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.

What does it mean for the Costa Rican Architecture Biennial to have reached sixteen editions? Clearly, it represents a significant accumulation of exhibitions, conferences, and diverse programs that reflect the concerns and shifts in the country's architectural agenda over the past three decades.

'A Project of Trends: 30 Years of Architecture Biennials in Costa Rica' is the exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) that reviews this trajectory in detail, under the precise curation of Paz Monge Cortés and José Daniel Picado-García.

Since the pandemic, urban issues have become more pressing than ever for many people in Latin America. COVID-19 triggered a turbulent shift in the real estate market, driven both by speculation in second-home markets and the influx of “digital nomads” in cities like Medellín, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City.

From fire in prehistoric caves to public lighting in smart cities, illumination has constantly evolved alongside technological advancements. In recent years, however, it has begun to shift even more significantly in terms of design and functionality, driven by a growing awareness of its impact on the environment and human health.

What comes to mind when you think of technology? Of all the words that pop into your head, "ancient" probably isn't one of them. We tend to think of technology as something that belongs to the future.

In a world where high-tech solutions are virtually synonymous with development, Julia Watson has taken the opposite approach. The New York-based Australian designer has spent much of her career traveling to indigenous communities in the most remote parts of the world—from Benin to Iraq—to study how we can apply their ancient innovations to our planet's contemporary environment.

The role of fire in human development is undeniable. Our ancestors leveraged this discovery to cope with low temperatures, protect themselves from predators, and cook food to make it more digestible. Over time, the ritual of cooking evolved from a simple open-air campfire to enclosing fire within chambers. These chambers gradually became more sophisticated over the years, eventually transforming into the complex, modern elements that served as the starting point for the emergence of kitchens as social architectural spaces.

Regardless of its size or layout, the kitchen as a shared space has preserved its ritualistic nature to this day. In ancient times, we gathered around the fire to prepare food and tell stories; today, we meet in our home kitchens to connect with one another. The importance of this space in daily life is enhanced by kitchen furniture lines like Wasser, a brand distributed by CHC that balances aesthetics and functionality, conceiving kitchens as utilitarian and social spaces, with special attention paid to design.

On December 10, 2022, ArchDaily successfully hosted the inaugural "Co-Creation & Co-Ideation" forum for ArchDaily Building Materials (Jianri Zhucai). The event featured seven guest speakers who shared their stories about materials: Libin Chen (Partner at David Chipperfield Architects Shanghai), Jing Lin (Senior Project Architect / Associate Director at SHL Architects), Shuangquan Ni (Marketing Director at Avarte), Yi Yao (Deputy General Manager of the Design Management Department of China Resources Land East China Region), Zhou Qing (Deputy General Manager and Design Director at GOA), Isabel (Residential Project Manager at iGuzzini), and Chunyan Cai (Principal of Atelier Tao+C). Additionally, Shuang Han, ArchDaily China's Editor-in-Chief, introduced our decision to launch a WeChat Mini Program to enter the building materials sector, along with our future plans. We would like to extend our special thanks to China Resources Land for providing the venue, to our sponsors iGuzzini and Avarte for their generous support, and to all the attendees.

In October 2023, the Mugak International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country opened its fourth central exhibition in the city of San Sebastián, Spain, the result of a collective dialogue between key figures from the architectural and artistic worlds. Positioned as one of the leading architectural events of the Atlantic Arc, this public meeting point engages with the trends and concerns of our time.

Running through February 2024 with free admission at the Basque Country Architecture Institute, the reflective exhibition "Habitar el Cambio" (Inhabiting Change) is structured around the concepts of "rebuilding, rehabilitating, and rethinking," responding to the current climate of complexity and crisis across economic, health, ecological, and social spheres.

As the climate emergency worsens globally, an ever-larger number of people are forced to flee their homes due to natural disasters, droughts, and other meteorological events. These displaced populations are often referred to as “climate refugees.” This humanitarian crisis demands immediate action, but first we must understand who these individuals are and how the international community can appropriately address this growing issue.

Being present has become the new currency, another way to accumulate symbolic capital, and a new way to validate status. It began with a sudden and rapid surge in museum attendance, alongside the visible crowding of specific areas of Mexico City. This points to an issue currently affecting us: gentrification and forced displacement.

The history of architecture is filled with remarkable unrealized hypotheses, whether due to infeasibility, conceptual radicalism, or other specific factors. Even when conceived by the field's most prestigious minds, these ideas never overcame the inevitable constraints of material reality, nor could they be adapted to make them viable, even partially. Yet, the significance of these projects goes beyond the tangible. Beyond enriching the profession's intellectual heritage, these once-abandoned proposals were—and still are—a catalyst for reflection and a source of inspiration for diverse artistic approaches.

We have less than seven years to halve greenhouse gas emissions if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the threshold scientists consider necessary to avoid some of the most dangerous impacts of climate change. In 2022, floods, droughts, and severe heatwaves claimed thousands of lives and affected millions worldwide, offering a glimpse of what to expect if we fail to take climate action. Since cities account for more than 60% of global emissions and are home to more than half of the world's population, changing how we manage the urban environment must be at the center of our efforts to curb the climate crisis.

