Dad To Record 1,600 Words Before Losing Voice

Located in the Italian city of Turin, this residential building from the ’60s has undergone a sustainable renovation with energy-efficient upgrades. Though the new structure is virtually unrecognizable from its former design, the building kept its original skeleton and overall shape and volume. Now, it has been reinforced to improve its earthquake-resistance and completely restyled to give it a modern feel. Characterized by solid colors and large, square voids, the building now boasts a stylish, sandy color throughout, three finishing textures on the facade and a pale teal tone for the outer staircase.

Brooklyn-based design firm Efficiency Lab for Architecture has recently transformed an existing, three-story commercial office building into the Community Information Center, a marketing center for Avenues: The World School’s new campus in San Jose, California. Located in a former office park, the Community Information Center redefines the nondescript environment with a fresh building entrance framed by redwood trees and a series of artsy concrete portals that the architects say “free people’s minds from the stressful reality of California’s driving culture before entering the facility.” Completed in June 2020, the Community Information Center is part of the first phase in the new San Jose campus for Avenues: The World School, a famous system of for-profit private schools for pre-K to 12th grades with international locations including New York City, São Paulo and Shenzhen.

Ten years after an earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has announced plans to release contaminated water from the plant into the ocean. China, South Korea and the local fishing industry are opposed to this move. Workers used more than 1 million metric tons of water to cool the three reactors that melted down in 2011.

Marine life is migrating from the equator to the tropics, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows that many species known to reside in the equator’s warm waters are migrating to cooler waters. Scientists behind the study have linked this situation to global warming, saying that water at the equator has become too warm for some species.

How can people live in harmony with global warming and rising water levels? In Amsterdam, a group of forward-thinking people decided to go with the flow. Schoonschip, a self-sustaining floating community of more than 100 residents, boasts innovative technology like 500 solar panels and a green roof on every house.

International design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) has unveiled designs for the Cascina Merlata Lot R7/2, a social housing complex that will function as a “city within the city” where residents can walk or ride their bicycles to everything they need for their daily lives. Created as part of the Cascina Merlata pedestrian-friendly masterplan that ACPV developed back in 2011, the new, 12,600-square-meter residential complex consists of two structures that have already obtained a ‘Class A’ rating from Italy’s Energy Performance Certification in recognition of their energy-efficient, low-impact design.