While architects are known for promoting sleek, clutter-free spaces, we have to ask: is this the best way to inspire creativity? Personal preference certainly plays a large part in how you respond to a stark table-tops with nary a stray pencil--maybe this is your nirvana. Or perhaps it’s theoretically preferable but once you have to sit down and work, you find yourself uninspired.

Author Tim Harford researched and compiled a number of examples for his book Messy in which “creativity, responsiveness, [and] resilience” were “integral to the disorder, confusion and disarray.” Do you agree? Or perhaps more importantly, what are you surrounded by when you’re in the zone and at your creative peak?

Fact-checking website Snopes (also known as the internet's first fact-checking website) has now been debunking Urban Legends and setting the record straight when it comes to "questionable" and/or fantastic stories for 23 years. In its two decades of operation, it has amassed not only thousands of well-researched explanations to perplexing myths but has also garnered the praise of news outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and Forbes. So what can Snopes tell us about our dear profession? Get your facts right with our list of dubious (and some not-so-dubious) claims about architecture, buildings, and city design.

After years of publishing projects and articles related to bamboo, we are strongly aware of its qualities as a construction material. But is it really an option that you would use into your next project? Despite widespread appreciation, bamboo seems to be a material that is rarely considered for use in everyday designs.

The team of Manasaram Architects and CGBMT asked themselves the same question. Together they are seeking to understand the current perceptions of bamboo and to discover its potential as a commonly-used material in the construction sector. To help in this pursuit, they have shared a survey with us which seeks to evaluate how often architects and building professionals use bamboo, the problems they face, and how informed they are about the material.

We would like to invite our readers to spare 10 minutes of their time to help us expand knowledge about the use of bamboo using the survey below. The results will be shared on ArchDaily once the study is complete.

Plans announced last month for Apple’s first global flagship store in the southern hemisphere have prompted outrage among Melbournites, who are criticizing the complete lack of public input in the project’s approval process.

The new three-story building, designed by Foster + Partners, would require the demolition of the existing Yarra Building, and would change the character of Federation Square, a popular public location for gatherings and events. But before being announced, the project was already fast-tracked through the first stage of planning approval, thanks to a partnership with the city.

Ranking cities is a risky endeavor. How can one be objective and fair when this great earth and its 7.6 billion inhabitants would never come to anything close to a consensus? And yet global consulting firm Resonance Consultancy has taken on the challenge based on the opinions of the people they claim matter most: "a city's visitors and its residents."

Surveying the inhabitants and tourists about 23 different factors (that are then grouped into six key categories—Place, Product, Programming, People, Prosperity and Promotion), the methodology aims to be comprehensive in the ranking of quality of place and reputation. In the people category, for example, the surveyors looked at things like the immigration rate and diversity of a city, including number of Foreign-born Residents. Also taken into consideration was the amount of "stories" or "mentions" a city generates on web platforms like Facebook, Google and even TripAdvisor. And, most relevant to us architects, cities were scored on their quality of neighborhoods, landmarks and parks.

To our readers and fans,

As we approach the end of the year, we would once again like to thank you all for making 2017 our best year yet. With your continued support, we are now reaching more architects around the globe than ever, and inspiring them in the creation of better urban environments for all.

On behalf of the entire ArchDaily team, we are excited to share this collection of 2017's most visited projects, products, and articles. Together with our curated selection of the year's most relevant and noteworthy articles and events, these represent the best content created and shared by ArchDaily over the past 12 months.

Here's to a wonderful, architecture-filled 2018!

'Tis the season for offices, museums, photographers and collaborators from around the world to send us a bit of holiday cheer! See our favorites below (or check out our best reader-submitted cards).

Here’s to a wonderful, architecture-filled 2017! See the best projects and articles published this year, here.

When they aren't designing buildings or making sure their models and plans are neat and tidy, many architects channel creative energy into sketches (both hand-done and digital) that become small tokens of holiday cheer. This annual challenge, now in its third year, is our unashamed way of celebrating the inventiveness, originality, and artistry of ArchDaily readers from around the world. May you all enjoy the humblest and most thoughtful gift of all: an expression of holiday cheer.

Featured gif by Joanne Hanson

Located in the largest remaining park in Beijing’s central business district, MAD Architects’ Chaoyang Park Plaza opened earlier this to year to much deserved fanfare. With a striking black glass form inspired by traditional Chinese ink landscape paintings, the complex is an immediate standout within its context.

