The U.S. Green Building Council and Green Business Certification named Savona, Italy, Europe's first LEED Gold–certified city. Previously, Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Arlington, Va., and Songodo, South Korea have been recognized through the LEED for Cities certification program. [ARCHITECT]
A pop-up restaurant/installation called Zero Waste Bistro opened last week as part of WantedDesign Manhattan. It featured eco-friendly materials and explored themes of waste and sustainability by offering visitors a glimpse at recycled and renewable material products such as solid surfaces from Durat's Palace collection and Rewall Co.'s pre-finished interior wallboard. The installation closed on May 22. [ARCHITECT]
An upcoming exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York will explore waste management strategies that can help the city send zero waste to landfills by 2030. Curated by journalist Andrew Blum and designed by New York City–based design firm Wkshps, "Designing Waste: Strategies for a Zero Waste City" opens June 16 and will run through Sept. 1. [ARCHITECT]
Sponsored by Toyota Research Institute and the Office of Naval Research, a team of researchers from the MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has developed a lane-change algorithm that can train autonomous vehicles to change lanes on the fly, in a similar way as humans do. This new technology calculates "buffer zones" around autonomous vehicles, and relies on other cars' directions and speeds. [MIT]
The 30th annual ICFF, the contemporary furniture and design fair, was held May 20–23 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The show was attended by more than 36,000 designers, architects, retailers, and other professionals, who attended a robust schedule of talks and previewed commercial and residential product offerings from nearly 750 exhibitors. ARCHITECT contributor Alice Liao highlights products that are inspired by and incorporate elements of nature. [ARCHITECT]