Author: Niall Patrick Walsh | ArchDaily

Redefining Contemporary Rituals: Architectural Approaches in 17 Crematorium Projects

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 05:00:00 +0000

As people take greater control over the rituals surrounding their deaths, cremation has become an increasingly popular option worldwide. This shift has prompted the thoughtful design of spaces that address the profound emotions tied to cremation, life and death, and stillness. Architects are increasingly grappling with the question of what role architecture plays in these rituals.

Comparing Social Housing: 30 Projects from Countries Around the World

Niall Patrick Walsh — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 07:30:00 +0000

The security and dignity of a good-quality home is one of the most important and liberating qualities in society. For people experiencing financial or social pressures, many countries offer some form of public or social housing system. While there is no fixed definition for social housing, it often involves the design, construction, and allocation of housing by government authorities, or non-profit organizations.

4 Projects That Show Mass Timber is the Future of American Cities

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 06:45:00 +0000

As architects face up to the need for ethical, sustainable design in the age of climate change awareness, timber architecture is making a comeback in a new, technologically impressive way. Largely overlooked in the age of Modernism, recent years have seen a plethora of advancements related to mass timber across the world. This year alone, Japan announced plans for a supertall wooden skyscraper in Tokyo by 2041, while the European continent has seen plans for the world’s largest timber building in the Netherlands, and the world’s tallest timber tower in Norway.

6 Steps for Designing Healthy Cities

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 04:30:00 +0000

By some estimates, cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy, and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions: a figure sure to increase as the global migration from rural to urban areas continues. In the pursuit of exploring new models for how healthy cities could more effectively sustain these demands, Dutch design and research studio FABRICations has investigated how cities of the Netherlands can reduce carbon emissions through new design-led approaches.

The Facts about Architecture and Climate Change

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 04:30:00 +0000

The "Climate Emergency" continues to embody a renewed worldwide focus on tackling climate change. While there is no "one solution" to the multifaceted challenges brought about by this crisis, there is an onus on every citizen, in both a personal and professional capacity, to apply their skills and actions in addressing the profound pressures on the natural world.

On Earth Day, We Reflect on Architecture's Relationship with the Planet

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 07:20:00 +0000

As we recognize the 50th Earth Day, it is difficult to think of a time where our relationship with the Earth has been so different from normal. As we grapple with the worst health crisis in one hundred years, attention turns to the future of how we will live with each other, how global systems will operate, and in some cases, how profoundly positive it can be for the natural world when our exponential demands for oil, transport, and energy are curtailed.

Liam Young on Artificial Intelligence in Architecture: ArchDaily Interviews

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Liam Young was once described by the BBC as "the man designing our futures". The Australian-born architect and director has carved a vibrant path through architectural discourse, standing at the intersection of design, technology, and media. A self-described "speculative architect", Young is the co-founder of thinktank Tomorrow's Thoughts Today, using vivid imagery and films to spark conversations about the future of the built environment, and the relationships between humans and machines, bits and atoms, artificial and natural. He also co-runs the Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic research studio that travels the world in search of landscapes that speak to his focus on global flows of materials, technologies, and ideas.

Tips for Architects Working At Home During COVID-19

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 04:00:00 +0000

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused an estimated 900 million people around the world to remain at home. Among them are architects and designers who have been asked to work remotely to prevent the virus from spreading through the workplace. For many architects, this is undoubtedly a new territory. However, for ArchDaily, it is not, and we can assure you that it is possible not only to work from home, but to use this time to greatly enhance your skills, knowledge, and development as an architect.

Carlo Ratti on Architecture that Fights COVID-19: ArchDaily Interviews

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 04:00:00 +0000

As the world's healthcare systems struggle to meet the exponential surge in demands from COVID-19, architects and designers are generating a variety of responses and proposals, from large field hospitals to 3D printed clinical masks. In Italy, where the coronavirus outbreak has been among the world's most damaging, a collaborative team led by architect and MIT professor Carlo Ratti has unveiled CURA, a modular intensive care unit made from repurposed shipping containers. CURA, whose name stands for Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments (and also “cure” in Latin), can be quickly deployed in cities around the world and replicated through an open-source design, promptly responding to the shortage of ICU space in hospitals and the spread of the disease.

