As the forces shaping our built environment have shifted, engaging technology, networks, and complex systems, architects need to envision more than the physical space but produce narratives on how to best operate within this new societal landscape. In this context, speculative architecture seems to have never been more critical; therefore this article takes a closer look at the mediums that currently question the existing conditions of the built environment and explore new architectural possibilities.
LIFE CERSUDS (which stands for Ceramic Sustainable Urban Drainage System) is a proposal developed within the framework of the LIFE program—the European Union's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It is a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) that utilizes low commercial value ceramic material as a filtering paving system to improve cities' adaptive capacity to the climate crisis.
This initiative was implemented as a demonstrator project in the town of Benicàssim, Spain, by architects Eduardo de Miguel and Enrique Fernández-Vivancos of the Valencia Ceramic Chair. They present the project in detail below.
When it comes to the design process behind architectural projects, brainstorming is never the same for everyone. Some find inspiration in crowded rooms with loud music in the background, some walk around public spaces and observe people’s behaviors, and some need almost no resources whatsoever, just a pen, paper, and complete silence.
In an interview with architecture filmographers Spirit of Space, Steven Holl shares how being completely isolated in the Watercolor Hut contributed to some of his office’s most notable creations.
Final Project by Khalya. Image Courtesy of PennPraxis x Fresh Air Fund
This past summer, the nonprofit design practice, PennPraxis, in partnership with The Fresh Air Fund, piloted a new program, Virtual Design Studio, that sparked the imaginations of nearly 150 students to show how design has the power to change the built environment. Their courses, which were taught by University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design graduate students, generated multiple designs for a nature center operated by The Fresh Air Fund and public spaces in New York City and offered children an introduction to explore future careers in design that could have a lasting impact on their communities and the design professions for years to come. Over the course of seven weeks, these students committed over 150 hours to the program while also receiving a stipend.
Building design today, and throughout the 20th century, has been significantly shaped by fire safety considerations. Architects today are familiar with the wide range of code requirements for a building to be compliant, from materials, to fire extinguisher locations, to fire-rated walls and doors. As buildings have become better-equipped to withstand fire emergencies, however, modern life has simultaneously increased the amount of fire hazards we live with.
The built manifestation of an ideology, the urban landscape left behind by the socialist regimes around Europe are removed from the aspirations of contemporary urban living, thus trigger a unique process of re-appropriation of the post-soviet landscapes. The short film Landscape Architecture: Rethinking The Future out of a Totalitarian Past created by Minimal Movie invites a conversation around urban planning, cultural identity, and community building relating to the urbanism and architecture of Ukraine's Socialist Era.
I spent four glorious days in Copenhagen in 2017 and left with an acute case of urban envy. (I kept thinking: It’s like..an American Portland—except better.) Why can’t we do cities like this in the United States? That’s the question an urban nerd like me asks while strolling the famously pedestrian-friendly streets, as hordes of impossibly blond and fit Danes bicycle briskly past.
Washington D.C. has earned a reputation for iconic architecture. Emerging from the L'Enfant and McMillan Plans, Washington’s cityscape includes wide streets and low-rise buildings that sprawl out from circles and rectangular plazas. From the White House to Lincoln Memorial, Washington’s architecture was built to symbolize the nation’s values. Today, new projects are designed to rethink the city’s morphology while respecting its identity.
The 1st stage of the Architectural Visualization Awards has come to an end. 30 finalists, 10 from each category: Exterior, Interior, and Conceptual were selected by the official ArchDaily jury. Launched thanks to IPEVO, Cove.tool, and Concepts, this 1st edition of the award gathered a whopping number of proposals, with 750 visualizations submitted from all over the world.
One of the great difficulties we encounter with “classic” plan delineation methodologies are ramp and stair projections. It has always been difficult to avoid calculating the ramp’s slope, as well as the dimensions of the footprint and riser of the communication staircase between two floors of a building. Do they comply with current regulations in my country? Do they adapt to the project standards? Will they be accurately calculated?
Thanks to great advances in project modeling using BIM methodology and Revit software, these calculations can be made with greater ease. However, these elements will probably be an aspect of modeling that will bring us the most difficulties in the project phase.
The sshhh 2 pod (right) takes all the important aspects of a meeting room and throws everything else away. The result is shockingly small – the 4-person sshhh 4 weighs just 400kg and fits inside a standard elevator. Image via Architonic
The gradual accumulation of various complementary technologies has unshackled employees from previously restrictive office and desk-based work. In the modern world, they have the freedom to work wherever they want, be it at home, on the train, in a café, in the park or anywhere else. These often cacophonous working locations, however, provide little privacy, and often result in the pioneering professionals fighting a losing battle against concentration.
Zbraslav Square . Image Courtesy of Architects for Urbanity
Recognizing the importance of international contests in pushing forward inventive concepts and design, ArchDaily has put together a curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture featuring competition entries from around the globe. Submitted by our readers, these projects include winning proposals, honorable mentions, and recognized admissions.
In this week’s article, urban interventions take the lead with multiple square designs and infrastructural elements. On the cultural level, projects underlined include Museums in Iran and Norway, a National Concert hall in Lithuania, and a Mosque in Turkey. For the civic category, the functions highlighted comprise a new city hall for a South Korean district and an Indian community development center for at-risk women. Finally, other programs involve a rural school in Haiti, a tourist center in China, and a housing complex in Prague.
