Produce personalized presentation boards that distill complex concepts into simple visual representations with a few helpful tools and effects.

The centerpiece of the Malaysian Timber Council’s exhibition at this year’s AIA Conference on Architecture in Orlando, Florida was a completely dismantlable four-walled enclosure constructed entirely of Meranti timber. Designed by Eleena Jamil Architect, the wholly modular structure showcased the strength and adaptability of this sustainably sourced Southeast Asian hardwood.

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When placed in a historic landscape, contemporary architecture requires a layered approach. It must often strike a respectful, vernacular tone, whilst embracing the innovative, functional hallmarks of a modern building. This balance has particular relevance at Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, located off the coast of Helsinki, Finland. Throughout its 300-year history, it was once occupied by the armies of Sweden, Russia and Finland – a rich history attracting UNESCO World Heritage status, and almost one million annual visitors. The site is more than a museum, however, but a living district of Helsinki with 800 inhabitants and 500 jobs.

Against the prerequisites of past and present, Heikkinen & Kangasaho Architects have combined sharp, functional modernity with respectful, restrained simplicity in a new housing scheme to sit amongst Suomenlinna’s historic fortifications.

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By now, most of the architectural world is aware of Chinese architects' penchant for ripping off their favorite works from foreign countries, from the latest Zaha Hadid landmark to entire historical villages. The issue is, admittedly, more complex than many often give it credit for—but even after debating the phenomenon from the perspective of Chinese cultural norms, copyright law, and even whether copycats might actually be good for architecture, China will always have more copycats to puzzle over. Some are baffling, some are in a way impressive, some are even (dare we say it?) even kind of cute. In short, all of them are in some way entertaining. Here are 6 of the strangest.

The New York City Public Design Commission and Mayor Bill de Blasio have announced the 11 projects selected as winners of their 2017 Awards for Excellence in Design. Established in 1983, the award has been bestowed annually to projects from the city’s five boroughs that “exemplify how innovative and thoughtful design can provide New Yorkers with the best possible public spaces and services and engender a sense of civic pride.”

Both built and unbuilt projects are considered for the award. Previous winners have included BIG + Starr Whitehouse’s 40th Police Precinct (2016), Studio Gang’s Fire Rescue 2 (2015), the Louis Kahn-designed Four Freedoms Park (2014), and Steven Holl’s Hunters Point Library (2011).

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The winners of the 2017 Pritzker Prize, RCR Arquitectes, has been selected to lead the proposal and design of the Catalan pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale. The news was announced yesterday by Santi Vila, Minister of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia, during the opening of this year’s Venice Biennale of Art.

A large-scale masterplan for Feyenoord (or Feijenoord), a suburb-city of the Dutch city of Rotterdam, has been approved by Rotterdam City Council. The successful concept design from OMA, led by Partner David Gianotten, incorporates a historically-important football stadium—for the nationally significant Feyenoord football club—which "no longer fulfills modern demands." Aligned with the football club's "expanding ambitions" both in the Dutch and European football leagues, this proposal is the latest in a string of plans to expand, but the only one to have been accepted.

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The winners of the 2017 Land Art Competition have been announced, with submissions responding to the challenge of creating site-specific installations in rural Ghana, as part of a larger initiative to enrich the Abetenim Arts Village. The aim was to complement the village’s learning center with other creative spaces for communal living and working, thus “creating a truly unique experience that becomes emblematic of what an art village is and how it needs to function as a place.”

Selected entries will also have the opportunity to be fully realized onsite, through various land art workshops held by the Nka Foundation over the course of the next two years. Here are the winning entries:

Three exemplary housing projects have been awarded 2017 AIA/HUD Secretary Awards. Organized by The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Housing Knowledge Community, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the award is given to projects that “demonstrate that design matters… and offer examples of important developments in the housing industry.”

The prize is given to projects in four categories: Excellence in Affordable Housing Design; Creating Community Connection Award; Community-Informed Design Award; and Housing Accessibility - Alan J. Rothman Award (no projects were selected within this category this year). Read on for a brief description of each of the winners.

New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary has officially broken ground on its “21st Century Campus” renovation and expansion, designed by Obama Presidential Library architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

The full project will comprise a new resident hall, conference facilities, an auditorium/performing arts space, and a state-of-art library containing the world’s largest collection of Judaic and Hebraic books, manuscripts and scrolls. Advanced educational technology will be featured throughout.

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With construction on New York's Hudson Yards development racing forward, developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group have revealed plans for the latest addition to the complex: a 35,000-square-foot food hall featuring dining by celebrity chef José Andrés located within KPF’s already-open 10 Hudson Yards.

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Antoni Gaudí’s first ever house, Casa Vicens, is set to open to the public this autumn following a major restoration effort. Located in the Barcelona neighborhood of Gràcia, the house was originally built for broker Manuel Vicens from 1883 to 1885 – helping to define Gaudí’s signature style and helping to usher in the era of Art Nouveau architecture in Catalonia.

