Awnings encourage natural light and offer shade protection
July 1st, 2023
Natural light can help reduce energy usage in our buildings. This is a lesson known for centuries but seemingly forgotten after the 1940s with postwar technological advances in air conditioning (coupled with the Modernist design movement that declared “ornament is a crime”). These stripped-down building facades spoke volumes about a new era of high-tech materials […]
Avenue of opportunity: Streetscapes
October 1st, 2021
Street appeal for this South Florida restaurant was greatly enhanced with a fabric canopy. Photo: Awnings of Hollywood. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up tens of thousands of public gathering spaces by forcing proprietors to move their services outdoors and onto sidewalks and street fronts. While it is unclear how long these outdoor public sheltered […]
Birdair installs tensile roof retrofit
September 1st, 2021
The Tensotherm™ fabric used in this retrofitted tensile roof offers diffused glare-free natural daylight, enhanced temperature control, remarkable acoustics and innovative sustainability. Photos: Birdair Inc. Custom membrane provider Birdair Inc. has brought a modern look to a shopping mall in Lancaster, Pa., with the installation of a retrofitted Tensotherm™ translucent insulated tensioned membrane system. The […]
Birdair announces global restructuring
November 1st, 2020
Birdair Inc., a specialty contractor for custom tensile membrane structures, has announced an international reorganization as it expands its worldwide presence through its network of organizations. A subsidiary of the Taiyo Corporation in Japan, Birdair—along with a number of MakMax Group affiliates—has completed more than 1,300 tensile architectural projects in more than 30 countries and six continents. […]
Birdair announces global restructuring
October 1st, 2020
Birdair Inc., a specialty contractor for custom tensile membrane structures, has announced an international reorganization as it expands its worldwide presence through its network of organizations. A subsidiary of the Taiyo Corporation in Japan, Birdair—along with a number of MakMax Group affiliates—has completed more than 1,300 tensile architectural projects in more than 30 countries and six continents. […]
Fabric’s role in revitalizing neglected urban areas
February 1st, 2019
Like other rust belt cities, Detroit began declining decades ago, propelled by a combination of bad luck, bad timing, bad decisions and economic transformations that delivered additional crushing, seemingly fatal, blows. Its condition was such that not so long ago, numerous companies sprang up offering tours of the city’s ruined buildings and factories—a somewhat morbid […]