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How to Achieve Higher Productivity in Archicad with Smart Selection

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Archicad 25 allows you to continue selections by switching between 2D and 3D views without reselecting items thanks to new and improved commands. Furthermore, you can also speed up your workflow by using overlapping elements and hiding the selected elements in the active view.

Spaces to Relax: Spas, Saunas, Baths and Pools

Big cities and the troubled routine of urban life increasingly reveal the need for moments of relaxation aimed at physical and mental health. This concern has become more evident after the long quarantine periods of the Covid-19 pandemic, when disconnecting from routine became even more difficult. Thus, in recent years, more and more people have been looking for activities and places that provide this rest.

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The 8th Edition of Toronto's Winter Stations Reveals Images of the Winning Projects on the Beach

The 2022 winter stations competition revealed its 3 winning projects, selected from worldwide submissions alongside three student designs from Ryerson University, University of Toronto, and the University of Guelph. Back for its eighth edition, after a one-year hiatus, the competition, launched by RAW Design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio in 2015, will once again “draw people outside to enjoy the Beach in the winter” and the projects will take over the lifeguard stations at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach.

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How to Reduce Light Pollution With Street Light Design?

A recent study suggests that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, cannot be seen by one-third of humanity. Why? Millions of city lamps brighten our cities every night, but only part of their light is used to actually illuminate streets or sidewalks – the rest is lost and emitted above the horizon, brightening the night sky and contributing to what is known as light pollution. However, as the artificial glow from towns and cities increases every year, the consequences of this urban phenomenon go beyond just preventing us from seeing stars. Other harmful effects include: causing a hazardous glare that can reduce safety, excessive energy consumption, waste of money and resources, disruption of ecosystems’ natural day and night cycles, suppression of melatonin production and several negative repercussions on public health. In this sense, choosing the right lamps (with a well thought-out design) is crucial to reduce light pollution.

In Bermondsey, London, Local Designers Collaborate to Revive a Neighborhood Market

In Bermondsey, London, Local Designers Collaborate to Revive a Neighborhood Market  - Featured Image
© Jim Stephenson

For more than a century, a street market known as ‘The Blue’ was the beating heart of Bermondsey in Southeast London. On Saturdays gone by, hundreds flocked to the historic neighborhood, a site with roots reaching back to the 11th century when it was once a pilgrimage route to Bermondsey Abbey. Market punters used to sample goods from more than 200 stalls that famously sold everything under the sun. “You can buy anything down The Blue” was the phrase everyone went by.

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Kengo Kuma Wins Competition to Design the New Kamal Theatre

The Open International Competition for the Development of an Architectural Concept for the Galiasgar Kamal Tatarian State Academic Theatre has announced its results. The consortium including Kengo Kuma & Associates was granted the first place, while the second place went to a proposal led by Asif Kahn Studio and the third place to Coop Himmelb(l)au and his team.

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Designing Hybrid Work and Living Spaces for Millennials

Dr Steffi Burkhart knows millennials. She knows, or at least has a very informed, deeply researched opinion, on how they want to live and how they want to work. And given that millennials – commonly accepted as those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s – will soon dominate the workforce, understanding their professional and personal needs and aspirations is very useful information. This is vital for companies, cities and countries that want to attract and usefully employ the best millennial talent.

Desert X AlUla 2022 Draws on the History and Culture of the Saudi Arabian Landscape

As part of the Desert X international contemporary art exhibition, the second edition of the Desert X AlUla features 15 contextual installations across the Saudi Arabian desert that explore "ideas of mirage and oasis". This year's exhibition is curated by Reem Fadda, Raneem Farsi, and Neville Wakefield, under the theme of Sarab (arabic for 'Mirage'), and invites artists to address the history and culture of the desert, its contemporary significance, and the dichotomy between the natural and man-made world.

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Goethe Institute Designed by Kéré Architecture Breaks Ground in Senegal

Goethe Institute Designed by Kéré Architecture Breaks Ground in Senegal - Featured Image
Courtesy of Kéré Architecture

Construction began at the Goethe Institute in Dakar, designed by Kéré Architecture. The project is the first purpose-built space for the German cultural association and exchange centre in its over 60 years of global activity. Located within a residential area and a lush garden, the two-storey structure is shaped by the canopy of trees on-site and is being built using bricks made of laterite, a residual local rock with insulating qualities that help to passively regulate the indoor climate. The project will provide spaces for a wide array of activities, ranging from exhibitions and language courses to concerts and gatherings, all while building on the cultural landscape of Senegal.

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Boss Design: Adapting to the Demands of Flexible Workspaces

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The demands and expectations of the workplace have shifted dramatically over the last two years. The mission statement of the office is being re-drafted and its role and function re-defined. Mark Barrell, Design Director at global furniture manufacturer Boss Design, argues that the advance of hybrid or blended work – and 80 per cent of Boss’ clients have adopted that model – means that offices must become 'destination spaces', or rather a series of different destination spaces.

5 Ways Real-Time Visualization Offers a Complete Understanding of Design

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Real-time visualization is used to generate renderings with excellent visual quality from a BIM or CAD model. When integrated into your design workflow, it can also facilitate collaboration and allows all parties within an architectural project to engage throughout the design process.

