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Federico Babina: The Latest Architecture and News

Win a Postcard Set of Federico Babina's Archibet, the Illustrated Alphabet of Architects

UPDATE: Congratulations to winners Robert, Angelo, Nathaniel, Enasaveva, and Avi! We will be contacting you via email. 

When Italian architect Federico Babina released his Archibet set this past year, it was an instant hit; no surprise, considering Babina’s illustrations depict the styles of 26 famous architects, from Alvar Aalto to Zaha Hadid, in a clever way unlike anything else. Now, thanks to Babina and publisher Laurence King, five of our readers can win their very own Archibet set.

Official rules: Check out Babina’s complete Archibet set (here) and let us know your favorite “letter” in the comment section below. Five winners will be chosen at random from entries received between Monday, January 12th and Sunday, January 18th 11:59 EST. Anyone in the world is welcome to participate. One entry per person. ArchDaily will enforce verification and remove duplicated ones before choosing the winner.

Bonus: ArchDaily readers can purchase a copy of Archibet by Federico Babina at a discount of 30% when ordering from www.laurenceking.com. Enter the code ARCHIBET30 at the checkout.

Good luck! 

ARCHIQUOTE: 13 Billboards Advertising Architecture’s Most Influential Concepts

Federico Babina is at it again, this time creating a series of 13 Las Vegas-inspired billboards that advertise architectural concepts of the profession’s most prolific contributors. The idea behind ARCHIQUOTE, as Babina describes, was to put words into manifest examples of architectural concepts and aesthetics from Mies van der Rohe to Rem Koolhaas.

“The words can be considered as architecture,” says Babina. “Simple concepts with deep meanings and complex thoughts explained with simplicity…Billboards that evoke a Las vegas of architecture where the phrases guide us to understand a little more the idea hidden behind the work done with volumes and space… In these 13 illustrations are mixed, intersect and integrate aphorisms and shapes in a communicative game.”

The complete series, after the break.

ARCHILIFE: Hollywood Stars Chill Out in Modernist Masterpieces

Federico Babina is back, this time bringing some cinematic life to the world's most well known modernist interiors with ARCHILIFE. "I have never liked the lack of life in the architectural representations that are often aseptic, clean and neutral," explains Babina. "I often enjoy imagining what life would be like in these static images."

The images show history's most famous film stars living out their daily routines in some of our favorite homes, bringing "the banality of everyday life" to these myths of both Architecture and Cinema. "We are used to perceiving and reading architecture as a set of almost metaphysical spaces. In a similar way we see the actors as characters and not as people," he says. "I wanted to try to reverse these patterns: to transform the interior into 'houses' and the actors into 'people'."

From Marilyn and Mies to Caine and Kahn, the stars get a home to match their temperament, in which to relax, watch TV, meditate - and yes, to clean and tidy too.

See the full set of 17 ARCHILIFE images after the break - and just in case you missed them, check out Federico Babina‘s other popular illustration sets: ARCHIWINDOW, ARTISTECT, ARCHISET, ARCHIMACHINE, ARCHIPORTRAIT, ARCHIST, ARCHIBET and ARCHICINE.

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ARCHIWINDOW: A Glimpse Through "The Eyes of Architecture"

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Courtesy of Federico Babina

In his latest series, ARCHIWINDOW, Federico Babina draws some inspiration perhaps from the headline exhibition the Venice Biennale, investigating some of the most famous window designs architecture has to offer. Babina simply says it is "a little reflection about architecture and the elements that compose it."

The images reveal how expressive the element of the window can be, as many of the 25 signature designs will be instantly recognizable for die-hard architecture fans, while others may reveal a previously-unrecognized trend in the work of a particular architect.

"The windows are the eyes of architecture. Through the windows enters the light and shadow that creates spaces. The windows invite us to enter the landscape, and are the cracks through which to spy on architecture," writes Babina. "I tried to transform a detail into the protagonist to emphasize its expressive capacity. A single window can open up a world of information. It allows you to lean out to find clues of the stylistic and linguistic aesthetics of architecture."

Take a look at all 25 drawings in the ARCHIWINDOW series after the break. And don’t miss Federico Babina‘s other (very popular) illustration sets: ARTISTECT, ARCHISET, ARCHIMACHINE, ARCHIPORTRAIT, ARCHIST, ARCHIBET and ARCHICINE.

ARTISTECT: Famous Paintings With An Architectural Twist

Our friend Federico Babina's latest illustrations blur the lines of art and architecture in this series: ARTISTECT. These 25 images, he explains, represent "possible and impossible encounters between artists and architects," emphasizing the "probable and improbable connections between forms of expression and aesthetic languages sometimes distant and sometimes very close."

In this exercise of overlapping styles, it is perhaps easier at first glance to identify the artist. But careful inspection of these stunning drawings reveals the idiosyncratic and stylistic tendencies of some of our most beloved architects. 

Babina writes, "The project’s main idea is to reinterpret famous paintings using a brush soaked in architectural tints…These images are a metaphor for an imagined and imaginary dialogue between creative minds: Le Corbusier talks with Picasso and Kandinsky discusses with Wright... The wires that connect and intertwine this relations can be thin and transparent or robust and full-bodied."

Take a look at the entire ARTISTECT series after the break. And don't miss Federico Babina's other (very popular) illustration sets: ARCHISET, ARCHIMACHINE, ARCHIPORTRAIT, ARCHIST, ARCHIBET and ARCHICINE.