In Africa, A Modular Prototype School Combines the Practical and Utopian

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 07:35:00 +0000

The World Bank believes that urbanization will be “the single most important transformation that the African continent will undergo this century”, with over half of the population set to live in cities by 2040. This will manifest as 40,000 people moving to cities every day for the next 20 years. While much of the architectural discourse around Africa's future focuses on cities, rural areas are often ignored. This has however been the preoccupation of Italian architect Valentino Gareri, founder of Valentino Gareri Architectural Atelier and Senior Designer at Bjarke Ingels Group.

Space Popular on the Future of Digital Architecture: ArchDaily Interviews

Niall Patrick Walsh — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 06:30:00 +0000

Since their founding in Bangkok in 2013, Space Popular have offered an eclectic series of architectural spaces, objects, and events that cross digital and physical space, speculating on how the two realms could blend together in the near future. Directed by Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg, both graduates of the Architectural Association in London, Space Popular has completed buildings, exhibitions, artworks, furniture collections, and interiors across Asia and Europe, as well as engaging works of virtual architecture.

6 Visions of How Artificial Intelligence will Change Architecture

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

In his book "Life 3.0", MIT professor Max Tegmark says "we are all the guardians of the future of life now as we shape the age of AI." Artificial Intelligence remains a Pandora's Box of possibilities, with the potential to enhance the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of cities, or destroy the potential for humans to work, interact, and live a private life. The question of how Artificial Intelligence will impact the cities of the future has also captured the imagination of architects and designers, and formed a central question to the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale, the world's most visited architecture event.

12 Important Modernist Styles Explained

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Modernism could be described as one of the most optimistic styles in architectural history, drawing from notions of utopia, innovation, and the reimagination of how humans would live, work, and interact. As we reflected in our AD Essentials Guide to Modernism, the philosophy of Modernism still dominates much of architectural discourse today, even if the world that gave rise to Modernism has changed utterly.

Tips for Measuring and Surveying Interior Spaces

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Building surveys are one of the staples of the early stages of any architectural project. Although this task is commonly now outsourced to specialist surveyors for larger projects, especially in the new BIM world, smaller schemes such as residential renovations and extensions can still require an architect’s surveying tools. With that in mind, we have created a list of specific considerations and tips for measuring interior spaces.

Is Coronavirus the Beginning of the End of Offices?

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Over the last three months, Coronavirus has spread to more than 100 countries and claimed more than 3,800 lives (as of 8th March 2020). It has also plunged many global industries into a paralysis, from canceled flights and mass quarantines to disruptions in supply chains and financial markets. Setting aside the serious health implications of the outbreak, the coronavirus epidemic has, in an unorthodox way, amplified a debate over the future of work. With millions of people around the world working from home as a result of the outbreak, whether through quarantine or as a company precaution, the question is being asked by outlets around the world: are we seeing the beginning of the end of the traditional office typology?

Room by Room, Automation is Changing Interior Architecture

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Robotics and automation are a staple of any vision of how we will live in the future. Among architects and designers, this trend crosses a variety of scales, from smart cities to smart kitchens. As we outlined in our Trends That Will Influence Architecture in 2019, recent years has seen a strengthening in how interior spaces are being transformed by technologies, with searches for Domotics soaring by 450% in twelve months.

In Antarctica, Architecture is Heating Up

Niall Patrick Walsh — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 07:35:00 +0000

In 1773, James Cook circumnavigated Antarctica, representing humankind’s first known encounter with the continent. Ever since, Antarctica has been a vast, formidable, yet curious 14 million kilometer landscape, which explorers, scientists and governments have sought to understand and exploit. Given the harsh realities of building on the continent, aesthetics and architectural creativity have remained an afterthought in Antarctic settlements up until recent years. Today, however, the architectural scene is heating up.

Building Bigger Cities Means Digging Deeper Everywhere Else

Niall Patrick Walsh — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 07:35:00 +0000

Newton’s Third Law of Motion dictates that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In urbanism, this concept is evident in how the unprecedented growth of the built environment causes a reaction in rural landscapes. By 2050, the number of people living in cities will have increased by 2.5 billion, representing two-thirds of the global population. This mass flow of people from rural to urban areas gives rise to an equally dramatic flow of natural resources. As can be seen in studies such as Tom Hegen’s The Quarry Series, whose imagery accompanies this article, the extraction of these minerals represents yet another physical manifestation of rapid, linear urbanism.