Malibu Crest, a 2019 remodeling of a 1949 International Style home, was a vital undertaking by the architecture firm Studio Bracket that aimed to expand the structure’s square footage and panoramic views of Malibu while retaining over 50% of the home’s original walls. The project was ultimately successful, not only in its refurbishment of the interior rooms and reconfiguration of the space, but in its enlargement of the windows to truly capture views of the surrounding lagoon and mountains. This expansion of the view was done in part through an open corner window scheme and floor-to-ceiling glass, manufactured by Western Window Systems. The uninterrupted glass walls afforded by this open corner technology is one of the most effective ways that architects can open an interior space to the stunning vistas of a natural environment. Yet an even more striking configuration increasingly being employed by residential architects is that of the open corner sliding glass door – a system that can even more completely open an interior space to the unobstructed outdoors. Below, we discuss this technology in more detail, alongside several examples of projects using the open corner glass door.

As the COVID-19 global pandemic has unfolded over the last several months, stories of people cooped up in crowded cities and concerned about their future have anecdotally popped up across the internet. When the virus first arrived, it was common for people to escape to their beach-side homes, or to return to their parent’s house for more space and a sprawling yard.

Outdoor dining has proven to be something of a lifeline for restaurants not only in New York but around the country, as indoor dining remains far out of reach at this point in the novel coronavirus crisis. Faced with restrictive mandates, however, architects, planners, and restaurateurs across the U.S. have been forced to come up with creative ways to keep patrons uninfected while assembling aesthetically pleasing outdoor dining areas.

ArchDaily has created a list of best articles, news and projects that address everything you need to know about concrete.

The public transit system in large Brazilian cities was already in crisis long before the coronavirus pandemic. Transit operators have seen passenger demand steadily decline over recent decades, driven by a combination of factors: urban policies that incentivize private vehicle use; urban sprawl, which dilutes economies of scale when serving peripheral areas; rising congestion; transit routes increasingly disconnected from actual urban mobility patterns; a growing need for transfers along passenger routes; deteriorating fleets and service quality; rising incomes leading to alternative choices like private cars, motorcycles, and ride-hailing services; and, above all, steadily rising fares.

Architectural Education is still largely living in the mid-20th century, where the studio model is both wonderful, limited and alive and well. Students are offered two stark pedagogies: either getting a fine arts education or applying a glorified trade school regimen towards being a technocrat. Artificial Intelligence (AI) might just eliminate architecture as a career for those who are not versed in the things that only humans can do: synthesize, channel, invent, craft. Beyond imitation. By its new nature, architecture could be becoming inhuman.

Universities are environments defined by the intrinsic relationship between teaching, research, and outreach. As multidisciplinary institutions responsible for cultivating and disseminating knowledge, the various facilities that make up a university not only translate (directly or indirectly) the principles of education, research, and outreach into physical space, but also serve as the stage for the multifaceted dynamics and activities that shape campus life.

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On July 31, during the 103rd Ordinary Plenary Session, the CAU/BR Temporary Commission on Gender Equity released the 1st "Gender in Architecture and Urbanism" Diagnosis. Conducted online from July 2019 to February 2020, the survey was answered by 987 professionals (767 women and 208 men), with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.11%.

Today, August 8, marks World Pedestrian Day. The date is famous for the iconic photo of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road in 1969. It is now 2020—more than fifty years later—and we still face immense challenges as pedestrians in our cities. How many times have you faced the hazard of crossing the street? Or had to navigate narrow, poorly lit sidewalks?

The series of articles developed by Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy and Ernesto Philibert-Petit researches the peculiarities of social housing in Latin America. This time the authors explain a construction strategy through iterative design and the emergence of form.

The world is changing; it always does, only faster and faster. With it, our profession as architects is also changing, and new market horizons are opening up before us. A new definition of what it means to “be an architect”—one that is both necessary and long-awaited by many—is beginning to take shape, and in this article, I want to help open your eyes so you can join this exciting movement of independent architects.

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This article is part of a collaboration with the website coolhuntermx and was originally published under the title "Housing Production in Rural Mexico."

Between virtual panel discussions and tweets sparking debate on housing and its role during the pandemic, addressing this issue in Mexico is as complex as the country's history and as vast as its territory. The article What About the Right to Adequate Housing in Mexico? offered an overview of the laws governing Mexico City and urban conditions. But what about housing in rural areas?

