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

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 is an invitation for architects from around the world to meet in Copenhagen July 2 – 6 to explore and communicate how architecture influences all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more than two years, the Science Track and its international Scientific Committee have been analyzing the various ways in which architecture responds to the SDGs. The work has resulted in the formulation of six science panels: design for Climate Adaptation, design for Rethinking Resources, design for Resilient Communities, design for Health, design for Inclusivity, and design for Partnerships for Change. An international call for papers was sent out in 2022 and 296 of more than 750 submissions from 77 countries have been invited to present at the UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 in Copenhagen. ArchDaily is collaborating with the UIA to share articles pertaining to the six themes to prepare for the opening of the Congress.

In this fourth feature, we met with co-chairs of design for Health architect Arif Hasan, former Visiting Professor NED University Karachi and member of UNs Advisory Group on Forced Evictions, and architect Christian Benimana, Senior Principal and Co-Executive Director at MASS Design Group

+ 21

Environments that inspire, promote well-being and stimulate a connection with nature. Biophilic landscaping in education spaces recognizes the importance of this bond for student development, as it benefits well-being, academic performance, and people's health. We have selected eight projects that bring natural elements to the classroom or that place students directly in nature to illustrate the qualities in these spaces.

+ 22

In a world of extravagant textures, colors, and flavors, who would have thought that a substance that has no color, no smell, and no taste is precisely the most essential for human existence? Antagonistic in itself, water carries an ambiguity of values and meanings that confer a high degree of complexity sustained by the versatile and soluble profile that distinguishes it in a complex simplicity. In this sense, water, as a source of life, has become an object of devotion and study over time. This has fostered a continuous effort focused on understanding, transporting, and controlling this element.

+ 7

Videos

The institution of slavery shaped landscapes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. And in turn enslaved and free Africans and their descendants created new landscapes in the United States, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. African people had their own intimate relationships with the land, which enabled them to carve out their own agency and culture.

At Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., a symposium — Environmental Histories of the Black Atlantic World: Landscape Histories of the African Diaspora — organized by N. D. B. Connolly, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Oscar de la Torre, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, sought to highlight those forgotten relationships between people and their environment.

Some architects have left their mark on history; one such case is Antonio Gaudí. Through his nature-inspired conceptions, he became the foremost representative of Catalan modernism. The impact of Gaudí's work can be seen on various architectural scales, including the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Colònia Güell, Casa Milà, and Casa Battló, the latter being an iconic landmark of Barcelona’s architecture.

Casa Battló emerged from the renovation of an 1877 building, which was acquired in 1903 and subsequently commissioned to Gaudí for its transformation. Inspired by animal forms, particularly those of the ocean, the facade and interior were renovated using curves and a combination of vibrant colors. This intervention marked a turning point for the house, as it significantly changed the facade, redistributed the interior, and provided a sublime interaction with natural light. Following the nature of the renovation that began with Gaudí, a new interior project for the stairs and atrium of Casa Batlló was developed in 2021. This renovation is the result of a dialogue between the anodized aluminum chains developed by Kriskadecor and the abstraction of the ingenious use of light in Casa Batlló through Kengo Kuma's design.

Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity introduces the mind-blowing concept that time – as we know it – is not as stable and reliable as it first seems. As a defining characteristic upon which all of human history is referenced, the fallibility of time is a confusing prospect. 15 minutes, for example, seems an eternity while waiting in line, and yet the 300,000 years of human history equates to less than a day in the lifetime of the Earth.

So when we talk about ‘saving the planet’ by slowing and reversing climate crisis, what we really mean is extending our own existence upon it. Because no matter what we do, this rock will continue to spin for billions of years yet. In reality, humanity itself is only a temporary installation.

These four outdoor installation projects use the Earth’s environment and borrow its resources to investigate our human relationship with time, and how it affects our lives down here on the surface.

Researchers point out that "proto-greenhouses" arose to fulfill the desire of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC to 37 AD) to eat cucumbers every day of the year. Since it was impossible to grow the vegetable on the island of Capri in winter, his gardeners developed beds mounted on wheels that they would move into the sun when possible, while on winter days they would place them under translucent covers made of Selenite (a type of gypsum with a glassy appearance). But the production of large-scale greenhouses only became possible after the Industrial Revolution with the availability of mass-produced glass sheets. Since then, they have been used to grow food and flowers, forming a microclimate suitable for plant species even in places with severe climates. But in some cases, these artificial growing conditions can also form interesting living spaces. The recent Lacaton & Vassal awards rekindled this interest. How is it possible to create greenhouses that can be good for both humans and plants?

