The International Competition for the Urban Design of the Core Area of Changping New Town East Zone was hosted by the People's Government of Changping District, Beijing, and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources. Located on the east bank of the Dongsha River in Changping District, Beijing, the project encompasses a 9.1-square-kilometer planning study and ecological development plan, alongside a 1.5-square-kilometer urban design for the core area. Situated north of Beijing's city center, along the canal and at the foot of Mangshan Mountain, the East Zone of Changping New Town lies on a critical axis for northern Beijing's industrial expansion and ecological network integration. In addition to accommodating the specialized industrial clusters from southern Changping, the East Zone introduces the planning concept of "Green Spectrum," leveraging urban functions and spatial-environmental resources to maximize the synergy between ecological livability and industrial positioning.
The Colegio de Arquitectos de Nuevo León presents "Folio 3" of the CANL Architecture Exhibitions, featuring the project awarded the Gold Medal at the XXI Architecture Biennial: "Maker Space," designed by architects Edna Garza and Darío Camisay of Garza Camisay Arquitectos.
In the 1920s, Art Deco emerged as a dominant architectural, industrial, and graphic design style inspired by elegance, luxury, and sophistication. Although it originated in France, it gained momentum in both Europe and the United States during the 1920s, expanding to encompass all elements of decorative art, including furniture, accessories, and interior lighting. Reflecting the Golden Age of Hollywood and epitomizing glamour, Art Deco was primarily characterized by a predominance of straight lines, symmetry, and bold geometric shapes, with a particular fondness for figures like the hexagon and the octagon.
Most of us use stairways every day, but few times do we stop to contemplate their design or put much thought into their function. With their steps, treads and railing, they are easily one of the most fundamental architectural elements in any home. Apart from providing a safe, simple and easy access from one floor to another, it is through staircases that architects create unique spatial forms and strong visuals. From afar, one can observe people moving up and down repeatedly; from within, the user is treated to new angles and ways to perceive a space. Therefore, good staircases are more than just means of vertical circulation. Through their might and scale, they can become the protagonist of a space – a design focal point that rises to the level of art. In this article, we present their versatile characteristics and material qualities through a selection of inspiring examples, all of which can be found in Architonic's 'Staircases' section.
When development firm Blue Heron set out to create their one-of-kind residential showpiece, Vegas Modern 001, or VM001 for short, the goal was to stretch the boundaries of design and create an immersive experience that embraced both the natural and human-made worlds.
“We like to think about the home as being appropriate to our time and place, our culture and the technology that's available,” says Founder and CEO Tyler Jones. “And so there's an energy and spirit that comes from the city … so we're talking about digital media and this playful kind of vibe that we have in some big dramatic moments.”
Ma Yansong, principal partner of MAD Architects, have revealed his latest artwork "Flow" at the recently opened 8thEchigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Taking place this summer in Japan, the installation reinvents part of the “Tunnel of Light” artwork that was completed back in 2018. Through a series of immersive platforms, the architects abstracted and captured the spirit of the Kiyotsu River, providing visitors with an immersive and dynamic spatial experience. The Triennale hopes to improve the local economy through art, and promote a more harmonious relationship between human and nature.
The 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano is taking place from 7th to 12th June 2022 at Rho Fiera Milano. This edition has been built collectively around fundamental trains of thought and work: the opportunities and responsibility of design, inclusion and environmental responsibility, demand for and the culture of design. It will serve as a showcase for the progress made by creatives, designers, brands, and companies.
"Indigenous technologies are not lost or forgotten, only hidden by the shadow of progress in the most remote places on Earth". In her book Lo-TEK: design by radical indigenism, Julia Watson proposes to revalue the techniques of construction, production, cultivation and extraction carried out by diverse remote populations who, generation after generation, have managed to keep alive ancestral cultural practices integrated with nature, with a low environmental cost and simple execution. While modern societies tried to conquer nature in the name of progress, these indigenous cultures worked in collaboration with nature, understanding ecosystems and species cycles to articulate their architecture into an integrated and symbiotically interconnected whole.
The jury's verdict for the competition for the new Museum of Fine Arts in the city of Vannes, Brittany, France, was recently revealed, and the winner of the first prize was the renowned Nieto Sobejano studio (based in Madrid and Berlin), with French architect Richard Faure as associate.
Upon becoming a sovereign country, free from British Rule, the people of India found themselves faced with questions they had never needed to answer before. Coming from different cultures and origins, the citizens began to wonder what post-independence India would stand for. The nation-builders now had the choice to carve out their own future, along with the responsibility to reclaim its identity - but what was India's identity? Was it the temples and huts of the indigenous folk, the lofty palaces of the Mughal era, or the debris of British rule? There began a search for a contemporary Indian sensibility that would carry the collective histories of citizens towards a future of hope.
Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection sought to explain the origin and survival of species on the planet. In short, it points out that the fittest organism survives and can reproduce itself, perpetuating useful variations for each species in a given place. Adaptation is, therefore, a characteristic that favors the survival of individuals in a context. In the construction world, we could draw some parallels. Could adaptation be an important quality to increase the useful life and efficiency of a building over time, considering the changes and demands of society, as well as technologies and lifestyles?
Architects have always been asked to breathe new life into ancient architectures inherited from the past or into historical – often monumental – artifacts that no longer respond to the customs and needs of contemporary society.
