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.

Campo Baeza asserted that “Light is the most beautiful, richest, and most luxurious material used by architects. The only problem is that it is given to us for free, is within everyone's reach, and is not valued enough” [1]. Today, many architects agree on the importance of lighting when creating architectural spaces, reflecting on its quality, quantity, nuance, and directionality. Despite this, when determining the characteristics of their building enclosures, many choose to work with materials that ensure a high degree of privacy, either by incorporating opaque elements or envelopes that screen views and diffuse contact with public outdoor spaces.

In certain cases where solar conditions permit, modern technological developments allow for the incorporation of translucent enclosure systems that ensure the entry of abundant, controlled natural light throughout the day without sacrificing privacy. These self-supporting treated glass panel systems offer the possibility of generating completely glazed, continuous, homogeneous, unobstructed, and translucent surfaces while simultaneously screening views into the spaces. Below, we present 6 projects located in Argentina that exemplify different ways of working with these systems.

In Bogotá, a third of all households live in gated communities. This phenomenon is a misguided application of the model idealized by post-war American suburbs, which projected an idyllic, safe, happy, and perfect life—a life where mobility prioritizes motorized vehicles, utilizing simple, replicable, and, of course, highly profitable construction models.

Ciudad Isla is an exhibition by architects and professors at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ramón Bermúdez and Sebastián Serna, in collaboration with the Institute of Science, Technology and Policy (ISTP) at ETH Zurich, which brings this issue to light. It presents a collective research project on gated housing complexes and their relationship with public space in the city of Bogotá.

In the experiment by the collective Mouraria 53, the spatial operation—unlike a typical architectural project—begins before construction is finished and is integral to its ongoing development. Exhibitions, presentations, concerts, workshops, and classes serve as a daily exchange in building the house. The process itself is of paramount value to this initiative, bringing together projects, materials, dialogues, execution, and collective dreams.

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Architecture is inherently linked to policy, politics, and power. With responsibility for the design and perception of the built environment, architects have a distinct role in shaping the human urban experience. As the world confronts issues of climate change, forced migration, and affordable housing, architects are increasingly putting themselves on the front line of the debate, using a variety of tools and avenues to clamor for change, and indeed design for it. However, while many official avenues exist for architects to advocate for social and environmental reform, there is an under-theorized method of resistance, a ‘road less traveled’ for social progress beyond officialdom.

There’s a lot of buzz going on in terms of technology-driven innovation in the AEC industry. Especially the increasing use of 3D renderings and virtual reality for architectural projects is hitting every architect’s newsfeed. Photorealistic images and virtual reality walk-throughs seem to be turning into the new industry standard. That being said, for many architectural firms it seems to be hard to keep up with quickly developing new tech and thereby find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.

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Recent years have seen a dramatic transformation in population distribution: today, more than half of the world's population now lives in cities. In parallel fashion, housing and work spaces have all increasingly embraced the communal, resembling the impulse toward public spaces in new cities. 

Throughout Brazil and across different sectors of society, organized groups are collaborating to develop projects and initiatives aimed at improving the quality of urban life and transforming cities into more democratic spaces, reinforcing collective identity and a sense of belonging. The 4th Project Exhibition, an event taking place during the 4th COURB - Collaborative Urbanism Meeting, aims to celebrate and bring visibility to these groups. It focuses on themes such as Public Policy and Legislation, Communication and Information, Education and Culture, Physical Intervention in the Territory, Mobilization and Advocacy, Research, Projects, and Plans.

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.

Thanks to the development of the digital world, cities can be part of natural history. This is our great challenge for the next few decades.

The digital revolution should allow us to promote an advanced, ecological and human world. Being digital was never the goal–it was a means to reinvent the world. But what kind of world?

The Architecture Academy podcast is a new architecture and design podcast which has a focus on ideas and education. The team believes that through education and better conversations they can improve how people design their buildings and cities. The Architecture Academy has just completed their first series of podcasts with conversations with world experts on topics such as beauty, happiness, education, sustainability, vernacular architecture and housing.

On this episode, the Architecture Academy has talked to Pritzker-Prize winner Richard Rogers about a wide range of topics including compact cities, a fair society, collaboration and public spaces.

As a result of programmatic uncertainty, the diversity of individual lifestyles, and the impossibility of planning future ways of living, our architectural spaces have begun to call their own boundaries into question. The inability to confine contemporary activities to specific rooms, combined with new demands for adaptability and constant mutation in *micro-spaces*, has led to various architectural strategies in pursuit of flexible living.

An alternative for students who choose to study away from their hometowns, student housing acts as an extension of educational institutions. Emerging almost concurrently with the first universities, these spaces have evolved over the years to adapt to societal shifts, such as the rise of co-ed dormitories.

