Since Japan and the West began exchanging ideas in the mid-19th century, Japanese design sensibilities—from elaborate kimono garments and meticulously raked gardens to lavish compositions of ukiyo-e woodblock prints—have had wide appeal across Europe and the United States. Often ornate yet minimalistic, Japanese design embodies numerous visual approaches underpinning the notion of “just right” or “just enough,” known as hodo-hodo. While no single element characterizes the entirety of Japanese design culture, many scholars attribute the spectrum of Japanese design to cultural, social and spiritual practices deeply grounded in Japan’s history that continue to be observed in Japanese design practices today. Featuring a discussion with Taku Satoh, one of Japan’s most critically acclaimed contemporary designers, alongside two internationally recognized authorities on Japanese design sensibilities, Linda Hoaglund (bilingual filmmaker and cultural producer) and Sarah Teasley (Professor of Design, RMIT University), this live webinar will explore the underlying aesthetic and cultural roots essential for understanding the essence of Japanese design.
Overview Architecture defines human’s relationship with the environment. Early dwellings sheltered human from dangers and discomforts and provided a place for tools, livestock, and even intangible entities such as spirits.
The Brick Award is an internationally established award that presents outstanding brick architecture from all around the world. Independent architecture critics, experts, architects and developers are invited to submit innovative and creative buildings and other construction works made of clay building materials. The spectrum of applications ranges from building solutions using classic clay blocks, facing bricks and roof tiles to the creative application of clay pavers and ceramic façade panels.
The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) launched the book of its 9th Advanced Architecture Contest: Design for Biocities. The publication includes the more than 130 proposals that were selected among the 202 proposals received from over 50 countries.
A guide to contemporary architecture practice in one of the most important fields today - the transformative adaptation of existing buildings. A manifesto and survey of contemporary practice by one of the leading offices in this domain, Deborah Berke Partners.
YM Studio, Dongyi Dunhuang Hotel, 2021. Image Courtesy of A' Design Award & Competition
One of the most important design competitions in the world, the A' Design Award and Competition is open for yet another cycle of awards, with over 100 categories to apply to. Rewarding the best designs, design concepts, products, and services, whether at the concept stage, prototype, or as finished products, the A' Design Award not only gives tremendous visibility to winning projects but at the same time supports global design culture, creating incentives for entrants to submit superior designs for a better future.
The deadline for submission is February 28, 2023 and the results will be announced to the public on May 1. Register, nominate, or submit your design here, and find more information below.
Hossein Hassani - Amin Habbibi - AAD Architecture Office. Image Courtesy of A' Design Awards
The 2023 A' Design Award Competition is announcing its last call for submissions, which close on February 28th, with the results announced to the public on May 1st. The international A' Design Awards give designers an opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience, for designers, architects, or innovators from any other design field. Among other design competitions and awards, the A' Design Award stands out for its exceptional scale with over 100 design categories.
Starting March 2, 2023, at 7:00 PM, Anita Schwartz Galeria de Arte presents the exhibition "Dialetos do Firmamento" (Dialects of the Firmament). Featuring works by artists Bonikta, Ivan Grilo, Jeane Terra, Rochelle Costi, Shen Özdemir, Thiago Costa, and Zé Tepedino, the exhibition explores diverse worldviews, invented realms, and the enchantment and mysteries that exist between heaven and earth.
On Thursday, March 2, architects Joan Busquets, professor at Harvard University; Clara Olóriz, researcher and professor at the Architectural Association; and Martha Thorne, distinguished professor at the IE School of Architecture and Design, will join journalist Llàtzer Moix to discuss the role of architecture in addressing the primary challenges of the climate emergency and the need to improve living conditions on the planet.
ARCA is a FAC initiative dedicated to the social and legal recognition and understanding of contemporary architecture with significant value. In line with this goal, the ARCA Meetings serve as a forum for identifying challenges and opportunities, sharing methodologies, lines of action, and best practices, providing a space for networking and building synergies around contemporary architectural heritage.
Circular Design - Sustainability and Health | Madrid Design Festival
As part of the Madrid Design Festival 2023, Andreu World is hosting a meeting with companies from various economic sectors—including consumer goods, construction, and furniture—that leverage creativity to achieve a positive impact in terms of sustainability.
As part of the Madrid Design Festival, we invite you to the presentation of the Beyond The Plastic Wave exhibition. This immersive showcase addresses the issue of plastic waste pollution in our oceans, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an advocacy exhibition that serves as a catalyst for rethinking plastic use and encourages the manufacturing of products from recycled materials, thereby promoting a circular economy.
Envisioned by the architectural pioneers at Woods Bagot, the Sculptform Design Studio was the recipient of the prestigious Best Small Workplace Award at the recent World Architecture Festival 2022. The space is an immersive tactile experience and has become a gathering space for the wider architecture industry. The design evokes the bespoke timber and aluminium products, craftsmanship and the custom detailing they are known for.
Sculptform and Woods Bagot set a new standard for the reciprocity that can exist between client and architect and showcases the limitless potential when a design team is truly immersed in materiality. Blurring the line between retail space and installation, it is a brilliant ‘working showroom’ case study for just how impactful design can be when local manufacturing and quality craftsmanship come together.
The Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos, in Tenerife, is the oldest specimen of Dracaena Drago, which is preserved in the Atlantic archipelago, a tree 16 m high with a 20 m circumference at the base. An endemic species of the Canary Islands, with a slow growth, the dragon tree has a strong symbolism since, in the past, it was considered the protector of the islands, but, at the beginning of the 1980s, the one who needed protection was precisely the dragon tree. Visitors - about 1 million a year - flocked to visit it, and the intense activity that tourism brought around it put its life in danger. It was necessary to stop the visits and find solutions so that the drago tree did not die of success.
The call for applications for the IOC-UNESCO online Ocean Literacy Training hosted in Ocean Teacher Global Academy dedicated to Architects, Designers and Urban Planners is now open!
Cities are a collection of many things: memories, desires, and signs of a language. They are places of exchange, as explained in every economic history book, but these exchanges are not limited to goods; they are also exchanges of words, desires, and memories. This is how the philosopher Italo Calvino described cities in his seminal work Invisible Cities, noting that we, as inhabitants, construct individual and collective meanings, memories, and histories. Each city is distinct, unique, and unrepeatable in its conditions, dynamics, and potential, making each one a living laboratory for constant experimentation and transformation.
