
-
Architects: L'EAU design
- Area: 2987 m²
- Year: 2021
© Ulises (@ulises.studio)
Artificial intelligence is becoming an undeniable presence in our daily lives. It teaches, generates content, and disrupts the fragile boundaries—both visual and imaginative—that once governed our interactions on social media. On platforms like Instagram, we witness a flood of imagery where every kind of speculative exercise is freely shared, recalibrating our understanding of the relationship between architecture and image. Amid this transformation, entire professions find themselves on uncertain ground, as AI begins to challenge areas once defined by human expertise.
Yet beneath this apparent abundance lies the opaque core of closed-source AI: an algorithmic black box that systematically conceals the origins of the data it consumes. As a result, its outputs are inevitably prone to factual distortions, anachronisms, and subtle or overt biases. This same machinery can hollow out the significance behind the languages and stylistic signatures of canonical architects—manifest, for instance, in AI-generated visions speculating how famed designers, living or dead, might have reimagined the Eiffel Tower. We shared one such image to observe and better understand how people—especially architects—respond to AI's current possibilities and limitations, and the ways it mimics architectural intent. The response was quite fascinating, revealing a mix of curiosity, concern, and critical reflection.
With a balance of emerging talent and established brands, this year's edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair fostered meaningful connections, commercial momentum and critical dialogue across the global design community.
Returning to the Javits Center this May, the 2025 edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) brought together over 400 design brands from 35 countries, reinforcing its role as a central meeting point for contemporary design in North America. Spanning residential, commercial and hospitality sectors, the fair attracted more than 13,000 attendees and maintained strong engagement across the board — despite ongoing market volatility and tariff pressures.
The Grand Palais in Paris has reopened to the public after the most comprehensive renovation in its 120-year history, led by Paris-based Chatillon Architectes. Originally built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, the Grand Palais has long stood as a symbol of French cultural excellence, technical ingenuity, and architectural ambition. Following the reveal of the restored Nave for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the entire 77,000-square-meter building has now been renewed to enhance spatial clarity, restore original volumes, and transform the visitor experience. The project introduces expanded public access, new exhibition spaces, restaurants, and improved circulation, while remaining rooted in the building's architectural legacy.
Amid coasts, rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges, Spain’s natural environment encompasses a wide variety of climates, topographies, and vegetation species. Aiming to raise global awareness of the impact of construction on the environment and the importance of addressing climate change through new ways of creating architecture, several architectural practices and research teams are exploring the design of cabins or small-scale lodging prototypes. While capable of integrating harmoniously with their surrounding natural context, they also demonstrate strategies for self-sufficiency, resource utilization, and space maximization, as well as broad applications of innovative technologies and material solutions adapted to each region.
Mathematics shows us how, from just a few elements, we can generate nearly infinite combinations and how each new arrangement can completely transform the original set. Theories like chaos and complexity point in the same direction: small initial variations, such as a choice, a deviation, or a new element, can trigger profound and unexpected changes. In architecture, this manifests concretely in the daily work of a designer. The choice of materials and how they are combined may seem like a merely aesthetic or functional decision, but it holds the power to redefine a building's language, the path a project will follow, and its relationship with the surroundings and its inhabitants.