In this article, Beatriz Coeffé Boitano presents a portion of her Master’s thesis in Arts and Cultural Management at King’s College London, titled “Brutalism Revival: media as active spaces of urban memory.” The piece reflects on the documentation and construction of a collective discourse around urban memory through social media platforms, focusing on the demolition of the brutalist Robin Hood Gardens complex by Alison and Peter Smithson.
What happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Ahead of the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section at the Biennial to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies – and Artificial Intelligence in particular – might impact architecture and urban life. Here you can read the “Eyes of the City” curatorial statement by Carlo Ratti, the Politecnico di Torino and SCUT. If you are interested in taking part in the exhibition at UABB 2019, submit your proposal to the “Eyes of the City” Open Call by May 31st, 2019: www.eyesofthecity.net
Since 1980, with the first exhibition dedicated exclusively to architecture, titled The Presence of the Past and directed by Paolo Portoghesi, the Venice Biennale has positioned itself as a turning point in the history of contemporary architecture. Since then, 16 editions have occupied the spaces of the Giardini and the Arsenale, addressing themes ranging from the fundamental elements of architecture to the future of the discipline.
It is expected that within the next few of decades, Earth will have absolutely nothing left to offer whoever/whatever is capable of surviving on it. Although the human race is solely responsible for the damages done to the planet, a thin silver lining can still be seen if radical changes were to be done to the way we live on Earth and how we sustain it.
Since architects and designers carry a responsibility of building a substantial future, we have put together an A-Z list of every sustainability term that you might come across. Every week, a new set of letters will be published, helping you stay well-rounded on everything related to sustainable architecture and design. Here are the terms that start with letters D, E, and F.
For several months, we have been publishing compilations of Brazilian residential projects across various themes in our Casas Brasileiras series. With this in mind, and considering the diverse challenges and scales that shape architectural practice—and, above all, contemporary living—we are launching our first article in the *Brazilian Apartments* series today. In it, we will explore the design challenges, innovative solutions, and new materialities of this housing typology.
On this occasion, Camila Costa Curta shares her experience with the Proyecto Habitar (PH) collective alongside Julian Salvarredy and Clara Mansueto, addressing the housing crisis in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires and the teaching and learning processes in contexts of inequality through the 'Primary Habitat Care Clinics' project. Read the full story below.
Photographer Manuel Sá shared with us his photo essay of the Coati Restaurant, designed in 1987 by Lina Bo Bardi, João Filgueiras Lima - Lelé (precast reinforced mortar), Marcelo Ferraz, and Marcelo Suzuki. The complete complex—comprising a restaurant, a bar, and three historic houses slated to be converted into nine apartments with ground-floor commercial space—is located in Salvador's Pelourinho district and is part of the Pilot Project for the Recovery Plan of the Historic Center of Bahia, proposed by Lina. Unfortunately, the restaurant is currently abandoned and falling into ruin, as is the rest of the complex.
Many pioneers are ill-timed, arriving too early. José Miguel de Prada Poole [1938-present] is no exception, occupying his place in history as one of the most unique, unconventional, and highly individualistic architects of the 20th century in Spain. A pioneer of pneumatic architecture, his approach was undoubtedly shaped by the pop trends of the era, represented by figures like Archigram, Archizoom, or Team 10. He was always peculiarly interested in the avant-garde's “mobile and deployable work,” specifically exemplified by structures capable of providing variable responses to changing uses. Ultimately, he can be considered one of the first architects to introduce concepts like "sustainability" into a purely architectural context: all of his works minimized energy consumption or were capable of generating microclimates on their own.
Talieh Ghane researches the interaction between light and health at the California Lighting Technology Center. We talked about the biological vs. visual system of light, how to synchronize your circadian clock for better health, how light is like a drug, and why you shouldn’t be on your phone right before bed (guilty).
Although The Architecture of Happiness did not gain momentum after its publication in the mid-2000s, the ideology of architecture and well-being has remained a topic of intrigue until today. To further explore this ideology, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), with the curation of Francesco Garutti, have put together an exhibition that explores how the "happiness industry" has controlled every aspect of contemporary life after the 2008 financial crash.
