Immense fame, especially when left behind by a deceased artist, may lead to a hierarchal understanding of their legacy—leading one aspect to overshadow other crucial dimensions of their life and oeuvre. Brooklyn-born Jean-Michel Basquiat’s meteoric recognition as an artist and a cultural influence throughout the 1980s led to his energetic mind-map-like paintings being acquired widely by museums and private collections alike, in addition to being mass-marketed in a variety of products, such as fast-fashion clothing and New York-related souvenir items. Basquiat: King Pleasure, a new exhibition organized by Jean-Michel’s sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, breaks down the myth surrounding the late artist’s legendary rise from the gritty streets of 1980s New York to a rarely-achieved artistic success.

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When approaching the process of recycling building materials, there are a number of obstacles to achieving a comprehensive and effective result. First, careless demolition can make the process very complex, as products with different recycling products are often mixed. In addition, not all materials can be efficiently recycled or processed, as many still need expensive or overly complex processes. But the construction industry, being a huge contributor to waste production and greenhouse gas emissions, has also developed multiple new technologies to improve its practices. This is the case of the WOOL2LOOP project, which seeks to solve one of the biggest challenges in applying a circular approach to construction and demolition waste.

Historically associated with factories and industrial buildings in general, exposed building services have increasingly been adopted in other typologies in recent years, including residential architecture. Conduits, plumbing, and other elements used in building systems—long relegated to the background, concealed behind walls and ceilings—can actually serve as key features of an architectural concept.

"Arca de Convivencia" is a temporary installation designed by LEA Atelier and TAKK Architecture for the Model Festival—an event that, for ten days in May, turned the city of Barcelona into a testing ground for experimentation and debate. Located on Ronda de Sant Antoni, this mobile artifact houses a multitude of trees, plants, shrubs, and insects, reminding us of the urgent need to create public spaces that reverse the effects of global warming and foster biodiversity.

Peru is a country with an extensive, rich, and deeply significant archaeological heritage. Unfortunately, the passage of time has brought severe deterioration. In their article, "Captura de datos 3D para virtualizar el patrimonio cultural" (3D Data Capture to Virtualize Cultural Heritage), authors Norma León Lescano, Yann Barnet, and Alvaro Racchumi outline the method they used to capture a three-dimensional replica of the Palace of Puruchuco. By doing so, they aim to provide the necessary information to guide and promote the virtualization of this remarkable cultural heritage, expanding its reach, appreciation, and preservation.

Architect Benjamín Cadena, founder of Studio Cadena, has designed a bold and playful space for an ice cream and donut shop in Bogotá, Colombia.

Throughout the years, bathrooms have been viewed as purely functional spaces strictly programmed for hygiene and privacy. Becoming smaller and more practical, the utilitarian, space-saving shower stall has often been considered the norm, pushing the bathtub into obsolescence or as an additional luxury for those with extra space (and money). Recently, however, as lifestyle changes driven by the pandemic have placed wellness as a top priority, the notion of the bathroom as a sanctuary has really taken hold. Contemporary bathrooms have thus been reimagined, shifting towards open spaces of relaxation, comfort and recuperation. And tubs – with their inherent meditative nature – have returned to the spotlight.

Only a few days left until the annual inauguration of Milan Design Week 2022, one of the biggest international design events which features the Fuorisalone and Salone del Mobile. From the 7th till the 12th of June 2022, the streets of Milan will be hosting an array of architectural interventions and exhibitions curated by local and international designers as part of the Fuorisalone. And at the Fiera Milano | Rho, Salone del Mobile 2022, the awaited furniture and interior design event of the year, will be celebrating its 60th anniversary with themes and projects that reflect on “inclusive” design, fostering "autonomy, comfort, movement, usability, interaction and safety for all".

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On a warm, hazy Sunday afternoon, Nairobi's concrete tenements tower over the city's shanties (or “slums”). Men and women hang laundry from roofs and balconies — making the buildings look like a patchwork quilt, a mosaic of fabric.

French architect Renée Gailhoustet has been awarded the 2022 Royal Academy Architecture Award for her pioneering work designing public housing and neighborhoods in and around Paris. The award is given annually by London's Royal Academy to individuals or practices whose idea or body of work has positively contributed to the public.

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Cities with disabilities are those that present spaces and environments that impede or make it difficult for citizens to access, participate and interact, regardless of any loss or abnormality related to their psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function. I invite readers to, with me, change the focus of the approach on disabilities, transferring to cities and built environments the inability to meet in a dignified and effective way the diversity of abilities and capacities inherent to human beings.

Located amidst the vegetation, almost invisible to those who see it from the street, a jewel of modern Brazilian architecture is hidden in the São Paulo neighborhood of Jardim América. Casa Zalszupin, designed in 1960 by the Polish architect based in Brazil, Jorge Zalszupin, combines traces of local modernism with influences that the architect brought with him from Europe, notably Scandinavian architecture. In a recent photo series, Paul Clemence sought to capture through this house, "the architect's and designer's essence". 

