With over 20 years of experience, Studio Arthur Casas celebrates the entirety of architectural practice. The office works in different scales, from furniture to urban projects, passing through residences, apartments and buildings, maintaining stringency about the quality of details.
Jorge Drexler sings, in one of his songs, that “we always look at the river, contemplating the other riverbank”. Beyond understanding everything that was done, looking back at the past year can serve to get some clues about the future. This 2021, we published more than 160 articles in the Materials & Products section, covering a wide range of topics. From complex concepts such as 4D printing or very little processed materials such as hempcrete and bamboo, drawing a retrospective of the covered themes and understanding what interested our readers the most is an interesting exercise to foreshadow some trends in the future of the construction field. Looking at our most viewed articles, three large themes are evident: 3D printing, pre-fabrication, and interior renovation. Below, we present a compilation of each topic, reflecting on what we can dare to say about the trends in the construction industry that should consolidate in 2022.
While closely related, landscaping and gardening are distinct practices that engage with natural, living elements within the built environment. Read on to explore how each of these fields operates.
At the Four Seasons restaurant in New York, designed by Philip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe in the iconic Seagram Building, a rectangular pool played the leading role in the space, highlighted by four trees planted in pots at each of the vertices. The soft noise made by the water became consecrated. In addition to giving the hall some personality, it served to absorb the sounds of conversations (often secret) among tables. Just as the way that light enters a space, or how interior landscapes are perceived, sound is one more characteristic of an environment, though it is generally overlooked by architects. This goes beyond providing it with efficient acoustics, but creating a sound atmosphere for a space. This is the concept of soundscape.
As our world evolves at an unprecedented pace, the challenges that come with it are becoming more and more complex. The questions faced by the cities and networks of our global world, the physical and virtual environments where our evolution takes place, are making architecture more relevant than ever.
The issues of the built environment are no longer exclusive to the incumbents who build and design it and have become transversal questions in our society. From the citizens who question the quality of their public spaces to the self-trained builder erecting a tiny house in the woods, to the homeowners using an app to codesign their interiors during lockdown, we want to have a saying and we want to take action. Why does architecture have to be so uncertain, so distant?
People spend hours at work every day. Offices still fail to recognise the difference lighting can make to their workspaces. Lighting is an important matter when talking about visual comfort and productivity. Optimized lighting can help to improve performance and there are determined practice guidelines on which lighting systems work best for your work environment.
No País dos Arquitectos is a podcast created by Sara Nunes, who also runs the architectural film production company Building Pictures. The show aims to profile the professionals, projects, and stories behind landmark contemporary Portuguese architecture. With just over 10 million inhabitants, Portugal is a compelling nation when it comes to this professional field, producing architecture that far exceeds what might be expected from its population or territorial scale.
In this episode, Sara talks with architect Frederico Valsassina about the design of the Adega Herdade do Freixo winery, located in Redondo, Portugal. Listen to the interview and read the transcript of the conversation below:
Aiming to explore the architects, projects, and stories behind landmark Portuguese architecture, Sara Nunes, from the architectural film production company Building Pictures, launched the podcast No País dos Arquitectos, featuring conversations with key figures in contemporary Portuguese architecture.
In this week's episode, Sara invites architect José Mateus, from the firm ARX Portugal, to talk about the Castilho 203 building in Lisbon. Listen to the podcast episode or read the transcript of the interview with Mateus below:
Residential swimming pools have become a staple in housing developments and private homes, particularly in regions where warm weather prevails for most of the year. Sun, shade, and cool water call for a landscape design that fosters harmony in these spaces.
On September 21, the world celebrates Arbor Day, a date aimed at raising awareness about environmental conservation. During childhood, we establish relationships with nature that become deeply rooted in our imagination, eventually evolving to influence architectural design. We have selected 22 projects of various uses that draw inspiration from our relationship with nature and this shared imagination.
Choosing the fixtures and finishes for bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms is always a design challenge. Whether dealing with wall coverings, fittings, or sanitaryware, gathering as much information as possible is crucial to designing a functional and harmonious space. Among these components, we highlight here the essential details for choosing the best type of sink and its applications.
The results of the National Wood Architecture Award - PNAM’21 have been announced. In its sixth edition, the award recognized a winning project and two honorable mentions in “Sustainability and Circular Economy” and “Material Typology.” The main prize was awarded to Casa no Castanheiro, designed by architect João Mendes Ribeiro, located in Valeflor.
