‘Metaverse,’ a term from the 1992 novel Snow Crash, in which people live as avatars in a three dimensional world, has recently hit the zeitgeist referring to virtual worlds in a burgeoning next phase of the internet.
Architects, writes Chloe Sun for ArchDaily, could be facing crises in the physical world due to constraints of factors such as structure, and management, that limit the possibility of the discipline. The wake of COVID-19, she says, may further catalyse the rise of the digital alternatives to brick-and-mortar shops, houses and offices.
The NFT industry also is rapidly growing, and unique digital creations, Sun says, are not limited to traditional visual art, but include digital architecture and landscape architecture.
“Toronto-based artist Krista Kim has sold the first NFT-backed digital home for over half a million dollars,” Sun said.
Virtual real estate is surging in popularity, offering “an interesting and possibly lucrative domain for designers to leverage their design skills in the physical world and to extend that into the virtual world.”
The metaverse could offer the chance for architects and place designers to follow game designers and evolve their service to be scalable “solutions that can be reused and can benefit millions of users, not just one client.”
Amsterdam plans its first modern-day timber neighbourhood:
The city of Amsterdam has confirmed an ambitious plan to build a neighbourhood entirely out of wood, writes Feargus O’Sullivan for Bloomberg CityLab.
The project reflects a move towards renewable materials by the city’s construction industry and a commitment from the municipalities of Greater Amsterdam to “ensure that at least 20% of new construction uses wood as its primary material by 2025.”
Timber is valuable in reducing the carbon footprint of construction as trees can not only be replanted, but also sequester carbon. The material requires less finishing and masonry, further reducing the use of resources and emissions.
O’Sullivan refers to a 2020 Finnish study that estimates “if 80% of Europe’s construction switched to wood as its primary material, the amount of carbon sequestered would be equivalent to 47% of the emissions from the continent’s concrete industry.”
The new neighbourhood, the Mandela Buurt, will be located in the city’s south, and offer affordable housing. “It will contain ten new apartment blocks, a primary school and social facilities, housing an estimated 2,100 residents in 700 new apartments.”
Construction of the Mandela Buurt neighbourhood is anticipated to begin in 2025, for completion in 2026. Read the full article here.
To celebrate the unveiling of the Piatto Chair at our annual product launch party with AILA NSW in Sydney, Jazz at The Mint, clients were invited to enter this quirky contest. The competition called for teams to incorporate Piatto Chairs into an ‘Awkward Family Photo’ portrait, for a chance to win Piatto Chairs of their very own. Congratulations to the creative crew from Yerrabingin, who delivered the strongest awkward family vibes on the night. Highly commended goes to the entrants below, and the full photo gallery from the event is available for viewing. Please contact marketing@streetfurniture.com if you would like to request a high res file to print and frame for your best room.
Clients from Sydney, Adelaide, California and Texas joined Street Furniture Australia and AILA NSW to celebrate the unveiling of new products on March 14, 2024, with margaritas and live music. Jazz at The Mint is an annual product launch held at The Mint, an iconic site in the heart of the Sydney CBD. It is an elegant affair and a unique opportunity to connect with landscape architects and built environment professionals at a global scale. This year’s party featured the new Linea Planter System and upcoming Piatto Chair, a single-seater hybrid between cafe and robust public space furniture – available now for specifications. The gathering was opened by Uncle Allan Murray, representing the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council, with speeches from: Ben Stockwin, AILA CEO, acknowledged the 10 year relationship with …
The Street Furniture Australia factory, in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. This tour is open to design specifiers such as landscape architects and architects, and place custodians including Councils, government agencies, developers and other place managers. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen, said: “The factory tour is a fun …
‘I wanted that self-reliance back’ – disabled hikers forge a new path: A growing movement of disabled people are taking steps to enable independent access to the natural world, writes Amanda Morris for the NY Times. The pandemic has brought a rise in outdoor recreation, with growing visitation numbers for national parks, however not all are equipped for accessibility. Disabled people are taking initiatives to improve independent access, including “publishing trail guides, establishing nonprofits to empower others through equipment, advocacy and training, and testifying before congress,” says Morris. In the United States in April 2021, “disability activists testified at a hearing on Capitol Hill, in front of members of the House National Resources Committee, which oversees the Park Service, to push for greater accessibility in outdoor spaces and call attention to …
Street trees and addressing liveability inequity: Street trees have the capacity to impact the liveability of suburbs, should community members be included in the design and planning of urban greening, say Melanie Davern, Dave Kendal and Camilo Ordonez Barona in an article for Cities People Love. The RMIT, University of Tasmania and University of Toronto researchers write that “street trees and urban forestry provide a great example of a ‘nature-based solution’ to building environmentally sustainable liveable cities that provide multiple benefits.” Although the benefits of urban greening are well known, there is inequity in the distribution of street trees. “Disadvantaged communities in cities characterised by a lower level of income and education, and, in some cases, higher percentages of minority populations, tend to have less street tree cover and less …
Paris has plans to make the Seine swimmable by 2024: by Feargus O’Sullivan The City of Paris is undertaking a new project, ‘Projet Life Adsorb,’ which may soon make Paris’s river Seine clean enough to swim in. Various attempts have been made to make the Seine swimmable, the first in 1988. Most recently, in 2017, swimming pools opened along Canal Saint Martin, a more sheltered waterway in the city’s east. Unfortunately high bacteria levels regularly force swimmers out of the pools. The new plan, which is being designed and implemented by a team of experts overseen by the City of Paris, “might be able to curb pollution more permanently, making it swimmable – and usable as a competition venue – in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics,” writes Bloomberg’s Feargus …
