Becky Quintal

Former Head of Content. Prior to assuming her role at ArchDaily, Becky worked as an editor for leading architecture firms OMA/AMO, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Reiser + Umemoto. She also worked as an editor for Princeton University School of Architecture and Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. She holds degrees from Princeton University, Harvard University and the School of Visual Arts.

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VIDEO: I LIKE Multicolor

VIDEO: I LIKE Multicolor - Image 1 of 4

Critics and Peers Comment on Shigeru Ban's Pritzker Prize

Yesterday we asked some prominent critics and a few of Ban's peers to weigh in on the Japanese architect's Pritzker win. Curators, architects, and writers praised Ban's approach and conviction, describing what Ban's work signifies to the architecture community. Read on for comments from Architecture for Humanity co-founder Cameron Sinclair, MoMA curators Barry Bergdoll and Pedro Gadanho, Cooper Union classmates Nanako Umemoto and Jesse Reiser, of Reiser + Umemototo, and more.

"We are very proud of Shigeru as the first Pritzker Prize Winner to have graduated from Cooper Union. Shigeru continues to embody the independent thinking that was highly emphasized through our education. We met Shigeru in 1979, and can speak to his dedication to humanity from the beginning. As we recall, each design problem for Shigeru became an occasion to explore the work of what he considered to be the master architects as a way of developing his own voice. It has become fashionable to connect architecture to social causes; however, Shigeru has never seen it as a trend, but rather something fundamental to his design practice. Unlike those in the discipline who conflate their social and political commitments with architecture, he happens to be a very fine architect. As a result of his education abroad and his inclination to define a unique practice, Shigeru has always been viewed as an independent within the Japanese scene. We are very excited that Shigeru's work is being honored."
- Nanako Umemoto and Jesse Reiser
Founders of Reiser + Umemototo, RUR Architecture PC

A Selection of Shigeru Ban's Best Work

A Selection of Shigeru Ban's Best Work - Featured Image
Nine Bridges Golf Club. Image © Hiroyuki Hirai

Explore the architectural development of Pritzker Laureate Shigeru Ban - from his early, more minimalist residential work in the 90s to his experimental, undulating structures (2010's Pompidou Metz, Nine Bridges Golf Club) to his latest masterpiece in timber construction, Tamedia New Office Building (2013).

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The Berlage Archive: Luis Fernández Galiano Theory Master Class (1994)

The Berlage Archive: Luis Fernández Galiano Theory Master Class (1994) - Image 1 of 4

25 Instagram Feeds to Follow Now (Part II)

Last June, we published our first list of must-see Instagram feeds to follow, but we knew it was only the tip of the iceberg. Once again we’ve scoured the web (and followed your excellent suggestions) to track down the 25 Instagrammers who will be sure to inspire – including dare-devil adventurer raskalov, up-and-coming architecture photographer nicanorgarcia, and our very own editor-in-chief.

See the 25 awesome architecture instagrammers, after the break…

ArchitectureBoston's Latest Issue Offers Design Recommendations For A New Boston

Available today, the spring 2014 issue of ArchitectureBoston magazine, Blueprint for a New Mayor, investigates the critical design challenges facing Boston’s first new leader in two decades. The issue focuses on the city’s challenges surrounding housing, transportation, public space, and regionalization, plus offers recommendations for designing a Boston that is more open, safe, beautiful, and fair. Visit architectureboston.com to read the latest issue.

VIDEO: I LIKE Purple

VIDEO: I LIKE Purple - Image 1 of 4

ArchDaily has teamed up with Portugal's Canal 180 to bring you their series I LIKE. Check out episode 3, I LIKE Purple. The video features SO-IL's Flockr Pavilion, raumlabor's SOFT SOLUTION and two other purple-hued spatial interventions.

I LIKE is an original series on architecture and spatial intervention, developed in a collaboration between Canal 180 and LIKEarchitects atelier. Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Otto have created a chromatic experiment and spatial exercise—organized by color—that reveals some of the most amazing architectural interventions in the world.

Next week ArchDaily will premier the fourth installment of I LIKE. Stay tuned!