Here are five ways in which integrating real-time visualization can provide a complete understanding of design at various project stages. 

GMP Architects Unveils Winning Proposal of Xiaomi Headquarters in Beijing

Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp Architects) have won the design competition for global smartphone producers Xiaomi's headquarters in Changping Future Science City in Beijing. Titled “Mi Cube”, the project reflects the company's philosophy of “Smart Technology, Minimalist Design” through an architecture that combines a geometric and structured facade with a multifaceted and dynamic interior sequence of spaces.

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OPEN Reveals Design for Yantai's New Landmark

OPEN Reveals Design for Yantai's New Landmark - Featured Image
Courtesy of OPEN

OPEN recently revealed the design of Sun Tower, a new landmark structure for the Chinese coastal city of Yantai. The project echoes the area's characteristic Ming dynasty watchtowers and proposes a cultural facility that re-establish the visitor's connection with nature. Comprising a semi-outdoor theatre, an exhibition space, a library and an observation deck at the top referred to as the "phenomena space", the structure is intended as a place "of reflection and contemplation".

How to Take Advantage of Side Setbacks?

How to Take Advantage of Side Setbacks? - Featured Image
Residência Cobogó / CHX Arquitetos. Foto: © Pedro Kok

The side setbacks configure the distance that must be between the building and the side boundary of the land. Master plans, building codes or zoning laws determine the minimum clearance that must be observed to ensure that the building takes advantage of better aeration, sunlight and permeability. Although this feature brings several qualities to the built environment, many people do not know how to take advantage of the space given by the setback and, often, it becomes just a passageway.

 

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Down to Earth Practice: How Some Japanese Architects Have Taken their Offices to the Streets

As the discourse about the way we work continues past the original pandemic concern and past the hybrid, remote, or what was once called traditional office space; employers and employees alike are still revisiting mental comfort requirements of a post-pandemic worker. While there are many types of work environments and worker needs that have to be addressed separately (besides the white-collar or knowledge worker), from a design and policies front; one particular, newborn model has been popping up in recent years, thus far seen through some unique, smallscale yet norm challenging Japanese offices. 

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Disney Proposes "Magic in the Californian Desert" with New Mixed-Use Communities Project

Disney, the multinational entertainment and media conglomerate announced its new addition to its Signature Experiences Program. Titled "Cotino", part of its new Storyliving by Disney venture, the master plan is Disney's first master-planned community project, and will feature distinctly-designed housing units and neighborhoods, along with commercial and civic amenities and man-made beaches in the heart of Rancho Mirage, California's Coachella Valley.

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Alison Brooks Architects, Adjaye Associates, Henning Larsen and SLA to Develop Toronto's Waterfront

Alison Brooks Architects, Adjaye Associates, Henning Larsen and SLA to Develop Toronto's Waterfront - Featured Image
Quayside Aerial - Full view of proposed development. Image Courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

A consortium comprising developers Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf together with lead architects Alison Brooks Architects, Adjaye Associates, Henning Larsen and landscape design practice SLA were selected to develop Toronto's Quayside into a new neighbourhood containing affordable housing, robust public spaces and new business opportunities. The design for the 4.9 hectares site on Toronto's waterfront proposes over 800 affordable housing units, together with an 8,000 square-metres forested green space and an urban farm, accompanied by arts venues and flexible educational spaces.

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Why Are Some Houses Elevated off the Ground?

The strategy of raising houses off the ground gained popularity in the 1920s when Le Corbusier announced structures on pilotis as one of the 5 points of modern architecture. A great contribution, especially in the urban issue, as it enables the creation of a free space with greater connection between the public sphere of the street and the private sphere of the building. His iconic Villa Savoye is a paradigmatic example of the use of pilotis that preserves the natural terrain and, as Le Corbusier himself said, places the house on the grass like an object, without disturbing anything. In addition, the pilotis also served as a strategy for the flow of vehicles, which can be seen in Lina Bo Bardi’s equally emblematic Casa de Vidro and its slender steel tubes. Arranged in a modulation of four modules in width by five in depth, they maintain the house as a transparent floating box in the midst of nature, respecting the terrain and assisting in the building's thermal comfort by allowing air circulation.

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10 Iconic Buildings that Changed Our Perception of Raw Materials

The history of architecture shows that the use of raw materials has always been somewhat common, whether in ancient vernacular techniques or within the Brutalist movement, to name a few. It is evident that the language of a project is often linked to its material, as various sensations and the perception of space are directed by the aesthetic and physical quality of the given element. For this reason, we have gathered ten buildings that highlight the quality of their materials, whether to make a statement, reinterpret a technique from the past, or to re-signify the potency of some of these elements.

Photographic Language for Impermanence

Photography is often likened to a visual language. The “most literary of the graphic arts”[i] is after all a formal system with commonly accepted structure and recognizable motifs.

The Second Studio Podcast: Interview with Jason Somers

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.

This week David and Marina are joined by Jason Somers, President and Founder of Crest Real Estate to discuss the role of the building Expeditor, when an Expeditor should be used and why, how an Expeditor can help with attaining building permits, the benefits of creating property development analyses at the start of a project, and more.

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