The Department of Architecture at the RPTU in Kaiserslautern (fatuk) is dedicated to the future-oriented education of architects and sees the combination of theory, research and practice as a central component of teaching.
Architect Fumihiko Maki (1928-2024), in his seminal text "Investigations in Collective Form," grapples with architecture's role in an increasingly complex society. Collective Form emerged when buildings came together to produce something larger than the sum of their parts. While today many of these same challenges exist, the notion of Collective Form has also expanded. The Steedman 2026 jury seeks mindful research proposals on architecture's role in producing collective forms/ forums that catalyze a more politically engaged discipline and citizenry. The award for the 2026 winning proposal will be $100,000.
Design for Regeneration Competition with Planted & Vectorworks
Planted Community has partnered with global BIM software leader Vectorworks to launch Design for Regeneration—a brand new UK-wide student competition spotlighting the next generation of regenerative designers. Press release here.
In recent years, rapid urbanization has transformed cities across the globe, bringing both opportunities and challenges. Among the most pressing issues is the need for affordable housing—a crucial component for ensuring equitable urban growth and stability. As populations continue to surge, traditional housing models often fail to meet the demand for cost-effective, high-quality living spaces.
The Design-z competition is A-Class Marble's annual celebration of imagination and material mastery, aimed at fostering young talent. The Design-z theme for 2025, 'Upcycle with A-Class', is here to offer you the chance to reimagine discarded marble and craft a compact, functional product that blends sustainability with smart design.
Each month, Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA) curates a new self-guided trail, inviting Angelenos to explore the city’s rich architectural heritage. These immersive experiences highlight significant homes, hidden gems, and the designers who have shaped Los Angeles' built environment.
In high-end architectural design, traditional access panel fasteners like visible screws and magnetic closures often disrupt aesthetics and functionality. These outdated methods can loosen over time, lack durability, or require visible frames, making them unsuitable for premium spaces. Whether you need to access electrical systems, HVAC components, or plumbing, choosing the right installation method is crucial for a seamless integration into your space.
Early hidden solutions like French cleats and Z-clips improved appearance but introduced new challenges. These systems require sequential panel removal and extra clearance, making maintenance difficult—especially in areas needing frequent access. The unavoidable gap that appears at the top of panels also compromises the aesthetic appeal, as well as cutting out sections of panel for wall sockets.
Renovation Project of Puerta de Arnedo Health Center (La Rioja). Photos: María Natali.
In modern architecture, materials must meet a range of functional, aesthetic, technical, and environmental demands. Gres Aragón offers ceramic tile solutions that respond to all aspects of a project—from façades and interiors to exteriors, pools, staircases, and industrial spaces—while maintaining a consistent design language.
With more than 80 years of experience and deep expertise in the extruded tile manufacturing process, Gres Aragón has established itself as a trusted partner for architects and interior designers. Its product offerings are based on four core principles: visual continuity, extreme durability, high-tech performance, and a strong commitment to sustainability.
Early-stage design may be where everything begins, but without careful consideration, it's also where everything breaks down. On average, firms report that nearly 15% of all work done generates zero revenue, much of it tied to concept design. Relying on a patchwork of tools like Rhino, Excel, Revit, and Miro, architects often spend weeks swapping between platforms just to get a concept and presentation out the door. Data gets trapped in screenshots, rework piles up, and by the time the model is ready for documentation in Revit, the creative momentum is long gone. Snaptrude 3.0 Was Built to Fix that.
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Thaden School, Bentonville, Arkansas, United States 2022. Architects: EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Blackwell Architects, Andropogon Associates.
The prize is only the beginning. MCHAP's goal is to lay groundwork for these conversations to continue growing on their own, contributing to a greater understanding of how architecture impacts the vibrant, complex world around us.
Following the recent success of the FIP World Padel Championships in Qatar and the announcement of Saudi Arabia hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2034, the Middle East is gearing up to be a hub for major sporting events, which drives the demand for high-performance sports infrastructure. From Pickleball and Padel courts to internationally renowned stadiums, the evolution of sports flooring requires innovative, durable, and sustainable solutions.
Terraco, a global leader in construction finishing materials, has consistently delivered cutting-edge solutions for sports complexes worldwide, helping architects, contractors, and developers build facilities that stand the test of time.
More than 200 universities from 33 countries participated in the 20th edition of the Architecture Student Contest. Students from all over the world imagined projects to transform and challenge the development of a peripheral urban city and a village in a territory at the crossroads of Europe, home to the largest logistical platform of Southern Europe and a major cross-Europe high-speed railway project to come, and linked by the ambition of "Attracting Youth."
Despite major breakthroughs in other industries, with tools like Cursor reshaping how software gets built, or AlphaFold revolutionizing protein structure prediction, AEC is still waiting on its defining AI moment. Yes, many visualization tools have made waves, especially when it comes to generating beautiful imagery. But they fall short when it comes to understanding the actual design process. They don't grasp the constraints, logic, and decisions that turn those visuals into real, buildable architecture.
And that's exactly where AI's most valuable use case in AEC lies: not in how a building looks, but in how it comes together.
THE RIGHT TO THE PORT is a multi-layered initiative about the Beirut Port — a space of connection, labor, memory, and future possibilities; a vital space that has long been disconnected from the city.
Our aim is to open the debate pertaining to the Beirut Port and it's relation to the city under the three themes: PRESERVE, REPAIR, SHARE.
With a balance of emerging talent and established brands, this year's edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair fostered meaningful connections, commercial momentum and critical dialogue across the global design community.
Returning to the Javits Center this May, the 2025 edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) brought together over 400 design brands from 35 countries, reinforcing its role as a central meeting point for contemporary design in North America. Spanning residential, commercial and hospitality sectors, the fair attracted more than 13,000 attendees and maintained strong engagement across the board — despite ongoing market volatility and tariff pressures.