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.

When it comes to attics, we often imagine underused spaces in homes and buildings, such as warehouses or rooms that are exclusively used to shelter infrastructure systems. However, reflecting on the reuse of traditional attics in 19th-century Parisian buildings as housing, which is happening nowadays, one realizes that these spaces can be reinvented and, with a little creativity, they can provide impressive living spaces.

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Working from home comes with a flexible schedule, not to mention savings on travel costs, and you can be closer to family. But distractions can make working from home inefficient. It becomes critical to separate the spaces used for living from the ones used for working. Building an addition is, in most cases, the perfect solution.

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“Sustainability is like teenage sex. Everybody says they’re doing it, very few people are actually doing it. Those who are doing it, are doing it badly," once Joseph Romm said.

It is evident that there are many misconceptions about what sustainable architecture really is. Some define it as building with recycled materials, others believe it is all about integrating green elements into the architecture, and some mount solar panels onto their roof and label the project “green”.

Every project begins with a design, and ends with an attractive and functional building. What happens between these two end points is where it gets interesting - and challenging. The construction process is complicated. It means meeting and exceeding expectations in design, affordability and constructibility. It means overcoming hurdles and facilitating smooth transitions from design to engineering to construction. And for complex projects with more unusual features and elements, the risk factors increase exponentially.

Frequently used in wet areas, such as bathrooms and kitchens, as well as outdoor spaces like plazas and sidewalks, cement tiles are increasingly being incorporated into other rooms in interior design projects. This is due not only to their beauty, but also to their ability to adapt to the specific demands of different uses, along with practical benefits like easy cleaning.

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“The following day, no one died.” Thus begins the novel Death with Interruptions, by Nobel laureate José Saramago. In it, death suspends its services and, for a time, everyone remains alive in an imaginary country. This masterly metaphor conceived by the Portuguese author, already in his final pairs of shoes, serves as the foundation for discussing the dilemmas and conflicts of the end of life.

Architecture is defined by the ways people bring spaces to life. For Matthew Ollier, Partner and architect at Hawkins\Brown, the best buildings encourage interaction, collaboration and exchange. Currently, Ollier is leading the development of the firm's expansion into the North American market in Los Angeles. In an interview with ArchDaily, Ollier shares the team's approach to community engagement and building social value.

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The facade can be considered the most important signifier of a building as the shell separating the outside from the inside. The expressive power of this protective shell should not be underestimated, because the appearance of the architecture has a decisive influence on the entire environment. The Lower Bavarian company Moeding Keramikfassaden specialises in meeting this important task in architecture with a special material.

Mixed-use buildings are urban devices characterized by a diversity of uses. Sharing an existence fraught with obstacles and setbacks, those that manage to get built endure as true survivors of a vigorous species that thrives in areas of opportunity, carving a path through real estate speculation.

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If quarantine has brought anything positive to the lives of many people around the world, it is the opportunity to shift our daily routines and immerse ourselves in new activities for which we previously had neither the time nor the energy. Learning and gaining deeper knowledge in topics that interest us or relate to our professional work is one of these opportunities.

Many organizations and companies linked to the architecture and construction industries are enhancing their digital presence through webinars that offer in-depth insights into their tools and products, allowing them to stay connected with their professional communities. We invite you to explore this list of free webinars available over the coming weeks. With any luck, you will find one that fits your latest project!

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Horizontal Monuments is a participatory intervention carried out at Plaza Juárez in Guadalajara, Mexico. The project began with the construction of a 1:1 scale replica of the obelisk located in the plaza, placed on the ground and shifting its materiality, turning this monument into a malleable and accessible object. This shift sparked a central question: what should be done with it? This question triggered a series of discussions that transformed into actions; students and local community members gathered to give voice and form to the ideas emerging from the transformation of the object. The work was conceived as an educational project to imagine alternative models of monuments capable of addressing the demands and possibilities of specific sites. Its development led to a series of collective actions described below.

In 1926, Le Corbusier developed the five points that would become the foundations for modern architecture. Once materialized in 1929 in the iconic Villa Savoye project, Le Corbusier's principles - pilotis, free design of the ground plan, free design of the facade, horizontal window, and roof garden - have been extensively explored in modern architecture and continue to influence the most diverse contemporary architectural projects to this day.

The five points became a kind of guideline for the New Architecture, as Corbusier used to call it. Even after decades, new technologies, materials, and demands of society have continued to update those architectural solutions, announced almost a century ago as the basis for a new architecture.

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New Generations is a European platform that analyses the most innovative emerging practices at the European level, providing a new space for the exchange of knowledge and confrontation, theory, and production. Since 2013, New Generations has involved more than 300 practices in a diverse program of cultural activities, such as festivals, exhibitions, open calls, video-interviews, workshops, and experimental formats.

