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.

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The purpose of architectural photography is to show a design in the best possible way, with the artform often characterized by perspective correction and atmospheric lighting. However, few architectural photographers have experimented with other artistic disciplines. Miguel de Guzmán, Paul Vu and Jules Couartou are among those who have challenged the limits of this form of photography, generating an interesting crossover between architecture photography, fashion and performances. In their images, the relationship between space and the user is shown through a scene designed to register an effect on the viewer. The results are images which are full of creativity.

Cardboard tubes are so commonplace that we may no longer even notice them. Yet they are everywhere: in a roll of toilet paper, in the packaging of the college diploma, in fireworks, and in the tissue and paper industries. And now, more and more, they can be found in unusual places, such as on the walls of houses and buildings. The material is part of modern life and is being produced for a multitude of industrial applications and consumer products. The vast majority are used as structural cores in winding operations. Immediately after manufacturing, paper, film or textiles are rolled directly onto cardboard tubes resulting in a stable roll that is easily stored and transported.

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The final thesis project represents a major milestone in earning an architecture degree, and one of the fairest ways to honor it is through promotion and visibility. To discover the valuable output of Peruvian universities, in January we launched our open call, inviting architects to submit their respective final graduation projects (PFC) defended through 2018. Although we originally published a compilation of undergraduate theses in 2015, this is the first official call in Peru on par with previous editions held in other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, placing us at the heart of this international dialogue.

This first edition received 75 submissions from 17 universities across various cities nationwide. After an exhaustive evaluation, 15 final projects were selected by the editorial jury of ArchDaily en Español. The selection values precision and detail, a cohesive line extending from the design to its presentation, and above all, the boldness to advance revolutionary ideas in the face of a seemingly harsh yet diverse reality. They do not necessarily result in a building; rather, they suggest the promise of architecture without limits, demonstrating critical thinking and a firm stance on the country's major (and urgent) issues. In doing so, they pave the way for multidisciplinary, collaborative work that strongly emphasizes the social role of the architect. All of these architectural projects maximize the capacity to imagine, experiment, and design, proving to be not only the culmination of a well-learned academic chapter but also the beginning of building those dreams. Let us not forget this transformative spirit as we cross the threshold.

Below, explore the selected projects in detail.

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In 2005, as a way to increase its competitiveness, the government of the state that borders Mexico City – named Estado de México– launched a program called “Bicentenary Cities,” a nod to the 200th anniversary of the Mexican Independence.  This program proposed careful land-use planning and the creation of a state structure for key population centers selected based on location, capacity for population increase, potential to host infrastructure and strategic equipment, and the possibility to create adequate communication lines to enable regional, statewide and national integration.

Architecture, just like art, has the ability to detach the individual and provoke a sense of intrigue and inspiration. Some buildings leave a greater mark, especially if the project or the site it is built on has a story of its own. 

The Mask by WOJR is developed for an individual who lost his younger brother in a lake in Ithaca, New York. After the tragedy, the lake became a zone of detachment from the everyday world, transforming the structure from just a house on a lake, to a space of contemplation.

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Developed by Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit, this series of articles offers here a set of evidence-based optimal practices for social housing, applicable in general situations. Varying examples are discussed in a Latin American context. Adaptive solutions work towards long-term sustainability and help to attach residents to their built environment. 

They propose, then, new insights in complexity science, and in particular the work of Christopher Alexander on how to successfully evolve urban form. By applying the conceptual tools of “Pattern Languages” and “Generative Codes”, these principles support previous solutions derived by others, which were never taken forward in a viable form. 

This article was originally published on CommonEdge as "Women in Architecture Need a New Set of Role Models—Beyond the Star System"

Faced with the challenge of designing housing units for rural areas south of the city of Bogotá, Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (Colombian Society of Architects) called upon a participation of proposals with technical and spatial solutions, not only allowing the development of viable forms of productivity and growth, but also applying criteria of sustainability, efficiency and comfort.

Considering the adaptability of this architecture of the unity to the terrains situated in three varying geographies and characterised by an Andean landscape, the jury granted the first price to the team of FP Arquitectura and the second prize to Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos + Estación Espacial Arquitectos. Get to know the latter project in detail below, described by the authors. 

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La Casa por el Tejado, a company that specializes in adding floors to old buildings, duplicated both the living spaces and the number of floors of an apartment building on Avenida Meridiana in the El Clot neighborhood of Barcelona. The new residences were built off-site in 12-weeks time and in accordance with the building's original dimensions and characteristics.

The Walls of Air exhibition in the Brazilian pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale presented 17 projects from different regions of the country, selected from an open call, as well as a series of large cartographic drawings addressing different aspects of the country's urbanization through the lens of architecture. In this publication, we present the series of ten maps featured in the Walls of Air exhibition catalog as excerpts from the exhibition's maps—a study developed by Mapping-lab in collaboration with the curators of the Brazilian Pavilion (Gabriel Kozlowski, Laura González Fierro, Marcelo Maia Rosa, and Sol Camacho) and their team.

After reflecting on design capable of establishing 'emotional belonging' and the antipatterns of social housing, Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andres M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit continue their series of articles on social housing in Latin America. In this installment, the text addresses how control influences urban form and ways of living.

