The Inside Track – April 2012
Welcome to The Inside Track! This page provides the latest news, highlights and case studies from our
partners in the architecture and building industry.
Highlights
Viracon Unveils ClearPoint™
OWATONNA, MN – Viracon, the nation’s leading single-source
architectural glass fabricator, introduces ClearPoint™ - a pointsupported insulating glass system that increases the transparency of
glass façades.
Specifically engineered to provide building designers with greater
flexibility, ClearPoint allows architects to maximize clear openings and
enhance aesthetics, delivering a clean, contemporary look both inside
and out.
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In the News
How the 2012 TED Prize, The City 2.0,
Aims to Crowdsource the Future
Reed Construction Data
Terraced Living in a San Diego Quarry
Find new project listings in your state for FREE with Reed’s
accessArchitecture service.
1 Bligh Street
http://www.youtube.com/embed/E5PeDNPC6CM?aiaembed+350+190+@justify
What's built in Vegas stays in Vegas
Saving Johansen’s Stage Center
Can public-interest design become a
viable alternative to traditional
practice?
Did you miss Reed Construction Data’s webcast, Flat, down,
or UP: Where is construction heading? The presentation
from this webcast is now available.
Calling for a Global Design Service
Corps
To see the presentation, please click here
Teen clients become design partners
in Scarborough
Jim Balsillie’s new Waterloo school
gets high marks
Safti First
SAFTI FIRST Partners with PPG to Offer SuperLite II-XL with Starphire®
Ultra-Clear Low Iron Glass
SAFTI FIRST, leading USA-manufacturer of fire rated glass and framing
systems, is pleased to partner with PPG, the world’s leading coatings
and specialty products company, in offering SuperLite II-XL with
Starphire® Ultra-Clear Low Iron Glass. Listed and labeled by UL and
Intertek/Warnock-Hersey, this advanced fire resistive glass product
provides maximum fire and impact safety with hose stream from 45120 minutes while meeting stringent ASTM E-119/NFPA 251/UL 263
requirements. With the addition of Starphire® Ultra-Clear Low Iron
Glass by PPG to SuperLite II-XL, architects now have the ability to
create safe, fire rated spaces with increased levels of clarity and
transparency like never before.
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Make Way, High Line: Former NASA
Engineer Kickstarts “LowLine”
Underground Park
Calatrava’s $182 Million Bridge
Favors Park Over Freeway
A crime of kitsch – battling the Czech
Republic’s ‘cowboy architecture’
Guggenheim Cancels 'High Risk'
Berlin Project
Promise--and perils--await as
landscape architect James Corner,
co-designer of New York's High Line,
prepares to take on Navy Pier
The Motherships Are Landing: What
Google’s New Headquarters Reveal
About Apple 2
W.P. Hickman
W. P. Hickman Company’s Permasnap 2 Coping is Miami-Dade
County Approved
The W. P. Hickman Company announces Permasnap 2 Coping has
been reviewed and accepted by the Miami-Dade County Department
of Permitting, Environment, and Regulatory Affairs. The Notice of
Acceptance is listed as #11-0929.08.
Tools to help cities and towns guide
green development
Wrecking Ball, $67 Million Bill Hang
Over Leaky Landmark
In New Office Designs, Room to
Roam and to Think
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Building the American Dream in
W. P. Hickman Company Launches Wind Resistant Gutter Product
The W. P. Hickman Company announces the immediate availability of
their Wind Resistant Gutter System. The design of the gutter has been
specifically engineered and tested to meet the requirements of the
recently developed ANSI/SPRI GD-1 Structural Design Standard for
Gutter Systems Used with Low-Slope Roofs.
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China
Imagine a New Kind of Housing
Competition to Help Meet a
Growing Need
Toward an Architecture of Place:
Moving Beyond Iconic to
Extraordinary
Can wooden skyscrapers transform
concrete jungles?
ThyssenKrupp Elevators
Built by forced labor, German
bunkers become homes
THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR AMERICAS LAUNCHES ITS VERSION 2.0
ENERGY CALCULATOR
For the New Barnes, Everything Old
Is Old Again
Industry Tool Uses Building Type to Predefine Traffic Patterns to
Identify Realistic Elevator Use and Traffic Flow
ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas has launched the 2.0 version of its
Energy Calculator to further support the company’s commitment to
creating global energy-efficient elevator solutions. The calculator
offers building owners, facility managers, elevator consultants and
architects technical assistance in determining which elevator
technology is the most efficient in both new construction and
modernization projects. And the tool allows the industry to learn how
simple changes can really make a big difference in energy
conservation.
Bridging the gap between the West
Bank and Gaza with a dream
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MIT Program Comes to Aid of PostTsunami Japan
German Village Becomes Model for
Renewable Energy
Is Vancouver ready for Danish
architect Bjarke Ingels? Here’s hoping
The Restoration of the Tugendhat
House Brings Mies's Modernist
Masterpiece Back to Life
Las Vegas: Curtains to open on Smith
Center for the Performing
Arts
Armstrong Acquires Simplex Ceilings
Lancaster, PA, Nov. 4, 2011 -- Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
Cities are banking on the arts: Once
the first thing to be cut in a time of
(NYSE:AWI) today announced it has acquired Intalite Inc., operating
under the name Simplex (“Simplex”) and based in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada. The acquisition of Simplex strengthens Armstrong’s
capabilities in the North American specialty ceiling market and
supports the company’s overall growth strategy, which includes
expanding its global leadership and manufacturing presence in
targeted markets. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
Simplex will become part of the Armstrong Building Products division.
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Architecture Billings Index Positive for Second Straight Month
All regions except for the West showing improved demand for
design services
Washington, D.C. – January 18, 2012 – After showing struggling
business conditions for most of 2011, the Architecture Billings Index
(ABI) has now reached positive terrain in consecutive months. As a
leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects
the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture
billings and construction spending. The American Institute of
Architects (AIA) reported the December ABI score was 52.0, following
the exact same mark in November. This score reflects an overall
increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates
an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 64.0,
down just a point from a reading of 65.0 the previous month.
“We saw nearly identical conditions in November and December of
2010 only to see momentum sputter and billings fall into negative
recession, the arts are proving their
worth
Vishaan Chakrabarti SHoPs Around:
Arch-Urbanist Joins Hotshot
Architecture Firm
territory as we moved through 2011, so it’s too early to be sure that
we are in a full recovery mode,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit
Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Nevertheless, this is very good news for the
design and construction industry and it’s entirely possible conditions
will slowly continue to improve as the year progresses.”
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CASE STUDIES
Newforma:
Architecture and Engineering, SHW Group and Newforma Project
Analyzer
Aerotek:
Quality Improvement
JELD-WEN:
Benefits of Windows in High Performance School Designs
LG Hausys:
LG Hausys Floors
Tandus:
Government Facility Design
NUDO:
Updated Operation: University of Iowa Hospital
Unifying Design: Canyon View Elementary School
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Industry Knowledge
Graphisoft
GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD. GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM
revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry-leading BIM
software for architects. With GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD’s
Building Information Modeling approach, architects can
explore design ideas with full confidence, knowing that
every detail is being captured and all documents are
synchronized. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry
with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary
GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world’s first, real-time BIM
collaboration environment. Open BIM design collaboration
offers intelligent, model-based workflow between the
members of the extended design team and architects using
ArchiCAD, resulting in greater efficiency in the building
process.
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