cores are created to be filled. Versa-Lok is available in several options, including Standard, Cobble, Accent, random-pattern Mosaic, Mosette, Brute, Bronco, Square Foot, and Versa-Green (which is plantable). versa-lok.com

    Versa-Lok

    This segmental retaining wall system is now available in a bronze blend color.

     
  • The construction of the 50-foot-long projecting roof on the new Perkins+Will–designed Public Safety Building in Lancaster, Texas, was not without its nail-biting moments. The entire steel assembly for the double cantilever was manufactured off-site and installed using supports. Once the welds were complete and the post-tension cables secured, the supports were removed and the cantilever was allowed to settle into place.

    Lancaster Public Safety Building

    An ambitious double-cantilevered roof is the focal point of Perkins+Will's design for a combined fire and police station outside Dallas.