David R Hoover, Architect, NCARB

There have been 3 winners announced for the Re: Vision-Dallas competition and are available for viewing at http://www.revision-dallas.com/?p=525 Entry 192: Forwarding Dallas Firm: Atelier Data & MOOV Lisbon, Portugal Authors: António Louro (MOOV), Filipe Vogt (Atelier Data), Marta Frazão (Atelier Data) Collaborators: André Almeida (Atelier Data), Carolina Pombo (Atelier Data), Inês Vicente (Atelier Data), José Niza (MOOV), João Calhau (MOOV) Landscape architecture: Susana Rodrigues Energy efficiency and resources: Maria João Rodrigues, João Parente Concept communication: João Rato Entry 136: Greenways Xero Energy Firm: David Baker and Partners Architects and Fletcher Studio San Francisco, CA Mark Hogan, Amit Price Patel, Ian Dunn, Amanda Loper From Fletcher Studio: David Fletcher, Sarah Donato Rendering assistance from Mike Brown and Megan Morris of Medized. Entry 113: Entangled Bank FIRM: Little Charlotte, North Carolina Team Me...

Here is information about Re: Vision Dallas from Derek at Urban Revision - The goal of the competition is to find a winning design for the first a sustainable city block in the U.S. – which will be located in Dallas, Texas. This is not a proposed project. The land has been purchased and the supporting organizations are in place. All we need now is a winning design to get the development started. Though the competition is open to anyone, we are specifically encouraging Students, Professors, Architects, Engineers, City Planners, Designers and Visionaries to enter Re:Vision DALLAS. The top three winning entries will receive $25,000 and honorable mentions will receive $1,000! The top three winners will receive a consultation with the non-profit organization leading the development, Central Dallas CDC, and may possibly be selected to contribute the final design for this multi-million dollar project. Here is a link where you can learn all about the competition: http://www.urbanrevision...

Here is a home designed for Universal Design in Washington D.C that was sponsored by AARP: http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek08/0627/0627p_aarp.cfm I know that it is tempting to design homes with doors that are less than 3'-0" or bathrooms that are not wheelchair accessible, but after taking care of my grandmother in my 1970s home, I will make sure that my firm will at least follow fair housing guidelines and at most go with the ANSI 117.1 standards or a Universal Design. Most of the design elements that are in Fair Housing Guidelines are not cost prohibitive and actually make good design sense, so for any type of residential construction this should be required. For the Fair Housing Design Manual, please go to this HUD link: http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/fairhousing/fairintro.pdf Here is a link for Universal Design: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/pubs_p/docs/UDinHousing.pdf

Geoff Gjertson, who is an Associate Professor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a formal employee of Holly & Smith, presented the BeauSoleil project during a lunch on Wednesday. The BeauSoleil is a solar home that is based on regional architecture and will be submitted to the Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC from 09/17 to 10/06 of 2009. For more information on the project, please go the following link: http://www.beausoleilhome.org/

Wayne Troyer Architects (WTA) has completed a facility for the Homeless in New Orleans that provides good design under a restrictive budget. It really shows that good design does not need to cost a lot. http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek08/0815/0815p_rebuild.cfm

Here is a project using sustainable design that will qualify for LEED Platinum: http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek08/0627/0627d_water.cfm

This is a interesting and unique idea for a house: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-07-14-shippingcontainers_N.htm Of course, if you could ship your house to other areas of the world, then it would be fairly useful.