International Women’s Media Foundation Fellowships 2009-201

The International Women’s Media Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2009-10 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship, named for the 1998 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award winner and Boston Globe correspondent who was killed in Iraq in May 2003. This program, created with Neuffer’s family and friends, aims to perpetuate her memory and advance her life mission of promoting international understanding of human rights and social justice while creating an opportunity for women journalists to build their skills.

One woman journalist will be selected to spend an academic year in a tailored program with access to Boston-area universities as well as the Boston Globe and New York Times. The flexible structure of the program will provide the fellow with opportunities to pursue academic research and hone her reporting skills covering topics related to human rights. The fellow may also participate in the Elizabeth Neuffer Forum on Human Rights and Journalism.

The Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship is open to women journalists whose focus is human rights and social justice. A successful applicant will be dedicated to a career in journalism in print, broadcast or online media and will show a strong commitment to sharing knowledge and skills with colleagues upon the completion of the fellowship. Excellent written and spoken English skills are required. A stipend will be provided, and expenses, including airfare and housing, will be covered.

Applications will be accepted until April 15, 2009, and the fellowship will run from September 2009 – May 2010.

For further information, visit www.iwmf.org/neuffer or e-mail neuffer@iwmf.org. Applications are available at https://www.iwmf.org/neufferapplication.aspx.

Founded in 1990, the International Women’s Media Foundation is a vibrant global network dedicated to strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide as a means to further freedom of the press. The IWMF network includes women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.iwmf.org.

worlds-largest-3d-display

Electrical engineering students at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have created the world’s largest 3D-display. The display consists of 8,000 suspended ping pong balls that each contain a red LED light. It play games of 3D snake, 3D pong, and 3D duckhunt, as wll as displaying SMS messages and simple animations. 4 kilometres of copper wire, 3 kilos of solder, a couple of hundred metres of aluminium and eight printed circuit boards. http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/worlds-largest-3d-display.html

LEED 2009 to Include LEED Credits for Regional Environmental Priorities

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released the LEED regional credits as part of LEED 2009, the new version of the LEED Green Building Rating System. These LEED credits encourage that specific regional environmental priorities be addressed when it comes to the design, construction and operations of buildings in different geographic locations. "Because environmental priorities differ among various regions of the country-the challenges in the Southeast differ from those in the Northwest, for example-regionally specific credits give LEED a way to directly respond to diverse, regionally grounded issues," said Brendan Owens, Vice President of Technical Development, USGBC. "The inclusion of these regional LEED credits is the Council's first step toward addressing regional environmental issues." With the help of USGBC's regional councils, chapters and affiliates, credits addressing six specific environmental issues within a region were identified from among the existing LEED credits. In LEED 2009, LEED projects will be able to earn "bonus points" for implementing green building strategies that address the important environmental issues facing their region. A project can be awarded afour extra points, one point each for achieving up to four of the six priority credits.

http://www.dexigner.com/architecture/news-g17687.html

http://wwww.usgbc.org/leed2009

Affordable And Green: Sandbag Houses // Cape Town // South Africa // MMA Architects”

MMA Architects completed a home built out of timber and sandbags and became the winner of the Curry Stone Foundation Prize this year. The prize is awarded to individuals or groups that create architecture that has the potential to make positive changes in a community by offering shelter, community health, peace, or clean water, air and food. This sandbag house was built for a mere $6,000, making it affordable for low-income housing. The design also utilizes uncomplicated techniques- and was constructed with the help of its future residents who were able to gain a sense of ownership through the building process.

While these homes are not necessarily decked out with solar panels and energy-efficient insulation, the design and construction of the home takes advantage of techniques that conserve money and resources. First, the home uses inexpensive local materials which cuts down on transportation. Second, the home utilizes Eco Beams, a system of building that replaces brick-and-mortar with sandbags. The system is reported to be just as strong as a brick system and uses less timber than traditional construction.

The home is the first in a community of 10 other homes to be built in Freedom Park, near Cape Town in South Africa. The homes are the result of the 10×10 Housing Project, a project challenging 10 architecture teams to develop plans for low-cost housing.

Luyunda Mpahlwa has said that he plans on using the prize money- $100,000- to build more of these homes, and to send underprivileged students to architecture school.

>>>

www.dezeen.com

http://www.archicentral.com/affordable-and-green-sandbag-houses-cape-town-south-africa-mma-architects-2396/

Affordable And Green: Sandbag Houses // Cape Town // South Africa // MMA Architects”

MMA Architects completed a home built out of timber and sandbags and became the winner of the Curry Stone Foundation Prize this year. The prize is awarded to individuals or groups that create architecture that has the potential to make positive changes in a community by offering shelter, community health, peace, or clean water, air and food. This sandbag house was built for a mere $6,000, making it affordable for low-income housing. The design also utilizes uncomplicated techniques- and was constructed with the help of its future residents who were able to gain a sense of ownership through the building process.

