Courtesy Rockwell Group

The Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., has tapped the New York's Rockwell Group to design a new exhibition in its Arts + Industries Building which has been closed to the public for nearly two decades. As a "centerpiece" to the Smithsonian's 175th anniversary celebration, Futures "will spotlight the Institution's historic role as an engine of the future" and will be "part exhibition, part festival," according to a Smithsonian press release. The Arts + Industries Building, which originally opened in 1881 as the country's first national museum, will be open to the public from November 2021 to July 2022 for the free exhibition.

Courtesy Rockwell Group

In addition to a series of immersive, site-specific installations spanning nearly 32,000 square feet, Futures will include nearly 150 historic objects from 23 Smithsonian institutions and the launch of newly commissioned works and technology projects that the Institution will reveal throughout this year. The exhibition will also feature a "touch-free digital ecosystem" developed by LAB at Rockwell Group. [Smithsonian Institution]

Courtesy IKEA

Aiming to increase the sustainability of its practices and products, IKEA has published disassembly instructions for several popular products. The largely pictorial guides show users exactly how to take apart their Billy bookshelves and Malm tables. "Taking it apart correctly reduces the risk of damage, and reduces its impact on the environment," states the IKEA announcement. "Fortune favors the frugal." [IKEA]

Smart Hatch
Tommy Sutanto Courtesy Morpholio Smart Hatch

New York–based software developer Morpholio has launched Smart Hatch for its Trace app, providing designers a way to produce sketch-style hatch drawings on mobile devices. "Good hatch work not only brings both textural beauty and depth to a drawing, it conveys technical insight about detail and materiality,” said Morpholio community director Joey Swerdlin in a press release. “Morpholio’s new 'Smart Hatch' translates the speed of CAD hatching into the beauty of a digital hand sketch in a new, bespoke, and really fun way." [Morpholio]

With its abundance of silicon and direct sunlight, the Sahara Desert might seem like the ideal location for a huge solar farm, providing a boon for renewable energy. In reality, however, the plan could trigger higher temperatures in the surrounding regions and ultimately exacerbate our global climate crisis, according to an international team of researchers. [The Conversation]


Researchers from the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering have tapped into the powers of bacteria to craft strong and durable engineering materials. Working with a living, self-growing form of bacteria named Sporosarcina pasteurii, the researchers harnessed the stain's ability to secrete urease, an enzyme that produces durable calcium carbonate when exposed to urea and calcium ions. “The key innovation in our research is that we guide the bacteria to grow calcium carbonate minerals to achieve ordered microstructures which are similar to those in the natural mineralized composites," said Qiming Wang, researcher and USC assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, in a press release from the university. The researchers introduced S. pasteurii to lattice structures in the lab, creating a high-strength material. “We fabricated something very stiff and strong,” Wang said. “The immediate implications are for use in infrastructures like aerospace panels and vehicle frames.” [USC Viterbi School of Engineering]

courtesy The Lunz Group

Even before the pandemic, distribution and logistics centers were becoming exemplars of advanced design due to their increasing role in this age of e-commerce. So how will industrial architecturelook in a post-vaccine world? In this section of ARCHITECT's 2021 "What's Next" series on post-vaccine architecture, The Lunz Group principal Michael Murphey, AIA, explains recent trends in the typology's design and the impact of the pandemic. [ARCHITECT]

Autodesk Tandem
Courtesy Autodesk Autodesk Tandem

Software developer Autodesk started this week off with the public beta launch of Tandem, a digital tool that creates a virtual twin of a project. On the heels of that announcement, however, Autodesk revealed its acquisition of Innovyze, a Portland, Ore.–based water infrastructure software developer, for $1 billion. This represents the software giant's 14th AEC acquisition or significant investment since 2017, following Assemble, BuildingConnected, PlanGrid, Pype, and Spacemaker. [ARCHITECT]

When Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union in New York moved its headquarters last June, they faced leaving behind a beloved 1970 mosaic mural by Russian artist Anton Refregier. Preserving the original mural, applied directly to a concrete wall, would be too complicated, so David Adjaye, Hon. FAIA, the architect for 1199 SEIU's new headquarters, helped develop a solution using hand-crafted glass tiles. [The New York Times]

WeWork was cofounded by Miguel McKelvey, chief creative officer, and Adam Neumann, CEO.
Courtesy WeWork WeWork was cofounded by Miguel McKelvey, chief creative officer, and Adam Neumann, CEO.

After WeWork's failed IPO debacle in 2019 left the once $47 billion company with a valuation of less than $3 billion, WeWork co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann was ousted, leaving SoftBank as its controlling shareholder. According to The Wall Street Journal, Neumann and SoftBank are in advance talks of a legal battle, with Neumann agreeing to cut almost $500 million from his initial payout and perhaps paving the way for a second IPO attempt. [The Wall Street Journal]

The International Code Council announced the schedule for its virtual 2021 Committee Action Hearings for the Group A Codes. Individuals interested in reviewing proposed changes to the 2024 I-code editions. Interested individuals must register to attend the hearings, which run from April 11 to May 5. [ARCHITECT]

How does Architecture 2030 founder and 2021 AIA Gold Medal-winner Edward Mazria, FAIA, really feel about architects balking at climate-responsive design? He speaks with about that and much more in an interview with Kira Gould, a senior fellow at Architecture 2030 and member of AIA's Committee on the Environment. [ARCHITECT]

An Amazon Prime van in New Orleans
Flickr/Creative Commons License/Tony Webster An Amazon Prime van in New Orleans

How will the pandemic package boom change residential and commercial design? ARCHITECT columnist Blaine Brownell, FAIA, explores. [ARCHITECT]

The 2021 collection of codes, specifications, and practices by the American Concrete Institute are now available digitally or as a nine-volume set of print books. [ARCHITECT]

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