NBWW BLOG…

From camping gear to hand-dyed wool scarves, seven architects and designers offer 15 ideas with which to delight your friends, family, colleagues, and the hard-to-impress. By Ayda Ayoubi The holiday season is just around the corner, which means it’s time to compile a list of gift ideas for your clients, colleagues, friends, and family. To ease your shopping experience, we asked seven architects and designers to share their best finds for the year. Here are their 15 recommendations. Dampfwerk Pear Brandy by France 44 ($31.99) Recommended by Julie Snow, FAIA, co-founder and design principal, Snow Kreilich Architects, Minneapolis Made from hand-selected Bartlett pears, this German-style fruit brandy is made in a family distillery in St. Louis Park, Minn. “They produce...

Members of the Dezeen Awards architecture master jury discuss how this year’s entries reveal a spirit of concern for communities and environment. Sebastian Jordahn With one week to go until the Dezeen Awards winners are announced, members of the architecture master jury discuss how this year’s shortlist reveals a newfound spirit of concern for both communities and the environment.Architect and Dezeen columnist Sam Jacob stressed the potential of architecture being politically and emotionally engaged, rather than being purely about construction.”Thinking about architecture as the production of walls is to limit its potential power on the world,” Jacob said. “The fact that we can begin to think of it as a much broader, creative, politically and emotionally...

By Billy Jean Louis Turnberry Isle Miami Autograph Collection is nearly doubling its guest rooms – to 685 from 398 – as it undergoes a $200 million renovation. The property will then be renamed JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. Construction began in July 2017, with plans to complete the project in early 2019. Director of Marketing Vanessa Viadero said the renovation will include the addition of a 16-story tower with 325 new guest rooms and suites, an additional 80,000 square feet of event space, and 5-acre aquatic poolscape. Turnberry Isle will also upgrade its main lobby and front drive, and add new restaurants. “This investment underscores Turnberry’s long-standing commitment to the Aventura community, and speaks to the enduring appeal and growing demand for the...

Urban classics and new favorites to read and give Recommended reading from urban experts and Curbed contributors By Alissa Walker, Patrick Sisson, and Sara Polsky Updated Nov 19, 2018 Perhaps more than at any other time in American history, where we live determines much about what we know. As people who write about cities, we realized this presented a remarkable opportunity. We wanted to find stories about where people live that could change the way we think about the world. We asked our editors to choose a story that helped them to understand a place. We tapped a handful of authors, many of whom have works included on this list, to pass along their recommendations as well. And even though there’s so much to read on these topics at each tap of a finger, we specifically chose books as...

kieron marchese the world’s first full-body scanner has produced its first images. called EXPLORER, the medical imaging device scans up to 40 times faster than current PET scans and can produce a 3D scan of the whole body in as little as 20-30 seconds. EXPLORER combines positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) that can image the entire body at the same time. improvements over current imaging systems not only include faster scans but also the ability to scan with significantly lower doses of radiation. this is because the device is effectively up to 40 times more sensitive than current commercial scanning systems. one of the major benefits of this is feasibility of conducting repeated studies in an individual, or dramatically reducing the dose in pediatric...

The role of female Bauhauslers in shaping the course of modern design is now being addressed says Catherine Slessor. Catherine Slessor Women are often edited out of the history of the Bauhaus, says Catherine Slessor, in this Opinion as part of our Bauhaus 100 series. But the role of female Bauhauslers in shaping the course of modern design is at last being addressed. The young women of the Bauhaus seem like typical art students, when you see them in pictures. With their cropped hair and clashing clothes, they could be straight out of a prospectus for any current European art school. But until the school’s founding, German women who wanted to pursue an art education received it at home, dispensed by tutors. At the Bauhaus they were free to join courses conflating...

For our Bauhaus 100 series, we profile modernism pioneer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the third and final director Bauhaus director. Jon Astbury The third and final director Bauhaus director was one of the world’s best-known architects. As we continue our Bauhaus 100 series, celebrating 100 years of the hugely influential school, we profile the modernism pioneer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, simply Mies to the entire world of design, is one of architecture’s most towering figures. Whether it is his gnomic statements – “less is more” and “God is in the details” – or the iconic Barcelona Pavilion or equally iconic Barcelona Chair, his presence borders on the mythic. As William JR Curtis has put it, he is “one of those...

Following last week’s midterm elections, the AIA held a “Post-Election Debrief” to outline six key issues it’s set to focus on with the new U.S. Congress. By Sydney Franklin As the architecture industry’s chief lobbying organization, it’s the American Institute of Architects’ job to get the issues architects care about up to Capitol Hill. It hasn’t always made decisions that resonate with everyone on both sides of the aisle, such as its pledge to work with President Trump, and it’s been accused of being too slow to respond to obvious problems instigated by the government, like the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent new rule on asbestos. But it has continued to battle in the political arena on behalf of architects across the country and revise its plans based on its constituents’...

Blaine Brownell explores unconventional design interventions that are used to encourage physical movement. By Blaine Brownell A recent report from the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) included the alarming news that nearly 40 percent of American adults are obese. The finding is based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which also calculated an obesity rate of 18.5 percent among children. Meanwhile, a report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation indicated that approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults and 30 percent of children are either overweight or obese. Furthermore, accompanying health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are also on the rise. According to the TFAH report, the “underlying causes of obesity are complex...

Plus, the USGBC announces a new certification for net-zero buildings, Amazon officially reveals its HQ2 locations, and more design-tech news from this week. By Katharine Keane London-based EcoLogic Studio has unveiled an urban curtain prototype that can capture and store approximately 2 pounds of carbon dioxide per day. The curtain is composed of 16 modules (each 2 meters by 7 meters) that contain living microalgal cultures. As sunlight feeds the cultures—which then become luminescent at night—carbon dioxide and other pollutants are trapped by the mixture and grow into biomass. Ultimately, fresh oxygen is released from the top of the curtain and the biomass can be recycled into the bioplastic used to make the modules. [EcoLogic Studio] Located in the Oita prefecture of Kyushu, Japan,...

The Festival of the Trees is a fundraising event coordinated by Florida International University’s Interior Architecture Department and its advisory board. Each year South Florida’s architecture and design community demonstrates its support for quality interior architecture education through their annual participation in the Festival of the Trees event and auction. In its 32 years, this annual holiday extravaganza has raised over $350,000 in funds that benefit Florida International University’s Interior Architecture Department and its talented students. Each year, Festival of the Trees sponsors underwrite designers who design and build their unique holiday creations and donate them to the event. The “trees” are then displayed and auctioned at the gala opening. The lucky winning...

On the hunt for the ideal Christmas present? We’ve picked out 15 gifts for architects and designers, including calendars, books, bags and headphones. Eleanor Gibson On the hunt for the ideal Christmas present? We’ve picked out 15 gifts for architects and designers, including a pair of midnight-blue watches, a brutalist architecture calendar and a book that offers a glimpse inside North Korea. Architectural Cards by Case Furniture To create the geometric prints decorating this set of notecards, London-based StudioSmall drew on the facades of buildings including Sante Fe University of Art and Design and the Pulman Hotel in New Zealand. Produced by Case Furniture – which is also located in the English capital – the Architectural Cards includes three versions of nine different...