CLINTON CLIMATE INITIATIVE TO DEMONSTRATE MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN GROWTH WITH PROJECTS IN 10 COUNTRIES ON SIX CONTINENTS

May 19, 2009 - SEOUL - The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation, today announced a global program developed in collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), called the Climate Positive Development Program.

The program will support the development of large-scale urban projects that demonstrate cities can grow in ways that are "climate positive." Climate Positive real estate developments will strive to reduce the amount of on-site CO2 emissions to below zero.

Sixteen founding projects on six continents, supported by local governments and property developers, will demonstrate Climate Positive strategies, setting a compelling environmental and economic example for cities to follow.

For all companies involved in the construction and infrastructure sectors, the new Eurocode regulations will have decisive importance. Haig Gulvanessian is one of the experts who was involved in developing the Eurocodes.

Professor Haig Gulvanessian has a medal on a unique ribbon that many people desire. In 2007, he received one of Britain’s top honors when, together with a famous travel writer, a jazz pianist and a former head of British Intelligence, he was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth for his “services to the construction industry.” He also has the Czech Technical University’s prestigious “Gold Medal First Class,” an honor he shares with former US President George Bush Sr. Both decorations, proudly placed on his mantelpiece, recognize his achievements in the fields of civil and structural engineering, particularly in the field of Eurocodes.

World Habitat Awards 2009 - call for entries!

The Building and Social Housing Foundation is currently seeking entries for the 2009 World Habitat Awards competition. Established in 1985, the World Habitat Awards recognise innovative and sustainable housing and habitat projects worldwide, which are capable of being transferred to other contexts.

Two awards are given annually, one to a housing project from the North and one from the global South.

Entries are assessed by a panel of international judges and an award of £10,000 is presented to the two winning projects at the annual United Nations global celebration of World Habitat Day.

Re-Skin Our Cities An Idea Worth Spreading

By an increasingly wide margin, the largest emission of greenhouse gases in our cities comes from the operation of our buildings — commercial and residential. For example in New York it's 79%, London 52%, Hong Kong 72% and Toronto 63%. Add to this list Beijing, Rome, Madrid, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Paris and the average is likely to be between 60% and 80%.

DEFINING A CREATIVE HUB COMPETITION

A Creative Hub can be defined as a space that induces Creative Thinking, which is a combination of creativity, curiosity and communication. A place, real or virtual, where designers meet ordinary people to bring creative influences and creative acts.

A Creative Hub has the ambition to create and enhance every local resource that can attract creative brains in a specific territory. In today’s scenario, every global city is competing with each other to build creative hubs, which are also architectural masterpieces, developed according to local needs of region. But real needs are difficult to be identified and they change from region to region.

The Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel has launched a new database of companies directly involved in the Israeli occupation. This online database reflects an on-going grassroots investigation effort by the Coalition of Women for Peace, a leading Israeli feminist peace organization dedicated to ending the occupation and reaching a just peace in Israel/ Palestine. Rigorous research, including site visits and cross references of documents, have resulted in a database of several hundred international and Israeli companies directly involved in the Israeli occupation. During 2009 we intend to upload hundreds more of companies which are under investigation.

The Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights is fueled by corporate interests. Israeli companies and multinational corporations deal in real estate; develop the Israeli infrastructure and settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories and the Golan Heights; contribute to the construction and operation of an ethnic separation system, including checkpoints, walls and roads; design and supply equipment and tools used in the control and repression of the civilian population under occupation.

The DETAIL Prize 2009 was awarded in seven different categories during the glamourous DETAIL Gala at the Munich House of Artists. The architectural DETAIL Prize, which was awarded for the third time this year, has "Aesthetics and Construction" as its motto and total prize money of 29,000 euros. It awards completed structures characterised by well-designed, future-orientated and technically innovative details within an outstanding overall design. New and expanded categories mean that there is now a greater emphasis on cross-sectoral connections and the strengthening of the interdisciplinary network.

The main prize was won by FAM architectura y urbanismo from Madrid together with Schlaich Bergermann & Partner from Stuttgart for the M-11 Memorial in the centre of Madrid.

Providing holistic design expertise to top developers

India's first high-end niche mall recently opened in Bangalore, a city which is rapidly becoming one of the most sought after destinations for global financial and retail giants. The growth in the Indian economy and the country's vast middle class with its expanding purchasing power are increasingly attracting international retail investors wanting to enter newer markets.

The mall at UB City is known as UB City: The Collection. It is a joint venture between the Prestige Group and Vijay Mallya, CEO and owner of UB Holdings, to create the country's first luxury speciality mall. The exclusive destination forms part of the prestigious UB City development that is situated in the most affluent part of Bangalore. The 193 752 sq ft GBA (60 000m2) UB City is a landmark mixed-use development consisting of commercial offices, a five-star hotel, banks, serviced apartments, food courts, exclusive high-end retail outlets, health clubs, cafes, restaurants and extensive parking facilities. On completion UB City will be one of the most dynamic, cosmopolitan and multicultural developments in India. Bangalore is an important commercial centre and the development is expected to considerably enhance the city's business and tourism infrastructure.

Design completes super-tall district, showcases sustainable public space.

Shanghai (Vocus) November 28, 2008 -- Groundbreaking ceremonies held today mark the start of construction on Shanghai Tower. The 632-meter building designed by Gensler, a leading global architectural design firm, advances sustainable design strategies and gives prominence to public spaces. The Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd., is the project’s developer. Thornton Tomasetti structural engineers, Cosentini Associates mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers and the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tongji University as the Local Design Institute will support Gensler. The development is slated for completion in 2014.

The Cities Alliance is pleased to announce the publication of its 2008 Annual Report. Key highlights in this year’s report include:

The growth in the number of client or country executed projects or activities, in line with the Cities Alliance new Medium Term Strategy which promotes city and country ownership of projects. Among the current active or newly approved projects, 13 percent are executed by local authority and nearly 40 percent more by a country partner. This is in contrast with the profile of grant funding during the first four years of the Alliance’s launch (FY 00 – 03), when only seven percent of projects were executed by a ;local authority and an additional 15% by a country client. Today, approximately half of Cities Alliance projects are already under country execution.