A guide from Graphisoft on how to create powerful design presentations with Archicad through the use of Archicad version 25.

Following it's closure in January 2021, the 150-foot monumental staircase in Hudson Yards have reopened to the public on May 28th, but with a ban on solo visitors. The closure was confirmed after three individuals committed suicide since its opening in 2019, all under the age of 25. The structure was “temporarily closed” amid consultations by the firm with suicide-prevention experts and psychiatrists about how to prevent more potential suicides.

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The ability to detach dividing walls from fixed structural frameworks has been one of the most notable contributions of modern architecture. The moment came when Le Corbusier's conceived the Dom-ino system, in 1914, and was brought to life in the Villa Savoye, where the structural lattice of pillars contrasted with an independent and even organic distribution of the interior partitions. The so-called open plan has been used and reinvented by architects since then for multiple scales and programs, with a flexibility that allows for the creation of large spaces with or without partitions. But one important nuisance that plagues the open plan it that is often difficult to create closed spaces when necessary, which can improve acoustic qualities and the possibility of natural light. Operable partitions serve this purpose through various mechanisms, such as sliding, folding, or wheeled panels, but they do not always facilitate the necessary conditions. Directly addressing these issues, Skyfold has developed the solution: operable walls that fold vertically and remain hidden when retracted.

The City Council of San Jose recently approved Google’s “Downtown West” mixed-use corporate campus, an 80-acre net-zero environment, also set to feature the largest multimodal transit hub on the west coast. A departure from the tech campuses of Silicon Valley, the masterplan designed by San Francisco-based SITELAB urban studio is envisioned as an integrated part of the urban environment, an extension of Downtown San Jose open to the local community.

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Sonora is a state located in the northwestern region of Mexico geographically bordering the states of Arizona in the United States, Chihuahua, Sinaloa and facing the Sea of Cortez. It has 179,503 km² of surface being the second least extensive state in the country. Its capital and most populated city is Hermosillo. However, other important localities are Ciudad Obregón, Guaymas, Nogales, Agua Prieta and Navojoa.

The Italian photgrapher, Aldo Amoretti created the initiative to invite people to share their favorite places around the world, with the objective of going beyond his vision and giving the chance to an audience to offer a different perspective of buildings and places.

What if we could visit any building, regardless of whether it was ever built? Or, even after it has been demolished? This video and link below focus on a single house — the One Half House — designed by John Hejduk, to resurrect and explore. It uses the program Enscape to walk through the building in order to preserve and distribute the experience of architecture that does not exist in built form. The video offers a timeline to contextualize the role of the house in John Hejduk’s career and work, an analysis of the building, and initial reactions to walking through the building for the first time. In particular, the One Half House was pivotal for thinking about how architectural volumes might relate in space without the ordering device of a grid or a wall. What magic and other lessons are lurking in the design, hidden until we could experience it?

Graham Foundation has released the names of the 2021 Individual Grant recipients - a grant supports innovative ideas in the fields of films, design, digital initiative, research, and exhibitions over the past 65 years. 71 creative individuals from across the world were chosen for their inventive ideas and creations that tackle pressing issues on society.

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The 17th Venice Architecture Biennale debuted last week, showcasing a diverse and inspiring array of possible answers to the question “How will we live together”. Despite the many hurdles inflicted by the pandemic, this year’s edition of the event broadens the scope and reach of the Biennale, restating its role as a platform for inquiry, exploration, and disruptive thinking in architecture. Archdaily had the opportunity to meet in Venice with one of the co-curators of the US Pavilion, architect, author, and University of Illinois professor Paul Andersen, to discuss the idea behind the Pavilion and how it reflects the overarching theme of the Biennale.

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A vault is a constructive technique that is achieved by compressing the materials forming it together. While this technique has existed since the time of the ancient Romans, certain types of vaulted ceilings, such as the Catalan or Valencian timbral vault, only reached popularity in some areas of the world at the start of the 19th century thanks to their lost cost and ready availability. With the ability to span over 30 meters and add substantial height to structures, vaulted ceilings became a go-to for the construction of industrial spaces such as workshops, factories, and warehouses.

Haworth Tompkins, Heatherwick Studio and Spparc have shared new details of the first major new London theatre in over 45 years. The Olympia Theatre is part of the £1.3bn redevelopment of the Olympia exhibition center designed by Heatherwick Studio and Spparc. The 1,575-seat venue in west London will be operated by Trafalgar Entertainment, and the design includes a five-story building with a stacked auditorium.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Martin Pederson interviewed this week Antonis Antoniou and Steven Heller, author of Decoding Manhattan, a new book that compiles over 250 architectural maps, diagrams, and graphics of the island of Manhattan in New York City, talking about the origin story of the book, the process of research, and the collaboration.

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Praksis Arkitekter has won the competition to transform an old timber warehouse for VELUX Group in Østbirk, Denmark. As the company's largest production site, it will be transformed into a best-in-class innovation center. The existing wooden building was originally inaugurated in 1995 as a warehouse. The new rebuilt building will house most of the product development that VELUX Group is doing, which today is spread across the country and abroad.

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The prominent Brazilian urbanist Jaime Lerner has passed away this Thursday, May 27, at the age of 83. Trained as an architect, Lerner was chosen by the American magazine Planetizen as the second most influential urban planner of all time, only behind Jane Jacobs. In addition to his career linked to architecture and urban planning, Lerner was three times mayor of Curitiba and twice governor of Paraná (1995-1998 and 1999-2002). Lerner graduated in Architecture in 1964 from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and worked at the Curitiba Institute for Research and Urbanism (Ippuc) since its creation in 1965.

Titled "In Muharraq", the Bahrain Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, explores the city's architectural and urban heritage, regeneration, and conservation. Curated by Noura Al Sayeh and Ghassan Chemali, the pavilion will be on display at the Arsenale from May 22nd until November 21st, 2021.

Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the launch of the Open Boulevards program, an initiative that would temporarily close off car traffic on boulevard segments across several blocks, expanding the public space for dining, cultural activities and artistic performances. The project builds on the successful initiatives Open streets and Open Restaurants, which transformed the city’s streetscape to better serve diners, cyclists and pedestrians amidst the pandemic.

The terms space and place are often used interchangeably, but they can mean different things depending on the context in which they are used. Placemaking shows that the creation of places transcends the material dimension and involves aspects such as sociability, uses, activities, access, connections, comfort, and image, to create bonds between people and a sense of place.

The massive new hub for lab research, by Behnisch Architekten, marks a new chapter of sustainable construction and campus planning. James McCown explores in his article originally published on Metropolis, Harvard's latest addition in the Boston campus, the new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) designed by German-based firm Behnisch Architekten and centered on sustainability and well-being.