James Holloway

Bridge specialist Knight Architects has announced that its novel design for a footbridge in Paddington, London is to go ahead. The hydraulic Merchant Square Bridge will raise and lower like a traditional folding Japanese fan.  Read More

Anyone that looks at press releases with any regularity will no doubt have felt the onset of re- fatigue, induced by the weight of new products which claim to "rethink," "re-imagine" and "redefine" things (but seldom do). So while we're a little dubious of the claim that Rainshader "reinvents" the umbrella – it is still a canopy on a stick, after all – at least there's no denying that there is actual innovation in evidence. Apparently the helmet-shaped Rainshader doesn't turn inside out in the wind, drip on people, or poke them in the eye.  Read More

Here's an interesting piece of interior design. Challenged by a client to refurbish a tiny studio apartment in Paris, architect Betillon/Dorval‐Bory was asked to pay special attention to lighting due to the limited daylight available in some parts of the apartment. Its response was unusual, to say the least. High-performance lighting was installed at one end and, in one sense, deliberately awful lighting at the other. Named Appartement Spectral, the design breaks every rule in the book, yet the effect is striking – and it's all down to street lighting.  Read More

When it comes to keeping tabs on the location of aircraft, radar has long ruled the roost. But radar range is limited, and long-haul planes become untraceable when passing over oceans and large deserts or polar regions. By equipping orbiting satellites with instruments that listen in on ADS-B signals, scientists think that it should possible to track aircraft over the course of their entire journey, and with the launch of Proba-V, they're ready to put the idea to the test.  Read More

Scientists from Nottingham have announced that they've drafted in some expert help with I-BiT, a research project seeking to treat lazy eye with video games and specially designed 3D glasses. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is to adapt some popular PlayStation 3 titles as part of the ongoing project.  Read More

With Klik, Australian companies Elenberg Fraser and Unitised Building have come up with a prefabricated modular building system they claim is equally suited to knocking up a quick skyscraper as it is a modern, designer house. It makes sense, then, that the product is pitched at developers, architects and would-be homeowners, and that the multiple choice procurement procedure is identical for each. If you can tick a box, you can design a Klik building, more or less.  Read More

The meaning of the word biomimicry is being devalued and inflated, to the point that any technology or design with the vaguest resemblance to something in the natural world tends to have the word unthinkingly applied to it. PR people in the automotive and architectural fields are now particularly fond of the word. So it's refreshing to be able to report on some research that has taken a detailed look at a natural phenomenon, the armor of a seahorse, and thought about how it might be applied in the field of robotics. The researchers think a similar structure of sliding plates could be used to improve robot arms used for underwater exploration and bomb disposal.  Read More

Why do power stations always look like power stations? That's the tacit question behind AZPA's proposal for a new gas power station in Wedel, Germany, which it envisages as a "green mountain" of topiary. The idea is not so much to disguise the plant as it is to turn it into a local attraction.  Read More