One way to employ color is through monochrome, a design technique that involves using a single tone or color in a space. In architecture, monochrome is a powerful tool where different shades can be created through the play of lights and shadows, generating spaces that offer unique experiences to their inhabitants.
With its range of colors, patterns, textures, and materials, integrating wallpapers can enhance the design strategy of a space. It accentuates walls, adding depth to a room, while also elevating its aesthetics and character.
With this in mind, Inkiostro Bianco experiments and develops new and versatile wallpaper material solutions suitable for interior and exterior areas. Ranging from nature-inspired to contemporary geometric shapes, these wallpapers transform abstract ideas into reality, adapting to both modern and classic interior designs. Pushing the boundaries of traditional materials, EQ Dekor fiberglass wallpapers integrate durability, moisture resistance, and aesthetic characteristics to reach new standards for wallcoverings. But how to incorporate this solution into the design of kitchens, bathrooms, and floors?
Friday, September 8th, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Morocco’s High Atlas Mountain range. The epicenter was located just 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakech, the country’s fourth-largest city and a popular tourist destination. The quake is the strongest to hit the nation’s center in more than a century. Estimates put the number of victims at over 2,000 and more injured, but as several towns and villages remain inaccessible high in the mountains, the number is expected to increase. In addition to the human toll, several historical landmarks, including UNESCO World Heritage sites, have been affected, while eyewitnesses in the foothills of the mountains report that several remote towns have been completely destroyed, according to CNN.
The issue of gender discrimination in architecture is receiving growing attention and discussion. Many instances, including salary discrepancies, disrespect by male employees in construction sites and team management, and the historical oversight leading to women's lack of recognition are detailed and illustrated. These demotivations mean that, despite being the majority in architecture courses worldwide, only a few women manage to consolidate and gain prominence in the profession.
However, sexism doesn't end there. In addition to the discrimination experienced in professional contexts, one can observe the objectification of women in architectural images and concepts.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable surge in the pursuit of sustainability and eco-conscious practices across diverse domains, including interior architecture projects. Bamboo has garnered significant attention among various elements thanks to its remarkable versatility. It presents a wide array of creative opportunities for crafting environmentally conscious and elegant spaces.
The contemporary understanding of neuroarchitecture has sparked a renewed focus on inclusive design, emphasizing the creation of environments that respect and respond to people's specific needs. Against this backdrop, the architectural design approach for individuals on the autism spectrum has gained prominence.
Color is fundamental to the dynamics and daily rhythm of urban life, but its impact goes far beyond appearance and aesthetics, especially for people with visual impairments. For this segment of the population, color plays an even more significant, yet often underestimated, role in shaping and improving the accessibility of public spaces. Architecture plays an important role in this inclusion, which involves the conscious choice of colors that have the power to improve urban accessibility and create a more welcoming environment for people of all abilities.
Episode 75 of Betoneira featured Otavio Zarvos, founder of the São Paulo-based real estate development firm Idea!Zarvos. In the interview, he spoke about his first project built in the Vila Madalena neighborhood, and how he attracted other investors, acquired surrounding properties, and began what would become one of the city's most prominent developers. His background in business administration helped him plan and run the numbers necessary for the venture to succeed.
We have seen in recent residential projects the need for bringing the outdoors inside, whether it's through green walls, biophilic designs, or interior courtyards, especially in countries with dry and hot climates. When it comes to countries of the Arab world, creating these outdoor-inspired inner spaces is a lot more than just bringing in some sunlight and fresh air, it is an architectural expression of a rich culture that transcended generations and inspired nations beyond their borders. In this article, we will explore how cultural and social norms influenced the creation of traditional courtyard houses in Arabian countries and how their unique architectural features were reimagined in modern contexts.
The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina have a discussion about how schools can better prepare students for their careers and to tackle issues of equity, social justice, and climate change. The questions are from EQiA’s (Equity in Architecture) 2023 Forum panel which took place in Georgia Institute of Technology. The EQiA is a student organization at the Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Design. It is dedicated to unity and equity in architecture.
Navigating certain cities around the world is remarkably easy to grasp, just as finding an address without GPS is not particularly difficult, even for first-time visitors. Urban design explains this ease of navigation. Urban spaces designed on a grid, such as Barcelona (Spain), New York, Chicago, and Phoenix (US), and Toronto (Canada)—where streets intersect at right angles to form a gridiron pattern—make orientation intuitive and optimize spatial utility.
Pointed arches, ribbed vaults, stained glass, finials, rose windows, and intricate decorative details. These are some of the elements that define Gothic architecture, a movement that emerged and flourished in Europe from the 10th to the 15th centuries. In Brazil, these features were adopted much later, within a revivalist context known as Neo-Gothic. This historical revival is primarily reflected in grand churches and select historic buildings. While the tropical nation does not boast as many works as the European continent, architecture expressing these ideals can be found from north to south.
While studying and traveling through cities around the world, one of the most striking urban scenes I witnessed was a square in Tokyo filled with uniformed children playing during their school recess. The square had only a low fence, yet a diverse range of people (like myself) could mingle and interact among the children. Childhood independence in Japan is world-renowned and was recently depicted in the Netflix series "Old Enough," where children under six run errands outside the home alone, without their parents. While these might be ordinary scenes for a Tokyo resident, for someone with a different urban reference point, the question "how is this possible?" immediately arises, so far removed is it from the reality of most of our large cities.
