BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In the past decade, about 27 million people a year around the world have lost their homes due to natural disasters. In 2015, these numbers peaked, with disasters leaving an estimated 60 million homeless. There is an urgent need for architects and other built-environment professionals to contribute effectively to disaster rebuilding. In response to this need, Australia's RMIT University is launching a new postgraduate degree - the Master of Disaster, Design and Development (MoDDD) - which will be taught both from its RMIT Europe centre in Barcelona and its Melbourne campus. Prior to the MoDDD launch in Barcelona on Monday 30 November, a symposium will be run in collaboration with UN-Habitat and UIC Barcelona titled "Designing for a Fragile Planet". Developed in partnership with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and UN-Habitat, MoDDD will explore how design can be used as a strategic tool to help resolve complex global challenges including poverty, natural disasters and climate change. Associate Professor Esther Charlesworth, Director of the Humanitarian Architecture Research Bureau (HARB) at RMIT, said demand was growing for architects, engineers and other design professionals to contribute to planning and rebuilding following disasters. "While there is an immediate need for emergency shelter and infrastructure solutions after a disaster, the longer game is to provide broad strategic support for the rebuilding of devastated cities and landscapes," Charlesworth said. Dan Lewis, Chief of the Urban Risk Reduction Unit for UN-Habitat, is a senior contributor to the development of the degree and keynote speaker at the official launch in Barcelona on 30 November. "The Master of Disaster Design and Development starts from the premise that unless you build community and social infrastructure around post-disaster housing, it's nearly always doomed to failure," Lewis said. Keynote speakers at the "Designing for a Fragile Planet" symposium will include design professionals who have led recent reconstruction programs from Haiti to Nepal including, Eric Cesal (Architecture for Humanity) and Brett Moore (World Vision and Harvard University). The MoDDD will be launched at RMIT Europe (Carrer de Minerva 2, 08006 Barcelona, Spain), 6pm Monday, 30 November. In addition to Esther Charlesworth and Dan Lewis, speakers will include Graham Saunders, Head, Shelter and Settlements, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Visual Presentations for Interior Spaces … Done Right! Published November 18, 2015 by Merit Armoire’s Cuisine Action, located in Boucherville, QC, Canada, provides custom kitchen cabinet and bath services to the greater Montreal market. Their well-executed implementation of a hanging system installation clearly steps outside the “art hanging” arena, devising a practical and efficient approach to a better customer “hands on” experience. The use of a hanging system provides the opportunity for showroom customers to touch and feel, while creating an inviting and aesthetically pleasing space in what is often mundane and mediocre.This is not mundane and mediocre! To show or present the various finishes and door/drawer styles that are available, one of each style is on display and hanging from one of several walls. Additional samples are located in the bins below. These can be removed and carried to other areas of the showroom to match up with countertop materials or taken home and reviewed within the actual space or to a flooring showroom, for example. This hanging system is comprised of tensioned cables. The cables are held in tension with J-End Cable Tensioners, spanning two runs of Wall Track, one above and one at the counter level, from AS Hanging Display Systems’ Cable System. The cabinet face samples are attached to the system by using Mini Hooks, which connect to D-Rings attached to the rear side of the panels. The samples are arranged into groups. Each group is identified by means of a placard that is placed in the lower right-hand area of each group. These placards are also displayed using specialty fittings from AS Hanging Display Systems. These include acrylic pockets and side clamps. We were so impressed with this set up when we visited the showroom, we queried the owner to gain more insight into how this change has impacted their ability to present product to their customers. “Our samples of cabinet doors were displayed and screwed on large panels that we had to re-order and re-install each time there was a new collection of doors that came in, or simply when new colors arrived. The holes left behind on these panels prevented us from moving doors as we wanted, even if there was just one to change. This new system showcases our products and allows us to now quickly reshuffle the arrivals of new collections and colors. We save a lot of time and money since we can now move any or all of the rows and columns quickly and as many times as we wish, without the need of replacing the expensive wood panels. The look is considerably more aesthetic and professional, and reflects the image that Action Cuisine wants to portray. Considerably more than the nail and screw system we were using before.” The display area at Action Cuisine is a classic representation of how to create a showroom or retail display without nails or recurring damage to display walls. Not only is damage avoided, the expense of replacement costs and labor for repairs is greatly reduced and potentially eliminated. We thank Armoire’s Action Cuisine for sharing their story and for providing us with yet another opportunity to share with our readers just one of the vast applications available when a hanging system is implemented.

MVRDV, together with The Urbanist Collaborative and LLJ Architects, has won the competition for the transformation of the T-axis in downtown Tainan, Taiwan. The transformation of the T-axis aims to reconnect the city with nature and its waterfront by creating a lagoon on the site of the former China-Town Mall and a green corridor with public interventions along Haian Road. Construction start is envisioned for autumn 2016, and the former underground parking beneath the mall will form the basis for the new public space.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Stevens Institute of Technology’s SURE HOUSE has taken home first prize in the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. The Vinyl Institute, one of the SURE HOUSE sponsors, backed the team of over 60 students which captured the event’s top trophy. By building a sustainable and resilient home through their inspired combination of dedication and innovation, the team showcased the balanced performance, versatility, and efficiency of vinyl products. This is very exciting for us,” says Susan Wade, VP of Marketing and Communications for the Vinyl Institute. “The design was about sustainability and resilience. With the house being a coastal home, vinyl really played a key role. It was an opportunity to show how important vinyl is to those design goals.” The beach house design was a direct response to the need for sustainable, resilient homes along the New York and New Jersey shores. The home was engineered to fully utilize a renewable energy source--in this case solar energy-- while being resilient to the evolving coastal effects of climate change. In addition, the home is a fully functional energy hub which can provide power for itself and to adjacent homes in case of large-scale emergencies. Over a period of two years, the team thought creatively about efficiency and sustainability and better ways to attain them. The engineering and design elements of this project relied heavily on materials to meet the high standards for the home. Strength, durability, and energy efficiency made vinyl a clear choice. The piping, wiring, and cable insulation, as well as the reflective roof, the indoor and outdoor flooring, and the windows all contain vinyl. The SURE HOUSE became the perfect model for designers, builders, and homeowners to become educated on the material’s versatile attributes. The SURE HOUSE details will be the featured presentation by the Vinyl Institute at Greenbuild 2015, booth 1206, being held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., November 18-20, 2015. “This is a great opportunity,” Wade continued. “We hope to see everyone at Greenbuild to showcase this extraordinary home and talk to the students who designed and built it.”

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