Mais Vida nos Morros is a public policy for citizenship and sustainable development in Recife's communities, conceived by the Executive Secretariat for Urban Innovation of the City of Recife. In partnership with the private sector, the program already serves residents across 49 areas in 27 communities in Recife, directly benefiting 25,000 people. Lagoa Encantada is one of the chapters in this story, shaped by a model of social cooperation.

Located in the Ibura neighborhood of Recife, Pernambuco, Lagoa Encantada developed across both flatlands and hillsides. The area's topography directly impacted its urban conditions: while the flatlands enjoyed leisure spaces and infrastructure, the hillside lacked these amenities. This contrast directly influenced how residents interacted with one another and with their territory, serving as the starting point for the intervention process. 

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Pivot doors are not ordinary doors. They used to be a hassle to install and once in place, the door movement was often lacking. Things are different now, as companies like FritsJurgens have incorporated new technologies that take pivot door hardware to a whole new level. Installation is now extremely easy, allowing for versatility and creativity in pivot door design. So, in what ways can a pivot door enhance your interior design?

Between 1950 and 2011, the world's urban population increased fivefold. In 2007, for the first time, the number of people living in cities surpassed the number of people living in the country. In 2019, the urban population had already reached 55% of the total population, and by 2050, it is estimated that just over two thirds of the population will live in urban areas. However, this growth is not constant in all parts of the world: according to the UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018 Report, the global urban population is expected to grow by 2.5 billion inhabitants between 2018 and 2050, with almost 90% of this increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. As populations in these areas increase, so will the demand for energy, food, and water, making resources more scarce. This scarcity will be compounded by the negative impact of urbanization on the climate and the environment.

The 2018 discovery of nine skeletal remains in São Paulo's current Liberdade neighborhood brought to light physical evidence of the city's first public necropolis, the Cemitério dos Aflitos (Cemetery of the Afflicted), also known as the Cemitério dos Enforcados (Cemetery of the Hanged). According to municipal archival documents, between 1775 and 1858, the cemetery was primarily the final resting place for the marginalized: enslaved Black men and women, the poor, the destitute, and those condemned to the gallows. While the Cemitério dos Aflitos was a scattered territory of those cast out of São Paulo society, the Irmandade do Rosário (Sisterhood of the Rosary), founded in 1720, was established as a demarcated Black territory in the city, where enslaved, freed, and free people lived together, held funerals, celebrated festivals, and practiced religious devotions, "when this segment of São Paulo's population would burst onto the streets together, with their characteristic attire, adornments, and sounds" (WISSENBACH, 1988: 206-7).

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For many, the aesthetics of wood are powerfully enchanting. With a huge diversity of species and innumerable variations in colors, weights, and textures, wood is one of the most highly appreciated materials of all time. But the unrestrained logging of forests for use in construction has had and will continue to have enormous environmental impacts if precautions such as sustainable management, legitimate certification, or reforestation are not taken. Being an organic material, when used for construction, wood tends to morph under conditions of humidity, heat, and loads, and its fibers eventually deform over time. In addition, wood is a material that does not respond well to environments where it is soaked and dried repeatedly, which can cause it to rot after some time if it is not adequately waterproofed. Therefore, there are some situations where using wood may not be a good idea.

The field of architecture has the potential to influence human relations in countless ways through the built space. In small-scale projects, in particular, the challenges of tackling the dialogue between the space and the individual are combined with the task of conveying ideas to inspire people to explore the use of these minimal spaces. 

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Whenever we think of solar panels, the concept of sustainability immediately comes to mind. They are undoubtedly an effective solution for generating renewable energy; however, what few people realize is that solar panels are incredibly difficult to recycle. While this drawback should not discourage their adoption in buildings and solar power plants, it underscores that sustainability must remain a constant focus for these products, even after they stop working.

When considering the history of occupation in the city of São Paulo and the pursuit of a universal, democratic urban planning, understanding the role and movement of women in the urban context—particularly on the city's periphery—becomes essential. Here, we look at the Jardim Damasceno neighborhood and its spaces in motion—the stairways—to understand how these bodies express themselves in this context, their actions and transformations, and how gender is perceived by them. 

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Stairways are central to access and mobility within a space, and yet, they often take a backseat to other elements of design within a work of architecture. However, Mexican firm PRODUCTORA has put them at the forefront of many of their projects, notably the Teopanzolco Cultural Center.

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This year the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has been looking at tourism as a way to create jobs and opportunities in rural areas under the banner of Tourism and Rural Development.

Rural based Architecture and traditional edifices play an important role in showcasing local heritage building and craftsmanship. It can also offer jobs and prospects outside of big cities particularly for the communities that might otherwise be left behind. 

Urban acupuncture is a design tactic promoting urban regeneration at a local level, supporting the idea that interventions in public space don’t need to be ample and expensive to have a transformative impact. An alternative to conventional development processes, urban acupuncture represents an adaptable framework for urban renewal, where highly focused and targeted initiatives help regenerate neglected spaces, incrementally deploy urban strategies, or consolidate the social infrastructure of a city. 

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