Our Happy Life, Architecture and Well-being in the Age of Emotional Capitalism is a non-archival show that exhibits work from architects, artists, and photographers. Metropolis' Samuel Medina spoke to Garutti to discuss the notion behind the exhibition, social media, and architecture's new spaces of meaning.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
Paul Goldberger has a new book out, released just this week, entitled Ballpark: Baseball in the American City. Taking a page from the Ken Burns playbook, the book looks at a particularly American building type as a lens for looking at the broader culture of cities. Goldberger’s premise is a good one: Ballparks do parallel, to a remarkable degree, trends in American urbanism. They start as an escape from the city, then the city builds up around them. Post–World War II, they escape to the suburbs, then decades later return to the city. Today, privatization of the public realm and real estate development are driving the agenda. Recently I talked with Goldberger about the new book and a whole slew of magical ballparks, both living and long gone.
The International Festival of Concentric Architecture and Design is characterized by its temporary displays that take place throughout the city. For this year's festival, 16 exhibits have been created that seek to experiment with spaces both within and outside the city of Logroño, bringing with them a whole new way to see and experience the urban surroundings.
This Article was originally published on Metropolis Magazine here.
The story of architectural Modernism in New York City goes beyond the familiar touchstones of Lever House and the Seagram Building.
Eighty-five years on, the little white town house on East 48th Street by William Lescaze still startles. With its bright stucco and Purist volumes, it pulls the eye away from the do-nothing brownstones on one side and the noirish sub-Miesian tower on the other. The machined rectitude of its upper floors, telegraphed by two clumsily large spans of glass block, is offset by the freer plastic arrangement of the bottom levels. Le Corbusier’s five points are in evidence (minus the roof garden), suggesting an architecture ready to do battle. Built in 1934 from the shell of a Civil War–era town house, this was the first Modernist house in New York City, and its pioneering feeling for futurity extended to its domestic conveniences. (A skeptical Lewis Mumford noted its central air-conditioning.)
The need to substantially reduce our impact on the planet must be translated into a significant change to our lifestyle and habits. One of these is to consume responsibly and consider that waste does not exist, but that all material can be transformed into something useful again following a circular ecological system.
In his book Upcycling Wood, Reutilización creativa de la madera, the architect and artist Bruno Sève writes and edits a non-exhaustive guide of the uses and possibilities of recovered wood, as a framework for responsible reuse; from small scale, such as furniture or artists' canvases, to medium scale, with its use in interiors and facades. This book seeks to raise awareness among professionals and citizens in general through analysis of the life cycle, examples of uses and finishing processes, leading to an ecological and responsible framework. The book is illustrated by numerous design and architecture teams who follow the guidelines of ecological design with reclaimed wood.
Past, Present, Future is an interview project by Itinerant Office, asking acclaimed architects to share their perspectives on the constantly evolving world of architecture. Each interview is split into three video segments: Past, Present, and Future, in which interviewees discuss their thoughts and experiences of architecture through each of those lenses. The first episode of the project featured 11 architects from Italy and the Netherlands and Episode II is comprised of interviews with 13 architects from Spain, Portugal, France, and Belgium.
The goal of the series is to research these successful firms and attempt to understand their methods and approaches. By hopefully gaining a clearer picture of what it means to be an architect in the 21st century, the videos can also serve as inspiration for the next generation of up-and-coming architects and students as they enter the field.
Juan Herreros is an acclaimed Spanish architect with multiple award-winning projects to date. In addition to his impressive creations in the construction field, he has strived to redefine the practice of architecture by teaching at the School of Architecture in Madrid and at the GSAPP Columbia University in New York. His collaborative office, Studio Herreros, is an award-winning firm with projects built all over the world, ranging between residential and public spaces. These projects vary between small-scale, "immediate" projects, and internationally-commissioned structures and building competitions, allowing the architect to be one of the most influential Spanish architects practicing today.
Although architecture has been constantly evolving, past builders have laid out a huge amount architectural heritage for us to learn from and get inspired by, and integrating natural elements with man-made structures is no exception.
Shanghai-based architect and architectural photographer Amey Kandalgaonkar found inspiration in the rock cut-tomb of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia, and with the same architecture approach, designed two residential projects that incorporate architecture with the rigid parts of nature.
In this feature, we showcase Peru's progress in the design and construction of educational architecture.
What happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Ahead of the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section at the Biennial to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies – and Artificial Intelligence in particular – might impact architecture and urban life. Here you can read the “Eyes of the City” curatorial statement by Carlo Ratti, the Politecnico di Torino and SCUT. If you are interested in taking part in the exhibition at UABB 2019, submit your proposal to the “Eyes of the City” Open Call by May 31st, 2019: www.eyesofthecity.net
Without the city, modernity could never have been invented. What we are in the midst of discovering now is whether modernity can survive in a city transformed by the digital revolution. The village may offer security and community, but what it does not allow its inhabitants is the possibility of being different, a phenomenon that is as true now as it was during the witch-burning era.
