By using ArchDaily, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

If you want to make the best of your experience on our site, sign-up.

By using ArchDaily, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

If you want to make the best of your experience on our site, sign-up.

  1. ArchDaily
  2. Climate

Climate: The Latest Architecture and News

Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates

Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - Featured Image
Photo by Jermaine Ee on Unsplash . ImageCentral Park

Earlier this month, a series of cities worldwide have revealed various initiatives that would help them better understand the effects of climate change and shape a more environmentally conscious environment. From several American cities creating digital twins to help curb carbon emissions to the city of Brighton mandating bee bricks to foster biodiversity and Central Park becoming a laboratory for studying climate change adaptation in urban parks, cities take on a multidisciplinary and multi-scalar approach to environmental issues.

Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - Image 1 of 4Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - Image 2 of 4Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - Image 3 of 4Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - Image 4 of 4Cities Address Environmental Issues with Digital Twins, Climate Research and Bee Bricks Mandates - More Images

Climate Change is Teaching Designers to Expand Their Horizons—or at Least It Should

A lot can happen in the space between a book’s title and subtitle, as A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation: Uniting Design, Economics, and Policy (Island Press, 2021) demonstrates. Here, in a reversal from the norm, the subtitle assumes the more evocative bent by elevating design to the same status as economics and policy. To some, this might seem a spurious move, but the volume lives its creed: Its editors include two design academics and a business school professor, to say nothing about the myriad backgrounds of its contributors.

Blueprint goes deep into the policy decisions that have shaped the brittle condition of coastal infrastructure. It coalesces into a convincing picture of the wider context in which design operates, with the aim of making the built environment more equitable for those caught on the front lines of certain climate change cataclysm.

C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26

This week, the C40 global network of cities and engineering and sustainability firm Arup launched a virtual exhibition showcasing examples of climate initiatives and resiliency strategies from 11 cities committed to addressing climate change. Given that cities account for more than 70% of global carbon emissions, the Global Cities Climate Action Exhibition aims to highlight the role of cities in reaching climate targets through local policies and urban development plans, achieving tangible emission reductions and increasing social equity.

C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26 - Image 1 of 4C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26 - Image 2 of 4C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26 - Image 3 of 4C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26 - Image 4 of 4C40 and Arup Showcase Climate Action Initiatives from 11 Global Cities Within a Virtual Exhibition at COP26 - More Images

The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs

The Build Better Now virtual pavilion opened to the public during COP26, showcasing seventeen sustainable projects that demonstrate the built environment's opportunities for addressing the climate crisis. The initiative, run by UK Green Building Council, comes as a global call for climate action, highlighting the AEC's industry's commitment to sustainable practice on a worldwide stage, particularly since this year the COP26 dedicated a day to buildings and cities.

The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs - Image 1 of 4The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs - Image 2 of 4The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs - Image 3 of 4The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs - Image 4 of 4The Build Better Now Virtual Pavilion at COP26 Showcases Pioneering Sustainable Designs - More Images+ 10

What is a Traditional Windcatcher?

Before fossil-fuel powered air-conditioning became widely available, people living in harsh climates had nothing but natural means to ventilate their spaces and control the interior temperature. To do so, they took into account several external factors such as their location, orientation with respect to the sun and wind, their area's climate conditions, and local materials. In this article, we explore how ancient civilizations in Western Asia and North Africa have used windcatchers to adapt to the region's harsh climate and provide passive cooling solutions that are still being used in contemporary architecture, proving that local approaches to climate adaptability are fundamental to the development of today's built environment.

What is a Traditional Windcatcher?  - Image 1 of 4What is a Traditional Windcatcher?  - Image 2 of 4What is a Traditional Windcatcher?  - Image 3 of 4What is a Traditional Windcatcher?  - Image 4 of 4What is a Traditional Windcatcher?  - More Images+ 13

At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change

At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - Featured Image
Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) debuted yesterday in Glasgow, bringing together more than 190 world leaders, with the aim of accelerating action to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and UN's Convention on Climate Change. Leading architecture organizations and figures are attending the two-week summit to show the AEC's industry's commitment to reduce carbon emissions and urge decision-makers to implement clear targets to achieve global climate goals.