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It’s an essential architectural element, one we tend to immediately take note of when we look at buildings new to us – the roof. The roofs that shelter the buildings we see in our cities today are diverse in their typology. Flat roofs are a common sight in the city centers of urban metropolises, hip roofs are a popular choice for dwellings around the world, and the gable roof is arguably the most common of all, a roof type popular in stylized depictions of what a standard house looks like.

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We are still at the dawn of the Metaverse, the next wave of the Internet. The current “mainstream” Metaverse platforms serve as experimental containers to host the wildest dreams of virtual worlds where we are supposed to unleash the imagination. However, from a spatial design perspective, they have so far been lame and ordinary. Without the constraints in the physical world, how do we draft the urban blueprints in the metaverse? I believe metaverse planners can find inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, in which he revealed a poetic and mathematical approach to “urban planning” in the imaginary worlds.

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The following applies to all creative disciplines: truly unique, high-quality works of design are almost always the result of certain favourable constellations. This is just as true for directors and musicians as it is for architects and designers. Because great creative ideas can often only be realised in a team, in cooperation with collaborators.

Two years ago, the young Swiss singer, violinist and composer Chiara Dubey released an album entitled 'Constellations'. A starry sky adorns the cover – so here, too, it's about a special interaction that is under a good star. But how, you might now ask, do we get from album covers to a company that makes furniture?

Founded in 2013 and based in Mexico City, David Pompa is a studio comprising designers, engineers, and makers established in Mexico and Austria. David Pompa grew up in both countries and studied product design in London. Over time, the studio has shown a strong interest in traditional materials and techniques, maintaining a commitment to Mexican culture since its inception—a dedication reflected in the creation of aesthetic and accessible design objects. On this occasion, they are presenting a new collection for Milan Design Week 2022 on Via Simone Saint Bon as part of Fuorisalone from June 5 to 12.

More than a trend, industrialization is a necessity in the construction industry. In recent years, we have witnessed its importance in increasing productivity and speed of execution—as well as reducing waste—in architectural projects. Beyond streamlining construction processes, this serial, mechanical, and standardized production increases quality and shortens delivery times. If initial project decisions incorporate the modulation of the various stages that can be industrialized within vertical and horizontal parameters, the outcome is much more efficient than if these are evaluated during construction (when it is no longer possible to reduce waste through modulation). Furthermore, by minimizing waste and reducing the consumption of energy and water resources, it also contributes to a more sustainable industry.

Running from May 20th to November 26th, 2023 in the Giardini, at the Arsenale, and at various sites around Venice, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be titled: The Laboratory of the Future. Announced today by the President of La Biennale di Venezia, Roberto Cicutto, and the Curator of the exhibition, Lesley Lokko, the theme and title of this edition will consider the African continent as the protagonist of the future. “There is one place on this planet where all these questions of equity, race, hope, and fear converge and coalesce. Africa. At an anthropological level, we are all African. And what happens in Africa happens to us all”, explains Lokko.

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From Stonehenge to Greek temples, architecture is the signature of humankind on landscape, the artificial element that has always been connected to the natural environment. Architecture and landscape are linked by a fundamental continuity that is now starting to fade, damaging the quality of the space we dwell.

Today, more than ever, the landscape is a precious heritage that architecture can and must enhance, while protecting it to pass it on to future generations: architects shall not give up on working on landscape, instead they should be able to design architectures that respond to each landscape’s specific feature and generate wonderful and unique spaces.

Foster + Partners has unveiled its latest commercial project on the world-famous Shibuya Crossing, in Tokyo, Japan. Dubbed the Shibuya Marui Department Store, the nine-storey retail development is set to become a new space for sustainable lifestyle brands, adopting the highest standards of sustainability and core principles of environmental responsibility and wellbeing. The timber structure's design and material selection will significantly reduce the embodied carbon of the building, while simultaneously creating a warm and open experience for visitors.

From May 5 to 15, Barcelona's Plaza Real was transformed into one of the hubs for debates on architecture and the city during the MODEL Festival. The ephemeral installation "Occupy the Center with the Word"—led by the ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering under the direction of Roger Paez, in collaboration with Manuela Valtchanova, Albert Fuster, and Toni Montes—sought to "create optimal conditions for both encounters and disagreements to take place, always through the spoken word."

MVRDV has revealed the design for its first project in South America. The Hills is a residential project located on the Guayas riverfront in Guayaquil, Ecuador, comprised of six residential towers displayed atop a mixed-use plinth, creating the image of a valley. The towers range in height from 92 to 143 meters, raising taller the further away they are from the riverfront. The whole composition is inspired by the local landscape that merges the natural and the urban environment.

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The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlights nature's immense potential to reduce climate change risks and build resilience. The political landscape has become increasingly supportive of this approach. In 2021, for instance, 137 countries collectively committed to halting forest loss and land degradation by 2030 as part of the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use. Signatories reaffirmed the importance of all forests in adapting to the impacts of climate change and maintaining healthy ecosystem services. Funding pledges quickly followed, including $19.2 billion to protect and restore forests globally.

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Smart buildings are more and more on the agenda. For their elaboration, some materials have been developed to meet specific objectives during their use without the need to be operated by any person or equipment. Self-maintenance, cleaning the air, working with the comfort of space, energy efficiency, are just some of the benefits that can be achieved by adopting them.

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