Acquiring real estate through cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB), is already a reality in many countries, including the United States, England, and Brazil. With the rise of this market and the increasing acceptance of these assets as a legitimate form of payment, investors and buyers are exploring new possibilities for transactions with cryptocurrencies, including the real estate sector.

June 8th was World Oceans Day 2023, which brought the theme 'Ocean Planet: Tides are Changing'. The purpose of the United Nations was to generate a "new wave of enthusiasm for caring and protecting the ocean and the entirety of our blue planet."

A new opportunity to reflect on the importance of preserving these vast aquatic ecosystems that cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface - and an opportunity to reflect on how architecture can contribute to their protection and conservation through the design of resilient coastal infrastructure, the development of marine energy technologies, sustainable design of coastal buildings, and regeneration of marine ecosystems.

An arid environment refers to specific regions characterized by a severe lack of available water and extremely dry weather conditions. More specifically, arid regions by definition, receive less than 25 centimeters of rain per year. In the immense vastness of arid environments, where extreme climates present significant challenges, the role of water in architecture takes on a new dimension.

For centuries, architects and designers dealing with harsh desert landscapes and the vital necessity of water have invented techniques, technologies, and new structures. Moreover, many creative approaches have been created to harness, collect, and cool water in arid environments. 

+ 3

With a broad and diversified portfolio in terms of typologies, scales, and project locations, MMBB Arquitetos is a versatile office with multiple activities. Founded in 1991 in the city of São Paulo, the office is currently composed of Maria João Figueiredo, Marta Moreira, and Milton Braga, and over the more than three decades of its operation, it has had among its partners Angelo Bucci, Vinicius Gorgati, and Fernando de Mello Franco, in addition to having carried out several partnerships with Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

+ 7

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

How did we end up building an environment where the private car is often treated better than many of our fellow human beings? In the U.S., the center of car culture, parking is expected to be convenient, available, and free, writes Henry Grabar in his engaging and entertaining new book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World (Penguin Press). Parking consumes vast amounts of land; in Los Angeles County, for example, it totals about 200 square miles. In New York City alone, there are 3 million curb parking spaces (not counting parking garages), which account for 6% of the city’s area—the equivalent of 13 Central Parks! Grabar asks: What better use could we make of this space? A 2021 study revealed that if New York reclaimed just a quarter of the street space allotted to cars, the following could be created: 500 miles of bus lanes; 40 miles of busways; 38 million square feet of community space; 1,000 miles of open streets; 3 million square feet of new pedestrian space; and 5.4 million additional square feet for restaurants, businesses, and cultural institutions.

Even as a child, the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa was very aware of the fundamental element that would describe and underpin his work many years later: water. When he played and ran around the maze of streets and canals, Scarpa listened to everything around him, especially the richness of stimuli that his hometown offered him. A sensitive reader of places, he found his great text in Venice. This culture, subtle and almost academic, except for that devotion to scenography and the esoteric, is built over time; art, space, history, all compiled in his readings, trips to knowledge, and in his contact with artists and writers.

Scarpa would base his evolution as an architect on his extraordinary visual culture and his respect for tradition and the way of doing things in past eras; taking up the baton of that time and converting his reality into architectural space where all the pieces are independent units, dialoguing with each other or, as he liked to say, singing. He positions himself before what exists, whether it be an artistic piece or architectural space, from knowledge and sensitivity. He will apprehend the history and place in which it occurs and accentuate the existing beauty in things, showing the prominence of the new as a precious element.

The architecture profession is increasingly facing the pressures of a rapidly changing era marked by urbanization, population growth, and climate change. To effectively navigate the complexities surrounding architectural and urban projects, there has been an acceleration in the adoption and integration of data-driven technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. However, valid concerns have risen regarding the potential loss of the designer's creative control, with fears that their role may be reduced to a mere "parameter adjuster." Is this a genuine possibility or merely a reflection of resistance to change?

In a conversation with Carl Christensen, Autodesk's Vice President of Product, we delve into the impact of AI on the traditional role of the architect and explore the opportunities that arise with these technological advances. As paradigms shift, forward-thinking architects and designers could find themselves especially empowered to expand their influence and shape a new future for the discipline.

Light and color are intrinsically linked, as color cannot exist without the presence of light. In 1665, Isaac Newton made a momentous discovery when he observed that white light breaks down into different colors as it passes through a prism, creating a spectrum. This discovery laid the foundation for understanding the nature of light and developing color theory, which had a significant impact not only in the scientific field but also in artistic disciplines such as painting, photography and architecture.

When asked about his memories of the house where he spent part of his childhood, Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa says that more than sight, his memories are based on the smell of the house. According to him, each house has its own smell, which we do not always perceive when we are in it, but immediately recognize upon returning.

+ 5