At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - Image 1 of 4At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - Image 2 of 4At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - Image 3 of 4At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - Image 4 of 4At COP26 Architects Plan on Urging Decision Makers to Establish Tangible Action Against Climate Change - More Images

“Soft Infrastructure” Is Crucial for a Post-Carbon World

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

On a recent day in Santa Monica, California, visitors sat in the shaded courtyard outside City Hall East waiting for appointments. One of them ate a slice of the orange she’d picked from the tree above her and contemplated the paintings, photographs, and assemblages on the other side of the glass. The exhibit, Lives that Bind, featured local artists’ expressions of erasure and underrepresentation in Santa Monica’s past. It’s part of an effort by the city government to use the new soon-to-be certified Living Building (designed by Frederick Fisher and Partners) as a catalyst for building a community that is environmentally, socially, and economically self-sustaining.

CarbonPositive: If Architects Act Together Now, They Can Change the World

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Architecture 2030 is calling on all architects, engineers, planners, and individuals involved in the building sector worldwide to design all new projects, renovations, landscapes, cityscapes, and infrastructure to be zero carbon starting now.

Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change

A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that global warming of 1.5°C (2.7 °F) is essentially inevitable in coming decades. The question now is whether the world can prevent further, more destructive warming of 2°C (3.6°F), or, even worse, 3°C (5.4°F), which is what current policies put us on a trajectory to experience. Our economies can only put another 420 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere if we want a good chance of keeping a temperature increase to 1.5°C instead of 2°C. At our current pace, the world’s carbon budget will be used up before 2030. We need to phase out fossil-fuel use, build thousands of new clean power plants -- and swiftly move to power our homes, offices, schools, and transportation systems with clean energy.

Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change    - Image 1 of 4Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change    - Image 2 of 4Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change    - Image 3 of 4Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change    - Image 4 of 4Net-Zero Buildings Are Critical to Staving off Further Climate Change    - More Images+ 7

Future-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change

Recent extreme weather events and the acceleration of climate change, paired with decarbonization efforts that are not on track, make climate-related disruption unavoidable for urban environments, raising the issue of climate-risk adaptation. Moving past what can be done to prevent climate change, there is a strong imperative to develop strategies to prepare urban environments to cope with inevitable challenges such as sea-level rise, floods, water scarcity or extreme heat. The following discusses how cities can build resilience and adapt to undergoing and expected future climate threats.

Future-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change - Image 2 of 4Future-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change - Image 3 of 4Future-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change - Image 1 of 4Future-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change - Featured ImageFuture-Proofing Cities Against Climate Change - More Images+ 2

Houses in Guatemala: Shade and Ventilation in Tropical Architecture

"Here in the tropics, it's the shade not the stove that refreshes and brings people together," says Bruno Stagno about tropical architecture.

Guatemala ha estado construyendo su sombra a lo largo de los años. Nos encontramos con 3 ejemplos que proponen interesantes respuestas a este clima. Proyectos que materializan tanto grandes cubiertas con pendientes para dar sombra y evacuar el agua de lluvia con rapidez, como fachadas perforadas que permiten el ingreso de la brisa y la ventilación interior.

WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York

Focusing on research, education, and public engagement, the Trust for Governors Island unveiled plans to develop a climate solutions center, designed by WXY Architecture + Urban Design. Inspired by the unique environment of the island, the project will generate a public living laboratory, cementing NYC’s position as a leader in climate change action.

WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York - Image 1 of 4WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York - Image 2 of 4WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York - Image 3 of 4WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York - Image 4 of 4WXY Proposes Climate Solution Center on Governors Island in New York - More Images+ 1