ARCHIZOOM: Close-Ups of Architectural Favorites

Federico Babina is back with his latest illustration! This time, he explores 23 works of architecture through the lens of one interesting or intense detail that speaks to the character of the work as a whole. Seeing these illustrations as movie posters, which use visual imagery to suggest, insinuate, and convey "the essence" of the film, each illustration reflects the work and the architect's aesthetic overall. See all 23 after the break!

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ARCHIMUSIC: Illustrations Turn Music Into Architecture

Federico Babina's released his latest series of illustrations: Archimusic, architectural representations of 27 songs, from Miles Davis to Michael Jackson to Amy Winehouse. See all 27 after the break!

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Federico Babina's Latest Archi-Illustrations: Classic National Architecture (With A Twist)

Our very talented friend Federico Babina has been responsible for some of ArchDaily's most popular posts lately. The creativity behind his ARCHISET, ARCHIMACHINE, ARCHIPORTRAIT, ARCHIST, ARCHIBET and ARCHICINE have garnered thousands of shares on social media. Since we loved Babina's serialized architectural illustrations, we were thrilled when he saw his latest set: the ArchDaily logo imagined in and around the world's classic architecture. Read on for our interview with the architect and graphic designer.

ArchDaily: Can you introduce yourself?
Federico Babina: My name is Federico Babina. I am an Italian architect and graphic designer (since 1994) that lives and works in Barcelona (since 2007). But mostly I've been a curious person (since forever).

AD: What's an interesting fact about you?
FB: Every day I try to rediscover a way to observe the world through the eyes of a child. Children are able to have a vision of things totally uninhibited and without the conditioning of the experience. Children's drawings are always amazing and beautiful in their spontaneous simplicity and clarity. I like trying to explain the world I see through different techniques of expression. I like the richness of the language and the diversity of its forms. I do not want to confine me in a prison of a style or shape.

AD: In what ways does your training as an architect affect your style as an illustrator?
FB: Any architect has to explain his projects through illustration and drawing. Design is the first way to give shape and body to a project. In this sense every architect should be a graphic designer. I was born with illustration. It’s been part of my life since I was a child. I started with book stories, I passed through the comics and then I arrived to architecture. Drawing and illustration and making architectural projects are, for me, one of the ways to recount and capture thoughts, feelings and emotions. Every project has a story and every project is a witness of a story. I 'm fascinated by the idea of being able to blend the world of architecture and illustration: transform the architecture in an illustration and illustrations in an architecture.

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ARCHIMACHINE: 17 Countries Illustrated as Architectural Machines

ARCHIMACHINE: 17 Countries Illustrated as Architectural Machines - Featured Image
Courtesy of Federico Babina

Federico Babina, the illustrator behind the extremely popular ARCHIPORTRAIT (portraits of architects done in that architect's particular style), ARCHIST (fictional works of architecture in the styles of particular artists) and ARCHICINE (illustrations of architecture in famous films), has just released his latest: ARCHIMACHINE.

The Latest Illustration from Federico Babina: ARCHIPORTRAIT

Federico Babina, the illustrator behind the extremely popular ARCHIST and ARCHICINE, has just released his latest project: ARCHIPORTRAIT, "an artistic representation of 33 architects, in which the faces and the expressions are made of their architecture." As Babina says, "The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the protagonist through his aesthetic."

See all the portraits - from Corbu to Foster to Gehry and more - after the break.

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ARCHIST: Illustrations of Famous Art Reimagined as Architecture

Federico Babina has unveiled yet another playful collection of architecturally inspired illustrations: Derived from the "symbiotic relationship and implicit partnership" between art and architecture, Archist reinterprets the expressive language and aesthetic of prominent artists as built form.

“Art and architecture are disciplines that speak and lightly touch each other, the definition and function of the architecture are changing constantly with the development of contemporary art,” described Babina. “I took pleasure imagining architecture steeped of art, designed and constructed through the interpretation of an artist’s language.”

Just imagine, what if Dalí designed a house or Miró a museum? See what Babina envisioned, after the break...

ARCHISET: An Illustrated Tribute to the Interiors of Classic Cinema

Federico Babina has surprised us several times with his artistic work, from his "pixelated" versions of iconic characters (Parts 1 and 2) of architecture to his illustrations of architectural landmarks in the history of cinema. This time, the architect and illustrator delights us again with a new series entitled ARCHISET, which presents the sets of some of the most memorable scenes from classic films.

The series consists of 17 illustrations, cross-sections presenting the interior design and characters in films such as "A Clockwork Orange" by Stanley Kubrick, "All About My Mother" by Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar, and "Vertigo" by the master, Hitchcock.

Check out the full series, after the break.

Archibet: An Illustrated Alphabet of Architecture

Barcelona-based architect and graphic artist Federico Babina is at it again, this time creating an imaginary “Archibet City” guided by the language of architecture. From Alvar Aalto’s Riolo Parish Church to Zaha Hadid's Library and Learning Centre in Vienna, the collection reimagines 26 famous works of architecture into a set of letters that, as Babina describes, expresses the “heterogeneity of forms and styles” that make up our profession. Each letter is drawn according to the interpretation of an architect’s style, forming part of the cityscape that Babina refers to as “Archibet”.

See the whole set, after the break...

ARCHICINE: Illustrations of Architecture in Film

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The Big Lebowski. Directed by Joel Coen. Image Courtesy of Federico Babina

Federico Babina, the mastermind behind ARCHI-PIX (Parts One and Two) has come up with a fun new series - ARCHICINE - representing iconic works of architecture that have played protagonists on film. We've rounded up all the illustrations -check them out after the break!

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