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Visiting Wortham Fellow at the Rice School of Architecture Michelle Chang has created A,B 1:2, a twisted “half house” installation in the university’s jury room. Built at a half scale, the project superimposes and bisects two simple cubes, playing with light and shade through skewed windows in order to demonstrate how architects and artists think about space, as well as how drawings and renderings translate into physical constructions.

At just 1,310 feet (400 meters) across at its widest point, Fire Island, a barrier island to the south of Long Island in New York, may not seem like an ideal place to host a community. Nonetheless, the island is home to a number of small villages, whose seclusion and proximity to the ocean make them popular getaway locations. With its beach atmosphere (the community is only accessible by ferry) and its growing reputation from the 1960s onward as a safe space for the gay community, Fire Island Pines is one such popular summer destination. As the village grew in the post-war years, the care-free recreational lifestyle encouraged by Fire Island Pines' setting was an ideal proving ground for many of the ideals of mid-century modernist house design, with architects such as the prolific Horace Gifford—who designed 40 homes in Fire Island Pines alone—answering the call.

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Marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of their iconic Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, UN Studio, along with the Kunsthal and Heerema Group, have organized an exhibition demonstrating “the many and varied ways that the bridge has been embraced by the public and become a symbol of the city of Rotterdam.”

Walking next to a construction site is anything but enjoyable. Unavoidable noise (and sometimes air) pollution is partly responsible, but development hoardings also contribute to the unpleasant feeling. In most cases you walk alongside blank canvases, made from OSB or poorly built plywood boxes, and covered with a concrete grey or navy blue Dulux paint. If you’re lucky enough to pass by a development for luxury apartments, you’ll find some lavish advertising for the homes which, of course, you couldn’t afford anyway. With her blog “Development Aesthetics,” Crystal Bennes gives credit to the visual importance of hoardings, showcasing London’s latest construction sites and commentating on the inadequacy and often absurdity of the advertising on their hoardings. As apartment blocks mushroom around the British capital, the issue increasingly affects inhabitants’ use and understanding of public spaces.

Hoping to turn this trend around, the UK-based construction, architectural and engineering firm Primebuild has launched its "Canvas for London" Initiative, using construction site hoardings as platforms for artists to display their work.

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Clark Nexsen has won the international Activate Urban Housing Design Competition with its proposal for an urban dwelling on South Mint Street in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. The design, entitled Mint, focuses on connectivity and neighborhood and includes residential, retail, and open green spaces.

Conceived as a catalyst for a culinary district, Mint aims to create a new urban living and working space, in which the connectivity of food-centered entrepreneurial enterprises fosters a sense of community.

Next Month, architecture will be hitting the mainstream media, as Bjarke Ingels has been selected to grace the cover of the September 2016 edition of WIRED UK. Titled “THINK BIGGER,” the issue will also feature profiles and stories from architects and designers Tom Dixon, Neri Oxman, David Adjaye and Rem Koolhaas. A Condé Nast Publication, the magazine focuses on the effects of science and technology on topics including design, architecture, culture, the economy, politics and philosophy.

After yesterday’s devastating magnitude 6.2 earthquake in central Italy, art historians fear that numerous historic Italian buildings and their contents may be permanently lost. The affected region is dotted with hilltowns containing beautiful churches, monuments and museums, many of which have been rendered completely unrecognizable.

Anyone who has ever picked up an Etch A Sketch knows just how difficult and time consuming it can be to draw even the simplest of shapes. But for some fanatics, the challenge is simply a part of the fun. Artist Jane Labowitch, known also as “Princess Etch A Sketch,” is one of those people. Since first picking up an Etch A Sketch at the age of 4, she has been fascinated with the red drawing toy, developing her skills to recreate notable works of art, architecture and pop culture.

Check out her drawings of some of architecture’s most iconic works after the break.

How to Succeed as a Young Architecture Professor (Without Dying in the Process)

In this article originally published in Spanish by the Arquia Architecture Foundation's blog, the author Manuel Saga speaks about the important task of involving young professors in architecture schools, arguing that it is essential that the academic route is seen as a real option with as much value as being a “big name designer,” especially when you take into account the current crisis seen within the industry.

