Most architects who are parents have thought, at some point, about designing and building toys for their children. Paula Zasnicoff, a partner at Arquitetos Associados, along with designer Andrea Gomes, decided to go for it and created the Bubud brand.

When the work finally comes to an end, the cleaning is done and preparations for the opening are underway, everything looks perfect. Coatings are all in their proper place, shining and with the intended color; wood surfaces are as yet unmarked and there is even a feeling of freshness and new life. Photographs mean that, for many, this vision of perfection is all that will ever be seen. 

But this perfection can be superficial. Failing to consider the damaging power of time during design and specification stages means can hasten the appearance of inevitable imperfections. Small fissures, stains, and scuffs among many other problems (that we have all dealt with at some point) begin to appear. The beautiful wood frame, so lovingly chosen, starts to look greyish. The paint fades where the sun hits the strongest. Boards begin to warp and fall  from the facade.

Every famed design movement has an interesting story of how it managed to influence architecture and design through the years. Despite their impact, not all movements began with the same principles they managed to ultimately lead with, and Bauhaus is no exception. The clean-cut modernist archetype, which has pioneered modern architecture for a century now, was once an experimental design institution of expressionism, unbound creativity, and handcraft, bridging the styles of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts with Modernist designs.

“The Flying Photographer” is the name of the documentary that will showcase Sara Nunes (architectural film director from Building Pictures) following the amazing journey of Fernando Guerra during the period of one year of travel to get the best architecture photographs from around the world.

Celebrate Bauhaus 100 through the world's number one visual storytelling platform, Instagram. An essential tool for designers, Instagram is a constantly growing digital database of market sharing and stimulation. Social media has changed not only how we gather precedents and market our designs, but also our designs themselves. "Instagram Culture" drives designers to create more shareable moments. As we continue to seek these dynamic encounters, let us not forget our forefathers of user experience design and the Bauhaus school.

Danish practice COBE Architects have broken ground on a new mixed-use development along Bremen Harbor in northwest Germany. Titled Europahafenkopf, the project aims to transform the city's industrial port to a new city quarter. The design includes four buildings housing residences, offices, commercial space, and a car park. Located at the end of the harbor, the project was made to connect the historical city core with Bremen’s new neighborhood.

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3XN has designed a new multipurpose arena on the site of the former Olympic cycling track stadium in Munich’s Olympic Park. The Copenhagen-based firm was awarded the contract with German landscape and urban planning firm LATZ+PARTNER to design an 11,500-capacity arena that will serve as the home of German ice hockey champions Munich Red Bulls and German basketball champions FC Bayern Munich.

Manifesting as an oval structure, the sports arena “naturally and respectfully melds into the world-famous Olympic Park with its many iconic buildings.” A green roof combines with a façade of vertical lamellas to allow the scheme to blend with its urban context, with breaks in the lamellas forming glass-paneled entrances.

Construction has begun on MVRDV’s “Downtown One,” a 140-meter-tall mixed-use skyscraper for the Albanian capital city of Tirana. Set to become Albania’s tallest building, the 37-story scheme is defined by its “relief of cantilevered houses and offices, which form a pixelated map of Albania, each representing a town or city.”

Situated in the center of the city, on the Bajram Curri Boulevard, the scheme intends to boost the economy of the capital through a mix of apartments, shops, offices, and restaurants. In addition to manifesting as a map of Albania when viewed from afar, the iconic cantilevers also generate spectacular panoramic views of the city and mountains, and create a connection between residents of this “vertical village.”

With an academic background that includes social sciences, curatorship, and architecture, Michelle Mlati's trajectory is an interesting one; more so for the way her current work dabbles in these areas simultaneously.  

Describing herself as an afrofuturist critical spatial designer, Johannesburg-based Mlati’s practice investigates elements of the city, from sustainability through to social dynamics, architecture to aural and visual cultures.

Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue towers have officially broken ground in downtown Los Angeles. After over a decade in the making, the project was designed from a central retail core into the two terracing towers with a mix of retail, entertainment and residences. The $1 billion complex aims to turn Grand Avenue into a full entertainment district. Conceived as a public-private partnership, the project is considered a capstone for the Grand Avenue Redevelopment initiative to complete the city’s main downtown cultural corridor.

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw has been named the 2019 laureate of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, an award personally approved by Her Majesty The Queen recognizing a lifetime's work in architecture. Grimshaw is known particularly for his modernist public buildings and large-scale infrastructural projects, both in the UK and internationally.

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Design practice White Arkitekter has created a 65 meter-long ‘sofa’ for Forumtorget Square in Uppsala, Sweden. Designed to provide space for rest and social interaction, the linear outdoor seating is the centerpiece of wider improvements to the large square. The project aims to attract more visitors to Forumtorget and its surrounding shopping area by building on the area’s character as a gathering place.

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In the design of the “Stump House,” situated in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, Brooklyn-based PARA Project was faced with unique constraints and unique possibilities. With local regulations imposing a 1,200 square foot footprint limit, 40-foot height limit, and provision for an adjoining 1,000 square foot uninhabitable structure, the design team was challenged to fit an extensive live-work space with little margin for maneuver.

