How do you translate a “TED meets Burning Man” vibe into the design of a year-round property—as the investors behind Utah’s ski slope–adjacent Summit Powder Mountain are attempting to do in their 10,000-acre, billionaire-friendly planned mountain community? Summit, a company that organizes meetings, talks, and events with innovators and entrepreneurs, is discovering the difference between putting on a weekend conference and opening a permanent settlement: The latter requires a balancing act between vision, pragmatics, and the somewhat unpredictable dynamics between the individuals who choose to settle in such a place. The trick is to create a population density that can support amenities like restaurants, grocery stores, and public gathering areas. But what comes first, these amenities or homes for people to use them?

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, Olson Kundig, Marmol Radziner, Studio Ma, JVA Arkitekter, and Tom Wiscombe Architecture are among the architects who have signed on to design some of Summit’s buildings.



Archpaper

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) has launched its own podcast, The Arc. The podcast is hosted by SCI-Arc History + Theory Coordinator Marrikka Trotter. Each episode, according to the school, "juxtaposes a contemporary architectural idea or concern with related concepts from other disciplines, ranging from science to sports, in casual, unscripted, and intimate conversations." So far, two full episodes have been released in the series, including one episode on Scale that focuses on examining the effect of size on architecture, experience, and design thinking. The episode features guest appearances by SCI-Arc Undergraduate Program Chair Tom Wiscombe, neuriscientist Dr. Yawende Pearse, and Bill Boes, a Hollywood production designer and art director.



archinect

TWA's Sunset Spectacular project appeared in The Architect's Newspaper in an article about the past, present and future of LA.



archpaper.com

TWA's National Museum of World Writing on display in the collective installation “THE ARCHITECTURAL BEAST” curated by Hernan Diaz Alonso.

“Through artificial intelligence- the work featured will be exposed to a perpetual state of transformation and mutation. The exhibition gathers a key set of practices- primarily from architecture- but also from art and fashion, to reveal facets of the strange beast that the tumultuous paradigm shifts of recent decades have left behind.” -Hernan Diaz Alonso



frac-centre.fr

Blockchains City appeared in Dezeen's article on North American smart cities.

From a smart forest in Mexico to a Nevada desert city powered by blockchain, a wave of smart cities are being proposed in North America.

Jeffrey Berns- who made a fortune selling cryptocurrency last year- has bought a large parcel of Nevada's desert with the aim of turning it into a smart city powered by blockchain technology.

The Innovation Park city is intended to be designed by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects and Tom Wiscombe Architecture and based on blockchain – a set of digital records that track transactions chronologically and publicly, but cannot be modified – to offer greater privacy and data control. For example, occupants of Innovation Park would be able to bank, vote and store data in the blockchain- without including middlemen or the government.



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