This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

Design practice CROX has designed a conceptual vertical park for San Jose, California. Dubbed the San Jose Ring, the landmark project takes on a circular shape inspired by architect Lin Congran's idea of unity and historical continuity. As the team outlines, the project aims to reconnect people and nature through a huge loop, emphasizing connection through a combination of sculpture, architecture and park space.

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The Ícaro Jardins da Graciosa Building, designed by Studio Arthur Casas, was recognized in the Rethinking The Future Awards, an initiative that honors architecture and design projects from around the world across more than 40 categories. Located in Curitiba, the building features 21 apartment units distributed among three exposed concrete towers.

Competing in the residential (over five floors) category, the building designed by Casas features a facade defined by circulation pathways that double as balconies, emphasizing the towers' horizontality. With landscaping by Renata Tilli, these horizontal lines are accentuated by the lush greenery of plants grown in planters along the perimeter of each floor.

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On Thursday, November 5, Mexico City saw the inauguration of a new section of Plaza Satélite—a shopping center originally opened in 1971, where renovation and expansion work began two years ago to adapt to new ways of using and experiencing space. Designed by the Mexican firm Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos, the Parque Plaza Satélite project continues this expansion, establishing a new vision for retail where commerce serves as a vehicle to create green, open-air spaces for the community.

The International Photography Awards has announced the winners of its 2020 photography competition. Showcasing some of the most outstanding photographic work from around the globe, this year’s contest gathered a total of 13,000 entries from 120 countries. Discover the selection of winners and honorable mentions from the architecture sub-categories: fine art, cityscapes, bridges, buildings, interior, historic, industrial, abstract, and other.

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The American Institute of Architects California (AIA CA) has announced the recipients of the 2020 Residential Design Awards. With nearly 100 projects submitted, the jury recognized ten projects with honor, merit and leading edge awards. As AIA California states, the jury took many aspects into consideration, looking for "exceptional design" that represents all that California architecture has to offer.

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The 5th edition of the {CURA} Award continues its proposal of hosting ideas competitions with themes aligned with current discussions on architecture, the city, and society, always understanding that architecture is an action-based profession. This time, participants were challenged to design the renovation of an apartment in the iconic Copan Building, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in downtown São Paulo.

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Small-scale renovations are among the most common projects in Brazil, but that does not mean they are immune to budgeting and specification issues. A useful tool to avoid these headaches is Pro-Reforma, a free web app that automatically specifies, quantifies, and estimates the products and services needed for a renovation project.

Johns Hopkins University has selected BIG to design its new Student Center, regenerating the heart of its campus and reviving the social experience, from a shortlisted list of 4 offices, after a months-long international competition. Entitled “The Village”, the proposal is an “open, modern, and welcoming facility envisioned as a social engagement hub for all members of the Hopkins community”.

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AZPML and Yukyung Kim of UKST have won the competition to design the Korean Museum of Urbanism and Architecture (KMUA) in Sejong, South Korea. The competition was organized by the National Agency for Administrative City Construction, and the team’s proposal aims to create an ecological and cultural experience centered on urbanization and architecture’s role in the climate crisis.

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Barozzi Veiga, in collaboration with Tab Architects and Barbara Van Der Wee Architects, has just won the competition for the renovation of the Jewish Museum of Belgium. Discrete yet present and integrated into the urban fabric, as the jury stated, the proposal was selected from five shortlisted established and young architectural practices.

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Morris+Company has launched the Phäbb MODU modular housing project as a flexible system for homes, apartments and dwelling units. The team is working in collaboration with Phäbb, a new international prefab company based in Argentina. Four typologies can all be produced from a selection of 15 modular components and a range of material palettes to suit the local context.

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Creating new standards for a more connected and livable city, Henning Larsen has designed a New Masterplan for Wolfsburg, Germany. The new prototype for urbanism across the European continent diffuses new energy in the city center. Selected to design the project in a competition in 2019 that included competitors UNStudio and Bjarke Ingels Group, Henning Larsen’s proposal for phase 1 is expected to reach completion by 2023.