Earlier this summer, the Vitra Schaudepot on the Vitra Campus was officially opened. The latest in a string of structures designed by emerging and well-known architects, this gallery space is the second building by Swiss-practice Herzog & de Meuron. Conceived as "a visible storage facility" presenting a cross-section of the Vitra Design Museum's extensive collection of furniture and lighting, over 400 objects will provide "a comprehensive introduction to the history of furniture design." Featuring a café, shop and a new entrance for visitors to the museum, the building is also able to host temporary exhibitions. Photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has turned his lens to this latest addition in Weil am Rhein.

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The Buckminster Fuller Institute has announced six finalists for the 2016 Fuller Challenge, a competition now in its ninth cycle. The Fuller Challenge called for submissions from all fields that address humanity’s most pressing problems, and will award $100,000 to one submission that “presents integrated strategies deeply informed by an understanding of a whole system context.”

The 2016 Fuller Challenge finalists are:

The architectural world’s most hated structures may finally be meeting their demise. McMansions, the cheaply-built, faux-opulent mega-houses that litter many of the world’s suburban communities, were born in the 1980s and quickly became the most desirable living accommodation for middle and upper-middle class families. After a slight blip caused by the financial recession of 2008, McMansion popularity returned, with the median size of homes reaching a peak of 2,488 square feet just last year. But as seen in a new study conducted with data from real estate website Trulia, the economic benefit of purchasing one of these houses may now finally be falling.

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have developed a bendable variety of concrete called ConFlexPave, which in addition to its increased flexibility, is both stronger and more durable than traditional concrete. Working at the NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre (I³C), the team created the material by introducing polymer microfibers into the concrete mixture.

The innovation also allows for the production of slim precast pavement slabs, increasing installation speed. It is anticipated to be used in infrastructural projects, halving the amount of time needed for road works and new pavements while also requiring less maintenance.

feld72 has won the competition for the design of the Neu Leopoldau, a Youth Living residential complex in Leopoldau, a post-industrial area on the outskirts of Vienna. Based on the idea of creating community, the project utilizes overlaying, staggered, and connected spaces and communication areas to facilitate the feeling of a village.

The top 10 buildings in Scotland of the past 100 years have been named as part of the traveling Scotstyle exhibition. Voters selected the list from an exhibition of 100 Scottish buildings, currently on display at the Scottish Parliament during the Festival of Politics, and will now vote to determine which building will be bestowed the title of “Building of the Century.”

“This brilliant list testifies to the extraordinary quality of Scotland’s buildings. The fact that so many are relatively recent demonstrates that our national architecture is in very good health. We have much to celebrate,” said Neil Baxter, RIAS Secretary and co-editor of Scotstyle.

Continue reading for the complete list.

While there are many ways to stand out from the crowd in the field of architecture, some buildings challenge your expectations so greatly that they can only be described as "bizarre." This list of 18 buildings, compiled by Fly Abu Dhabi, takes a look at some of those exceptionally strange buildings. While several of these examples appear to be "ducks" lifted straight from the pages of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown's seminal Learning from Las Vegas, others find their originality in unorthodox curves, flipped orientations and sharp geometries. But all share one thing in common – they're nothing like your everyday buildings.

Continue reading for the full graphic list. 

You can now easily build integrated seating into your landscape project, thanks to a prefabricated grass armchair system called TERRA! The laser cut framework elements are quickly assembled, and all that's left to do is cover the mound with soil and wait for the grass to envelope it. First released over 15 years ago and taken off the market shortly after, TERRA! is now back with a revitalized and simplified design.

After four months of research identifying works in Latin America and the Caribbean that met the eligibility criteria of the 'Latin American Architecture Prize Rogelio Salmona: open / collective spaces' a list of finalist has been compiled. Members of the International Curatorial Committee, architects Ana Maria Duran (Andean Region), Ruth Verde Zein (Brazil Region) and Fernando Diez (Southern Cone Region), and Art History background Louise Noelle Gras (Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Region), postulated a total of 62 works covering the four regions.

On the 5th of August, upon completion of a shortlist the International Curatorial Committee selected 20 works whose authors will be invited by Rogelio Salmona Foundation to participate in the second round of this award.

Here are the 20 Finalists of the Latin American Architecture Prize Rogelio Salmona.