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Unforgettable Prefab Pavilion Plays with Light and Wind

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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.

The Stories Behind 7 of the Most Iconic Eyeglasses in Architecture

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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.

Cities Intricately Captured in Thin Line Illustrations

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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.

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Drawing Hack: How to Draw A Straight Line

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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. 

Five Reasons Why You Should Enter The Fairy Tales Competition

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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. 

Photos That Capture The Hypnotic Geometries of La Grande-Motte

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Photos That Capture The Hypnotic Geometries of La Grande-Motte - Featured Image
© Stefano Perego

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.

PVC Pipes and Umbrellas Come Together in Vibrant Dandelion-esque Dome in Singapore

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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.

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What Does Your Sketchbook Say About You?

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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:

Free Business Card Templates for Architects

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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.

MVRDV-Designed Auditorium Features Sound Absorbing, Moss-Like Fabric Walls

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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.

ACME's Wildly Twisting Wooden Staircase Draws Inspiration From Coco Chanel’s Famous Mirror Stair

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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.

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10 Excellent Examples of Works That Adopt the Use of Containers

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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.

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Add Style and Pizzazz to Your Living Space With These Dazzling Cityscape Curtains

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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.

1,500 Semi-Transparent Plastic Baskets Form a Lightweight Facade

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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.

4 Eye-Catching White Tiles to Use in Your Next Project

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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.

Check Out the Dazzling Pumpkin Architecture at New York's Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze

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!

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Stellar Drawings Selected as Winners of WAF's Inaugural Architecture Drawing Prize

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Hybrid: WINNER - Memento Mori A Peckham Hospice Care Home by Jerome, Xin Hao Ng. Image Courtesy of World Architecture Festival

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.

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This Captivating Parametric Dessert Celebrates the Discovery of a New Type of Chocolate

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Image via Dinara Kasko's website

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.

13 Free Sites That Offer High-Quality 2D People and Objects for Your Architecture Visualizations

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Even though a solid majority of architectural visualizations adhere to similar style guidelines, that doesn't mean you have to follow suit. Unless, of course, you want to (or your boss is forcing you). Either way, there are many resources out there to help you create visualizations in any style you want, and we've compiled 13 super-useful sites to help you give your unbuilt creations a human—or canine—touch. The number of sites dedicated to representing the diversity of the world's 7.6 billion inhabitants is growing, which means that our readers from outside of the Nordic countries have solid, appropriate options for populating their renderings. And if you're in the market for something edgier than the painstakingly-cut photo of a real person, sites like ARTCUTOUT and cutoutmix provide less realistic, more artistic alternatives.

Inexpensive, Easy-to-Build Gridshell Pavilion Uses Air-Filled Cushions for Construction

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SheltAir, a pavilion developed and designed by Gregory Quinn as part of his doctoral thesis at the Berlin University of the Arts is, as its name suggests, a shelter constructed with the help of air: a meticulously devised system comprising an elastic gridshell and pneumatic falsework in the form of air-filled cushions.

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Artsy-Instagrammer is Turning the City Into an Urban Storybook

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Artsy-Instagrammer is Turning the City Into an Urban Storybook - Arts & Architecture
Courtesy of Kristián Mensa

With bright pictures of the city paired with imaginative, lovable illustrations, Kristián Mensa’s Instagram makes you feel like you are jumping into an urban storybook. Tapping on a post feels turning a page on a new world with characters journeying throughout the city, making the built environment their playground.

The 19-year-old Prague-based artist, Kristián Mensa views art as a unique form of self-expression. Mensa uses lively, charming drawings to humanize architecture and everyday objects in a fun and comical way to remind people that the beauty of art is everywhere and for everyone. His artwork and perspective of the world have led Mensa to be selected as one of the “100 Faces of Impact 2017” and Huffington Posts’ “20 under 20.”

Mensa’s Instagram feed reveals his unique, playful way of seeing the world. By layering his illustrations onto the real world Mensa adds another dimension in which a story and adventure unfolds. Whether it be zipping up the Eiffel tower, or DJ-ing on an intersection, the final products are full of surprises and are sure to put a smile on your face.

Cardboard Pavilion "Get High Without Drugs" Wins FAB FEST Prize

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Quirky, innovative and visceral, Get High without Drugs was awarded first place in the fabrication category at this year’s International FAB FEST* in London.

Mollusk-like and mysterious from the outside, the form of the pavilion emerges from the combination of a zonohedron and a dome. Seventy-two hexagonal surfaces were formulated into fold-able nets that could then be digitally fabricated from flat-sheets and assembled into load-bearing modules. A puzzle-like routine drove the assembly of the modules into the pavilion’s dome-like form.

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Lightweight and Compact Shelter Is The Last Base Before the Climb to the Highest Point in Europe

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At an altitude of 3,800 meters, Ice-Age architects have designed and produced a compact and lightweight shelter as the last base before climbers venture up Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe. Inspired by Buckminster Fuller's 2V geodesic dome, it can sleep up to 16 people as they acclimatize to the altitude and wait for the appropriate weather for the climb.

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This Online Tool Generates High-Quality Geographic Maps of Data in Seconds

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Have you ever had to create a map for your project, thinking you could get it done within 30 minutes, but then spent an entire afternoon on it? Between collecting data, creating a base map, choosing a color scheme, and finally putting together a graphic, creating a map can be a long, trying process, taking up precious time when you could be doing other work. Map-making shouldn’t be this way.

Created by Darkhorse Analytics, mapinseconds.com is a free online productivity tool which generates clear, quality maps based off of your data. Here’s how it works: collect and organize your data into two columns on either an Excel or Google spreadsheet, open mapinseconds.com, paste your data into the application’s spreadsheet, and voila! Your custom map is finished!

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