Testing the limits of structural viability and computer-based modeling, the 2017 Komorebi Pavilion used thin sheets of polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) in a unique way to develop an ethereal, self-supporting enclosure. The pavilion is the result of a collaboration between architecture students at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and engineering researchers at the University of Tokyo.
Thinking about resting for a few days during the holidays? We have selected a number of LEGO® sets that are sure to relax you and inspire you so that you too can enjoy these amazing, colorful, minimalist blocks by exploring the wonderful world of architecture, engineering, and construction.
With great inspirations from Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe in the Architecture Series, and some of the world's most iconic works such as the Eiffel Tower, the White House, the Empire State Building, the Big Ben or the Lincoln Memorial in Monumental Series, we invite you to test your skills and be inspired by the following LEGO® Architecture guide.
Check out below!
Milan based office ZarCola and Francisco Rodriguez were tasked with designing a bar and theatre for a new Milanese music festival.
The project site is within the garden of an ancient villa. A baroque trail weaves through the garden’s dense foliage, around many fountains and clearings.
Architects are people of great taste, who enjoy the finer things in life – especially when it comes to pens. The saying goes: ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, but inevitably we find ourselves judging an architect by their choice of pen. It’s easy to do when your colleague decides to grab the nearest biro to sketch a quick diagram, leaving you to squirm as you sit and watch it indent the paper.
Pens are powerful tools for architects, that harness our thoughts and ideas into potential three-dimensional structures. In the age of the digital world, pens have become sacred, grounding us back to the simple pleasure of drawing to begin the creative process. After years of trying and testing all the different writing instruments out there, we eventually find the one which can say a lot more about ourselves than you may think.
The clever Italian artist, Federico Babina is at it again, and this time he's taking us around the world in 21 animated illustrations. Hear the ringing of Big Ben, sirens in New York, seagulls of Amsterdam, and Havana drums as you find yourself adding to your travel bucket list. You'll have to watch this animation more than once to catch all of the details Babina captures about an entire city culture in one illustration. Or view each illustration individually below.
The Academy Bezalel students' bamboo project, in Jerusalem, is a proposal that approaches the construction in real scale and the experimentation with materials as an important driving force of architectural design.
The project, a suspended bamboo pavilion, can be reused with different configurations in different places with its joints made up of ropes and 3D printed pieces.
Sarovic_Plaut Arquitectos’ latest work, “The Grater,” was the Bazar ED 2017 entry pavilion. Last November, Bazar ED’s 13th annual fair united design, decoration and trends at Santiago’s Bicentennial Park.
The pavilion is the first thing people see when they enter the fair and the last thing they see as they leave, making it a particularly memorable space. The spatial atmosphere created by Sarovic_Plaut Arquitectos plays with light and wind to enhance visitors sensorial experience.
Eyeglasses: the quintessential accessory of the architect. They are mini pieces of architecture you can wear, and an outward expression of your inner persona. Whether they be square, round, or wire-frame, black, white, tortoiseshell, or bright neon tones, they represent our visionary ideals. As such, many of the most iconic spectacles have an interesting history behind them; so here are the stories behind seven of the most recognizable eyeglasses in the architecture world.
Architect and illustrator, Marta Vilarinho de Freitas has yet again enchanted us with her intricate drawings of cities in thin-line-pen on paper. The Portuguese architect has been exercising her passion in drawing through a series of drawings entitled, Cities and Memory - the Architecture and the City.
Fascinated by cities, Marta’s illustrations express her connection with architecture while still capturing the romantic and qualitative aspects of each city, its patterns, colors, atmosphere, and light.
Marta Vilarinho de Freitas combines fantasy with detailed accuracy in her compositions of stacked building facades, roof pitches, plans and sections along with elements distinct to the city depicted such as Dutch windmills, boats, books, and instruments.The process of creating these drawings is cyclical in that they continue to inform Marta of the spirit of each city as she draws each art piece.
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.
Over the last 5 years, the Fairy Tales competition has captured the imagination of thousands of participants from around the world - from students and aspiring architects, to multi-national firms and Pritzker prize winners.
Here is why, if you enjoy design and storytelling, you should give it a shot this year.
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.
Dande-lier – a pavilion designed for the Marina Bay waterfront promenade in Singapore uses PVC pipes and translucent umbrellas to form a reciprocal dome – reimagining everyday items as architectural components. The result is an ethereal shelter, referential of the commonly seen umbrella in Singapore and resembling a dandelion from afar. At night the project becomes a chandelier, lit up in an array of colors.
The sketchbook: it is probably the first thing you buy in architecture school, and, the thing you hold on to most dearly. It is one of the most important tools to help document, problem-solve, and archive your journey as an architect. The sketchbook is the physical extension of one’s architectural mind, and the way one organizes it says a lot about the holder. What does your sketchbook say about you? Read on to find out:
Designing a business card might seem to be a straightforward endeavor but if you've ever tried your hand at designing one from scratch, you've probably wished there was a graphic design consultant around. With this in mind, we've rounded up some classy minimalist templates that will help you take the guesswork out of what to include on your calling card. From ace border spacing and text placement to snazzy (and free!) font recommendations, these downloadable business card templates are ready for you to plug in your information. These templates also serve as an invaluable jumping off point if you're looking for some inspiration for your own designs.
The JUT Foundation in Taipei has recently had its 240-square-meter lecture hall by MVRDV transformed into a mossy art installation with a textile artwork that spans not just edge to edge, but up the walls, by Argentinian artist, Alexandra Kehayoglou. The lecture hall hosts a number of talks and events and requires versatility. The custom moss-inspired carpet adds a level of comfort and interest to what otherwise could have been a monotonous space.
