Until recently, the origins of the tiny-house movement were of little interest to the scientific community; however, if we take a look at the history of architecture and its connection to the evolution of human lifestyles, we can detect pieces and patterns that paint a clearer picture of the foundations of this movement that has exploded in the last decade as people leave behind the excesses of old and opt for a much more minimalist and flexible way of life.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
In the mid-1990s, when I was an editor at Progressive Architecture, jurors for the magazine’s awards program gave an Urban Design Award to Peterson Littenberg Architects for a plan the small New York firm had devised for then-stagnant Lower Manhattan.
At the time, the southern tip of Manhattan ranked as the third-largest downtown business district in the United States. The tightly packed 1 square mile contained a bevy of venerable buildings, among them the New York Stock Exchange, the former headquarters of J.P. Morgan, and the fortress-like, neo-Renaissance Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Though the vast majority of Americans regarded the district as a powerful financial hub, people close to the scene saw it as a place with grim prospects. More than a quarter of its commercial space stood vacant. Companies were leaving Lower Manhattan for Midtown and more distant locales. Many of the office buildings were regarded as obsolete.
Ronald Lu & Partners has created in collaboration with BEHAVE, a blueprint for future-ready offices that meet the new needs of the post-pandemic workforce. Reimagining tomorrow’s office and embracing a new working style, the partnership generated “Mindplace”, an office concept that will “improve work efficiency, focus on sustainability and cater to the holistic needs of employees”.
David Chipperfield Architects has received planning permission for Hertogensite residences in Leuven, a new 14-story residential tower in Belgium. Part of a global vision to redevelop a former hospital campus, the project is connected to nine townhouses and a four-story apartment building.
A new 550-ton steel bridge has been placed next to the new United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs. The bridge was designed by the same team as the adjacent Olympic & Paralympic complex - Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Anderson Mason Dale, and KL&A - while taking inspiration from the motion of athletes. The design features a 250-foot curved steel structure that was made to float above the rail yard.
The first EGGER Decorative Collection designed specifically for the North American market launched the first of October, offering a full range of matching decorative surface options. Architects, designers, fabricators and distributors exploring this inaugural collection will discover the power of more: more possibilities, more inspiration, more services and more accessibility, thanks to the new collection app.
Emmi Pikler was a Hungarian pediatrician who introduced, in the years after World War II, a new philosophy on early childhood care and learning for children up to the age of 3. It was after the birth of her first child that she began to question: what happens when a child is allowed to develop freely? The observed results culminated in the introduction of a new methodology.
The Pikler approach facilitates the free development of children by caring for their physical health and providing affection but largely respecting their individuality and autonomy. Following this logic, intervention by adults becomes mostly unnecessary. Rather, for the child to experience space while moving freely, certain care must be taken in the preparation of the environments themselves.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize has released a special video to honor 2020 Laureates, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the 47th and 48th Laureates of the award, and the first two Irish citizens to receive the distinction. For the first time in the 42-year history of the award, an in-person ceremony could not be held, therefore organizers created a film, discussing the meaning of the Prize and revealing the Laureates’ intimate reflections on architecture.
Regeneration specialist U+I submitted plans for Morden Wharf in June 2020, comprising 1,500 new homes, employment spaces, and a landscaped park along 275m of the River Thames. Located on Greenwich Peninsula in London, the mixed-use scheme designed by OMA includes more than six acres of the high-quality public realm, 12 high quality, and tenure-blind residential buildings, as well as commercial, retail, and community spaces.
Herzog & de Meuron have designed Switzerland's first middle school placed on the roof of a shopping center in Basel-Stadt. The MParc Dreispitz shopping center will accommodate a Sekundarschule (middle school) for 600 students as part of the overall transformation of Dreispitz Nord. The design aims to set a precedent for future urban developments as the school becomes a central part of the site's overall master plan.
This article is based on a lecture given by Chilean artist and architect Alfredo Jaar at the 20th Architecture and Urbanism Biennale in Valparaiso, Chile, on October 26, 2017.
It's June of 1980. Alfredo Jaar, a recent dropout of the University of Chile's architecture program, walks through the center of Santiago carrying two large signs. He grabs a spot in the shade next to a kiosk and intercepts passers-by to ask them his questions. In the midst of a military dictatorship, Jaar wants the people to vote, but not for the constitutional plebiscite or in the democratic elections. He doesn't even have paper or pencil for them to vote with. There's no line to mark on. His campaign centers on a mint--white and round--like a casino raffle ball.
