Liam Young was once described by the BBC as "the man designing our futures". The Australian-born architect and director has carved a vibrant path through architectural discourse, standing at the intersection of design, technology, and media. A self-described "speculative architect", Young is the co-founder of thinktank Tomorrow's Thoughts Today, using vivid imagery and films to spark conversations about the future of the built environment, and the relationships between humans and machines, bits and atoms, artificial and natural. He also co-runs the Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic research studio that travels the world in search of landscapes that speak to his focus on global flows of materials, technologies, and ideas.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused an estimated 900 million people around the world to remain at home. Among them are architects and designers who have been asked to work remotely to prevent the virus from spreading through the workplace. For many architects, this is undoubtedly a new territory. However, for ArchDaily, it is not, and we can assure you that it is possible not only to work from home, but to use this time to greatly enhance your skills, knowledge, and development as an architect.

As the world's healthcare systems struggle to meet the exponential surge in demands from COVID-19, architects and designers are generating a variety of responses and proposals, from large field hospitals to 3D printed clinical masks. In Italy, where the coronavirus outbreak has been among the world's most damaging, a collaborative team led by architect and MIT professor Carlo Ratti has unveiled CURA, a modular intensive care unit made from repurposed shipping containers. CURA, whose name stands for Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments (and also “cure” in Latin), can be quickly deployed in cities around the world and replicated through an open-source design, promptly responding to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals and the spread of the disease.

Since their founding in Bangkok in 2013, Space Popular have offered an eclectic series of architectural spaces, objects, and events that cross digital and physical space, speculating on how the two realms could blend together in the near future. Directed by Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg, both graduates of the Architectural Association in London, Space Popular has completed buildings, exhibitions, artworks, furniture collections, and interiors across Asia and Europe, as well as engaging works of virtual architecture.

In his book "Life 3.0", MIT professor Max Tegmark says "we are all the guardians of the future of life now as we shape the age of AI." Artificial Intelligence remains a Pandora's Box of possibilities, with the potential to enhance the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of cities, or destroy the potential for humans to work, interact, and live a private life. The question of how Artificial Intelligence will impact the cities of the future has also captured the imagination of architects and designers, and formed a central question to the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale, the world's most visited architecture event.

Modernism could be described as one of the most optimistic styles in architectural history, drawing from notions of utopia, innovation, and the reimagination of how humans would live, work, and interact. As we reflected in our AD Essentials Guide to Modernism, the philosophy of Modernism still dominates much of architectural discourse today, even if the world that gave rise to Modernism has changed utterly.

As we say goodbye to 2019, a year that saw the centenary of the Bauhaus, we have collated a list of key architectural styles that defined Modernism in architecture. This tool for understanding the development of 20th-century design is complete with examples of each style, showcasing the practice of Modernism that lay behind the theory.

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Building surveys are one of the staples of the early stages of any architectural project. Although this task is commonly now outsourced to specialist surveyors for larger projects, especially in the new BIM world, smaller schemes such as residential renovations and extensions can still require an architect’s surveying tools. With that in mind, we have created a list of specific considerations and tips for measuring interior spaces.

Robotics and automation are a staple of any vision of how we will live in the future. Among architects and designers, this trend crosses a variety of scales, from smart cities to smart kitchens. As we outlined in our Trends That Will Influence Architecture in 2019, recent years has seen a strengthening in how interior spaces are being transformed by technologies, with searches for Domotics soaring by 450% in twelve months.

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In 1773, James Cook circumnavigated Antarctica, representing humankind’s first known encounter with the continent. Ever since, Antarctica has been a vast, formidable, yet curious 14 million kilometer landscape, which explorers, scientists and governments have sought to understand and exploit. Given the harsh realities of building on the continent, aesthetics and architectural creativity have remained an afterthought in Antarctic settlements up until recent years. Today, however, the architectural scene is heating up.

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In a continued effort to deliver tools, inspiration, and knowledge for readers, 2019 saw ArchDaily editors and contributors engage in a wealth of conversations with distinguished individuals from all corners of the design world. Whether this be a discussion with Carlo Ratti and Winy Maas on artificial intelligence or a conversation with Mario Botta on Modernism, these interviews convey the remarkable variety of talent, ideas, and paradigms through which one can engage with architecture and design.

Architecture may have its roots in sheltering humans from the elements, but that is not to say that architecture is for humans alone. Around the world, there are numerous examples of buildings and shelters designed by architects for other species. Some of these can be whimsical, such as the Dogchitecture exhibit by 10 Mexican architecture firms back in 2013, or the series of BowWow Haus kennels designed by over 80 architects back in 2017, including Zaha Hadid Architects. But others are designed for a more direct impact.

From equine pavilions to bear sanctuaries, cricket shelters to cat cafes, architects have in recent times been employed to create spaces that cater for the needs of animals of all sizes and – temperaments. Take a look at 12 examples below.

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The advent of steel in architecture at the beginning of the 20th century is considered as one of the most innovative construction developments in history, allowing architects to create structures with heights, flexibility, and freedom never seen before. Henry Bessemer invented the most successful steel-making process in 1855, but it was not until 1890 that the process was refined enough for construction. The first steel constructions on both sides of the Atlantic, the Rand McNally Building in Chicago and Forth Bridge in Edinburgh, were record-breaking structures of their time.

In 1979, the Pontchartrain Park golf course was renamed the Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. Municipal Golf Course by the City of New Orleans. While perhaps not the ‘catchiest’ of title changes, the event was a posthumous chapter in the legacy of one of the most celebrated golf course architects of his time. Joseph Bartholomew (1888-1971) began life as an African-American in racially-segregated Louisiana only 23 years after the end of the American Civil War; fought in large part over the legality of African American slavery. But his life, chronicled in the latest New York Times’ Overlooked series, would see him reach the pinnacles of golf course architecture, and design nationally-celebrated landscapes that Bartholomew, because of his race, was himself not allowed to play on.