While these homes are not necessarily decked out with solar panels and energy-efficient insulation, the design and construction of the home takes advantage of techniques that conserve money and resources. First, the home uses inexpensive local materials which cuts down on transportation. Second, the home utilizes Eco Beams, a system of building that replaces brick-and-mortar with sandbags. The system is reported to be just as strong as a brick system and uses less timber than traditional construction.

The home is the first in a community of 10 other homes to be built in Freedom Park, near Cape Town in South Africa. The homes are the result of the 10×10 Housing Project, a project challenging 10 architecture teams to develop plans for low-cost housing.

Luyunda Mpahlwa has said that he plans on using the prize money- $100,000- to build more of these homes, and to send underprivileged students to architecture school.

>>>

www.dezeen.com

Low2No-A Sustainable Development Design Competition

Low2No-A Sustainable Development Design Competition

Register: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Submit: Wednesday, July 01, 2009

The built environment is now the largest negative factor in the stability of ecosystems and the climate.  And as populations become increasingly urbanized, the evolution of cities will largely shape the outcome of our long dependence on natural resources.  Two pathways of evolution are evident: an urban society that is in balance with the environment, or one that has depleted available natural capital.  The decisions that will direct this evolution over the next 50-100 years are being made now.

It is clear that no single organization, profession or nation can achieve the goals of sustainable global development.  It will require an architecture of solutions including low/no carbon buildings; sustainable economic systems; enhanced/targeted mobility; sustainable planning and energy policies; resilient social systems (access, equity and capacity), among countless others.

Recognizing the need and opportunity to significantly improve sustainable building development practices, Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund—in collaboration with the City of Helsinki—is launching a sustainable development design competition.  The competition will be launched March 31, 2009 with a global request for qualifications.  The goal is to attract and identify the best teams to design a large building complex on an approximately 3/4 hectare site on the reclaimed goods harbour at the western edge of Helsinki’s central business district.

Given that the repertoire of sustainable urban development models is still in its infancy, the question of “who & how” is our question of first order.  WHO: We believe that identifying the best team and approach is the key factor impacting the long term quality and robustness of the final solution.  HOW: Our sustainable development design competition is designed to seek approaches for four central objectives applied at the scale of a city block:

1. energy efficiency 2. low/no carbon emissions 3. high architectural, spatial and social value

4. sustainable materials and methods

As part of their proposals, entrants must also consider the context and dynamics beyond the city block that will impact the project in the near and long terms.  As such we will select teams with a robust and mixed set of competencies (such as architecture, engineering, economics, landscape, technology, urban planning and energy infrastructure), representing the mix of stakeholders and issues at play in urban development.  We expect that architects will lead these teams in most cases, but are open to other team configurations.

Our program is a mixed-use development that includes: headquarters for an innovation driven organization; housing; retail; and potentially other programs that support a sustainable approach to urban development. 

Our site is located on 100 hectares of reclaimed land known as Jätkäsaari.  The relocation of Helsinki’s port facilities to the eastern edge of the city in 2008 has initiated the largest transformation of land use in the city since the industrial era.  As many as six large areas in metropolitan Helsinki, including Jätkäsaari, are in various stages of planning as a result. 

Jätkäsaari will be developed over the next two decades to house 16.000 residents, 6.000 jobs, offices and public services.  Several new tram line extensions will provide access to the city centre only three kilometres away while parking space and vehicular traffic will be minimized through a mobility management plan.

It is our intention to stimulate innovation in sustainable architecture, energy efficiency, and city-building solutions.  We hope that a model of sustainable urbanism emerges from the proposals that will not only serve the City of Helsinki and its inhabitants, but more broadly, be a learning model for development globally.

Visit: http://www.low2no.org/competition/ for more details.  A summary of the competition is available here (PDF).

http://bustler.net/index.php/competition/low2no-a_sustainable_development_design_competition/

Dreamland: Architectural Experiments Since the 1970s

Rem Koolhaas's watercolor Plan of Dreamland (1977), a recent acquisition, is the point of departure for this presentation of selections from the Architecture and Design collection. The 1970s saw an explosion of architectural thought and experimentation-with the city, and New York especially, becoming a screen for the projection of architectural fantasies and utopias. The installation includes documentation of the real projects that resulted from these innovative ideas and experiments, including such traditional building types as single-family houses and skyscrapers. Also featured are works by Raimund Abraham, Peter Eisenman, Steven Holl, Hans Hollein, and other well-known contemporary architects. Finally, the display presents a number of new acquisitions, including works by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Diller + Scofidio, and Simon Ungers.

http://www.dexigner.com/architecture/news-g15271.html

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=9224&ref=calendar