Jaar's questions are loaded ones. "Are you happy?" (¿Es usted feliz?) he asks. "How many people in Chile do you think are happy?" "How many people in the world?"
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.
Everyone loves models, but not everyone loves making them. For some, models bring up memories of fingers full of dry glue, cuts from sharp pieces, wasted materials, and large doses of frustration. For others, with the unique ability to physicalize drawings easily and beautifully, making small-scale models can even be fun. But, of course, on the internet, there will always be someone who can take any activity to unbelievable levels of achievement. In model building, the OUROBOROS ARQ YouTube channel takes this role. With almost 2 million subscribers, and videos with over 50 million views, the channel documents the construction processes of highly complex miniature buildings.
Fentress Global Challenge (FGC), an annual international student design competition, launched in 2011 by Fentress Architects, has released its results for the 2020 edition. Reimagining airport mobility in the year 2100 for one of the 20 busiest airports in the world, this year’s contest gathered over 100 submissions from students in over 15 countries. The winning project, “the Green Gateway” is a zero-emission, highly sustainable multimodal hub.
Designed by 3XN, in partnership with GXN, 2 Finsbury Avenue is a 12 story podium with a 35-story East Tower and 20-story West Tower. Located at Broadgate campus, the largest pedestrianized neighborhood in Central London, adjacent to the busy transport hub of Liverpool Street station, the firm’s first project in the city is part of a bigger vision to transform the area into a new mixed-use destination.
Foster + Partners have begun construction on Avenida Cordoba 120, a new 35-story office tower in Buenos Aires. Sited between the traditional city center and the main entrance to the Puerto Madero harbor area, the project is designed to become a landmark building along the city's skyline. Balancing structure and nature, the tower is made to create a new standard for office design in Argentina and the larger region.
The Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe have announced the four winners of the Young Talent Architecture Award YTAA 2020 and of the Asia Edition of the YTAA 2020
Established in 2016, the YTAA “supports the talent of recently graduated architects, urban planners, and landscape architects who will be responsible for transforming our environment in the future." The third edition of the Young Talent Architecture Award counted with 382 graduation projects that competed to win the YTAA 2020, featuring 478 students of 155 schools registered from 36 different European countries including Brazil, Chile, and Mexico participating as guest countries.
World Architecture Day, celebrated on the first Monday of every October, was set up by the Union International des Architects (UIA) back in 2005 to “remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat”, coinciding with UN-Habitat's World Habitat Day.
Team V Architectuur, an architecture office based in Amsterdam, is designing the new Dutch timber hybrid head office for DPG Media at the Amstel Business Park in the Netherlands. In collaboration with DELVA Landscape Architecture/ Urbanism for the landscape and outdoor space, the project will generate a 46.000 square meter of healthy and sustainable working environment.
With one year to go until Expo 2020 Dubai, the organizing committee of the event has revealed new images of the main pavilions under construction. While the majority of the work in 2020 was focused on landscaping and the main Expo buildings, the construction of the 192 national pavilions is back on track, to conclude by the end of the year.
International design practice Snøhetta has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 National Design Award for Architecture by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The honor recognizes both the impact of the studio's work, as well a particular focus on social and environmental sustainability. The awards are meant to increase awareness and understanding of how design improves everyday life.
Timber trusses are wooden structural frameworks used to support roofs or other heavy structures. Fabricated from a series of triangles linked by a ridge beam and purlins, wooden trusses are structurally advantageous due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and corresponding ability to support long spans. However, these structural components can also be used for aesthetic ends, and when left exposed, can complexify, beautify, and open an interior space.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) has released its 2020 edition of Landslide, an annual in-depth report produced by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that profiles—and raises awareness of—a geographically diverse number of at-risk American parks, gardens, horticultural features, working landscapes, and “and other places that collectively embody our shared landscape heritage.”
Mexico City's Secretary of Public Works and Services announced a collaboration with some of the country's most distinguished architectural minds in a move to add on to the capital's educational and cultural infrastructure. The project centers on the planning and building of 25 new Points of Innovation, Freedom, Art, Education, and Knowledge (PILARES), an initiative implemented by Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.
