Dima Stouhi

Community & Content Editor at ArchDaily. Bachelor of Arts in Interior Architecture & Master's in Product & Business Development. Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon.

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Retrofuturism's New Series Places Contemporary Landmarks in Old Persian Paintings

Architect and visual artist Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar has been conceptually combining contemporary landmarks with traditional Iranian houses and palaces, in a photo-series titled "Retrofuturism". In his latest collection, the Persian architect chose to displace iconic structures and place them in 19th century paintings of the country by artist Eugène Flandin.

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London's Shades of Grey

Rarely does one see brutalist architecture in the city of London. Primarily, these buildings were perceived as rebellious and grotesque, only to become the "go-to" style for commercial and governmental buildings after the Second World War. Nowadays, with the real estate market demands and dominance of contemporary architecture, these monumental grey structures are gradually fading away.

Santiago-based architect and photographer Grégoire Dorthe developed the passion of photography during his military service, when he realized that through his images, he is able to freeze moments and preserve what will be lost with time. In his photographic series titled "Brutal London", the Swiss photographer captures the raw forms and graphic qualities of the city's brutalist architecture, before these buildings meet their end.

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Photographic Series Captures The Hyper-dense Vertical Graveyards of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is considered to have one of the most exceptional skylines and urban schemes in the world: contemporary skyscrapers stand amidst the mountains and harbour, ancient houses nestled between futuristic structures, neon lights, landscapes... But among Hong Kong's numerous remarkable architectures, its spatial typology of death is like no other.

Over the course of five years, RIBA-nominated architectural photographer Finbarr Fallon captured the hyper-dense graveyards of Hong Kong, showcasing the sublime geometry of its mountainside burials in a series titled "Dead Space".

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Open More Doors: Supervoid

Open More Doors is a section by ArchDaily and the MINI Clubman that takes you behind the scenes of the world’s most innovative offices through exciting video interviews and an exclusive photo gallery featuring each studio’s workspace.

This month, we talked with Italian architecture firm Supervoid to discuss their design strategies and how they helped develop the office's interior space.

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Unique Silhouettes of the Berlin Philharmonic Through the Lens of Bahaa Ghoussainy

The Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun is one of the most prominent mid-20th century structures in the German city. The expressionist-style building with its bright-colored facade is the first of its kind by the German architect, as well as his most famous project to date. Scharoun’s design interprets rhythm and music as architecture, both conceptually and physically.

Architectural photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy unfolds Scharoun’s unique architecture by highlighting the concert hall’s dramatic angular geometry, vibrant yellow-hued facade, and play of lines and forms.

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The Top 10 Design Cities of 2019

Design trends are often the result of foreign cultural influences, avant-garde creations, and innovative solutions for people's ever-evolving needs. Although the design world seems like one big mood board, some cities have managed to outshine the rest with their recent projects.

As part of their annual Design Cities Listing, Metropolis Magazine has highlighted 10 cities across 5 continents with intriguing projects that have harmonized contemporary urbanism with traditional and faraway influences.

GROUPWORK + Amin Taha Architects Win Motion Against Demolishing 15 Clerkenwell Close

After a 2-year trial, GROUPWORK and Amin Taha Architects won the motion against demolishing the 15 Clerkenwell Close building.

The architects behind the RIBA award-winning project have been in an ongoing battle with local planning authorities over attempts of demolishing the 7-storey building in the city of Clerkenwell, UK. Taha has also received an enforcement notice last year, claiming that "the structure does not reflect the building that was granted planning permission and conservation area consent in 2013".

However, a planning inspector overturned the council’s demolition request, granting the architects planning permission regardless of the differences between what was proposed and what is developed.  

Burning Man's ORB Through the Animated Lens of Another :

One of the main attractions of 2018’s Burning Man Festival was the ORB, designed by Bjarke Ingels, Iacob Lange & Laurent de Carniere. The inflated spherical mirror was created as a conceptual representation of Earth and human expression, leaving no trace after its deflation. The project consumed 30 tons of steel, 1,000 welding and sewing hours, and $300,000 of personal funds to make the ORB come to life.

As part of their mini-film series, creative duo another : have collaborated with music composer Yu Miyashita and released a short video that explores the process of creating the ORB in an otherworldly way.

