ECOCITY WORLD SUMMIT 2011.The 9th International Ecocity Conference

August 22-26, 2011

Palais des congrès de Montréal, Canada

The 9th International Ecocity Conference

Hosted by Urban Ecology Montréal, Ecocity World Summit 2011 will build on work of past Ecocity World Summits while adding new conference themes, participatory methods, and projects that will last beyond the life of the conference. Detailed conference content and design will be developed in collaboration with local and international partners, making sure that the particular urban ecological expertise of Montréal is highlighted.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Français http://www.ecocity2011.com/appel-de-communications/default_f.asp
English http://www.ecocity2011.com/appel-de-communications/default_e.asp
Español http://www.ecocitybuilders.org/ecocity-2011-convocatoria-de-propuestas/

CALL FOR PAPERS: Digital Cities

This image was downloaded from geotecnocom.blogspot.com

Call for papers SPECIAL SECTION: DIGITAL CITIES

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) shape the world in many ways. New

ubiquitous and mobile technological urban infrastructures, essentially supported by ICTs,

are the basis of these challenges to the understanding, construction and management of

contemporary cities. In its next issue, urbe

(Brazilian journal of urban management) will

have a dedicated section with which we intend to address the dilemmas associated with

physical and electronic urban spaces in the construction of what many scholars, public

managers and technicians call digital cities. Digital cities may have many, perhaps

even an endless number of different meanings and interpretations. The aim of this

special section of urbe therefore, is to bring forth some of these meanings and try to

establish their significance We would like to invite researchers to submit papers to this

special section of urbe

(www.pucpr.br/urbe). We welcome papers dealing with the social

and historical construction of digital cities, from both a conceptual and practical point of

view. Digital cities are built and managed under the influence of an emerging global

urban infrastructure based on ICTs, and these experiences could enlighten and bring

new ideas about the paradigmatic challenges upon contemporary cities that could be

relevant to a variety of readers from urban studies, urban and social history, geography,

cultural studies, architecture and urbanism, technology and society, sociology, planning,

as well as practitioners working for public and private planning departments, and local

authorities’ officials.

urbe publishes papers in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Instructions for

authors can be found at: http://bit.ly/urbe_authors

Deadline: February 15, 2011

Museo Soumaya in Mexico City

Picture from wired.co.uk

¨In 2011, the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City will open its new building -- a 16,000 square metre facility designed by Fernando Romero from architectural firm LAR. The construction, which is pictured above, will house the second largest private collection of works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin in the world.

The museum, which was established in 1994 by the Carlos Slim foundation, is part of the city's redevelopment of an industrial zone dating from the 1940s. The contents will be spread over six floors, which also include an auditorium for 350 people, library, a restaurant, and a "multi-purpose gathering lounge", which probably just means a lobby.¨(...)

Keep on reading:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-11/26/museo-soumaya

Museo Soumaya. From arqhys.com

Russia plans domed city in Siberian mine. By Duncan Geere

An article by Duncan Geere for Wired.co.UK:

A Russian construction company called AB Elise hopes to build a gigantic domed city in an abandoned diamond mine in Siberia, powered by the sun. The project is more of a concept than a reality so far, but the plans show accomodation for 100,000 people over three main levels.

The mine in question is the Mir mine in the Mirniy industrial zone in Eastern Siberia. You might have probably seen photos of it before, labelled "the largest man-made hole on earth" or something similar. It's long been used to mine diamonds, but the mining stopped in June 2001, replaced with a network of underground tunnels below. Presumably this activity would have to cease if the structure is ever built.

The project, which is described in a series of slides on AB Elise's site, is split between three levels, penetrated in the centre by a vertical farm and forests. Around the exterior are residences and recreational areas, and there's also a research centre in the plans.

However, it might be a tricky construction project -- the climate of the region isn't welcoming -- the ground is permafrost for seven months of the year, and becomes sludge in the summer. Surrounding buildings are mounted on piles so they don't sink. In the winter, temperatures in the area drop down to around -40 degrees celsius.