In this photo series, Laurian Ghinitiou captures the series of buildings, drawing attention to their relationships to those surroundings. From the bustling streetscape, to the local residents fishing in the nearby pond, to KPF’s fast-rising CITIC Tower in the distance (soon to become Beijing’s tallest tower), Ghinitiou’s photographs are a reminder that all architecture is a product of the people and buildings around it – even the most dramatic of forms.

Check out the full photo set below:

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The end of 2017 is nearly upon us, and with the start of 2018 comes speculation about who will be the next Pritzker Prize winner. Will the jury honor an influential member of the "old guard," as they did in 2015 when they bestowed the award upon the late Frei Otto? Or will they recognize a young architect who is redefining the profession, as they did when they selected Alejandro Aravena? Will the award go to an individual or to two or more architects working together? And will it reward virtuoso spatial design irrespective of context, or will the selection be more political, as it was last year when locally-focused practice RCR Arquitectes took the prize?

We want to hear from our readers – not just about who probably will win the prize, but about who should win the prize, and why. Read on to cast your vote in our poll, and let us know in the comments whose name you'd like to hear announced in 2018.

Videos

The Modmin has been a go-to for quality videos and tutorials on architectural drawing and sketching. Their newest video tackles a drawing fundamental: the ability to draw a straight line. For many seasoned architects, this is a skill that they mastered long ago. But if you are just starting out, or if you've been hiding behind your computer's ability to consistently draw straight lines, then this hack is for you.

Referring to the first tip in Matthew Frederick's 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, Themodmin's Umar shares an exercise he was taught for achieving straight lines. 

What happens when an architect is inspired by both the pyramids of Mesoamerica and the modernity of Oscar Niemeyer... and said architect has been tasked to create a master plan for a utopic seaside resort? You get La Grande-Motte, a commune in Southern France. Below, photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego share a selection of images from their pilgrimage to this unique site.

The VELUX Group has announced the esteemed architects that will make up the jury for the 2018 VELUX Award for Students of Architecture. The award, given every two years, challenges students of architecture all over the world to explore the theme of daylight and consider its role in our lives as an ever-relevant source of light, life and energy in buildings. The four internationally acclaimed jury members will elect the winners among the hundreds of daylight-focused project entries from all over the world.

"We are thrilled and proud to present this esteemed jury to the works of engaged students from all over the world and we truly hope that all efforts will be made to showcase explorations and excitement in the two award categories 'daylight in buildings' and 'daylight investigations'," says program manager of the award Per Arnold Andersen, from the VELUX Group.

The members of the jury are:

ArchDaily is an evolving project of the Internet – an experiment in archiving, disseminating discourse and sharing content related to architecture and urbanism on a scale that was not possible as little as two decades ago.

Since our foundation in 2008, we have operated around a single mission: to bring knowledge, inspiration, and tools to the people who are, and will be, designing the urban centers which will accommodate our planet’s (exponentially rising) population.

Most importantly for us, we are continually connecting people from around the developed and developing world by building a platform which operates in four languages—Spanish, English, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese—to ensure that these discussions are available to the widest possible global audience.

And in order to bring content to our half-a-million daily readers more efficiently, we're looking for a Content Coordinator to help guide and organize the team. Are you meticulous, exceptionally organized and passionate about architecture and the internet? This is the job for you.

ArchDaily is looking for a motivated and highly-skilled architecture-lover to join our team in Santiago, Chile! We are happy to announce a new residency program aimed at identifying emerging talent in the field of online architecture publishing. Participants in the Residency program receive a monthly stipend so that they can temporarily relocate to Chile and work alongside our global team of content producers for a period of four to six months.

Interested in what it's like to be an ArchDailyer? Check out our office life!

As the northern hemisphere says goodbye to the final month of fall and gives thanks for architecture’s splendid (and fulfilling) beauty, the time is ripe for revisiting a selection of canonical projects that look their grandest during “leaf peeping” season. Either the brilliant reds, oranges, browns and yellows of the foliage echo the natural colors of the project’s materials or the reflective properties of ample glass magnify the natural phenomenon. This annual period of transition provides photographers with a “golden” opportunity.

In an exclusive half-hour interview with Graham Stirk, partner at Richard Rogers' London-based practice RSHP (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners), Monocle's Tom Edwards dives into discussing the complexity of some of the practice’s recent projects. Stirk is best known for designing some of the firm's iconic London buildings, such as the Leadenhall Building (or “Cheesegrater”) and the more controversial NEO Bankside.

A School of Schools, the theme for the 4th Istanbul Design Biennial, will "use, test, and revise a variety of educational strategies to reflect on the role of design, knowledge, and global connectedness" in Istanbul and around the world. Two calls for ideas—one for "schools" and one for "learners"—have been opened to interested parties.