The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), and Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) have officially opened HiLo, a living laboratory that will investigate how "lightweight structures and efficient construction methods can be combined with intelligent and adaptive building systems to reduce both embodied and operational emissions in the construction and building industry," according to an ETH Zurich press release. Located in Duebendorf, Switzerland, the two-story structure was designed and built using computational design and fabrication techniques. It boasts a doubly curved concrete roof and an innovative, low-concrete "funicular" structural flooring system that is strengthened by rib-like walls inside each flooring panel.
The HiLo building is outfitted with an adaptive solar façade that can be manipulated to control how sunlight enters the structure, maximizing passive cooling opportunities. With HiLo open, researchers will study the project in real-time, tracking how the "construction and operation of buildings can be designed to be as energy- and resource-efficient as possible, while at the same time ensuring an attractive architectural space and a high level of comfort," according to the same release. [ETH Zurich]
Researchers from the Columbia Climate School in New York reported that global exposure to deadly urban heat has tripled since the 1980s. For their research, the scientists studied more than 13,000 cities around the world, finding that the number of days on which city dwellers are exposed to extreme heat and humidity is increasing—a problem that now impacts almost a quarter of the global population. “This has broad effects,” said Cascade Tuholske, the study’s lead author and a researcher at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “It increases morbidity and mortality. It impacts people’s ability to work and results in lower economic output. It exacerbates pre-existing health conditions.” [Columbia Climate School]
Following an international open call, the U.K. Green Building Council has selected 17 projects from around the world as part of its COP26 Built Environment Virtual Pavilion at the United Nations Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the projects featured in the pavilion is the TECLA prototype, by Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP, which ARCHITECT covered here. [ARCHITECT]
Scientists measuring the effects of large-scale solar farms have found that the power stations can cool the surrounding land, according to a recent publication from Lancaster University in the U.K. Lancaster researchers worked with scientists from Ludong University in China and the University of California, Davis to study two large solar farms situated in arid locations: one 300 MW Stateline solar park in California and the 850 MW Longyangxia solar park in China. As the farms collected solar energy, they also created "cool islands" in the 700 meters (approximately 2,300 feet) surrounding the park borders. “This heightens the importance of understanding the implications of renewable energy technologies on the hosting landscape—we need to ensure that the energy transition does not cause undue damage to ecological systems and ideally has net positive consequences on the places where we build them,” said Alona Armstrong, Lancaster University co-lead researcher, in a press release from the university. [Lancaster University]
New York's Brooklyn borough has worn a number of hats since its creation in 1898. Thanks to documents in the Building Technology Heritage Library, we can examine its history as a manufacturing hub for greater New York, serving as the home of Brooklyn-based companies that produced woodwork, metal work, and paints. [ARCHITECT]
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed over 17,000 buildings in its 3-mile course through the city. Now that 150 years have passed since the tragedy, The Chicago Tribune takes a look at six buildings that were in the fire's path but remain standing. [The Chicago Tribune]
This week, the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm named the winners of its 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics. Half of the prize went to Syukuro Manabe from Princeton University and Klaus Hasselmann from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, while the other half went to Giorgio Parisi from Sapienza University of Rome in recognition of their research on climate change and how human behavior influences the climate. [The New York Times]
