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.

Fungi are everywhere—in the air, in water, on our bodies, on trees, on bathroom ceilings, and underground. They can manifest as mushrooms (including edible, medicinal, psychedelic, or highly toxic ones) or in other simple forms like mold. They can trigger illnesses, but they also produce life-saving antibiotics like penicillin and help ferment excellent cheeses and breads. Could they, then, also become the packaging and construction materials of the future?

Few historical events have been as pivotal to the history of architecture and urbanism as the Industrial Revolution. To accommodate the productive framework that transformed capitalism starting in the 18th century, an entire spatial system was created. Beyond factories, this network included raw material processing plants, power generation and distribution hubs, warehouses, and transport terminals. In urban terms, this process did not merely allocate large swaths of land to industrial activities; it triggered a multisystemic transformation that reshaped how people lived, occupied, and moved within the urban environment.

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The sixth edition of the international architecture and city festival Open House Madrid was held from September 25 to 27, featuring a special edition organized to comply with necessary health measures and ensure the safety of all participants. The event offered visits to 27 renowned architecture studios across the city—some in virtual formats, others in person, and some in both.

As our cities continue to grow and expand rapidly, there has been an increasing demand for architects and craftsmen to build houses more cost-efficiently under tight deadlines. Modular architecture has been introduced as a concept which involves assembling multiple pre-fabricated modules on site to create a working unit. By joining similar elements together in various ways, modular architecture allows for more flexibilities in design and standardized repair.

In the field of architecture, the technological, social, and cultural changes driven by 21st-century globalization processes have enabled the development of transnational teams and diverse firms designing projects with innovative perspectives and visions unmoored from a single geographical location. Hyper-communication, exchange, and advanced digital resources are design tools that have allowed architects to operate with a more global vision of the practice, transcending national borders and enabling them to approach architectural challenges in a more open and pluralistic way.

Building in nature constitutes a contradiction, as architecture enables immersive access to the landscape, while at the same time, natural landmarks are being slowly engulfed by tourists. The human presence in natural landscapes is an interplay of scales, a juxtaposition of archetypal shelters against the vast sceneries, as well as a negotiation between access to the landscape and environmental conservation. Exploring a variety of attitudes and formal strategies, the following takes a look at what could be learned from the experiences and design philosophies of several architects and practices that have perfected ways of addressing architecture in the landscape.

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Since its installation in the late 1990s, a large clock in New York City’s Union Square has been counting up to 24 hours in each day with the number of hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds on display. However, the digital screen was recently repurposed as a Climate Clock and now projects the amount of time the world has left to take large-scale action on climate change- and the alarming truth, based on an IPCC Special Report on Global Warming counts down to only a little over seven years left until we reach the point of no return.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

In 1755, Francesco Algarotti, disgusted with what opera had become, wrote An Essay On The Opera in which he called for its simplification. For Algarotti, opera had degenerated into a vehicle for soloists to grandstand with endless improvisations overshadowing the music and ignoring the drama. Even the drama had lost the plot with mythological characters in extraordinary and complex situations. Algarotti saw drama as being the essence of opera and wanted the emphasis restored to it, with everything else secondary. Christoph Willibald Gluck and his librettist, Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, were the first to make it work with their 1762 opera Orfeo ed Euridice. It had characters and drama people could relate to, music that could be remembered and lyrics and a plot that could be understood. It’s regarded as the first truly modern opera.

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Being in confinement has produced unconventional means of exploring architectural spaces and installations. Instead of putting everything on hold until life goes back to normal, designers and curators found inspiration from practices like performance arts and theatre, breaking down the walls between the subject and viewers but from a distance.

Ashley Bigham and Erik Herrmann of Outpost Office reimagined the theme of "mobility" by creating 1:1 scale drawings on the Ragdale campus using GPS-controlled field marking robots. Their unique urban installation, which addressed modern-day concerns such as public spaces, how we are engaging with them, and physicality, won first place in the 2020 Ragdale Ring competition.

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Yuval Noah Harari points out that, around 300 thousand years ago, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and ancestors of Homo sapiens already used fire daily. According to the author of the international bestseller “Sapiens,” fire created the first significant gap between man and other animals. "By domesticating fire, humans gained control of an obedient and potentially limitless force." Some scholars even believe that there is a direct relationship between the advent of the habit of cooking food (possibly due to the domestication of fire) and the shortening of the intestinal tract and growth of the human brain, which allowed human beings to develop and create everything we now have.