In response, the design team, led by Jon Lott, stacked one structure on top of the other, with an uninhabited art studio at the lower level embedded in the sloping landscape. Combined with the above habitable space, the proposal creates a combined live-work program under a single roof, in-keeping with height and use regulations. Such was the beauty of their response, the Stump House has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2019 Architect Magazine Progressive Architecture Awards.

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Ohhh Valentine's Day... The international holiday of love. While you're spending your day (and hopefully night) eating chocolate and sipping on fine wine with your loved ones, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you just how much you love.... architecture ;)

Regardless of your relationship status, one thing that unites us all is our love for making the world a better place through design. At ArchDaily, we realize how important tolerance, acceptance, and love are to the process of building a better world.

With over 450 submissions (including a card called ARCHItinder that shows what Mies' and FLW's tinder would look like today), we present to you the best architecture-themed Valentine's Day cards. From us to you, may you feel a wealth of love on this special day.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen has announced details of their second U.S. project: the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts. An adaptive reuse project that will bring new life to Boston’s Commonwealth Pier, the 68,500-square-meter mixed-use project seeks to reactivate a historic maritime hub to create a new waterfront destination.

The largest pier building in the world when completed in 1901, the Commonwealth Pier will be reactivated with the introduction of new materials, increased daylight, and new points of connectivity. The exercise in adaptive reuse will contain flexible office space, dynamic event space, new retail, dining, and public amenities.

London's Serpentine Gallery has announced Japanese architect Junya Ishigami as the designer of the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion. Ishigami, who at 44 is the second-youngest designer of the pavilion (after 2018 designer Frida Escobedo), is known for his light and ephemeral approach to design.

Ishigami's design for the pavilion takes the form of a slate sheet rising from the landscape of the park, held up by light pilotis that form an interior field reminiscent of a forest. The single-canopy space takes inspiration not just from natural canopies but from roofs - the essential structural element that defines and unites architecture. Within, the darkness of the slate roof will create a serene space for contemplation and relaxation. Ishigami explains that his design for the pavilion exemplifies his 'free space' philosophy in which he "seeks harmony between man-made structures and those that already exist."

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Starting this month, ArchDaily will introduce monthly themes. Our editors and curators will align their efforts to go deeper into topics we find relevant in today’s architectural discourse, presenting new articles, projects, collaborations, and submissions by our readers. This month we will begin with Architectural Representation.

What started as a ground cut to represent buildings as a 2D maze or the flat representation of styles on an elevation, later evolved into the axonometric representations of battlefields and fortresses for military use, and since then into a diverse variety of views, formats and techniques that go beyond the mere representation of a volume for its construction.

Videos

The slightly trembling linework, the distinctive crossed corners, the parallel hatching, and the uppercase letters: it is undeniable that architects have developed a style of drawing over time. And though free-hand perspectives are no longer the only (or even primary) form of representation for architectural projects, they still have enormous importance during the design process. They are a design tool rather than a form of representation. 

A line that is too thick, an ill-chosen color, a disproportionate scale figure – these are all elements that can draw attention away from the things we actually want to show. Even for an unpretentious and quick sketch, some rules are very important. Some tips help turn an ordinary sketch into something you take pride in and want to show to others. Taking advantage of the huge collection of youtube videos, we have selected some content creators who dedicate themselves to sharing their expertise with the masses. 

A new mixed-use tower by Sydney-based practice Koichi Takada Architects has been designed for downtown Los Angeles. With the potential to rise as high as 63 stories, the project was inspired by California’s redwood trees and Marilyn Monroe’s iconic wind-swept skirt. Dubbed Sky Trees, the project will include clustered towers clad in timber mullions that transformed into free-flowing wooden awnings at the base of the project.

Every year we see new tools and techniques for better, faster architectural visualization. The last few years have been a particularly exciting time because of advances in real-time rendering applications. When coupled with supporting technology like virtual reality headsets, projectors, and graphics cards, real-time photoreal rendering is putting stunning, dynamic visualization media within reach—mixed and augmented reality worlds, interactive configurators, game-like presentations—so architects and designers can truly tell their stories.

Architecture and design practice REX has unveiled their design for Brown University’s new Performing Arts Center. The academic and cultural building was made to be a flexible and adaptable space that serves as a hub for performance. Combining a multi-functional main hall with an open stage floor, the design addresses the need for a dedicated performance space suitable for large ensembles. The new center was designed to encourage collaboration and inspire new modes of artistic and cultural production.

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In 2020, the French city of Marseille is set to host Manifesta 13, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art. In preparation for the event, MVRDV has collaborated with thinktank The Why Factory (directed by MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas) in unveiling “The Grand Puzzle,” a 1200-page interdisciplinary pre-biennial research study of the urban potential for Marseille.

MVRDV produced the study through deep analyses of the city, such as interviews and spatial data, culminating in suggestions for possible urban interventions. As part of this engagement, the firm worked with The Why Factory, founded as “the think tank on the future city” at Technical University Delft, who collaborated with local architecture and design schools on the study. Having received overwhelmingly positive feedback, the work will now be “contextualized, analyzed, and refined as it becomes a tool for Marseillais to imagine possible futures for their city.” In addition, the study will serve as a point of inspiration for artistic and cultural interventions both before and during the Manifesta biennial.