We invite you to examine plant with an eye towards all or any of its associated terminology; farmer, laborer, migrant, worker, wage earner, employee; sun, shade, climate; energy, power, nuclear; rhizome, root, germ; programming, automation, mechanisation; seed, spud, pip; manufacture, generator, infrastructure; genealogy, lineage, pedigree; fordization, plantation, systematization; soil, bed, earth; factory, facility, mill; harvest, crop, cull; toil, labor, manufacture; nurture, care, keep; assembly, processes, forge; germinate, accumulate, pollinate; produce, stockpile, multiply, pullulate.

We are pleased to announce that in partnership with the University of Toronto eSports we are continuing to deliver our Saturday/Sunday half-day online Minecraft program for Winter 2021.

The Equity Matters II Leadership Summit, a panel on reimagining campuses to ensure inclusive resiliency after the pandemic, will tackle these significant challenges facing university and college campuses. The open dialogue will culminate in third program in summer 2021 and a new study to be published next year.

FRONTS uncovers a growing geography of codependence between the global security complex and the urban morphologies of the developing world, which it increasingly incriminates. Military training sites provide a lens through which we can better understand the shape of the city to come. Military doctrine has recently and dramatically shifted to view the world's cities as suspect sites of potential aggression. As the majority of new urban life will manifest in informal development, the world is now more than ever explicitly divided in two camps--those who view the informal city as an opportunity, and those who view the informal city as a threat. This paradigmatic shift has set the stage for impending conflict between security and development interests, which use the informal city as their site.

Largely self-taught as an architect, John Yeon (1910–1994) designed some of the most beautiful and influential structures in the Pacific Northwest, among them the Watzek House of 1937, which received national acclaim as a new paradigm of modern regional architecture. Several of Yeon’s buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places or have National Landmark status. At the same time, he built an important legacy as a tireless advocate for parks and for the protection of sweeping natural landscapes of the region, including the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. This book is devoted primarily to his residential architecture and his unique approach to their design. Yeon’s own descriptions enrich the Illustrated with Yeon’s own drawings and contemporary photographs, there are many new drawings and diagrams made for this book.

Scent of the Trace is an expose of an Architect’s inner dialogues during the design process. The book contains a detailed and extensive documentation of the internal struggle to conceptually ground and position three different works of architecture; Sancaklar Mosque, Bergama Cultural Center and Yalikavak Palmarina. Emre Arolat investigates how architecture can exceed its boundaries by envisioning the interaction between the work of architecture and the community, the unique interpretation of the context and the relation to its physical surroundings.

The rise of several divisive leaders within contemporary politics, has once again brought action to the foreground. As a new generation makes their voices heard, they are also grappling to find effective platforms for action through design. The notion of action simultaneously evokes a discussion on what we are acting for and value. This is particularly important to consider at a moment when the authoritative systems—Governments and corporations—appear more divergent to the voices on the ground. At the same time, within an increasingly pluralistic society, what we collectively value is increasingly unclear, which presents a primary challenge on taking action. Bracket [Takes Action] is situated at a critical point in history where the who, what, where, and how of action need to be re-conceptualized to relate to who we are, how we live, and how we communicate today. The role of design and the agency of the designer are at stake in facilitating or stifling action.
Bracket [Takes Action] contains over 28 essays and 15 design projects that are structured into six sub-themes: ReAction, CounterAction, InterAction, FAction, InAction, and RetroAction. The intent of the fourth almanac of Bracket is to unpack the contemporary possibility of action through design. Our contention here is that a democracy in deficit cannot be repaired without a deeper investigation in how actions can be designed, accommodated for, and encouraged. Equally, this is our call to action—it is time for design to take greater accountability for its actions in our contemporary socio-political spheres. Bracket [Takes Action] provokes spatial practice’s potential to incite and respond to action.

This book does not naturally fit into a single category. It will be as comfortable on the shelves of designers and artists as it will on those of business leaders and educators. It reflects the fundamental belief that design is integral to everything we do; that all human existence has been a result of a progression of successful design outcomes. Not in the sense that what we have created is exclusively logical and rational, but in that Eight Inc.'s success has been the result of successful human outcomes. The application of creative emotional intelligence. Meaning being infused into new form that has helped us define human progress and create value.

Shim-Sutcliffe’s masterful work at Point William intertwines landscape and architecture with ancient rock and water reshaping and reimagining a site on the Canadian Shield over two decades. Found conditions and new buildings are interwoven and choreographed to create a rich spatial experience moving between inside and out.

The philosophy of CLB, Inspired by Place, permeates all the firm's design work, from public projects to bespoke homes. Their portfolio projects -- timeless, thoughtful, distinct, and beautiful -- are examples of how to tread softly on the land in some of the world's most iconic landscapes. They introduce a new approach to form and materiality in a region where the design world is often limited by a nostalgic view of the past. Inspired By Place showcases ten homes by CLB, many of which feature interiors by CLB's design team; these are always sophisticated yet comfortable and conceived as an extension of the architecture. From a streamlined modern masterpiece on the banks of the Snake River to architecture as connected barn-like structures to a private glass pavilion retreat perfectly oriented for wildlife viewing, CLB's work references local forms and vernaculars while speaking in a new architectural language for the Rocky Mountain West. The book's aesthetic is designed to match the work within and casebound in an ecologically friendly sourced, woven-linen cloth manufactured in the United States. Wrapped in a jacket with French Folds and metallic copper finishes, the book is an elegant addition to any table or shelf, while being conscious of its footprint.

The evolution of orthographic projection from a technique to a convention has provided architecture with orthographic drawing--a form of imaging continually used to present, defend, and build architecture. Orthographic projection's geometric principles and complex history are no longer part of an architect's education, and yet its underlying Euclidean geometry informs the materialization of architecture, regardless of complexity. In this book, I mine the instrumental history of orthographic projection to reacquire the generative techniques of drawing that do not deal with visualization. Animating Guarini is thus a historical account and a reimagining of orthographic projection as a drawing technique that precedes convention.

Videos

The first AURA Istanbul Saturday Conference in 2021 will host architect, academic and author Professor Lesley Lokko. The lecture will explore a number of student projects that tackle issues of race, identity and gender in diverse and often divergent ways.

Projecting Fellows, a free, virtual, five-evening symposium hosted by the University of Virginia School of Architecture, launches Tuesday, January 5th, 2021 and proceeds weekly on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 pm EST through February 2nd, 2021. The event series brings together the 2019-2020 class of fellows from American architecture schools to explore a cross section of emerging interests in the discipline and the vehicle of the fellowship project.

What buildings in Chicago are most endangered this year? Find out at the unveiling of the 19th annual “Chicago 7,” a list from Preservation Chicago that identifies significant structures preservationists hope to protect from the wrecking ball.

Don’t miss this special year-in-review program with Chicago Architecture Center President and CEO Lynn Osmond. Hear how local architects, planners and developers pushed ahead with key projects and initiatives during a most challenging 2020.

The network of schools of architecture Designing Heritage Tourism Landscapes (www.iuav.it/dhtl) promotes an international conference at Iuav University of Venice.

VI PER Gallery announces an international open call for exhibition projects. The winning proposal will be realized at VI PER in late 2021.