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Daily digest: L.A. shoots for 100 percent renewable power by 2035, a flying taxi partnership, and more

Shoot For The Moon

Daily digest: L.A. shoots for 100 percent renewable power by 2035, a flying taxi partnership, and more

All of these towers could be running off of renewably generated electricity by 2035 (Cameron Venti/Unsplash)

Good morning and welcome to the last news roundup of this shortened week as we roll into the long Labor Day weekend.

Here’s what you need to know today:

Los Angeles approves goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to move the entire city to 100 percent renewable-generated electricity by 2035, 10 years ahead of its original timetable. That will come through a mixture of electricity generated by wind and solar, batteries, hydrogen to replace fossil fuels and the city’s natural gas plants. Of course, this will require a massive expansion of solar and wind utilities, a move expected to create thousands of new jobs.

H/t to Construction Dive

Why was Hurricane Ida so disastrous for New York City?

For all of the destruction Sandy left in its wake in 2012 and New York City’s long-gestating infrastructure projects intended to protect the city from the worst effects of sea-level rise, the scattered remnants of Hurricane Ida tore through and flooded the city both above and below ground. Apartment complexes and subway stations alike were inundated as busy thoroughfares temporarily turned into rivers that left drivers stranded. While Mayor Bill de Blasio reportedly laid the blame partially at the feet of meteorologists for failing to forecast the amount of rain the city would receive (something that was quickly pushed back against), drainage that dumps directly from the street into the subway system, a lack of political will to protect the city’s coastlines, and a failure to preemptively shut down the transit system earlier were all cited as failings.

H/t to the New York Times

Archer Aviation and REEF Technologies partner to launch flying taxis from parking garages

Flying taxis launched from the rooftops of parking garages across Miami and Los Angeles by 2024; is it pie in the sky thinking or coming soon? A new partnership between electric flying taxi startup Archer Aviation and mobility hub company REEF Technologies wants to put charterable vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) in both cities.

REEF is best known for repurposing parking garages into multiuse transportation hubs, and the pair plans on using the dormant roofs of those structures to launch Archer’s electric vehicles in heavily trafficked urban areas. According to a press statement from Archer, REEF currently owns over 4,800 such garages within range of 70 percent of the U.S. population. As mentioned, the partnership has targeted Miami and L.A. as for its trial run, citing the dense population and historic congestion of each.

Theaster Gates teams with Prada to launch an experimental design lab for BIPOC artists

Artist, educator, and urbanist Theaster Gates has partnered with Prada and the Rebuild Foundation (which Gates also founded) to launch the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, a three-year initiative to bolster BIPOC artists. Through Dorchester Industries, part of Theaster Gates Studio, young designers and artists from a variety of backgrounds will be given the chance to work on projects and network on an international scale, with Gates himself reportedly serving as both a mentor and facilitator with outside companies. The first cohort will reportedly be chosen and announced in August and will likely fall between 8 and 15 members.

H/t to WWD

Lipton Plant Architects will convert an English WWII bunker into a breezy holiday home

How do you liven up a 1939 war bunker with enough charm to turn it into a desirable vacation home? For London’s Lipton Plant Architects, the answer involved blowing holes through the bomb-resistant walls and installing glazing. The project, which will convert an abandoned bunker in Dorset, England, into a two-bedroom vacation home, recently won approval to being the conversion (though the rest of the bunker, including the exposed concrete walls, will remain the same).

H/t to Dezeen

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