Nevertheless, ancient architecture tells our stories and therefore deserves to be restored with interventions that bring along a hint of modernity and show the trace of the design activity. YACademy's course in “Architecture for Heritage” has been created on these premises. Its aim is to train designers who will be able to understand and enhance the memory of historical architectures and take inspiration from them to carry out new interventions that both meet new needs and are enriched by the link to the past. In a close dialogue between the ancient and the modern, between existing architectures and new interventions, it is possible to comprehend what has been and what is now, redesigning – through architecture – a historical line bound to be continued by future generations.
Steven Holl Architects, in collaboration with Marcela Steinbachová and SKUPINA Studio, have won first place in the international competition of the Terezín Ghetto Museum in Czech Republic. Founded in 1780 as a military fortress, Terezín served as a Jewish Ghetto during World War II where an estimated 33,000 people died. The existing Terezín Ghetto Museum honors individuals who have lost their lives with a new design that is set to serve as a memorial of hope and light.
Kyiv, Ukraine, September 2021: Maidan Nezalezhnosti square - aerial drone view. Monument of Independence.. Image via Shutterstock
Friday, June 3, marks 100 days of war in Ukraine. One of the many devastating effects has been de destruction of urban and rural environments. Ukraine’s cultural and architectural heritage is under threat. As of 30 May, UNESCO has verified damage to 139 sites affected by the ongoing hostilities. The list includes 62 religious sites, 12 museums, 26 historic buildings, 17 buildings dedicated to cultural activities, 15 museums, and seven libraries. According to UNESCO, the most affected buildings included in the list are in Kyiv. Still, damages are also found in the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Lugansk, and Sumy. This represents a preliminary damage assessment for cultural properties done by cross-checking the reported incidents with multiple credible sources. The published data will be regularly updated.
If, on the one hand, bathrooms have a certain rigidity when we think about the layout and their spatial arrangement, it is in the floor and wall coverings that this logic is inverted. With the wide variety of models and patterns available on the market, ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles are often used to give quality and identity to space. At the same time, the ease of access to ceramic and porcelain tiles, as well as their ease of installation, end up conditioning our choices, making it difficult to think of other finishing possibilities for these areas.
Participatory design is a democratic process that aims to offer equal input for all stakeholders, with a particular focus on the users, not usually involved directly in the traditional method of spatial creation. The idea is based on the argument that engaging the user in the process of designing spaces can have a positive impact on the reception of those spaces. It eases the process of appropriation, helps create representative and valuable spaces, and thus creates resiliency within the urban and rural environment.
Browsing ArchDaily's 3D printing tag reveals the incredible progress this technology has made over recent years. While once considered a distant, futuristic concept or a tool limited to small-scale objects, 3D printing has matured to produce increasingly complex spaces and even fully printed buildings. More recently, researchers have been experimenting with concrete and other construction materials, though developing a highly efficient 3D printing technology viable for widespread adoption remains a challenge. The 3D-printed pavilion by Huizenprinters serves as a compelling case study.
In the midst of today's information age, several Latin American architecture firms are returning to analog formats, ranging from fanzines and illustrations to manuals and postcards.
Against the backdrop of the Taller Social Latinoamericano in Colombia, we spoke with the firms Ruta 4 Taller (Colombia), Coonvite (Colombia), La Cabina de la Curiosidad (Ecuador), and República Portátil (Chile)—all of whom have, coincidentally, explored these formats in their recent work.
Two years after receiving the complete archive of Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Portugal's Casa da Arquitectura inaugurated its Digital Building last weekend. Marking the institution's shift toward the inescapable virtual world, the project consists of digitizing the archive accumulated since the organization was founded in 2017.
Besides thermal, acoustic and luminous comfort, colors are factors that influence the sensation we feel when in an environment and become a strong device to influence the user's behavior.
Far beyond aesthetic preferences, the use of certain colors can bring different meanings that cover other fields such as psychology or symbology. Therefore, it is known that a color does not depend only on light and environment, but also on the perception we have of it. The German Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, who has deepened his study of the Theory of Colors, points out that the identification of tones is subjective, but the effects are universal. As an example, the warm colors (red, yellow and orange) are more dynamic and cause feelings of comfort and stimulus in people, while the cold colors (green, purple and blue) have a softer, soothing and static effect. Therefore, creating a color palette is a possibility to generate different sensations in the perception of space.
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 are joined by Stuart Graff, President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to discuss the foundation’s mission; the role cultural institutions play in supporting creative professions; preserving and furthering Wright’s legacy through programs and collaborations; intellectual property; Stewart becoming CEO of the foundation; running a successful non-profit; Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles; and more.
Lacking a clear definition, the term smart cities has become increasingly common with each passing year. Many theorists point out that this conceptual ambiguity is linked to its rapid adoption and expansion by large corporations and institutions, thus turning it into a buzzword. Despite the “innovative” rhetoric, the model chosen to implement a smart city can lead to segregation and privilege specific groups if it is not designed around local specificities and does not involve local leadership (MENDES, 2020). This essay adopts the understanding that innovation and intelligence are not necessarily tied to digital technologies or high-cost resources. Rather, they stem from a fresh perspective on urban problems and the development of non-traditional solutions in decision-making and execution.
UNStudio y BIG invierten en la plataforma de diseño virtual SpaceForm. Image Cortesía de UN Studio
From NFTs and the Metaverse to the productive advantages of real-time rendering, this year offers a tremendous opportunity to discuss the latest trends in architectural visualization. To this end, we opened the debate to our readers around these questions: How much can we learn from other related industries like cinema, video games, and industrial design? How can architecture contribute to and advance the world of visualization?
After reading and compiling all the comments received—from construction professionals, students, and architecture enthusiasts alike—we agree that as technological advancements continue, the future of architectural visualization will likely be more democratic, liberal, and decentralized. Below, we share the most frequent viewpoints from our readers.
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