Conventional, straight-forward staircases can step aside to make room for these upgraded twisting and dynamic steps that make going upstairs a fun and enjoyable experience. London based studio, ACME has developed a staircase prototype with modern construction methods and an adaptive design approach.
The massive twin spiral staircase was installed at ACME's own office, which previously, had no usable stair between floors. The project takes inspiration from Coco Chanel’s mirror stair in her Parisian apartment, 31 Rue Cambon. Here, the two sides of the stair were cladded with mirrors and anyone perched at the top can observe the comings and goings on all levels of the atelier.
With the green premise growing in popularity across the globe, more and more people are turning to recycling shipping containers as a way to reduce the extremely high surplus of empty shipping containers that are just waiting to become a home, office, apartment, school, dormitory, studio, emergency shelter, or anything else. The conversion of shipping containers to living spaces is not a new concept.
Shipping containers have become a more common architectural tool over the past few years. Through clippings, insertion of external elements, coatings, and equipment, the container is adapted according to its future use and desired aesthetics. See below 10 examples of works that adopt the use of containers.
There is something so beautiful and alluring about city skylines at night—the way light twinkles from buildings and illuminates the dark, night sky, creating a backdrop romantics swoon over. Imagine being able to experience your favorite night time skyline anytime of the day, from the comfort of your own living room. HoleRoll allows you to do just this, simply by pulling down your blinds.
Hyunje Joo's design for a façade in South Korea is a proposal that addresses the separation between the interior and exterior with the construction of a flexible, light, and recyclable architectural element.
The project, a surface made up of 1,500 semi-transparent plastic baskets, diffuses the light and the silhouettes, while offering the ability to be reused with different configurations in different places.
Sometimes, the most timeless color is the most timely.
It's easy to re-paint as fashions change, but when it comes to tile, the most significant reason for specifying white is that, while there are myriad ways to make it look new, it is a color that doesn’t go in and out of style. This is of tremendous value when selecting any permanent building material and may be one reason why it is such an important color historically throughout architecture and design.
As Ellen O’Neill, Creative Director, and Priscilla Ghaznavi, Color & Design Director of Benjamin Moore say, white remains constant in various light sources, accentuates light and shadow to help the eye appreciate the form of a space, can be elevated to a design tool when textured and layered with other whites, and gracefully accommodates any and all adjacent colors in a design.
Read on to check out 4 types of white tile that stand out for their unique tones, shapes, and textures.
In the US, pumpkins are the ultimate symbol of fall – from autumn holiday centerpieces to Thanksgiving pies to those infamous spiced lattes, the loveable gourd is near inescapable the time October rolls around. But using carved pumpkins as a building material? Now that is the sign of a true Halloween fanatic.
Since 2005, the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze has been doing just that to create dazzling displays on the grounds of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. The event goes through more than 10,000 pumpkins (weighing 200,000 pounds!) each season to create environmental, intractable structures and sculptures inspired by the land art works of artists such as Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, Donald Judd, and Andy Goldsworthy.
Each year, the event has grown, inspiring bigger and more daring constructions. New pieces for this year include a Pumpkin Statue of Liberty, a 20-foot Pumpkin Carousel and a Plus-Sized Pumpkin Planetarium. Check out some images of the event below!
The World Architecture Festival, with co-curators Make Architects and the Sir John Soane’s Museum, has announced the winner of the their inaugural Architecture Drawing Prize, established to recognize the “continuing importance of hand drawing, whilst also embracing the creative use of digitally produced renderings.”
From 166 entries from architects, designers and students across the globe, 38 of the best drawings were shortlisted within three categories: Digital, Hand-drawn, and Hybrid. From that list, commendations and a category winner were chosen, with the overall grand prize awarded to the year’s best drawing. Submissions were evaluated on technical skill, originality in approach and ability to convey an architectural idea, whether for a conceptual or actual building project.
This year, the overall winner was Momento Mori: a Peckham Hospice Care Home by Jerome Xin Hao Ng, produced as part of Ng’s final diploma project at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.
“[The drawing is] a superbly conceived and executed perspectival view looking down through the building from roof level, praised for its technical skill and the sensitivity with which it depicted the spaces found in such institutions as settings for multi-generation social interaction,” said Jeremy Melvin, Curator of World Architecture Festival (WAF).
The 2017 World Architecture Festival will take place in Berlin from November 15-17. Learn more about the Festival and purchase delegate passes here. Use the discount code ARCHDAILY17 to receive 20% off. An incredible list of speakers including Alison Brooks, Charles Jencks, Pierre de Meuron and Francis Kéré will feature across 3 days from November 15th to 17th at the Arena Berlin, Germany. Conferences, city tours, lectures and critiques of the shortlisted projects from the 2017 WAF awards are among the events scheduled for the festival.
See the winners and shortlisted drawings below.
Ukranian pastry chef Dinara Kasko is creating architecture so small, it fits on your dessert plate. Her newest creation, the Algorithmic Modeling Cake, is a celebration of chocolate and geometry worthy of your best china.
The edible masterpiece was made in honor of the creation and unveiling of an entirely new type of chocolate—Ruby. After over a decade of development, earlier this year cocoa producer Barry Callebaut successfully produced what is claimed to be the first new natural color for chocolate since white chocolate was created over 80 years ago. Pink in color, it is right on trend, fitting in perfectly with both the popularity of "millennial pink" and with social media’s brightly-colored food craze including obsessions such as rainbow bagels and Starbuck’s Unicorn Frappucino.
