Social Media: The Latest Architecture and News

Branding for architects isn’t just about having a beautifully designed logo. In fact, when it comes to promoting your architecture firm, a distinctive brand is fundamental to communicating what makes your firm unique and different.

In our experience at Archmark branding and rebranding architecture firms, construction companies, and home service providers over the past ten years, we have developed a strategic process that makes branding easier than expected and reveals surprising results. In this article, we share the same steps we take with our clients so you apply them to your own branding efforts.

“How to give your home: Dark Academia vibes” reads the title of a popular YouTube video targeted at homeowners fascinated by the aesthetics relating to liberal education and the arts. A subculture born in the age of social media, Dark Academia is one of many internet aesthetics that have gained prevalence in the last decade. Image-based platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok have amplified internet aesthetics, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media allows users to support and create their own trends that rapidly amass a following. Today, the creation of aesthetic trends lies in the hands of the general public and will dictate the way interior design trends develop.

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The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.

A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.

According to a Harris Poll/Lego survey that questioned children across the United States, UK, and China, nearly one-third of children aged eight to 12 want to be a “YouTuber” when they grow up. That’s three times as many children who said that they wanted to be astronauts just a decade ago. The implications of how this generation of future influencers and content creators has a significant impact on the architecture and design profession begs the question- are we on the cusp of experiencing the rise of architecture influencers?

How do street art practices resonate through the digital world, and how do we trace such resonance back to the street? More generally, what happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Andrea Baldini (Nanjing University) reflects on the role that the Internet, and social networks, in particular, have had in boosting the circulation of graffiti and street art and, in turn, their communicative and denouncing power.

For the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," (21 December 2019-8 March 2020) ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies might impact architecture and urban life. The contribution below is part of a series of scientific essays selected through the “Eyes of the City” call for papers, launched in preparation of the exhibitions: international scholars were asked to send their reflection in reaction to the statement by the curators Carlo Ratti Associati, Politecnico di Torino and SCUT, which you can read here.

Videos

Before social media took over, buildings were published on magazines, edited and refined according to their architects’ preferences. Nowadays, magazines are left on the sidelines for a much more influential platform, one that is not totally controlled by the architects. Digital communication has changed the way people view and interact with architecture, providing architects with new insights on how to design their structures.

PLANE—SITE, a global production agency involved in the world of urban, cultural, and social spaces, have put together a short video that examines the impact of social media on architecture firms. Building Images provides insights from OMA/AMO and UNStudio, two firms with different approaches to social media, who explain how social platforms have helped them see their projects in unprecedented ways.

Hey architects (and non-architects), how do you feel about posting more Vision vs. Reality shots? I realize there’s liability and privacy concerns. But wouldn’t it be cool for us to peel back the curtain on the overlap between design and execution? It’s a messy, but rich subject, is it not? Today, I stood on top of my truck to take this photo, showing the progress on our Pacific Ave residence, in Manhattan Beach. They just installed the red steel beams for the roof. I love the temporary transparency of the framing.

A post shared by Laney LA, Inc. (@laneylainc) on Aug 18, 2018 at 4:23pm PDT

In the current iteration of our digital age, Instagram is king in the social media. Boasting 1 billion (yes, with a "b") active monthly users, if you are a business and not on Instagram, you are missing out.

Given the visual nature of the platform, architects and designers have flocked to the platform, using it to market their work, promote new ideas, and even pull in commissions. Other aggregator accounts use the platform to find and foster new talent, creating an entirely digital architectural community that is open to all.

The hashtag officially became part of the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014, and whether you tend to use them or not, they are a pretty unavoidable internet tool that helps users connect related internet content. Maybe you’re hashtagging photos to get featured on a certain account or to poke some fun at yourself (see Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon)? But serious ArchDaily readers have been using “#” to group beautiful photographs of architecture for the better part of a decade. When Instagram announced that it was possible to follow hashtags, die-hard taggers found a way to discover and like new content without actively seeking it out.

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Social media is one of the most critical elements for a successful marketing strategy. For architecture firms, the bounty of online platforms supporting visual content can allow ideas, commissions, and buildings to reach millions of architecture lovers around the world with a single click.

Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has proven to be an enduring platform for sharing architectural ideas, with even ArchDaily taking the decision in February to make Facebook a primary avenue for reader comments. Below, we have rounded up the 20 architecture firms worldwide with the most Facebook followers, demonstrating how a well-maintained, engaging presence on social media can allow architectural ideas to be spread to millions of enthusiasts. Are you following all of them?

This article was originally published by Archipreneur as "How to Grow Your Architecture Firm Through Marketing."

Marketing is not simply an expense reserved for already established architecture firms. Small businesses in particular can benefit from a smart marketing strategy by aligning their operations with some of marketing’s most basic premises and concepts.

Architects in general have a tendency to underestimate the importance of marketing in creating and running a successful business. Even those who claim to understand the role of marketing in acquiring clients and building relationships often fail to fully utilize its potential. Principals of small architecture firms often get caught up in trying to keep their practices afloat and end up treating marketing as a luxury that they will be able to afford once they achieve stability--thus missing the true role of marketing as being a catalyst for growth. Architects need to apply marketing to their practices from the onset and treat it with the same amount of dedication as they do with their floor plans, sections and 3D models of their building designs.

This edition of Section D, Monocle 24's weekly review of design, architecture and craft turns its editorial gaze back to their "own turf" to consider ways in which publications cover design and architecture, both in print and online. The episode asks whether "traditional magazines are as influential as they used to be," and whether or not "clicks and online-only articles can actually pay the bills?" In search of answers, Monocle's Henry-Rees Sheridan talks to ArchDaily's co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, David Basulto, along with European Editor-at-Large James Taylor-Foster, about the origins of the platform – and more.