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Monday 3 August 2020

AIA "strongly opposes" Trump administration's rollback of fair housing rule

The American Institute of Architects has criticised the federal government's termination of a provision introduced to help dismantle racial segregation in housing.

The organisation "strongly opposes" the dismantling the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), which required communities receiving federal funding for housing to analyse barriers to housing and create a plan to rectify them, said AIA chief executive officer Robert Ivy.

"We need to do more to provide equitable opportunity to all Americans"

"Our federal government should confront the legacy of discriminatory housing policies as intended in the Fair Housing Act of 1968, not shrink away from the responsibility of ensuring our communities are equitable," Ivy added.

"At such a critical moment in time for addressing racial inequity, it's clear we need to do more, not less, to provide equitable opportunity to all Americans, especially for a basic human need such as shelter."

AFFH was introduced by the Obama administration in 2015 as a provision of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. It was nixed earlier this month by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary Ben Carson, who described it as "unworkable and ultimately a waste of time".

Trump opposed Obama-era housing provision

"Washington has no business dictating what is best to meet your local community's unique needs," he added.

US president Donald Trump has been vocal about his opposition to AFFH – describing as a way to "force" low-income housing into suburbs, as reported by Politico – and celebrated its end in a series of tweets.

"I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low-income housing built in your neighborhood." Trump tweeted

"Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden AFFH Rule. Enjoy!"

AIA and Trump lock heads over a number of political issues

AFFH will be replaced by the Preserving Community and Neighbourhood Choice provision, under which the grantee is able to continue to receive funding if they go beyond statute to promote housing that is affordable, safe, decent, free of unlawful discrimination and accessible under civil rights laws.

The rollback is the final move to end AFFH, which hasn't been enforced since HUD eliminated the Assessment of Fair Housing Tool for Local Governments used to analyse segregation in 2018.

The AIA and the Trump administration have locked heads over a number of political issues, including the climate treaty withdrawal and his immigration policies.

Most recently, the architectural organisation condemned a government proposal to introduce an order that all federal buildings should be built in the "classical architectural style".

Photo by Marcus Lenk on Unsplash.

The post AIA "strongly opposes" Trump administration's rollback of fair housing rule appeared first on Dezeen.

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Masks, Toilet Paper, and Thermometers Transform into Miniature, Outdoor Adventures by Artist Tatsuya Tanaka

All images © Tatsuya Tanaka, shared with permission

In the time of COVID-19, disposable face masks, toilet paper, and other essentials are synonymous with safety, precaution, and staying indoors. But in Tatsuya Tanaka’s ongoing Miniature Calendar series, the everyday items are subverted to create the tiny sets of outdoor adventures. A folded mask serves as a small tent, toilet paper descends from a wall holder as a snowy ski hill, and a thermometer outfitted with wheels transforms into a speedy racecar. For more of the miniature scenes from the Japanese artist and photographer (previously), head to Instagram, where he publishes a new piece daily. (via Lustik)

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A Massive Flower Splays Across Six Surfaces in a New Mural by Artist Mona Caron

“⁣Limonium.” All images © Mona Caron, shared with permission

An enormous flower overtakes the San José’s cultural affairs building in a multi-plane mural by artist Mona Caron (previously). Titled “Limonium,” the delicate, pink-and-green leaves spread out across the structure’s facade, transcending a single side. Wrapped around six walls and across four planes, the flower appears to be growing continuously from multiple angles.

The San Francisco-based artist says determining the spatial logistics was straightforward. She added reference points to the wall and superimposed her botanical piece to a photo, which guided her through the process. In a video posted to Instagram, Caron walks around the pastel mural to capture its illusory qualities. “The main plant faces the entrance to the Convention Center on Market Street, but to its left, there is a semi-enclosed cove, which is the entrance to the garage, and there’s another plant in there, with a flower stem that calculatedly appears to be a part of whichever plant you’re looking at,” she shares with Colossal. “Similarly, I carefully drafted the rightmost flower stem (and) leaves to appear continuous when seen both from the street and from the upper terrace.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mona Caron (@mona.caron) on Jul 22, 2020 at 4:48pm PDT

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Allermuir designs flat-pack dining furniture Folk

Dezeen promotion: furniture brand Allermuir and London design studio PearsonLloyd have partnered to design customisable flatpack dining furniture for use in commercial, residential and hospitality environments.

Folk is a collection of dining chairs and tables designed to be "modest, but timeless".

"Folk has matured into something much more versatile than bistro furniture," Allermuir said. "It's a truly modest, but timeless family of tables, chairs and stools.

"Stripped back with softness and sturdiness, its earthy simplicity is suitable for a diverse range of applications in both home and hospitality environments."

The flatpack sets allow for easy storage, assembly and transport. Small bolts and pre-attached screws fit onto one another to create a "seamless and glueless" design.

"Seamless and glueless, Folk has no visible fixings," Allermuir added. "Its flatpack nature means it can be stored in volume, assembled anywhere in minutes and is always ready to be shipped."

Each of the tables is available in a range of sizes and shapes, including square and circular for intimate dining settings and rectangular for use in larger rooms. The designs feature slender, rounded legs capped underneath the tabletop with corner knuckles.

Similar to the tables, Folk chairs and stools have circular legs, a thin frame and concealed joints.

All of the pieces are customisable with the option to select one of six powder coat paints named Off Black, White, Crayon Grey, Pistachio, Seattle Green and Aubergine. The colours can be added to either the legs, chair posts, tabletop or used to cover the entire piece.

In addition to the range of hues, the furnishings are available in a number of finishes, including wood, plastic and metal, that will patina over time adding to the pieces' timeless nature.

Allermuir is a furniture brand that designs for offices, homes and public spaces.

It has showrooms in London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Singapore and Birmingham, as well as manufacturing plants in Lancashire, England and Maumee, Ohio.

The post Allermuir designs flat-pack dining furniture Folk appeared first on Dezeen.

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Elise By Olsen’s Wallet mag unpicks fashion tech, with contributions from Issey Miyake and Neri Oxman

Issue eight of the glossy publication features the so-called Titans of Tech exploring the possible impacts of technological innovation in the fashion industry.

from It's Nice That https://ift.tt/2ELVFyA