Architecture | The Verge

Homes need to be built for better internet

2023-12-08T09:00:00-05:00

Until a couple of months ago, I hadn't lived in a "smart home" built within the last five years. I was lured in by the availability of symmetrical 1GB fiber internet for the same $100 that got me 500Mbps of asymmetrical cable at my previous apartment. But I encountered more obstacles getting it set up than a track and field hurdler, everything from a missing fiber gateway port to my $1,000 robot vacuum losing connection every time it tried to clean too far away from the router. I was saved by the ethernet ports in every room and my off-the-shelf Asus gaming router, but I couldn't (and still can't) do anything about the cable Cthulhu monstros …

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These new 3D-printed homes in Austin are going for $450K

2021-03-11T11:09:00-05:00

One of the new 3D-printed homes in the East 17th Street Residences in Austin, Texas. | Image: ICON

When it showed off its 3D-printed homes at the South by Southwest festival back in 2018, Austin-based construction technology company ICON told The Verge its Vulcan printer could create an 800-square-foot structure for about $10,000. It seemed like only a matter of time before higher-end 3D-printed homes became a reality.

Now, a new development in East Austin is selling four houses built using ICON's technology, starting at $450,000 (roughly the median home price in Austin at present). To be clear, ICON 3D-printed the first floor of each of the two- to four-bedroom homes in the new East 17th Street Residences development; the upper floors w …

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How slime molds and mussels could be the future of architecture

2018-11-27T12:44:49-05:00

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Hy-Fi installation at MoMA PS1 | Photo: Ars Electronica via Flickr

Architects have long drawn from the world of biology, but most of that inspiration has been metaphorical. David Benjamin's architecture studio, The Living, uses actual living organisms as part of the design process.

Benjamin, a professor of architecture at Columbia University, is the author of Now We See Now (out now from Monacelli Press), a new book chronicling his work at the intersection of science and design. Integrating biology, he says, could lead to more sustainable buildings and a new way to think about the life cycle of the built environment.

The Verge spoke to Benjamin about why we should look to biology for architectural inspira …

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Palmer Luckey’s border control tech has already caught dozens of people

2018-06-11T15:53:59-04:00

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During a news cycle where headline after headline covers the political, social, and emotional turmoil at the United States-Mexico border, departed Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is proposing a blanket solution involving virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and a few very tall towers. This "virtual border wall" was revealed last year, but Wired has now reported more details about Luckey's venture Anduril Industries. The company is touting a surveillance system called Lattice that would survey the motion of potential border-crossers from up to two miles away.

Lattice, as detailed in Wired, is primarily based off of well-established secu …

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This cheap 3D-printed home is a start for the 1 billion who lack shelter

2018-03-12T08:39:46-04:00

Food, water, and shelter are basic human needs, but 1.2 billion people in the world live without adequate housing, according to a report by the World Resources Institute's Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Today at SXSW, an Austin-based startup will unveil its approach to combat that deficiency by using low-cost 3D printing as a potential solution.

ICON has developed a method for printing a single-story 650-square-foot house out of cement in only 12 to 24 hours, a fraction of the time it takes for new construction. If all goes according to plan, a community made up of about 100 homes will be constructed for residents in El Salvador next y …

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Amazon’s mini rainforest work space spheres are opening in Seattle

2018-01-29T11:05:57-05:00

After seven years of planning and construction, Amazon's mini rainforest spheres are finally opening in Seattle. "The Spheres," as they're known, hold 40,000 plants from 30 different countries around the world. They were designed as places employees can go to take a break or meet up with others away from their desks. The spheres also feature living walls, which are vertical gardens with over 25,000 plants woven into 4,000 square feet of mesh.

The structure is made of three connected spheres constructed from glass and steel, and, as reported by Bloomberg, they can accommodate up to 800 people. The biggest sphere is 90 feet high and 130 feet …

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The walls of this Russian technology exhibit are imprinted with a circuit board design

2017-06-11T15:33:41-04:00

Moscow is home to the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, an enormous recreation and museum complex. One of its buildings is decked out with a spectacular exterior that's designed to look like the conductive tracks on a circuit board.

The building in question is the Pavilion of Moscow Information Technology Department, a 1,600 square meter presentation space that showcases Russia's electrical achievements. Russian architectural firm Wall designed the exterior of the pavilion in 2016, according to Dezeen. The outer panels were formed out of concrete in a local factory, and house an exhibition space, business center, and children' …

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Syrian arch razed by ISIS and re-created with 3D technology arrives in New York City

2016-09-19T16:38:44-04:00

A replica of a 2,000-year-old Roman arch that was destroyed by ISIS in Syria last year was unveiled in New York City today. The triumphal arch, a two-thirds scale of the original, was first showcased in Trafalgar Square in London this past April. Now, it will stay in City Hall Park for a week before being shipped to its next destination, Dubai.

The replica was made by the Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) using 3D computer models based on photographs of the original arch; the photos were taken by archaeologists and tourists before the city of Palmyra, where the arch stood, was captured by ISIS in May 2015. Two robots in the city of Ca …

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BMW’s breathtaking sculpture is a fitting centerpiece for the Goodwood Festival of Speed

2016-06-23T10:40:08-04:00

Each year since 1997, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has been graced by a Central Feature, a grand sculpture celebrating a particular marque and its latest anniversary or celebration. In 2016, the honored carmaker is BMW, which is marking 100 years in business by taking a trio of spectacular concept cars on a world tour. For Goodwood, BMW has brought some of its finest classics to show off, and three of them have been attached at the ends of the three enormous steel curves forming the structure of this striking creation.

The BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster is the car perched precariously close to the roof of Goodwood House. It's the only one …

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Would you set foot on this insane, beautiful staircase?

2016-05-27T12:00:52-04:00

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This scaffolding staircase is 95-feet tall, 187-feet long, and definitely not for people who are scared of heights. If you have ever struggled to hold down your lunch while climbing to the top of a waterslide, maybe skip it.

But it's also beautiful, and has a great backstory. The staircase was built by the Dutch architecture firm MVRDV as a month-long installation for a city-wide festival in Rotterdam, South Holland. The festival celebrates the 75th anniversary of the rebuilding of the city, which was catastrophically damaged by a Nazi airstrike in 1940.

(Ossip van Duivenbode / MVRDV)

"The Stairs to Kriterion" connect Rotterdam Central Stat …

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