What the region does have, on the other hand, is plenty of sun, so the roof of the structure would comprise of solar panels to power the heating and electricity needs of the resident population. The idea is to attract more residents to the area, which is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the world -- with only three people per square kilometre.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-11/17/russia-domed-city-siberia

Testing hurricane homes

Two homes tested, one remains

At the Institute for Business & Home Safety's grand opening of its multi-risk building science research center, a conventional building and one meeting the IBHS Fortified standards were tested with hurricane-force winds on October 19, 2010.

A green future for Brooklyn-Queens Expressway trench

Connections. Picture by Starr Whitehouse Landscape Archs.

Green Canopy. Picture by Starr Whitehouse Landscape Archs.

Maximum Green. Picture by Starr Whitehouse Landscape Archs.

¨The proposals (..... will)) decide the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway trench which severs the Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Columbia Street Waterfront neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Residents spoke up and prioritized their wishes for a less disruptive BQE including reduced noise and pollution, increased neighborhood connectivity and bike / pedestrian safety, and an overall greener streetscape.

In short, the BQE is going green, or at least as green as a pollution-spewing six-lane highway can be. Luckily the NYC EDC, NYC DOT, and Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects have come up with three compelling design solutions to improve the area.¨

REFERENCE

http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/10108

Posted by Branden Klayko

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving for everybody in USA!!!!!! My contribution of digital paintings for a peaceful day.

The ultimate destiny of the Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas

Picture downloaded from lasvegasun.com

That´s a very bad story based on a building designed by arch. Lord Norman Foster. So many problems in the construction, and Building  And Safety inspectors are not approving the installation of rebars.

In consequence, the building should be shrinked or imploded. I´m so sorry to learn about it, after approximately one year of lawsuit.

¨Let´s see an excerpt from lasvegassun.com almost a year ago:

What if they had shorted the Empire State Building by a couple of football fields?

Or gave the Great Pyramid a flattop? Or built the Eiffel Platform?

Size certainly isn’t everything when it comes to buildings, of course. But the impact of many iconic structures is in their sheer stature. That is why it’s so startling — disappointing, even — that the Harmon hotel, CityCenter’s gateway to the Las Vegas Strip, has suddenly been cut down to about half its intended size.

Topping out at 28 stories instead of the proposed 49, the incredible shrinking Harmon seems unfortunately fated to look like a stubby, squashed stepchild next to its soaring CityCenter siblings, the 61-story Aria Resort & Casino and the 57-story Vdara condo-hotel.

That is the result of construction flaws — 15 floors of wrongly installed rebar — that forced MGM Mirage, which is developing the project with Dubai World, to rapidly call for a significant reduction of the nongaming boutique hotel. MGM Mirage canceled the Harmon’s 207-unit condominium component — the top half of the building — and postponed the opening of the hotel to late 2010.¨

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/08/adaptation-or-disaster/

Now, read the what´s going on in November 2010, from Las Vegas Review-Journal:

¨MGM Resorts officials, very quietly and with no public fanfare, want to demolish the unopened 27-story Harmon Hotel -- one of the components of its $8.5 billion CityCenter development.

But litigation and pinpointing blame for the troubled building will prevent anything from happening to the unfinished tower until late 2012.

In its recent third-quarter earnings statement, MGM Resorts said it took a $279 million noncash impairment charge for the Harmon and concluded "it is unlikely the Harmon will be completed using the building as it now stands."

MGM Resorts International operates CityCenter in a 50-50 joint venture with Dubai World.

In an interview this week, CityCenter Chief Executive Officer Bobby Baldwin said the company has hired two sets of structural engineers to determine the building's condition and what steps might be taken. MGM Resorts will bring in a third group of experts to analyze the building.

A report on the findings will be filed with the Clark County District Court, as part of CityCenter's lawsuit against Perini Building Co., the project's general contractor.

Perini will also be allowed to hire structural experts to assess the Harmon.

"Right now, I have a building I can't do anything with," said Baldwin, adding that Harmon has become "the poster child for nonconforming work worldwide."

Clark County Building Department officials will not allow any construction to be done to the Harmon, which was originally designed as a 47-story hotel and condominium tower.

In 2008, inspectors found structural work on the Harmon did not match building plans submitted to the county. The construction issues involved improperly placed steel reinforcing bar, commonly known as rebar.¨

http://www.lvrj.com/business/mgm-resorts-targets-harmon-hotel-for-demolition-107681193.html