The steady escalation of complexity attributed to architecture and other fields of art over the past century—driven by a long process of disciplinary redefinition since the Modern era, coupled with an effervescence of experimentation and hybridization—has fostered the creation of innovative solutions designed for the human environment, while simultaneously giving rise to new challenges of categorization.

ArkxSite has announced the winners of its international architecture ideas competition.The competition has invited all architecture students and young architects to develop innovative ideas for the design of a Site Mausoleum located in the Jaspe Quarry, ‘Serra da Arrábida’, Portugal. The site is of great natural power as the remains of an old quarry are carved into its landscape, along with massive cliffs that drop dramatically into the Atlantic Ocean.

The competition committee wanted participants to develop an intervention that emphasizes, respects, and celebrates the site, all while providing visitors with a unique experience of movement between enclosed and open spaces. 

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This article was originally published on September 20, 2019.

“Alios ego vidi ventos; alias prospexi animo procellas”
I have already seen other winds; and I have weathered other storms
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Designed by 2006 Pritzker Prize-winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology (MuBE), completed in 1995 in São Paulo's Jardim Europa neighborhood, is one of the most emblematic works of contemporary architecture in São Paulo.

The edícula, also known in some regions of Brazil as a meia-água, é a small outbuilding usually constructed at the back of residential lots to provide an extra bedroom within the domestic program. Generally speaking, this space typically includes—with some variations—a bathroom, service quarters, and occasionally, integrated space at the end of a garage, in addition to the bedroom.

Housing for the low-income urban population is a central concern for contemporary Brazilian policymakers and urbanists. Over the last few decades, by focusing on building social housing complexes in peripheral areas lacking transit and sanitation infrastructure, the state has actively contributed to worsening the problem.

July 20, 2019, marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 departed Earth, touching down on the lunar surface four days later. This historic milestone continues to prompt reflection on how technological advancements are making life on other worlds increasingly viable.

Aided by the evolution of 3D printing and fully automated construction technologies, we have compiled 15 architectural projects that demonstrate how life on the Moon and other celestial bodies is no longer a distant fantasy.

The city of Amsterdam is popular for its compelling architecture, interlaced water canals, bridges, and docks. However, alongside these water canals lay old guard cabins that have been left to defunct. A restoration project by Dutch architecture firm space&matter promises to bring together the historic city's tourists and water canals through a unique architecture project.

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In 2014, a group of friends from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, eager to contribute to their city's resilience and recovery, came together to discuss and pitch ideas for reclaiming streets, squares, and parks through sociocultural projects and urban interventions in public spaces. This gave rise to Nómada Laboratorio Urbano. Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city located on the northern border with the United States, directly adjacent to El Paso, Texas. Over the years, Juárez's economy has been dominated by the "maquiladora" manufacturing industry, and the city was once considered one of the most violent in the world due to a wave of crime between 2008 and 2012.

Tile roofs are usually multi-pitched and covered in tiles, which make them different from flat and circular shaped roofs. The “pitch” of the roof is directly related to the wind and tile type, it must be able to drain rainwater and shelter the interior of the house.  

For technology companies, image is everything. Whether it be the latest iPhone, the newest Slack interface, or the latest Uber app update, these multimillion-dollar giants strive daily to keep the user engaged, and to keep their image young, current, and cutting edge. Invariably, this need to be noticed transcends the digital screen, and manifests in the architecture of the offices where this innovation takes place.

Across the world, from Dublin to Tel Aviv to Tokyo, the workspaces of the world's largest tech companies are redefining how offices are designed, aided by leading architects such as Foster + Partners, Snøhetta, and Gehry Partners. While our recent article on solutions for flexible home offices reflects on strategic functionality and individual expression, the 30 workspaces below dedicate themselves to collaboration and inspiration through a play on scales, color, shapes, and unexpected fixtures.

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200 years ago, parks were incorporated into cities. Today, 'beach life' can also reach the hearts of cities.

A revolutionary alternative of high social impact that promises to change urban living is gaining ground. Known as Public Access Lagoons (PAL), an innovative concept developed and patented by the multinational water innovation company, Crystal Lagoons, it will bring beach life projects to the heart of large cities, with white sand beaches and monumental crystalline lagoons, in which people can swim and practice water sports in. With the capacity to receive more than one million visits a year, these large bodies of water can incorporate cultural and entertainment centers and amenities, easily accessed via ticketed entry or, alternatively, can be enjoyed free of charge from the contemplation areas.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

This summer the federal government released an astonishing statistic: 87% of American homes are now equipped with air conditioning. Since the world is getting undeniably warmer, I suppose this isn’t all that surprising, but keep in mind that robust number of mechanically cooled homes include residences in some fairly temperate climates. So my question is a simple one: When did air conditioning in the U.S. became a requirement, rather than an add-on?