5 Ways Koolhaas' Biennale Will Be Different From the Rest

As Rem Koolhaas completes the introductory press circuit for the 2014 Venice Biennale, we're learning more about one of the most anticipated Biennales in recent memory. Here's what we've gleaned from Oliver Wainwright's revealing story in today's Guardian:

1. Koolhaas has been asked to direct the Venice Biennale before, but hasn't accepted until now. "I have been asked to direct it a number of times before, but I held out for two conditions: that I have a year and a half to plan it, and that I can sever all connections with contemporary architecture – which is not in particularly good health."

Latest Details Released on Koolhaas' Venice Biennale 2014 "Fundamentals"

UPDATE: In a press conference on Monday, Venice Biennale director Paolo Baratta and curator Rem Koolhaas expressed their commitment to using the event to highlight “things that architects can’t ignore.” These “Fundamentals” get back to the basic inventions of modernity, thus individual exhibitions will look to the “elementary particles of architecture.” Paying special attention to the developments of the past century, Baratta and Koolhaas hope that the event will serve as “a reference point and source of inspiration for architecture."

The Biennale website has posted new images and an expanded description of the Biennale and its events:

Fundamentals consists of three interlocking exhibitions – Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014Elements of Architectureand Monditalia – that together illuminate the past, present and future of our discipline. After several architecture Biennales dedicated to the celebration of the contemporary, Fundamentals will look at histories, attempt to reconstruct how architecture finds itself in its current situation, and speculate on its future."

Read on to learn more about architecture's most celebrated exhibition.

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VIDEO: I LIKE Pink

VIDEO: I LIKE Pink - Image 1 of 4

ArchDaily has teamed up with Portugal's Canal 180 to bring you their series I LIKE. Check out episode 2, I LIKE Pink. The video features UNStudio's Holiday Home, Périphériques architectes' Pink Ghost and two other pink-hued installations.

I LIKE is an original series on architecture and spatial intervention, developed in a collaboration between Canal 180 and LIKEarchitects atelier. Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Otto have created a chromatic experiment and spatial exercise—organized by color—that reveals some of the most amazing architectural interventions in the world.

Next week ArchDaily will premier the third installment of I LIKE. Stay tuned!

Venice Biennale 2014: Full List of National Participants Revealed

A few hours ago in Venice, Rem Koolhaas presented his curatorial vision for "Fundamentals" in a live-streamed opening press conference. As we reported last year, "Fundamentals" will focus on architecture rather than architects and history rather than contemporaneity. Koolhaas will not just curate an exhibition of his own, but will be coordinating the "collective effort of all national pavilions."

This year's exhibition features the participation of 65 countries--including 11 first-time participants (Azerbaijan, Côte d'Ivoire, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, New Zealand and Turkey). See the complete list of national participants--which includes collaborations with Jacques Tati, Hans Ulrich Obrist, FAT, Iñaki Ábalos and others--after the break.

Click here to see all of ArchDaily's previous coverage of the 2014 Venice Biennale. And stay tuned... we'll be bringing you on-the-ground reports from Venice when the Biennale launches in the first week of June!

Woods Bagot Reveals Design for Wenling Sheraton

Woods Bagot Reveals Design for Wenling Sheraton  - Hotels
Courtesy of Woods Bagot

Woods Bagot has shared their design for a destination hotel in Zhejiang, China. The Wenling Sheraton, sited between two waterways, is scheduled to be completed in 2019. Woods Bagot says that views of the wetlands and mountains of Wenling will "ensure a quality guest experience" which includes waterfront dining, an observation deck and a pedestrian promenade.

More photos of the design after the break.

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AD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio

Spanish firm Ensamble Studio has always captivated me with the high level of experimentation found in their built works. Their construction processes are unique, and their projects elegantly explore the tension between structure, matter and space with impeccable technical execution--as seen at the award-winning Hemeroscopium House’s delicately balanced intersected prefab elements.

From the small Truffle in the Mediterranean coast, to the delicate roof of the Cervantes Theater in Mexico City, their work is always reinterpreting materials. The Cervantes Theater roof, for example, stands elegantly between projects by FR-EE and Chipperfield, marking the location of an underground venue below through a carefully balanced steel structure. From certain angles, though, one sees a laminar structure that lets light pass through.

The firm is based in Madrid, and is directed by architects Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa, together with Javier Cuesta. Antón is currently full-professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT.

