Author: Begoña Uribe | ArchDaily

Spotlight: Luis Barragán

Begoña Uribe — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 03:30:00 +0000

One of Mexico's greatest architects, Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín (March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988) revolutionized modern architecture in the country with his use of bright colors reminiscent of the traditional architecture of Mexico, and with works such as his Casa Barragán, the Chapel of the Capuchinas, the Torres de Satélite, "Los Clubes" (Cuadra San Cristobal and Fuente de los Amantes), and the Casa Gilardi, among many others.

Ricardo Bofill's Red Wall Through The Lens of Gregori Civera

Begoña Uribe — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Photographer Gregori Civera worked in collaboration with Pablo Bofill to photograph the magnificent work of his father Ricardo Bofill. The Red Wall, La Muralla Roja is a housing project located within the La Manzanera development in Spain's Calpe. The building makes clear references to the popular architecture of the Arab Mediterranean Area, a result of the architects' inspiration by the Mediterranean tradition of the casbah.

10 Interventions on Historic Buildings

Begoña Uribe — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 12:00:00 +0000

The concept of heritage is often associated with something that has had value in its past and, for that reason, deserves to be preserved. In the case of architecture, we want our built environment to tell our history and to remain untouched in time, often without considering the real use and meaning of the building in the present. We ask ourselves: Does a building still have value if its use is obsolete?

Despite the fascination that we have with ruins, sometimes conversion or rehabilitation is a better, more contemporary alternative to conservation. By doing so, it is possible to introduce new innovative materials, which, rather than take away from the original structure, can actually add even more value to architectural works. It is also possible to convert spaces that were originally designed to accommodate certain functions into spaces that admit new uses relevant to the present.

To conserve a building without updating it or rethinking its functions can lead to wear and tear, freezing it in time and preventing it from adapting to an ever-changing society.

To illustrate this theme, we searched our archives and selected someof the best architectural interventions in historic buildings. Check them out below.

A Selection of Impressive Perspective Sections

Begoña Uribe — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 06:00:00 +0000

The perspective section is an increasingly popular form of architectural representation, one that is most commonly used in architectural competitions since it allows a technical drawing to be mixed with an image, a section which allows one to easily express the qualities of the space designed in a two-dimensional drawing. Below, we have put together a selection of impressive perspective sections ranging from a realistic aesthetic to a line drawing by hand.

10 Innovative Materials That Could Revolutionize the Construction Industry

Begoña Uribe — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 08:00:00 +0000

Cement that can generate light? Concrete for building on Mars? Translucent wood? Biodegradable furniture? Pollution absorbing bricks? At first, it sounds crazy but these are only some of the research projects taking place around the world in order to take the construction industry to the next level.

Continue reading below for more information about the motivations behind these projects and how these "experiments" that have already begun large-scale testing are being carried out.

Economic Concepts That Every Architect Should Know

Begoña Uribe — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 07:00:00 +0000

We talk about sustainability, livability, and land use to describe a project, but we often avoid the profitability, capital gains, and externalities that go along with them simply because we don’t know how to use the terms. Architecture doesn’t exist outside of the economy and in fact, how we build each building directly affects the economy of our cities.

Gabriel Dawe's Installation Recreates the Light Spectrum Using Nothing But Thread

Begoña Uribe — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 08:00:00 +0000

Along with eight other contemporary artists, Mexican artist Gabriel Dawe is exhibiting his installation called 'Plexus A1' within the WONDER display at the Renwick Gallery until July 10. WONDER is an exhibition showing nine very different projects within Renwick Gallery, all of which use large-scale and/or unexpected materials. Dawe uses around 100 kilometers of cotton thread to create a colorful installation that is similar to the light spectrum.

These Fantastical Architectural Illustrations Are Made Using Autocad

Begoña Uribe — Mon, 30 May 2016 08:00:00 +0000

Fabiola Morcillo Núñez, an architect from the University of Chile, is 26-years-old and has been formally drawing under the name 1989 for about a year and a half. Her illustration project uses basic tools of architecture to build fictitious and imaginary spaces based on Asian architecture and pop art.

Gallery: Oscar Niemeyer’s Cathedral of Brasília Photographed by Gonzalo Viramonte

Begoña Uribe — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000

This series of images captures Oscar Niemeyer’s Cathedral of Brasília through the lens of Argentine architect and photographer Gonzalo Viramonte.

Architectural Photographers: Rodrigo Dávila

Begoña Uribe — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 08:00:00 +0000

As part of our Architectural Photographers interview series, we spoke with Rodrigo Dávila, an architecture photographer based in Bogotá. When he was a teenager, Dávila inherited a Rolleiflex medium-format camera from his grandfather and never looked back. After working as an architect for two years and taking pictures of landscapes in his free time, Rodrigo moved to Melbourne, Australia to study photography at RMIT University. Back in Colombia, Dávila established a photography business through which he expresses his passion for design, Scandinavian architecture and contemporary buildings.

“Architectural photography works in the opposite way of designing a building. Instead of projecting in order to construct a building, a photographer analyzes the image in order to deconstruct the building and understand the architect’s intention," explained Dávila.

Read the complete interview after the break.

Infographic: The Life of Le Corbusier by Vincent Mahé

Begoña Uribe — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 07:00:00 +0000

French artist and illustrator Vincent Mahé has shared his most recent work with us -- a series of illustrations made for a special edition of Telerama magazine that depicts the life of the renowned Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier. In just eight pages, the artist highlights the most relevant facts of this unforgettable architect's life. Expressed in green and pink tones, we can see key moments that have without a doubt shifted the course of contemporary architecture, with the extreme care and clarity that Mahé's work presents us.

View the eight illustrations after the break.

AV Monographs Looks at 15 Years of Rem Koolhaas and OMA

Begoña Uribe — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 06:00:00 +0000

"From his first conceptual, colorful phase, Koolhaas has traveled through dirty realism, enlightened deconstructivism and commercial pragmatism, grafting Leonidov on Le Corbusier, hybridizing mambo fifties with dry sixties, and joining programmatic diagrams with sculptural volumes to end in the realm of heritage and history, ecology and sustainability, elements and the discipline." - Luis Fernández-Galiano

Gallery: Clorindo Testa’s Banco de Londres Through the Lens of Federico Cairoli

Begoña Uribe — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 08:00:00 +0000

Argentine photographer and architect Federico Cairoli has shared photos with us of Clorindo Testa’s Banco de Londres (Bank of London) in Buenos Aires. Testa and his firm SEPRA won a competition in 1959 to design the bank and the Brutalist building was completed in 1966.

View Cairoli’s photos after the break and check out more of his work on his webpage and Facebook page.