Cape Town’s scenic beaches, which are a draw card for tourists, are occasionally contaminated by bacteria from faeces, at levels which pose a risk to human health. The city claims this is due to pollution washing out the storm water system when it rains, but local scientists suspect the millions of litres of sewage pumped…
Miami, New York and Basel-based practice Oppenheim Architecture has completed a water purification plant in a protected Swiss forest in Muttenz. Commissioned by OAD Europe to design the city’s new municipal water purification plant, the structure has been designed as a natural rock form made of a mixture of stone and clay. All images ©…
After more than three decades of talk about the potential of building green, we’ve still failed to change the way we design and construct buildings so that the built environment stops being a dominant contributor to runaway climate change. The Earth has already warmed about 1℃ since the 19th century and it’s on track to…
The Southern African Plastic Pipes Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) has issued an invitation to professionals interested in presenting at its PIPES XII Conference, to submit their abstracts as soon as possible. This year’s event will take place on 27 and 28 August at the Altron Business Park in Midrand. “We have reserved two full days for…
Danish architecture firm Henning Larsen Architects has unveiled its designs for the expansion and transformation of the French Opéra Bastille, the largest opera house in Paris. All images courtesy of Henning Larsen Architects Developed in close collaboration with Reichen & Robert Architects, dUCKS scenographic, PEUTZ Acoustic Consultants and CET Engineering, the expansion plans will feature…
To accommodate the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the opening of Parliament on Thursday, 7 February 2019, several roads will be closed in and around the Cape Town CBD. There will also be a rehearsal on Wednesday, 6 February 2019, beginning at approximately 6pm. Road closures for rehearsal (6 February) 5pm – 11:59pm…
Jason Ngibuini from the University of Witwatersrand is a regional winner in the 32nd Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Award, taking the top prize of R10,000. Second place and a prize of R8,000 went to Benjamin Kollenberg. The winner of the third prize and R 6,000 was Suzanne Pasch, with Genna Price receiving R6,000…
OMA has completed the first phase of the refurbishment of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, one of China’s oldest private museums, re-positioning the centre in the 798 Art District in Beijing. All images © Bian Jie The project, led by OMA Asia partner Chris van Duijn, incorporates a newly designed façade, forecourt and entrance opening…
The Department of Water and Sanitation has called on water consumers to intensify their water conservation efforts to save the country from a dry winter. The department said that South Africa’s dam levels continued to drop, despite thundershowers in some parts of the country. A weekly dam levels report released by the department this week,…
Recently released by United Nations University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health, a new study compares for the first time the effectiveness and costs of many different technologies designed to remove arsenic from groundwater – a health threat to at least 140 million people in 50 countries. The report, Cost and Efficiency of Arsenic…