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Videos

Cities have a wealth of experiences, landmarks and sights to offer the eager traveller, who despite their ambitions, may begin to feel overwhelmed under the weight of culture and geography that saturates their travels. It is easy to get lost not only during pilgrimages to iconic locations, but also in the number of places to go and things to see, guided on overpriced tours and by consumerist maps. But worry not, for a new Kickstarter campaign has been launched for the Architectour Guide – a hardcover curated compendium of key spots that’s got you covered during your next urban crawl.

“The guide is made for the urban explorer, an individual who loves discovering cities in a different way,” explains Virginia Duran, the London-based architect and urban planner responsible for the campaign. “Architectour Guide collects the best spaces of a city inspiring travelers to craft their trips in a unique way, making it easier for us to visit, understand and photograph each of these places. As a consequence, we travelers will be helping to keep buildings alive.”

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Los Angeles may soon be receiving a new attraction: a gondola-style cable car system that would transport visitors up to the iconic Hollywood Sign in the Santa Monica Mountains.

According to a recent interview with LA mayor Eric Garcetti, the city is considering several new options to open up access to the 45-foot-tall structure, one of which is a sky gondola that would pick up visitors at or near Universal Studios (located on the north side of the mountains in Studio City).

Jeanne Gang has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Louis Kahn Memorial Award, an annual prize established by the Philadelphia Center for Architecture and Design in 1983 to recognize “an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of architecture,” while honoring one of the city’s most influential architects.

Previous winners of the award include Bjarke Ingels, Norman Foster, Peter Bohlin, Daniel Libeskind, Robert A.M. Stern, Rafael Viñoly and César Pelli.

The team consisting of Henning Larsen Architects, Adamson Associates Architects and PMA Landscape Architects has been announced as the winners of a competition to design the new 500,000-square-foot (46,500-square-meter) Etobicoke Civic Centre, beating out proposals from three other top teams.

Located in Etobicoke Centre, one of four mixed-use districts marked by the City’s Official Plan as a “vital” community, the new Civic Centre will feature municipal offices, civic function and gathering space, a community recreation center, a branch of the Toronto Public Library, a child care center and an expansive outdoor plaza.

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It's a well-known fact that everything is better with puppies. Your renders are no different. Fortunately, the website Viz-people is here to help, offering a free set of 6 cut-out cat and dog .PNGs. Pets aren't the only cut-outs on offer (just the cutest—sorry, cut-out kids); in addition, Viz-people has a whole raft of free stuff for 3D modeling and rendering, including 2D cutouts of people, textures, and skies, and 3D models of cars, trees, chairs and more.

Citymapper, which is just over five years old, has become the go-to mobility app for the majority of the world's major cities. It's strength lies in its accuracy and integration: the app parses local data and always seems to deliver the fastest route, even in comparison to its leviathan, data-rich competitors – Google Maps and Apple Maps. Having always focused their attention on public transport, as opposed to cars and taxis, Citymapper has become embedded into the way large amounts of urbanites navigate cities both familiar and foreign. As of today, they are building buses—and bus routes—of their own.

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Earlier this year, BDOnline released the 2017 edition of the WA 100, their annual survey of the world's largest practices. Ranking the firms by the number of architects they employ, the full report also investigates these firms' financial records and industry trends. The top spots show only slight changes from last year's rankings, with Japan's Nikken Sekkei taking second place from AECOM being perhaps the most notable change. However, the big story behind this year's WA 100 is the rapid growth of #1 firm Gensler, with the firm increasing their lead from last year. The firm now employs almost 800 more architects than any other firm in the world.

"Gensler’s total domination of the rankings continues as it achieves the seemingly impossible task of growing still more after last year’s huge leap in size," says BDOnline, noting that the company's total of 2,570 employed architects represents an increase of almost 1,000 in under 2 years. Gensler's co-chief executive Diane Hoskins explains this growth as the result of expanding overseas while continuing to expand in the US. "It’s not an either/or," she explained to BDOnline.

Read on to see the top 20, or go see the full list of 100 top practices at BDOnline here (for subscribers only).

Videos

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced the winners of their 2017 National Design Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in design and innovation across a variety of design disciplines. Now in its 18th year, the annual award was established to “promote design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world.”

This year, several architects and architectural institutions took home prizes, including MASS Design Group, in the category of Architecture Design; Surfacedesign (Landscape Architecture); Deborah Berke Partners (Interior Design), Craig L. Wilkins (Design Mind), and the Design Trust for Public Space (Corporate & Institutional Achievement).

BIG has teamed up with Friday Labs to create the Friday Lock, “the world’s smallest smartlock.” Through the Friday app, users can unlock their doors wirelessly, as well as automatically as they leave or approach.

As an access-granted user’s phone approaches the system, the door unlocks automatically. Access can be easily granted, as well as revoked through the app, allowing for temporary users, as well as to remove access if a phone is stolen.