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Daily digest: The largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. moves forward, a Brutalist bus terminal revival, and more

Sorry, Martha

Daily digest: The largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. moves forward, a Brutalist bus terminal revival, and more

At the restored Zvonarka Central Bus Terminal in Brno, Czech Republic (Photo by alex shoots buildings)

Welcome back to another Thursday chock-full of architecture and design goings-on at home and around the world.

Here’s what you need to know for today:

The largest offshore wind farm in U.S. history is approved for Massachusetts

The United States is sticking to its pledge to boost renewable energy production, and on May 11, the Biden administration approved construction of the Vineyard Wind project. Now, 84 wind turbines will rise 12 miles off the coast of Massachusetts and once completed is expected to provide up to 800 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough power for 400,000 homes, which seems like a lot, but is only a small step towards meeting the country’s target of 80 gigawatts of wind generation by 2030.

H/t to Archinect

CHYBIK + KRISTOF restore a historic Brutalist bus terminal in the Czech Republic

A historic example of the Czech Republic’s Brutalist architectural heritage has been given a new life thanks to international architecture studio CHYBIK + KRISTOF. Work to preserve the Zvonarka Central Bus Terminal in Brno had been underway since 2011. Built in 1988 but already decaying due to decades of neglected maintenance, the newly revived bus terminal sees a massive concrete roof supported by a tangle of steel beams and struts. CHYBIK + KRISTOF went out of their way to better integrate the terminal with the surrounding streetscape and introduced a new ticketing office and waiting area, as well as improved the station’s accessibility for mobility-impaired commuters.

H/t to designboom

Bjarke Ingels is designing underwater robot harvesters

Vancouver-based The Metals Company is attempting to scrub the ocean floor for salable minerals, rare earth elements, and ore, and has turned to Bjarke Ingels for help. The Danish architect and the eponymous BIG are now designing systems for blowing ore nodules off of the ocean floor and up into robotic collector vehicles at the water’s surface. The Metals Company hopes that by autonomously sourcing rare earth metals from the ocean, the often brutal working conditions currently involved with sourcing them for batteries can be eradicated.

H/t to Fast Company

The pandemic blew up small boutique ceramicists

With everyone stuck inside for the last year-plus, Instagram and Etsy-centric potters have seen their businesses explode. The demand for weird, wild, and one-of-a-kind mugs and plates has seen social-media-savvy ceramicists sell out in minutes every time they restock, putting their work up there with every other product that’s currently been hard to get ahold of in COVID times.

H/t to The New York Times

The University of Texas at Austin reveals a major commission from Sarah Oppenheimer

Visual artist Sarah Oppenheimer is bringing her brand of architectural sculpture to the University of Texas at Austin. This morning it was announced that Oppenheimer would drop C-010106, a pair of dynamic glass volumes, across the footbridge that connects the school’s Engineering Education and Research Center with the Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building (both designed by Ennead Architects and Jacobs). C-010106 is Oppenheimer’s first wholly outdoor installation and will intersect with the bridge itself to create disorienting and periscopic views.

We Build the Wall founder indicted, pleads not guilty

Brian Kolfage, founder of the We Build the Wall group that tried crowdsourcing to build their own U.S.-Mexico border wall, has been indicted on charges of fraud in Florida. Kolfage and business partner Stephen Bannon allegedly misled donors over how much money was going toward the project and how much was going to the organization. Kolfage has pled not guilty and is reportedly fundraising for his legal defense.

H/t to Construction Dive

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