Solar Decathlon Goes Abroad
The Solar Decathlon goes to Europe this year with Madrid hosting the competition. Seventeen solar-powered residences were conceived, designed, and built by groups of students from universities around the world.

Photo courtesy Solar Decathlon

Recession follow-up
In last year's March issue we profiled six emerging professionals who were laid off as the economy tanked. Encouraged by news from unemployed colleagues who recently landed new jobs and the infectious optimism in the media, we caught up with our previous subjects and polled a few others on their job situations.

Photo courtesy Morgan Mense

Different approaches win competition for refugee housing
A woven shelter designed by Jiyoun Kim and a lightweight structure made of prefabricated modules by Gene Kaufman shared first place in the first annual Ideas Competition organized by the AIA’s Young Architects Forum and the Committee on Design.

Photo courtesy AIA Young architects forum

Kansas to Cairo
In January, Marina Del Rey, California architect David Denton launched a Second Life–based class at USC School of Architecture alongside Cairo, Egypt-based architect Amr Attia at Ain Shams University in Cairo. Comprising eight American students and 40 young Egyptians, the group has master-planned a site nestled between the Giza pyramids and the forthcoming Grand Egyptian Museum.

Photo courtesy David Denton

Design studios, taught from afar
Conducting a design studio from afar, with webcams and video chat software, is neither common nor a trend. But it is being done, and, say those who have done it, successfully. Seattle architect Peter Jahnke just completed one at Montana State University, and he and his students argue that this kind of studio gives them a leg up to the world of global business.

Photo courtesy Peter Jahnke

University of Colorado Design Build
The University of Colorado’s (CU) College of Architecture and Planning design/build program on campuses in Boulder and Denver has been educating students for 11 years with hands-on projects that focus on community outreach and service learning. The program has lasting effects on both the students and the community, as demonstrated by CU’s latest completed project for Urban Hens.

Photo courtesy University of Colorado Design Build

Zero Energy Design
When Zero Energy Design (ZED) first hung its shingle, the partners planned to translate their second-place Solar Decathlon entry into a saleable product. But over time, ZED transitioned into custom green-home construction and renovation.

Photo courtesy ZED

Graypants
Sitting in a softly lit café in New York or San Francisco, you would probably never guess that the exotic, handmade light fixture you’ve been admiring used to be a cardboard box. Repurposing discarded items into something both useful and elegant is what truly inspires the resourceful young designers of Graypants.

Photo © Sean Watson

Archiculture, 2010
Many have mused that architecture studio would make the perfect setting for reality television: the combination of caffeine-fueled all-nighters, high stress, and unsympathetic critics is sure to produce dramatic footage. Ian Harris and David Krantz are taking this idea a step further by making a feature-length documentary about studio culture.

Photo © Meghan Roberts

Future Cities Lab
Just off the heels of their Van Alen Institute New York Prize fellowship exhibit, The Aurora Project, Nataly Gattegno and Jason Johnson, principals of Future Cities Lab, are putting their lives back together after nearly three years on the road.

Photo © Future Cities Lab

MEx: A Design Cooperative Grows in Brooklyn
Welcome to Metropolitan Exchange (MEx) in New York City, “an architecture, urban planning, and research cooperative” where members “collaborate on architecture and planning projects, pursue development opportunities, and sponsor lectures, film screenings, and exhibitions.”

Photo courtesy Al Atarra

M1/dtw: Mixing architecture and graphics
Detroit-based architectural designer Christian Unverzagt was doing interdisciplinary work before he knew the phrase. As a skateboarding teenager in the ’80s, he says, “We had to create our own landscape, so I would design and build all these backyard ramps. And I would design all the flyers to raise money for them. I was producing a brand.”

Photo courtesy M1/dtw

Lukas Petrash’s MCD House: Trash becomes a family’s treasure
To describe the house Lukas Petrash designed and built in Huntsville, Texas, requires a certain breathless tone. MCD House cost only $24,500 to build. It measures only 484 square feet. And Petrash was only 23 years old when he finished it.

Photo courtesy Lukas Petrash