Responding to the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, “Beauty Unites People,” a team led by Dodi Moss imagined a multi-layered architectural experience evoking Italy’s history and identity. The design pulls apart the pieces that make up architectural space, separating the building into its structural volume and its tactile, material components. The proposal won third place in Invitalia’s competition to design the Italian Pavilion at the Expo, behind carlorattiassociati and Gianluca Peluffa & Partners.

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Although the ability to install home automation in a practical way is associated with new projects, it is possible to adapt previously built buildings in a relatively simple way. In both small and large renovations projects these systems can deliver automated features that responds to the requirements and needs of its users. They can also improve the habitability and comfort of its spaces, increase their security and promote long-term energy and money savings. So, what considerations must be taken into account in order to transform an regular architecture project into an "intelligent" one?

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The notion of authenticity is inseparable from theoretical discussions and actions in the field of Conservation and Restoration, and is directly related to the perception of values associated with a given cultural asset—whether tangible or intangible. Authenticity constitutes a foundational and structuring principle of the ethics that sustain and align criteria, concepts, and justifications within the realm of preservation. Like any process of cultural construction, authenticity cannot be understood or defined in absolute, pre-established terms, and its recognition is intrinsically linked to the context to which it refers—at a given time and in a given place.

Architects are increasingly aware of our influence on the well-being and good health of the users of our projects. Natural lighting –and how it should be complemented with artificial lighting– is an essential factor to consider for the visual comfort of interior spaces. But, do we know how to handle it correctly?

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Tezontle Ludens is the name of the winning project of the Arquine Competition No. 21 | Mextrópoli Pavilion 2019, which opened on Friday, March 8, in Mexico City's Alameda Central alongside a series of pavilions designed to activate public space. The pavilion, built by Factor Eficiencia and designed by Suma Estudio (Roberto Aguilar, Diego García, Fernando Franco, Diego Aguilar, and Jalil Miguel), was described by the jury as "a simple, well-narrated playful experience, materialized in a lightweight space and a commitment to subtlety. The project communicates with that same clarity, without discursive excess or unnecessary justification."

The dramatic improvement in recent decades in our understanding of sustainable design has shown that designing sustainably doesn't have to be a compromise—it can instead be a benefit. When done correctly, sustainable design results in higher-performing, healthier buildings which contribute to their inhabitants' physical and mental well-being.

The benefits of incorporating vegetation in façades and in roofs, as well as materials and construction systems that take energy use and pollution into account, demonstrate that sustainable design has the potential to create buildings that improve living conditions and respect the natural environment.

Below we have compiled 30 plans, sections and construction details of projects that stand out for their approach to sustainability.

Given that 90% of cities are built without architects and urban planners, who are the real architects imagining and building the world we want to live in? What modes of production, materials, and forms of relationship and social reproduction are practiced by these collectives, pointing the way toward possible, inclusive, diverse, just, and ecological futures? What architectures exist to foster freedom, collaboration, co-responsibility, and care—for oneself, for others, and for the spaces we inhabit?

Where does originality and independent thinking come from? The answer is prosaically straight forward – from an inquiring individual, and an experimental environment wouldn’t hurt to stimulate it. Rem Koolhaas is credited with fostering such an environment, both through building his practice, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), a 300-architect network of seven global offices, and teaching at Harvard’s GSD, as well as lecturing all over the world. Koolhaas now has eight partners. One of the eight, since 2008, is Shohei Shigematsu who heads OMA New York since 2006. The studio originally numbered just a handful of people and over the years has grown into a large practice of 75 architects with a focus on projects in North America.

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In early March, students, architects, and designers gathered to bring their wooden projects to life for the third edition of Hello Wood Argentina.

The theme chosen for 2019 was “a space of containment, a space with-tension”:

Pushing our capabilities to the limit necessarily implies achieving the tension needed for our skills to emerge and be put into crisis.

Discover the projects built during this edition below. 

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Architects' general ignorance about the needs and requirements of people with special needs is worrisome. Beyond complying with mandatory regulations (different in each country), the quality of life for different-abled people depends on specific and daily factors that go beyond a railing or a ramp, and are often left in the hands of professionals who have never dealt with such issues.

This Ables, a project developed by IKEA and the non-profit organizations Milbat and Access Israel, provides an excellent resource for how to create an equitable design in the smallest and simplest of details. From door handles that are can be opened with a forearm to a couch lift that enables users to sit down and get up easily, these 13 products are available to the general public on ThisAbles.com. Some products can even be 3D-printed independently.

See the video below for more details of the project.

Since the 1970s, architecture has sought connections with other fields of art, looking for inspiration to break with the paradigms of the time in sculpture and painting, as well as in music and literature. In schools and professional practice, architectural projects were developed based on the study of "paintings by Vermeer, as well as those of the Cubists, the music of Bach, as well as Meredith Monk, literary fragments by Heraclitus, as well as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and James Joyce's Finnegans Wake."[1] 

Now in the midst of its annual awards program, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 12 projects shortlisted for recognition in its East Midlands district. RIBA has also recently announced its shortlists for new projects in its London, East, North East, and South West districts.

Emre Arolat has a long and distinguished career in architecture, marked by honors such as the Aga Khan Award for architecture and appointments such as the co-curatorship of the 2012 Istanbul Design Biennial. As both a practicing architect and an educator (he teaches at the Yale School of Architecture), Arolat spends a great deal of time traveling around the world. In this guest essay, Arolat shares his experience on the road, illuminating a personal creative process. - AD Editorial Team