Ford’s Theatre Gets an Acoustical Upgrade

Wood’s Re-growth as a Structural Material
Though often consigned in perception to countryside lodges and single-family suburban homes, wood is gaining renewed credibility as a structural material among a growing group of contemporary designers. Owing to its sustainability virtues, structural possibilities, and low cost relative to steel, wood is cropping up in new markets. Take London, for example, where, at nine stories, the world’s tallest timber residential building opened at the end of February. There, in a dense urban setting, Murray Grove is challenging traditional ideas of wood construction.

AIA Asheville Creates Connection over the French Broad River
With Interstate 26 complete from Asheville into Tennessee in 2006, AIA Asheville looked ahead to weaving the I-26 connector into the fabric of their fast-growing destination city. The result was their AIA Blueprint for America project, Bridging the French Broad River, to enhance the city’s beauty and livability. In a video just posted on the AIA national component YouTube page AIA Asheville’s Alan McGuinn, AIA, interviews Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy to discuss her perception of the success of the Blueprint project, which subsequently spawned the Asheville Design Center as a way to focus concerned citizens on how the connector could most effectively be integrated into the fabric of their city.