The new Saanersloch gondola lift in Gstaad is a static masterpiece – and with its specially designed and unique all-glass facade by Glas Marte, it has also reached the top of the world.

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In 2014, a group of friends from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, driven to contribute to their city's resilience and recovery, came together to dialogue and share ideas for reclaiming streets, plazas, and parks through sociocultural projects and urban interventions in public space. This gave rise to Nómada Laboratorio Urbano. Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city located on the northern border with the United States, directly adjacent to El Paso, Texas. Over the years, Juárez's economy has been dominated by the maquiladora industry; the city was also once considered one of the most violent in the world due to a wave of crime between 2008 and 2012.

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Gerson Castelo Branco is a self-taught architect from the state of Piauí in Brazil. His architecture is a collection of references and experiences that he describes as "an expression of freedom," the Paraqueira.

Denise Scott Brown once said: “Architecture can’t force people to connect; it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting places useful and attractive.” Although it cannot control the outcome, architecture holds the potential to set the stage for chance encounters and social interactions, thus nurturing community building and influencing the fabric of our social culture. The following explores how architecture can improve the social capital of its surroundings through design strategies and thoughtful programming, creating the fertile ground for social interaction among different groups of people.

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In 2013, the film *Her*, in which the protagonist falls in love with an operating system, sought to depict a not-so-distant future of a relatively dystopian reality. Although the city depicted was likely a futuristic Los Angeles, the filming actually took place in Shanghai. After visiting the city, I believe this was a wise decision, given the pervasive atmosphere that constantly evokes this very theme. I remember standing on a massive circular pedestrian overpass above the Mingzhu roundabout, which connects major avenues in the heart of Pudong, Shanghai's current financial district. Ahead of me, I saw the bizarre Oriental Pearl Tower, a 467-meter-tall TV tower built by a Chinese state-owned enterprise in 1994. Looking back and up at the Shanghai Tower—the second-tallest building on the planet at an impressive 632 meters—the impact was even greater. This is Shanghai's image to the world, the showcase of a new China, breaking paradigms and reaching for the sky.

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Architecture in the Czech Republic is defined by the country's incredibly diverse landscapes. As one of Europe's cultural hearts, Czechia has a rich history, and was once home to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Today, architects and designers are drawing inspiration from the country's low mountains, foothills and forests as they design a range of secluded residential retreats.

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The focus of buildings should ultimately be the well-being of the people using them. When we think of our experiences in hospitals, clinics, the dentist's office, and other medical facilities, the feeling is rarely pleasant. Perhaps it's the smells, the dull, monotone colors, or the sound of medical gadgets working away on some unlucky patient. 

It’s hard to imagine New York City without the packed subway cars, long lines, and overwhelming tourist crowds that felt essential to daily life. Once the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic has waned, the city, like others around the world, will become clouded and fundamentally altered even after economic prosperity has been restored. In what feels like a revolving door discussion, except now perhaps asked with a sense of urgency, what do we want cities to be like in the years to come?

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Apart from dressing like an undertaker, wearing black-rimmed circular glasses, and driving Swedish cars, modern architects’ most conspicuous trait is their aesthetic honesty, which is dangerous. Sincerity leaves little room for imagination.

Oaxaca is one of Mexico's thirty states, renowned for a rich culture that has shaped a territory celebrating its roots. Located in the country's southeastern region, it borders the Pacific Ocean and is known for its indigenous communities, where Zapotec and Mixtec cultures predominate. In addition, Oaxaca is home to a vibrant public life where streets, pedestrian walkways, and plazas frame a diverse range of political, religious, and popular activities. This has drawn the attention of various projects and research initiatives seeking to highlight this social effervescence.

As levels of pollutant emissions have increased over the years, awareness has also grown regarding actions that can be taken to minimize the damage caused to the planet. As a way to promote waste reduction or prevention, the 3 R's rule is created: reduce, reuse and recycle. These actions, together with sustainable consumption standards, have been promoted as a means to protect natural resources and minimize waste.

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The stigma of rudimentary architecture, combined with the idealization of high-tech technology, relegates Indigenous building knowledge to a prehistoric imaginary. This pattern, which points to a single, unequivocal direction of progress, reveals the so-called coloniality of knowledge—a concept by Peruvian sociologist Aníbal Quijano that exposes the hidden side of modernity: the creation of hierarchies among peoples, keeping Latin America, and particularly its Indigenous populations, in a subaltern position. In other words, we tend to assume that the knowledge representing the future is produced in other lands, namely the Global North.