In this interview Antón tells us that architecture is part science, part poetry, and that Ensamble has found success by treating their practice as a laboratory, academy and consultancy company. Read the full transcript after the break.

AD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio - Arch Daily InterviewsAD Interviews: Antón García-Abril / Ensamble Studio - More Images

VIDEO: Henning Larsen Architects on Building Ambitions for Society

From Henning Larsen Architects. "Architecture is the opposite of the coca-cola-principle," says Louis Becker, director of Henning Larsen Architects, in this interview with Louisiana Channel. He continues by explaining that architecture is, first and foremost, about seeing things grow. With architecture your dreams become physical: “We are building our ambitions for society.” If architecture was separate from life and society, it would be an uninteresting form and space. The inside of a building must have a relation to the outside; there has to be a dialogue between the life and hope inside, and the city as a whole.

Architecture is also a merger of cultures and ideas. Scandinavian ideas of transparency, democracy and equal access affect the way Henning Larsen Architects approaches architecture. But, at the same time, it is very important to think of what is necessary in the nature, culture and climate that you are working with. "When two different ways of seeing the world meet, that's when something interesting happens."

In this video, Becker explains these ideas in relation to two very different projects, one in Saudia Arabia and The Harpa Concert Hall in Reyjavik, Iceland (which was made in collaboration with artist Olafur Eliasson and won the prestigious Mies van der Rohe award in 2013).

2014 Pritzker Prize to be Announced March 24th

We've just learned that the Pritzker Prize will be announced on Monday, March 24 at 5pm EDT. This prize -- architecture's most prestigious -- has been awarded annually since 1979. Past winners include Philip Johnson, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Oscar Niemeyer and Norman Foster (full list). You can see ArchDaily's coverage of the prize here. Stay tuned for the latest updates on this year's winner. Who do you think deserves to win?

VIDEO: I LIKE Black

VIDEO: I LIKE Black - Image 2 of 4

ArchDaily has teamed up with Portugal's Canal 180 to bring you their series I LIKE. Check out episode 1, I LIKE Black. The video features RCR Arquitectes' Teatro la Lira, Kumiko Inui's Shin-Yatsushiro Monument, and NL Architects' Wos 8.

I LIKE is an original series on architecture and spatial intervention, developed in a collaboration between Canal 180 and LIKEarchitects atelier. Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Otto have created a chromatic experiment and spatial exercise--organized by color--that reveals some of the most amazing architectural interventions in the world.

Next week ArchDaily will premier the second installment of I LIKE. Stay tuned!

Proposals for Statoil's Norway HQ from OMA, Foster + Partners, Snøhetta and More

Norwegian energy corporation Statoil has revealed proposals for a new corporate headquarters from the five architecture firms that were shortlisted last October: OMA, Foster + Partners with Space Group, Snøhetta, Wingårdhs, and Helen & Hard with SAAHA. The competition--announced in September of 2013--called for a project that would "take into consideration a number of new measures in the region regarding public transport, parking, roads and other types of infrastructure." The winner will be announced in April/May.

Statoil hasn't disclosed which project belongs to which firm, but the ArchDaily editors have had some fun trying to put a name to each model. What do you think? Let us know your guesses in the comments!

In OMA's De Rotterdam, Furniture Transforms 60-meters into Multi-Functional, Versatile Space

OMA's De Rotterdam, a project 15 years in the making, is designed to maximize the number of functions possible in 44 floors. In addition to shops, hotels and office space, this "vertical city" also contains apartments that use transformable furniture to pack a variety of uses into small spaces. Chairs double as wall art and sofas flip into beds, showing that a 60 square meter apartment is more versatile than we think.

Developer Wim De Lathauwer explains, "Why would we only think in quantity of bedrooms and square meters, while many of these spaces are used only sporadically?...In The Netherlands we are simply not used to this way of thinking. De Rotterdam is the ideal project when it comes to maximizing the joy of every square meter. We deal with an audience who understands this and yearns for this extra quality. Even in the large apartments the office, wardrobe- and guest room are combined in one space. Actually, it is very logical.” You can see the dynamic furniture, designed by Clei Italia, in the video below.

Read more about The Netherlands' largest building here.