How to visualize architectural concepts in SketchUp using D5 Lite for faster design exploration.

The greenhouse is a commonplace architectural typology, a frequent fixture in a host of cities, built to shield plants from the elements — from excess heat or cold or to prolong the growing season of crops. Evidence of the presence of greenhouses in some form stretches as far back as the 1450s during the Korean Joseon dynasty, but it is in the 1700s that the greenhouse was born as a specific architectural form. Glassmaking improved, and thus the largely transparent, wide-span structures we know today were born. Nestled under the intricate iron metalwork of greenhouses are also wider stories — of control and undeserved wealth, and resistance.

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The circular economy concept became more defined in 1990 when it appeared in the article Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment, by British economists and environmentalists David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner. At the time, the main purpose of the research was to demonstrate that the traditional economy did not incorporate recycling. In this way, the environment assumed a secondary role, just like a simple waste reservoir. Therefore, the circular economy would gain strength as an opposition to the linear (or traditional) economy, in which the production chain motto is “extract, produce and discard”. A model deeply rooted in our economy that has become unsustainable for several reasons, like the depletion of natural resources and the contamination of the environment resulting from production and disposal.

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We present a challenge: building with less water. The construction process consumes a massive amount of water resources, and it is time to rethink how we can reduce this environmental impact.

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As you make your way through the symphony of wooden colonnades, leafy screen walls, and unfurled roofing, towards the converging veins of flooring and ceiling ribs leading to the light, it feels like a space that was always meant to be there. Part of the park, the pavilion complements the nature around it, reflecting its patterns, and illuminates a main interior feature: a concentric set of tables and stools that inspire people to sit at the moment, hold conversations, and connect with each other. This narrative tells the tale of this year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh.

Titled, À table, It draws inspiration from the designer’s connection with nature growing up and is reminiscent of the French call to sit together at a table, share a meal and enter a dialogue. It foregrounds the table as a laboratory of ideas, concerns, joys, connections, and essentially brings people together. It further reflects on the architectural ideals that can provoke and welcome moments of collective conversations.

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Which are the criteria for the regeneration of a former industrial site? Restore to Impact, the international Call for Ideas powered by the Chiesi biopharmaceutical Group, aims to identify innovative, evolutionary and transversal concepts as guidelines for the future regeneration project of its historic industrial site in via Palermo in Parma. In this context, it has defined its guiding principles to evaluate the concepts submitted by April 30th.

Flexibility, adaptability over time, and porosity are understood as the ability to dialogue with the physical and social context. In addition, the quality of the landscape and public spaces are also related to connectivity and sustainability in technological, environmental, economic, business and innovative terms. 

Henning Larsen has been selected as the winner of an international competition for the design of Kurfürstendamm 231, a new mixed-use urban development in western Berlin, Germany. Other finalists in the competition included Cobe, David Chipperfield, and Mäckler Architekten. The winning concept centers the neighborhood around an urban courtyard which acts as a large-scale meeting place for the local community. Nine buildings define the courtyard, including the existing Agrippina House, which is set to be rehabilitated through the project.

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The firms Effect Arquitetura, from Brazil, and Ben-Avid, from Argentina, have partnered to design a multi-sport and events arena with a capacity of approximately 3,000 spectators. The building was designed to serve as the main venue for the 2021 Central American Games in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.

Located on a plot of land approximately 260 meters long by 60 meters wide, the building is bordered by a creek, a main avenue connecting it to the rest of the city, and a small local street. The topography features three stepped levels, sloping down toward the rear of the site along the avenue.

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