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Scale is a very important referential element in built environments. Once manipulated, however, it becomes a key tool that completely changes the way we experience architecture. One of the most prominent projects that put scale at the forefront was the Svizzera 240: House Tour, the Swiss pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale, a project that triggered people's behaviors and perception of space, and left them feeling as though they were experiencing an "Alice in Wonderland". The project was awarded with the Golden Lion award for best National Pavilion, described by the Biennale organization as "a compelling architectural installation that is at once enjoyable while tackling the critical issues of domestic space".

Lilly Reich (Berlin, 1885–1957) was a pioneering and highly talented woman who has finally emerged as an autonomous figure in the history of modern architecture. Recent research has shed new light on Reich's contributions during the interwar period in the fields of interior architecture, exhibition design, and furniture design, driven by her use of new materials and technologies.

In the Historic Center of Olinda, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco, architecture borrows shapes and colors from nature; cobogós perforations on the balconies look like round leaves and fruits, while the railings spiral with a hint of twisted flowers. The colors of the earth and sky also reappear in the floors, backyards, kitchens, and rooms of colonial houses, coating them in shades of brown and blue.

Over two days, approximately 500 online participants together set the agenda, formed and dissolved discussion groups, and shared knowledge and resources. With the assistance of an “open space” facilitator, this is how Cut|Fill, a virtual "unconference” on landscape architecture, unfolded.

Organized by the Urban Studio and Ink Landscape Architects, Cut|Fill was meant to “raise questions we all want to discuss,” explained Andrew Sargeant, ASLA, a founder of Urban Studio. One of those important questions: “how can landscape architects design with empathy and end dismissive behavior towards people of color?”

A city's industrial past can leave unsettling imprints on the present. Large abandoned structures and forgotten facilities are very appealing not only to the voracious real estate market but also to the imagination of those who daydream about an unpromising past. Take the Ruhr valley, Germany's most populated urban area, and Europe's largest industrial region.

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Cultural customs may vary infinitely across countries, but family life always brings celebrations and conflicts, regardless of origin. The pandemic has magnified these dynamics, particularly the challenges of sharing the same spaces for extended periods. What is the minimum square footage allowed in Latin American countries? Is this area truly sufficient?

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Various authors such as Michel Foucault, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and contemporary thinkers Marina Garcés and Judith Butler have brought the body to the forefront of global philosophical discussions. This has gradually permeated different disciplines where the body is the focus of study, and even some where this relationship seems less obvious.

Architectural visualizations are only as good as the scene they’re placed into. No matter how fantastic your building model, if it's placed in an environment constructed of low-quality, low-poly assets, it’s not going to shine. That’s one of the reasons architects and designers have long turned to Quixel Megascans to give context to their archviz scenes.

The architecture of golf is directly tied to the landscape. As one of the few sports with no standardized playing area, its clubhouses and structures are usually unique to each course. Prioritizing views and access, golf architecture tends to be exclusive, especially when many courses are not open to the public. Clubhouses make room for players and spectators to gather and socialize while they overlook the course from multiple angles.

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Vladimir Belogolovsky speaks with architects Yingfan Zhang and Xiaojun Bu, co-founders of Atelier Alter, about architecture in motion, their faith in tabula rasa, and the widespread rapid urbanization process in China.

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The international A' Design Award competition was "born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well-designed products" of designers, architects, and innovators from all design fields. Entries each year are judged by A' Design Award's jury of hundreds of experts from around the globe including scholars, professionals, and media members. If you are selected as a winner, you'll receive a host of prizes and benefits, in addition to international prestige and recognition. Entries are being accepted now until February 28th, 2021 and a selection of winners will be featured in a post on ArchDaily after they're announced on April 15th, so register your design today for a chance to be included.

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While Buenos Aires' architecture is known for its heterogenous and constantly-changing nature, within the city's low density residential sectors, it's possible to detect forms and patterns that have remained constant under the city's many transformations. One of these is the HP, or Horizontal Property, a legal concept that allows for multiple constructions on one lot, resulting in a handful of low-rise structures congregated together in a high-density layout.

In June 1954, an article published in House & Home magazine read, “The Japanese had some of our best ideas—300 years ago.” The piece highlighted three main attributes of Kyoto’s Katsura Imperial Villa, built in the 1620s: the open post-and-beam plan, the use of verandas for climate control, and its modularity based on tatami mats and shoji screens.

Modern timber construction is nothing short of breathtaking. The wooden arches and unique curves delight even the most creative architects. The scale and perception of a wooden building make it blend in with the decor while still remaining noticeable. The inspiration and the possibility of achieving this type of construction are now trending upward, but who has the knowledge and expertise for these projects? The province of Quebec does, a world leader in mass timber construction.