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This article is part of our series "Material in Focus", where we ask architects to share with us their creative process through the choice of materials that define important parts of the construction of their buildings.

Alagoas House used neutral colors and furnishings in order to let local craftsmanship stand out. Some of the strategies that guided the projects included using works by regional artists and decorating with repurposed everyday objects. We spoke with architect João Duayer of Tavares Duayer Arquitetura to learn more about the choice of materials and the determining role that they played in his concept for this project.

Denmark-based AART architects have been selected to design the country’s national rowing stadium, seeing off strong competition from prominent firms such as BIG and Kengo Kuma. Situated upon Bagsværd Lake on the outskirts of Copenhagen, the scheme seeks to allow the sporting elite and broader public to form a close interaction with picturesque natural surroundings.

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• Architects

  Fernando Pérez Oyarzun + José Quintanilla Chala

• Location

  Jaime Guzmán Errázuriz 3300, Providencia, Ñuñoa, Región Metropolitana, Chile

• Area

  1763.0 m2

• Project Year

  2015

• Photography

  Juan Purcell, José Quintanilla, Philippe Blanc

Justin Davidson: Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead

There's a creepy transformation taking over our cities, says architecture critic Justin Davidson. From Houston, Texas to Guangzhou, China, shiny towers of concrete and steel covered with glass are cropping up like an invasive species.

“That person sitting right next to you might have the most idiosyncratic inner life, but you don’t have a clue because we’re all wearing the same expression. That is the kind of creepy transformation that is taking over cities.”

Shiny, bland and homogenous. These characteristics are increasingly encapsulating the nature and identity of our cities through the use of glass as a dominant building material, says Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Justin Davidson. In this TED Talk, Davidson stresses the importance of the use of a varied palette of materials that evoke texture, color, roughness, and shadow, in order to create architecture of individuality and character to define and populate the world’s cities. The rapid growth of glassy skylines, which express a disdain for communal urban interaction, can be curbed through a combination of new and old building and material techniques, creating architecture that absorbs history and memory as a reflection of the diverse society it lives in.

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• Architects

  Arquitecturia, AMOO

• Location

  L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, España

• Arquitectos a Cargo

  Josep Camps, Olga Felip, Aureli Mora, Omar Ornaque

• Area

  640.0 m2

• Project Year

  2016

• Photographs

  José Hevia

150 years ago this month saw the birth of one of the most regarded, studied, influential architects of the twentieth century - American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. With a career spanning over seventy years, Wright developed his own distinct style of 'organic architecture', a new residential model of 'prairie house', as well as iconic schemes such as the Guggenheim in New York, and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. 

More than an architect, Wright was a social critic and visionary, just as well-known for his personal life as he is for his architectural contributions. The various stages of Wright's career can be narrated in tandem with biographical episodes, as exemplified in the book "Lives built, Biographies of architects" by authors Anatxu Zabalbeascoa and Javier Rodríguez Marcos. In celebration of Wright's birthday and life, we have compiled a list of biographical details to give you an insight into the man behind some of the twentieth century's most enduring pieces of architecture. 

This is what we discovered.

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• Architects

  McCabe Architects

• Location

  Donegal, Ireland

• Area

  460.0 ft2

• Project Year

  2015

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• Architects

  NA3 Studio di Architettura

• Location

  Rome, Italy

• Project Year

  2017

• Photographs

  Courtesy of NA3 Studio

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• Architects

  RÂU ARCH

• Location

  Đồng Hới, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam

• Architect in Charge

  Hùng Râu KTS

• Area

  111.0 m2

• Project Year

  2017

• Photographs

  Hùng Râu Kts

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• Architects

  Porebski Architects

• Location

  Tamarama NSW 2026, Australia

• Interior Designer

  Alexandra Donohoe

• Area

  500.0 m2

• Project Year

  2015

• Photographs

  Andrew Worssam, Justin Alexander

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• Architects

  PBA Architects, Tumushi Architects

• Location

  Yongdong Rd, TianHe GongYuan, Tianhe Qu, Guangzhou Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China

• Area

  11000.0 m2

• Project Year

  2016

• Photographs

  Zhang Chao

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• Architects

  Nervegna Reed Architecture, PH Architects

• Location

  Hanging Rock, 139 S Rock Rd, Woodend VIC 3442, Australia

• Architect in Charge

  Toby Reed

• Area

  48.0 m2

• Project Year

  2013

• Photographs

  Sam Reed + Toby Reed

The United States’ first mass-timber highrise (defined by Emporis Building Standards as a building with an architectural height of 115-328 feet, or between 12 and 40 floors) has been granted planning permission, allowing construction on the landmark project to begin. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon, the building known as Framework will cap out at 12 floors and approximately 128 feet, ushering in a new era of tall building construction in the US. 

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• Architects

  Graham Baba Architects

• Location

  1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122, United States

• Architect in Charge

  Jim Graham

• Area

  2738.0 ft2

• Project Year

  2015

• Photographs

  Rafael Soldi

The world’s first international Bicycle Architecture Biënnale - a showcase of outstanding built environment solutions around cycling - will take place this month in Amsterdam.

The event - organized by leading cycling innovation agency CycleSpace - takes place on Wednesday 17 June and will celebrate the cutting edge and high profile building designs that are facilitating bicycle travel, storage and safety around the world.

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• Architects

  Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados

• Location

  São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil

• Architect in Charge

  Victor Gonçalves

• Authors Team

  Henrique Reinach, Maurício Mendonça

• Interior Design

  RAP Arquitetura.Interiores

• Area

  1056.0 m2

• Project Year

  2014

• Photographs

  Evelyn Müller

The team known as MADE BY HOLLAND has been selected to transform the palace and gardens of Soestdijk, a 17th century country estate and former residence of the Dutch royal family, into a forum for innovation and entrepreneurship, where large-scale exhibitions and events can be held for a wide range of audiences.

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