Under the theme of “good neighbors”, the IE School of Architecture and Design celebrated World Architecture Day, highlighting the importance of our commitment and collective responsibility for the future of human beings, societies, and built environments.
To celebrate the projects that have impacted our daily lives positively, the university showcased these buildings on their social media platforms and asked renowned architects and program directors on the importance of maintaining a sense of community and what makes buildings our good neighbors. The school hosted its dean Martha Thorne and award-winning international architect Jeanne Gang during a live interview on Instagram to discuss the evolution of the field of architecture after this year’s new set of living conditions.
Implementing universal design in built environments is no easy task—especially regarding the minimum requirements for making public spaces accessible and adapting urban intersections (sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and bike lanes). For this reason, the Corporación Ciudad Accesible has shared its constantly updated article, Accessibility on Sloped Terrain.
https://www.archdaily.com/1123457/accessibility-on-sloping-terrain-conflicts-and-solutions-in-chileCorporación Ciudad Accesible
What's better than a house with a pool? A house with a pool that's part of the structure of the house. These projects show different ways to incorporate pools and how to resolve issues of weight, moisture and leaks. See the houses below, featuring photos by photographers like Mariela Apollonio, Kent Soh y Marcello Mariana.
When we study Amancio Williams' work, it almost always centers on his emblematic Bridge House, built for his father in Mar del Plata between 1943 and 1946, or his technical role in Le Corbusier's Casa Curutchet. Of course, to study Williams is to confront several questions: Did he not design any other residential projects? What modernist ideas and concepts can we glimpse into his work? How did his work impact the development of Argentine architecture?
Not a month goes by without Danish architects and Danish design in the news, as design seems to be one of the primary exports from the tiny Scandinavian country. To be fair, the attention isn't a bad thing. Denmark has a rich heritage of furniture designers and architects who have transformed spatial thinking around the world. Some thoughts were so “BIG,” that they envisioned inhabiting the moon or making plans for a Masterplanet.
The Hamptons are defined by a storied past. As wealthy New Yorkers were drawn to this part of Long Island’s South Fork for the last century and a half, they increasingly built a series of exclusive and luxurious homes. Today, new residences along the coastline are some of the most expensive properties in the United States. As summer homes and vacation getaways, many of these residences are designed as private retreats surrounded by nature.
This August, as hundreds of wildfires darkened the sky above my home in Corte Madera, California, thousands of miles away in Florida, my family braced for wind and flooding as two hurricanes barreled towards the Gulf of Mexico. We all hunkered down, anxiously, as climate change-fueled disasters wreaked havoc. For weeks, the air quality in California was too hazardous for us to open our windows or go outside. In Pensacola, the Gulf storm surge was several feet deep around my family’s home and the powerful winds downed mature oak trees in their yard.
The new Global Master in Real Estate Development program is designed for professionals with backgrounds in various fields, from finance or economics to architecture, and from engineering to law. The aim of this degree is for students to explore the relationship between real estate development, investment and city infrastructure from a wholly global perspective. The program is based on the principles of sustainability, digital innovation and real estate technology transformation.
The Bamboo Pavilion, a project designed by Mexican architect Lucila Aguilar as part of Design Week 2020, is inspired by the search for spaces that connect directly with the earth. It consists of a series of bamboo structures that create a new space in the plaza of the 'Espacio CDMX' gallery. The pavilion's shape follows the flow of organic forms, combined with a 100% biodegradable, permeable material made in Mérida from natural rubber.
https://www.archdaily.com/1124090/lucila-aguilar-builds-bamboo-pavilion-for-design-week-mexico-2020ArchDaily Team
São Paulo has a vibrant nightlife, either by nature or due to the lack of other attractions, offering as many possibilities as its population of more than 12 million people. Therefore, bars have become the favorite spots for residents from all over the city, living in the east, west, north, and south.
We have selected a few projects of bars already published in ArchDaily that represent a sample of this bohemian architecture that so many inhabitants of São Paulo are used to – an architecture that is all about remodeling, socializing, gathering, and bonding in intimate spaces.
“It all started with the question: What if I’m going to build my own house?" It was this consideration that prompted Alexis Dornier to note that when he's providing architectural design service he's mostly catering, filtering and catalyzing input from other people that have budgets, preferences and tastes and it’s up to him to channel or organize that and let it "stream through" him. Using his craft to put it in order. "But what if you did not have that other hand [designer's help]? What would you do?”
Archdaily’s Hana Abdel, projects curator, sat down with Alexis Dornier to discuss his latest venture as co-founder of Stilt Studios, a company “focused on making Architectural design accessible to a greater audience of people. People who wouldn’t be able to afford an architect or don’t want to go through the trouble of working with an architect. So, what if we could create a product, or an architecture that almost works as a product.”
With Sky-Frame, the focus is what inspiration and freedom their windows can help achieve, not on the windows themselves. Rather, the spatial qualities and view potential created by the windows is what you notice. The Swiss company is the leading international supplier of frameless sliding doors that work to blend interior and exterior for a unique living experience. Featured in thousands of projects worldwide, Sky-Frame products include curved and sloped sliding doors, as well as a pivot door, to fit each individual space.
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