Zoning is the primary tool for urban regulation adopted worldwide. It consists of dividing urban territory into a series of zones, establishing permitted uses for each and setting parameters for the structures that can be built on each lot. In theory, zoning pursues two main objectives: preventing nuisances generated by specific uses and limiting development density to the capacity of existing infrastructure.

From fire in prehistoric caves to street lighting in smart cities, lighting has evolved steadily alongside technological advancements. In recent years, however, it has begun to transform even more significantly in terms of design and functionality, driven by a growing awareness of its impact on the environment and human health.

Can we construct buildings using less water? Throughout June, ArchDaily opened the debate on water resources in architecture, inviting our readers to join the discussion.

Global water use data is discouraging, and the construction process accounts for a significant portion of this consumption. It was time to think about how to reduce this impact. The need to design buildings that do not require water offered a unique opportunity to explore innovative and sustainable alternatives to minimize or even completely eliminate water use in construction.

As part of the XXVI Arquisur Congress “Turns of Architecture,” held from October 11 to 13 at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of the Republic of Uruguay, the winners of the 2023 edition of the Arq. José Miguel Aroztegui Award for Architecture Students, the Arquisur Research Award, and the Arquisur Outreach Award were announced.

With 55% of the world's population living in cities, the concept of circular economy is increasingly prominent in discussions on architecture and urbanism. The goal of circularity is to reduce the environmental impact of the current production and consumption model through the efficient use of material resources and waste reduction. But how can this idea actually be applied to cities?

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This February 2 marks another World Wetlands Day, held under the theme revitalize and restore degraded wetlands. The 2023 theme highlights that "if done correctly, these sites can offer the same benefits as the original natural wetland."

Bringing greenery and, in many cases, vegetable cultivation into urban areas yields countless benefits for city dwellers. Green roofs offer a solution for transforming underutilized areas into true natural oases, helping to mitigate urban heat islands, absorb rainwater, improve air quality, control noise levels, and attract biodiversity.

The Doctores neighborhood (Mexico City) is a complex territory; understanding it requires observing the interrelations between objects in space, rather than space and the objects in themselves. Formerly known as Colonia Hidalgo and later renamed after its streets, it has undergone multiple processes of transformation and appropriation over time, ranging from the construction of its first homes during the viceregal period to the spatial and social shift brought about by the 1985 earthquake.

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Seattle-based Olson Kundig is a prime example of how a firm's design approach is shaped by geography and culture. Founded by Jim Olson (Jim Olson) in 1966, the firm now comprises hundreds of employees and four other partners, including Tom Kundig. The practice boasts a wide and diverse portfolio. In lectures and interviews, Kundig frequently discusses how his upbringing in a region with a rich history of mining and logging influenced his industrial and rational aesthetic, his use of durable, low-maintenance materials, and his keen focus on craftsmanship. At the same time, an imaginative approach that emphasizes kinetic elements and blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors is a hallmark of many of the firm's designs. This is often achieved through the integration of manual, hand-operated devices that allow users to physically activate the building, connecting them to the environment, the architecture, and its kinetic mechanisms.

With the rise of social media, we have entered an era of a multimedia "society of the spectacle," where the influence of images on the public grows year by year. Visually-driven media platforms are increasingly dominating the market, serving as an alternative form of travel that allows people to experience breathtaking scenes from around the world without leaving home. Dedicated to bringing design inspiration to the public, ArchDaily established its presence on Instagram years ago. In 2022, we expanded onto China’s Xiaohongshu (RED), hoping to share exceptional projects with a broader audience. As expected, the influence of star architects remains strong, while playfulness, aesthetics, and relevance emerge as key terms guiding reader interest. Here, we present the top 20 most-liked architectural projects of 2022 on ArchDaily’s official Xiaohongshu and Instagram accounts. Read on to discover the public's architectural preferences.

One of the greatest difficulties when studying is understanding how to apply the concepts presented to us. In structural engineering education, it is common to use symbols and abstractions to understand the forces involved in a structure and how they work. Another major challenge is translating this abstract information into something tangible: the actual building elements. 

Engineer Matheus Borges has been creating illustrations on his Instagram to help decode this information. Below, we look at what these support types are and how they behave.

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At the recently concluded Asian Games, the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) participated in the design of numerous competition venues. Among them, the Hangzhou Asian Games Baseball and Softball Sports Cultural Center is the largest newly built venue for this edition of the Games, as well as the largest, most advanced, and highest-standard baseball and softball sports center in China to date. For this edition of Spotlight, we interviewed UAD's Qian Xidong to discuss his design philosophy shaped by years of professional practice.

Throughout its existence, architecture has continuously reinvented itself, driven not only by the emergence of new techniques and trends, but also by a deeper understanding of the human being. In recent times, the field of neuroarchitecture has yielded valuable research into how built environments influence our brains and, consequently, our behavior and well-being. This interdisciplinary approach suggests that interior design—specifically materiality and surface design—can play a crucial role in modulating individuals' neural and behavioral responses.

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