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.
For nearly a century, the areas of urban sprawl where every single-family home has its own yard, garage, and white picket fence represented the peak of life aspiration. Homeownership and the idea of claiming space away from the hustle and bustle of the city core was once considered the ideal lifestyle and the pinnacle of the American Dream. But as time went on, and socio-economic conditions shifted, cities that were once filled with these single-family homes realized that perhaps these zoning regulations were outdated, and new solutions needed to be created to prevent the current housing crisis from growing even more out of control.
According to a survey by the Brazilian Association for Recycling of Construction and Demolition Waste (ABRECON), there has been an increase in the recycling of construction and demolition waste (C&D) in Brazil in recent years. According to the 2015 report, 21% of the total C&D was recycled in the country that year, while in 2013 the rate was 19%.
The outlook is promising but not yet ideal, and the growth of recycled C&D materials is still considered small. In Brazil, construction waste can represent between 50% and 70% of the total municipal solid waste. This means, we still need to advocate for a more common practice of material recycling and reuse in architecture, especially in Brazil.
The urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector presents both a challenge and an opportunity for local governments. This is particularly true for Zero Emission Areas (ZEAs)—urban zones where pollutant emissions are neutralized. This measure primarily benefits citizens, who enjoy healthier urban spaces and more vibrant commercial activity. However, ensuring success—or at least mitigating public backlash—requires deep social engagement and effective communication with the population.
Various studies have indicated that, to prevent temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C, there must be a major drop in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To achieve this, it is necessary to develop compact cities designed for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users, as well as rapidly and strategically adopting electric vehicles, with a focus on public transportation.
The city of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, hosts the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, from November 6 to 18. The conference builds on the negotiations of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, with the expectation that countries will demonstrate climate ambition and urgency to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C.
What is good architecture? More than two thousand years ago, Vitruvius would have answered that good architecture is that which contemplates three basic principles: firmitas (firmness), utilitas (utility), and venustas (beauty), as he described in his treatise De Architectura, and probably no one would have questioned it. Today, this broad question is capable of eliciting hundreds of answers, all personal and subjective, which have to do with the experience of each person.
“All the physical spaces that we (architects) design – buildings, interiors and cities are born as metaspaces, and we call them 3D models”. With this statement Brian Jencek, director of planning at San Francisco-based architecture firm HOK, narrows the boundaries between the current way of designing and the future of architecture in the metaverse. According to him, we are not that far from this technology, since we already use the same tools that visual designers use to create realistic environments, such as Unity, Twin motion and Blender.
Talking to architect Marta Maccaglia about her work is not just talking about architecture. Each of her projects derives from a participatory way of working, based on the approach and deep understanding of its users in their social and local context, their needs, the territory and the available resources, resulting in works that acquire a meaning beyond that of the function itself.
To meet daily needs and ensure domestic routines function smoothly, the interior and exterior spaces of a home require certain fixtures and furniture—no matter how minimal or essential they may be. In many cases, selecting and designing the furniture that will complement the architectural project is relegated to a post-construction phase and, typically, left to the clients themselves.
However, for some architects, furniture design is considered an integral part of the project. Capitalizing on the plasticity and malleability of certain materials, they choose to integrate interior furniture directly with the architecture. In their designs, benches, shelves, and countertops merge with the spatial language, unfolding sculpturally to extend the surfaces of floors, walls, and partitions.
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.
Unlike classical architecture, characterized by a series of rooms with very defined functions and spaces, the current architectural design seeks to integrate spaces to achieve high degrees of adaptability and flexibility. In this way, the boundaries of the enclosures are blurred and new solutions appear that are worth analyzing. In the case of bedrooms, bathrooms are often no longer a small and secluded adjoining room – instead, they are now integrated to form a multifunctional space that is subtly concealed. Just like Mies van der Rohe, who used to group services in strategic areas to create open floors, let's review some cases that have adopted the specific solution of the hidden bathroom just behind the bed.
"Life, space, buildings - in that order". This phrase, from the Danish urban architect Jan Gehl, sums up the changes that Copenhagen has undergone in the last 50 years. Currently known as one of the cities with the highest levels of quality of life satisfaction, the way its public spaces and buildings were and are designed have inspired architects, government authorities and urban planners around the world. What we see today, however, is the result of courageous decision-making, much observation and, above all, designs that put people first. Copenhagen will be the UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture in 2023 as well as host of the UIA World Congress of Architects due to its strong legacy in innovative architecture and urban development, along with its concerted efforts in matters of climate, sustainability solutions and livability.
In recent years hair salons and barbershops have begun to incorporate different activities - a programmatic hybridization almost necessary in today's service economy.
Several architects have been commissioned to propose alternatives to the standard beauty salon/barbershop to not only address an efficient configuration but stunning interior aesthetics.
Take a look at 10 barbershops and beauty salons with their plan and section.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
Authenticity seems impossible today, with places and the buildings in them assembled with products from the Industrial Development Complex that could be assembled almost anywhere else on Earth in a debauchery of placelessness, disharmony with nature, and meaninglessness that doesn’t age well. So how is authenticity in the built environment achieved?
Windows serve multiple essential functions in any project, from framing views to providing daylight and natural ventilation. As human needs have shifted and technology has advanced significantly throughout the years, these have evolved in character, shape, and use of materials. What began as small arrow loops used for defense in medieval fortifications later transformed into wider openings that exemplified status and wealth. The Romans were the first to use glass, but it was considered a precious commodity for centuries. Intricate stained-glass panels adorned countless of medieval churches and cathedrals, while most home dwellers had to settle for covering their “windows” with wood, fur and other materials.
As a starting point for architectural projects, the terrain and its topography point out the directions that the distribution of the program can follow. Among them, one solution stands out for the continuity between topography and architecture: lowering the level of construction and advancing the land over the roof. From this roof garden created with the same characteristics as the surroundings, the result gives the impression of an almost non-existent intervention.
The incorporation of the land as an architectural element takes up, in a certain way, the concept of caves, reinforcing an idea of shelter and reception from a hybrid between the initial and natural configuration and the architectural intervention.
"History of the villas in the city of Buenos Aires. From the origins to the present day" is the book by Valeria Snitcofsky that reconstructs the historical background of the villas in the city of Buenos Aires based on research that began in 2003 and whose advances were expressed in a bachelor's and a doctoral thesis. It is framed within the objective of the Tejido Urbano Foundation, which is focused on promoting research and the generation of knowledge on the problems of habitat and housing.
.jpg?1600352094 "Flamboyant Residence / Perkins+Will. Image: © Nelson Kon")
