Sister Act

Since 2005, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille faced adversity of biblical proportions. First, flooding from Hurricane Katrina significantly damaged the New Orleans convent and school of this Roman Catholic order. On the way to restoring it, a fire...

Farming in Nursery School?

Could the nursery school of the future consist of greenhouses and vegetable gardens? Yes, if the European architecture firm Aut Aut Architettura gets its way. Nursery Fields Forever, its winning entry in a design competition for an urban nursery school...

Flying Forestry

Could drones play a role in halting climate change? A company in Canada thinks so. Toronto-based Flash Forest has proposed using drones to plant more than 1 billion trees worldwide by 2028. It maintains that its specially outfitted gizmos could...

Smart City

Talk about sustainable urban planning: A Milan-based architecture firm has proposed a remarkable green development — 100% food and energy self-sufficient — on the 1,375-acre site of a sand quarry in Cancun, Mexico. The outside-the-box, planet-friendly concept would replace plans...

Shipshape Energy

Shipping, which transports 90 percent of the world’s globally traded goods, accounts for 3% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. This may not seem like much until you calculate that it amounts to more than 1.5 billion metric tons. (A full-grown...

Interplanetary Living

AI SpaceFactory, a self-described “multi-planetary architectural and technology design agency,” received funding from NASA to develop a prototype residence for life on Mars. Now they’ve set their sights closer to home. Relying on the same technology and concern for sustainability...

Bridging the Future

Achieving the Cuomo administration’s ambitious goal to produce all electricity from non-carbon sources by 2040 will require lots of ingenuity.

Solar Plex

One of the biggest drawbacks to embracing solar energy in valley communities: Many residents find the panels unattractive. But they don’t have to be. In fact, designers have begun turning solar arrays into works of art — providing inspiration along...