Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling comprises a selective survey of prefabrication in architecture, represented by a timeline, and a building project of contemporary prefabricated homes on the MoMA west lot that is available until October 20th. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Oct 6, 2008 - 2 comments

Construction of the World's Highest Bridge, Millau Viaduct in France, which is slightly higher than the Eiffel Tower. It is now included in a list of Google Earth extremes. World's most interesting bridges. Gallery of beautiful world bridges. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Oct 5, 2007 - 23 comments

Le Viaduc de Millau on the A75 between Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers in France is the world's tallest and most technologically advanced bridge. At 2,460m long and 343m tall, its multi-stayed spans are suspepended from seven pylons. It is not only an engineering marvel, but a work of art. It took 14 years of preparation, but the bridge was built in only 3 years. This film shows how it was built. Here is a live view from the webcam. Previous Metafilter discussion in August 2004 before the bridge opened in January 2005 here.
posted by three blind mice on Sep 1, 2005 - 13 comments

This has a value in our profession, and it doesn't have to do with scale at all. It has to do with the actual meaning of a house.
posted by alms on Sep 9, 2004 - 8 comments

Construction of the Scottish Parliament in Pictures. The site was way over its budget even before they'd started building it, but it's nice to see they're at least doing something creative with the design. Being a lucky soul, I get to walk past this monstrosity every single day.
posted by bwerdmuller on Oct 10, 2003 - 15 comments

Cranespotting (Geocities) ... is the compulsion, upon seeing a long crane boom reaching skyward in the distance, to drive over and see what's holding it up. The crane capital of the world is Germany, where Demag, Gottwald, Krupp, Liebherr and others make some cranes with eye-opening numbers: more than 60 feet long, with 10 axles, and able to lift 1,000 tons. Now sometimes cranes tip over, touch power lines and so on; and there's a website for that too.
posted by kurumi on Jun 12, 2003 - 7 comments

Hot Little Igloos And Tutti-Frutti Toadstools or Living In Your Own I-Pod: Affordable housing gets seriously cute and makes Hobbits or Bubble boys and girls of all of us. The floor plans are versatile and the rentals (from $68 to $110 a week) are enticing. The "idea that governed the whole planning of Dome Park Lane and really became our goal was to provide clean, secure and -- most importantly -- affordable housing for low-income individuals." Are monolithic domes too good to be true or too weird to catch on? I sincerely hope not. [Via Linkfilter].
posted by MiguelCardoso on Dec 26, 2002 - 11 comments

the tofte project cool web site. cool project. cool ideas. cool person. cool part of the country. cool use of flash. via k10k.net
posted by specialk420 on Dec 13, 2002 - 19 comments

Trash homes a.k.a. earthships sound like the way to go. Now if they would start building them here in Seattle...
posted by folktrash on Aug 12, 2002 - 15 comments

Now that's more like it. Finally a design for rebuilding the WTC that captures the appropriate spirit. Far better than the other designs I've seen. No doubt some will think it too much, though. What's your opinion?
posted by rushmc on Jun 24, 2002 - 84 comments

Amy Hughes spent a lot of time building a church. For her cat. Out of legos.
posted by donkeysuck on Apr 18, 2002 - 52 comments

Why is American architecture so bad? "American architecture is, as a rule, conventional, bland, and dull. This is true almost across the board: from public buildings sponsored by federal or state governments to commercial buildings; from privately sponsored civic institutions, such as museums and concert halls, to local community centers and religious sanctuaries; from public-housing projects to private housing."
posted by rushmc on Dec 24, 2001 - 37 comments

One of the worst things I've seen in a while... this reminds me of that 8-story supermarket in Seoul, Korea last year that crumbled from the weight of overcrowding in it's poorly built frame. What does it take for people to know better than to let things like this happen?
posted by prototype_octavius on May 25, 2001 - 20 comments