In another episode on quality of life and connection with nature, Arquicast explores a topic that has become even more relevant in recent times: public open spaces in cities, with a focus on precious, revitalizing green spaces—urban parks and plazas. In an increasingly urbanized world, the search for places to connect with nature has become essential. The discussion is enriched by two special guests: Luciana Jesus, an architect, urban planner, and leader of the Urban Landscape and Inclusion research group at the University of Vila Velha; and Klaus Chaves Alberto, a PhD in urbanism and researcher in the field of health, well-being, and quality of life at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora.
No building stands in isolation. Engaging environmental and cultural networks, architecture is an inherently grounded art. As such, limits, constraints, and restrictions drive the design process forward, engendering solutions that celebrate the world as we find it. Embodying this dynamic, renovations and adaptive reuse projects embrace challenging problems and existing conditions. This is especially true when working with industrial buildings, places where machinery, manufacturing, and power combine.
Atrium Ljungberg recently unveiled Stockholm Wood City, the world's largest timber urban development project—an effort to showcase Sweden's commitment to sustainability. On the other side of the world, Tallwood Architects' Tamango Project exemplifies the challenges and opportunities of timber construction in Chile and could become Latin America's first 12-story building featuring a prefabricated mass timber structure.
In the design of open spaces, I consider one of the most important concepts—and one of the most difficult to explain—to be the shaping of “positive” open spaces. As far as I have been able to establish, this term was coined by Alexander et al. (1977) in A Pattern Language and continues to be used by other authors (see, for example, CARMONA et al., 2003), although it is not a widely adopted term.
On September 7, the exhibition "How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Road to Design" opened at Santiago's Centro Cultural La Moneda (CCLM), as part of the activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of Chile's civil-military coup. The exhibition showcases graphic and industrial design created during the administration of President Salvador Allende, bringing together over 350 original pieces and featuring a complete reconstruction of the Cybersyn operations room. The show will run until January 28, 2024.
Jointly produced by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and CCLM, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation and the Goethe-Institut Chile, the exhibition is curated by designer Hugo Palmarola and architect Pedro Ignacio Alonso—both recognized for winning the Silver Lion for Monolith Controversies at the Chilean Pavilion during the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. Renowned Colombian science historian Eden Medina of MIT also participated in the project.
Timber has been a popular source of construction material for thousands of years. Through sawing, milling, and other engineered wood conversion processes, various wood forms have been created and applied in products, furniture, and architecture. However, these processes can sometimes alter the basic lines of wood structure. The stems can be split, grain patterns changed, and some woods, such as oak and cedar, are easily reduced while others can become intractable. This led to the exploration of whole timber forms in ancient structures, such as log cabins, which layered timber in different cross-sections to form home profiles. Through design, the use of trunks or branches of trees in their entirety can accentuate their innate mechanical properties for structural sustainability. Although these practices are fairly absent in contemporary building techniques, new technological innovations expand the prospects of timber construction in architecture.
UNStudio has been selected as the winner of the international competition for the design of a mixed-use development in Düsseldorf, Germany, surpassing other internationally recognized participant offices, including 3XN, BIG, David Chipperfield Architect, and finalists Hadi Teherani Architects, HPP Architekten, and Ingenhoven. UNStudio’s proposal features two mixed-use towers measuring up to 120 meters, surrounded by a low-rise community pavilion. In addition to the office and residential spaces, the scheme also includes multifunctional uses and services such as sports, fitness, medical facilities, gastronomy spaces, a mobility hub, a daycare center, and opportunities for cultural events.
The German Pavilion Open for Maintenance / Wegen Umbau geöffnet at this years 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia was curated by ARCH+ and Summacumfemmer Büro Juliane Greb. At its core, the exhibition addresses the resource problem and the material cycles of the biennale. Inside the pavilion is a functioning workshop dedicated to applying these concepts of care, repair, and maintenance to Venice onsite. In Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the co-curator Anh-Linh Ngo, where he discussed the different aspects of the German Pavilion.
Shelves are incredibly versatile furniture items that are vital in organizing, decorating, and maximizing efficiency in various spaces, including homes, businesses, and industries. Crafted from a wide range of materials and available in numerous designs, shelves enhance compact environments by adding flexibility and easy access. With this in mind, we've compiled suggestions to elevate these ubiquitous solutions — temporary additions or integrated architectural features — into prominent elements within interior design.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
Auction houses, secondhand furniture stores, and realtors make small fortunes from a nomenclature that, despite the fuzziness surrounding its indeterminate span and whether everything made during its indefinite duration ought to be stamped with the same label, continues to demand attention. Years from now, serious collectors of architectural magazines may search for that single issue of the 21st century magazine Dwell, absent a major spread of a house designed in the midcentury modern (MCM) manner or a restoration of a building from that era. MCM is the very blood that pulses through the publication’s arteries, promulgating a view of a squeaky-clean and well-lighted lives lived almost invariably by (often childless) ectomorphic couples, blissfully happy under a flat roof with floor-to-ceiling windows affording fine views of distant landscapes best enjoyed behind insulated glass in an ambient temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. But what are we to make of this term, this period—some even call it a “movement”—so well-known globally it goes by initials?
Wulff Castle in Viña del Mar is a renowned landmark, celebrated for its appearance and architectural style inspired by Liechtenstein Castle in Germany. The structure features German and French design elements, along with medieval characteristics—qualities that captivate both locals and the thousands of tourists who visit it.
_(14783070935).jpg?1628520318 "Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)")
.jpg?1628520094 "Iwan . Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)")