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Foster + Partners has shared a series of updated images for The Tulip, a 305-meter-high tower and attraction in London. The latest renderings show more details of the tower’s base, as well as the project interiors. The design features a “bud-like scheme” and is intended to become a new public cultural and educational resource for Londoners and tourists alike.

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Dauphin’s Fiore and Stilo ES chairs provide smart, colourful solutions for modern workspaces that, more and more, look to promote sharing and flexibility. Watch to find out more…

3XN/GXN have revealed their design for a new CO2 neutral and climate positive addition to the Hotel Green Solution House (Hotel GSH), in Rønne on the Danish island of Bornholm. Scheduled for 2021, the new wing including 24 rooms, a conference room, and a roof spa, is expected to provide a positive climate footprint when built, a novelty in Danish commercial buildings.

Kengo Kuma & Associates and Mad Arkitekter won the competition for the new Ibsen Library in Skien, Norway. Working with BuroHappold Engineering, the team created the design to celebrate the renowned playwright Henrik Ibsen. As a new cultural center for the city, the project creates multiple access points across multiple floors to form a welcoming environment. The library aims to make Ibsen’s drama and literature accessible to everyone.

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Across the globe, ever since 2014, every year on the 31^st of October, World Cities Day is celebrated. To mark this event, UN-Habitat has released its World Cities Report 2020 on the value of sustainable urbanization, focusing on the most up-to-date and pressing topics. Analyzing the intrinsic value of cities in generating economic prosperity, mitigating environmental degradation, reducing social inequality, and building stronger institutions, the report highlights how together these can drive transformative change.

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KCAP Architects & Planners won the international competition for one of the Bucheon Daejang New Town as part of the Seoul metropolitan region in South Korea. Titled Open Fields City, the proposal was made with DA GROUP to create new urban quarters characterized by "fields" and interconnected pathways.

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The International Highrise Award (IHA), organized by the city of Frankfurt and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), has selected Norra Tornen, the residential towers designed by OMA / Reinier de Graaf as the winner of its ninth edition. Granted every 2 years, to architects and developers for buildings of minimum 100 meters in height, completed in the last two years, Norra Tornen was selected from 31 projects from 14 countries.

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October 16 marked World Food Day. On this date in 2020, the Stop Hunger Institute launched a project that includes a community garden and training and educational initiatives for the Paraisópolis community, a favela in São Paulo's South Zone.

Developed in partnership with the Instituto Escola do Povo, the project establishes a new space of approximately 900 square meters for growing vegetables. The goal is to educate, train, and distribute the harvest to registered community residents, ensuring access to healthier food.

Chinese architect and town planner Wu Liangyong was recently featured in a new interview from the International Union of Architects (UIA) about his life and teaching. As the former Vice-President of the UIA and the Architectural Society of China (ASC), Liangyong won the Jean Tschumi Prize back in 1996. Today, he reflects on his academic career spanning 70 years at the Tsinghua University School of Architecture.

The Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor, has just announced the appointment of Alejandro Aravena as Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury as of March 2021, in time for the award’s 43rd year. Moreover, the announcement also designated Manuela Lucá-Dazio, the Executive Director of the Department of Visual Arts and Architecture of La Biennale di Venezia, as an advisor to the Prize and the next Executive Director.

Hygiene is one of the most important aspects of any bathroom – and Duravit has led the way with innovations such as touch-free controls and rimless toilets. Its new HygieneGlaze coating is just the latest game-changer.

Hufton+Crow has unveiled its latest series of images, capturing Denmark's recent and inventive projects, completed between 2018 and 2019. The photographs showcase CopenHill Energy Plant and Urban Recreation Center by BIG, along with Tingbjerg Library and Culture House and Køge Nord Station, both designed by COBE.

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