Persian Palaces Meet Contemporary Landmarks in Forouzanfar's Retrofuturism Series

There is often a debate on whether architects and engineers should restore old buildings and preserve what is still standing as a token of the past, or completely demolish them and introduce contemporary designs and features. In Iran, the remains of historic monuments, some of which are World Heritage Sites, have yet to know their fate, as restoration strategies remain uncertain.

As part of his Retrofuturism series, Iranian architect Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar selected a few pre-Islamic castles across Persian towns, and merged them with contemporary landmarks, bringing about a new definition of architectural restoration.

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SO-IL and BCJ’s Davis Museum of Art through the Animated Lens of Another :

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art by SO-IL and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is the first contemporary arts museum for the University of California and the city of Davis. The museum’s signature element is the grand canopy that stretches over the surrounding site and building.

Creative duo another : have collaborated with music composer Yu Miyashita and released a short film that explores the geometric composition of the museum's structure in an exceptional way.

Award-Winning Design of Tokyo Music Hall Transforms Roof into a Public Plaza

Although music halls generally appeal to groups of people with a specific interest, Persian architecture firm Hajizadeh & Associates developed a music hall that caters to all citizens of the city, and not just music lovers.

The "Tokyo Music Hall" is an award-winning design that transforms the music hall's roof into a space of contemplation and leisure, inspired by traditional Japanese architecture.

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The National Museum of World Writing Tells its Stories Through Architecture

Writing is an unending dialogue that has been connecting one generation to another, maintaining history, culture, and information. For the National Museum of World Writing, stories were built rather than written.

Just as writing transcends the author to another realms, SAMOO Architects and Engineers have proposed ‘PAGES’, a structure of architecturally-devised scripts that disconnects visitors from the outer world, and introduces them to an exceptional architectural narration.

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ArchDaily's Sustainability Glossary : J-K-L

It is expected that within the next few of decades, Earth will have absolutely nothing left to offer whoever/whatever is capable of surviving on it. Although the human race is solely responsible for the damages done to the planet, a thin silver lining can still be seen if radical changes were to be done to the way we live on Earth and how we sustain it.

Since architects and designers carry a responsibility of building a substantial future, we have put together an A-Z list of every sustainability term that you might come across. Every week, a new set of letters will be published, helping you stay well-rounded on everything related to sustainable architecture and design. Here are the terms that start with letters J, K, and L.

ANU Design Group Creates a Three-Dimensional Landscape for the Chungnam Sports Center

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© ANU Design Group

The importance of nature and sustaining it has become a crucial feature in most contemporary projects. While some architects sustain nature by constructing with environmental-friendly material, others make way for the greenery to intervene with the structure, blurring the boundaries between man-made and Earth.

For the Chungnam Sports Center design competition, ANU Design Group created "Edgeless Sports Park", a series of oval-shaped structures that complement the hilly landscape and merge its greenery with the architecture.

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Retrofuturism Gives Traditional Iranian Architecture a Modern Twist

Villages and cities in Iran have always had a fixed low-rise horizontal skyline due to the lack of beam and column technology. Although some cities have already adopted contemporary styles and have constructed soaring skyscrapers, but the majority of towns remain committed to traditional building techniques.

Iranian architect Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar decided to give traditional Iranian architecture a structural upgrade but kept its main features intact. In his conceptual creations titled "Retrofuturism", the architect used traditionally-designed houses as a starting point, but introduced them to the modern world of skyscrapers and surreal forms, mixing both styles together.

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The Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo: from Historic Islamic Monument to War Battlefield

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via AFP / Getty Images

Islam, other than describing a religious belief, is a word that identifies a unique type of architecture that dates back thousands of years. It has been formed by a civilization that transformed the qualities of this belief into visible and tangible material, building structures with a striking focus on details and experiences within enclosed spaces. 

Islamic architecture is an architecture that does not change its form easily. In fact, its principles have been more or less the same since thousands of years ago, with minor changes based on functional adaptations. To this day, hundreds of buildings still stand as a representation of the history of Islamic architecture and are still used just as they have been in the past.

War, however, has no religion or cultural nostalgia, and even the holiest, most historically-significant sites are threatened with complete destruction. The Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, originally built by the first imperial Islamic dynasty and currently situated within a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stood yet again as a battlefield during the recent Syrian War, but this time, lost its most significant and resilient element, an 11th-century Seljuk Minaret.

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