Back in 2015, Chattanooga, Tenn.–based Branch Technology hosted the Freeform Home Design Challenge competition, inviting architects and designers from around the world to "envision the future of 3D-printed buildings." Now, the architectural fabricator is bringing the winning vision into life. The competition's first prize recipient, "Curve Appeal" by global design firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo, is currently in the research and development phase, and is set to break ground at Chattanooga State College, this year. The 1,000-square-foot, single-family house will be printed using Branch's proprietary cellular fabrication technology. Last year, Branch built the world's largest 3D-printed structure in Nashville, Tenn.'s OneC1TY neighborhood. [Branch Technology]
Global software company Chaos Group has released V-Ray Next for SketchUp, which is designed to enhance the "speed and simplicity of SketchUp's premier renderer," according to the group's website. The update offers a wide array of new features, including "faster rendering, automatic exposure and white balance, adaptive dome light, [and] powerful asset management." [Chaos Group]
Last Friday, the WeCompany announced WeWork's acquisition of San Francisco–based spatial analytics platform Euclid, marking its first acquisition of the year. Other firms that the New York–based co-working company has acquired since 2015 include Teem, a Salt Lake City–based workplace software startup; Fieldlens, a New York–based project management platform; and Case Inc., a building information and technology consultancy based in New York City. [ARCHITECT]
More than a year later, it's official: The We Company owns Lord & Taylor’s Fifth Avenue flagship.https://t.co/L9sgQDrN7Q
— The Real Deal (@trdny) February 11, 2019
In more news about the WeCompany, The Real Deal reported this week that parent company of WeWork has finally closed the deal to purchase the Lord & Taylor’s Fifth Avenue flagship in New York for $850 million. According to the publication, the co-working company was expected to finalize the contract in August 2018, but eventually "extended the deadline twice, to Jan. 31, by making payments of $50 million to the seller, [Lord & Taylor’s parent company, Hudson’s Bay Co.] HBC." [ARCHITECT]
After unveiling its ninth annual list of Top 10 U.S. states for LEED-certified projects last week, the U.S. Green Building Council has released its 2018 Top 10 countries and regions with the most LEED projects outside of the United States. With 1,494 certified green projects, China holds the top spot. Other countries (in descending order) on the list are Canada, India, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan, and Spain. The United States, according to the USGBC, "remains the world’s largest market for LEED." [USGBC]
Organized by Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Chicago-based nonprofit MAS Context, the latest in a series of site-specific artistic interventions at Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lily Reich's Barcelona Pavilion features a new immersive sound and laser installation by Chicago-based design studio Luftwerk, in a collaboration with MAS Studio's founding director and MAS Context's editor-in-chief Iker Gil, and Spanish sound editor Oriol Tarragó. Dubbed "Geometry of Light," the installation will be on view through Feb. 17. [ARCHITECT]
Announced this week, Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has been selected to design the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion in London. For the first time, this year's pavilion program has been expanded to include a display from the winning Serpentine Augmented Architecture design competition hosted in a collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and Serpentine Galleries trustee and architect David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA. The Serpentine Augmented Architecture competition is accepting entries through Feb. 25. [ARCHITECT]
In his latest Mind & Matter column, ARCHITECT contributor Blaine Brownell, AIA, details the growing civil, construction, and city information modeling technology and its potential impact on architectural practice. [ARCHITECT]
Have you recently launched a new product or collection? Want to get the word out to potentially thousands of architects, designers, and industry professionals? Exhibiting at the 2019 AIA Conference on Architecture? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, submit your product(s) to ARCHITECT's Spring 2019 Product Call for editorial consideration for our May print issue, our website, or both. Entries must be finalized before 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, March 8, 2019. [ARCHITECT]
