Reinforced concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. In Brazil, the nation's greatest architectural icon, Oscar Niemeyer, was passionate about the material, claiming it was the only one capable of giving shape to his sinuous curves.
Builders love concrete, making it the most widely used construction material in the world–but the production of the cement used in most concrete accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
For designers and architects, ugliness has historically not been something to strive for. Culturally, however, we are increasingly weary of perfection.
Following decades of designs that behaved in similarly simple and orderly ways—particularly during the twentieth century, with the rationalism and purity of Modernism—we now long for expressions that are less sanitized and, at the same time, more human.
Whether or not they grow up to be architects, the fundamental skills that drive design and architecture can offer immense benefits to our children. The way children grow up to think, behave, solve problems, and create can be immeasurably enhanced by teaching them to think like architects from an early age.
When we think of healthcare, we think of doctors, nurses, surgeons, radiologists, and anesthesiologists – the people who treat illnesses and save lives.
Yet we often overlook a large group of people who make saving lives possible – medical coding specialists, healthcare service managers, hospital architects and engineers, and others working behind the scenes to deliver positive health outcomes.
For a long time, women have had their work excluded and erased in fields such as engineering, architecture, and design. There have always been inspiring women architects, planners, and urban policymakers, but worldwide, built environment professions—and particularly their upper echelons—remain heavily male-dominated, more so than other fields such as education or healthcare.
Inspiring women architects, planners, and urban policymakers have always existed, yet worldwide, the built environment professions—particularly their upper echelons—remain heavily male-dominated, far more so than other fields like education or healthcare.
Driven by Gen Z's preference for access over ownership, the secondhand market is beginning to see significant growth worldwide.
This includes the secondhand furniture market, which, in addition to giving a second life to items destined for landfills, helps reduce industrial CO2 emissions—manufacturing and shipping a single piece of furniture emits about 90kg of CO2, equivalent to a one-hour flight on a Boeing 747.
YouTube is the social network with the highest number of monthly active users—around 2 billion, nearly double that of Instagram. As a search engine, it ranks second, behind only Google. It comes as no surprise, then, that the fashion, music, and beauty industries have embraced the platform with open arms. By contrast, design and architecture have lagged behind.
Brazil is currently the sixth country in the world most affected by climate disasters, according to the United Nations. The primary issues are waterlogging and flooding, as they bring windstorms, landslides, and flash floods. One in three disasters in Brazil falls into this category — with more than 10,000 official occurrences recorded between 1991 and 2010.
Much has been said about the power of artificial intelligence and how its rise could transform the architectural profession. This topic has already been explored in previous articles here.
The primary tool causing concern among industry experts is DALL-E, a machine learning-based software that generates images from text prompts entered by the user. Other platforms offer similar capabilities, such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.
With the rapid urbanization of our cities, animals that once called these environments home have been displaced, forced to seek refuge elsewhere.
Birds are perhaps among the species hardest hit by urban growth, as they are drawn during flight by stimuli like artificial light and wind currents—both of which can be radically altered by how a city is built and laid out.
Iris Barrel is a designer born in Queens, the only child of a Russian mother and an American father who owned a mirror company. She studied art at the University of Wisconsin and began her career at WWD, a benchmark publication in the fashion industry.
In 1948, alongside her husband, Carl Apfel, she founded a successful textile brand that was even featured in the White House decor during the administrations of nine US presidents. Although they sold the company in 1992, the couple continued working for the brand for another 13 years—until 2005. Iris Apfel was fully retired from the interior design industry when, at 84, she was invited by Harold Koda—curator of the Met’s Costume Institute—to exhibit her collection of clothing and accessories.
Some buildings have stood the test of time. After centuries or even millennia, they remain structurally sound, revered as living testaments to history and human innovation. Some are still in use today, many lifetimes after their original designers passed away.
These buildings, whether by design or accident, were built to last—a concept that is increasingly relevant today. Building construction and operations account for a concerning share of carbon dioxide emissions. The embodied carbon resulting from building material production and construction makes up about 11% of all global carbon emissions. According to a new book on long-life buildings, designing structures to stand much longer—and to survive the various twists and turns that come with an extended lifespan—is a new imperative for architects.
In the past, people mapped out their careers in a highly linear fashion. You planned to study architecture, went to university, secured a job at a prominent firm, and, over several years, worked your way up to partner.
Yet things do not always go as planned. Perhaps you graduated with an architecture degree but could not secure the salary you envisioned. Or perhaps you join a major firm only to be laid off after a year or two due to declining profits and rising overhead. You might even become an architect, only to realize a few years later that it is not your passion. What then? This is where non-linear careers come into play.
Architecture is a business. Whether architects openly admit it or not, running an architecture firm works just like any other company. Businesses—and their founders, leaders, and stakeholders—are influenced by real-world economic forces. You cannot make payroll on a love of the work.
In our current economic system, businesses must prioritize profitability to pay their employees a living wage, operate sustainably and ethically, and continue offering their services.
Although there are records of latrines dating back to 3100 BCE, the first flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Englishman John Harington. He produced two units: one for himself and another for Queen Elizabeth I.
The idea did not catch on at the time, and it was only in 1775 that Scotsman Alexander Cumming patented the modern toilet, designed to connect to a sewage system. In 1885, another Englishman, Thomas Twyford, created the first porcelain toilet, replacing the wooden models that preceded it.
The practice of building with straw has existed since the dawn of civilization. Given the devastating impacts of contemporary construction methods, could straw be a viable, biogenic alternative to today's building materials?
Evidence suggests that straw and reed have been used in construction for over 10,000 years. Since then, the Industrial Revolution has completely transformed building practices, introducing the mass production of steel, glass, and, not least, concrete.
There are and have always been inspiring women architects, urban planners, and policymakers. However, worldwide, the built environment professions—and their upper echelons in particular—remain heavily male-dominated, more so than other fields like education or healthcare.
Today, 64% of architecture graduates in Brazil are women. In engineering, there has been a 42% increase in women registered with CREA since 2016. Yet, how is this reflected in Brazilian society? Globally, progress is even slower: only 40% of architects are women, with very few in leadership roles.
