Dive into the archives.
- High Speed Rail in America
[A Siemens built Velaro high-speed train for service in Spain – anticipated to be the model for California’s fleet.]
By announcing $13 billion stimulus package aimed at the development of the groundwork for a high-speed rail (HSR) network, President Obama has catapulted intercity transportation to the front of infrastructural spending.
After peaking during the Second World War, [...]
- Islands at the Top of the World – Airships Revisited
[Luxury cruises by Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT over San Francisco]
As energy costs rise and resources continue to deplete, seemingly defunct technologies tend to resurface. Airships are one such innovation, garnering more attention in recent years after decades of dormancy. Airships are ‘lighter than air’ structures that remain aloft with a lifting gas, such as [...]
- Making a Better Place
[Electric Parking Lot in Israel: www.betterplace.com]
With the cost of a barrel of oil dipping below $40 a few weeks ago (recall this summer’s price of $140), imagining a post-oil future may not be on everyone’s mind . This is not the case for venture-backed Better Place and its partners. Since 2007, Better Place, led by [...]
- Mountain Design
[Ecosign: vision for Trysil, Norway.]
Chasing down one of the designers of the Peak 2 Peak gondola linkage for Whistler, we stumbled upon Ecosign. They have certainly carved a niche in ski resort planning, or what they call “mountain design.” Obviously a misnomer, mountain design sounds inverse to what actually takes place in their design process. [...]
- Peak to Peak, or Parabolic Trajectories
[Trail map of Blackcomb (left) and Whistler (right).]
It is becoming commonplace to hear the superlatives coming out of the Middle East and China in terms of infrastructure, but not this time. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the two peaks at opposing ends to Fitzsimmions Valley, Whistler and Blackcomb will be linked. In the [...]
- Gongoozolers, Aqueducts, and Lifts
[The inland waterways of England and Wales is comprised of over 5,000 navigable kilometers.]
Shipping just got a whole lot smarter. With the advent of software able to forecast the optimum shipping route and method for products still relying upon our globalized capital, suppliers and manufacturers are better able to soften the constricting power of rising [...]
- Icebreakers
[Icebreaker at work]
An icebreaker does exactly what it sounds like, a boat that breaks through sea ice using a strengthened hull and a wide ice clearing girth. Recognizing increased seasonal access as both opportunity and hazard, countries like the US have recently increased their interest in developing a new fleet of icebreakers. It takes a [...]
- Marked Routes
[A superimposition of 23 significant journeys. (click to view large)]
Stumbling upon a map produced by GOOD magazine (and executed by the reliable graphics of Graham Roberts), suggests the power of historic routes to mark the very teritory in which they navigate – whether it be land, water, or air. Some chartered in open territories are [...]
- Thawing Continent(s) and Moving Islands
[The thawing but unresolved politics of the Arctic have been fueled by the resource black-goldmine of the area partially entombed in sea ice. (click to view large and make text readable.)]
As the arctic continues its seemingly unstoppable liquification, at InfrraNet Lab we continue tracking the results of this thawing geography and the new potential urbanisms [...]
- Moving House(s)
[Moving houses in Malartic, QC as part of a 18-month long neighborhood relocation program.]
This summer, two houses were moved from the south end of Malartic to the north. These are part of a 23 home “demonstration phase” anticipating a total of 170 houses to be relocated. Malartic, Quebec (Canada) is a 3700 population town that [...]
