Tag: contextualism | ArchDaily

When Do Buildings Begin to Matter? Rethinking Heritage in Local Time

Ananya Nayak — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

A building still being adjusted, repaired, and debated is declared World Heritage. Another, equally influential, must survive five centuries before anyone considers protecting it. This is not an anomaly in the heritage system; it is the system. Across the world, architecture does not age at the same pace because time itself is not neutral. It is cultural, political, and deeply uneven. What we call "heritage" is not simply old architecture; it is architecture that has reached the right moment in a particular place.

From Iran to Argentina: 9 Unbuilt Contemporary Residences Exploring Form, Context, and Identity

Nour Fakharany — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Across geographies and generations, architects are rethinking the idea of home, balancing personal expression, contextual sensitivity, and material clarity. These contemporary residential proposals, submitted by the ArchDaily community, reveal how the house continues to evolve as both an architectural statement and an intimate landscape for living. From the sculptural and futuristic to the grounded and vernacular, they explore how built form balances between identity, environment, and lifestyle in an increasingly complex world.

The Continuous Project: A Case of Iterative Placemaking in Long You, China

Jonathan Yeung — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The architect's role has traditionally been relatively well-defined: design a building, direct the project, coordinate logistics, and guide construction through to completion. As specialised fields have proliferated, together with a rapidly changing social economy, the practice of architecture has diversified, opening multiple paths for how architects can contribute to society.

7 Latin American Architecture Firms that Achieve More with Less

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Young Latin American architecture firms are changing paradigms in the field by promoting a new approach to the profession's role in society. Their innovative explorations, driven by risk-taking, emerge from a deep emotional connection and thorough understanding of their context. They draw inspiration from local elements like geography, materials and available resources. With their unique identities, these firms move away from the still-prevalent modernist legacy, presenting authentic and innovative solutions to tackle contemporary challenges.

Context-Responsive Architecture in Spain: 7 Projects Highlighting Material Strategies

Enrique Tovar — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 01:30:00 +0000

Andanzas y visiones españolas is the book in which Miguel de Unamuno collects his experiences during excursions through Spain's cities and countryside, accompanied by friends and colleagues. More than a precise geographical description, the text consists of narratives in which each region and every feature of the territory leaves a deep imprint on his thought. The literary discourse actively weaves the diversity of setting, climate, and contextualism as foundational threads, presenting the territory not only as a physical place but also as a space for reflection and contemplation. This attentive engagement with the landscape—so diverse within Spanish architecture—also resonates in the built environment, fostering in contemporary practice a sensitive adaptation to the country's varied climatic conditions, both through design strategies and material choices.

From the Hills of Ghana to the Coast of Italy, Discover 8 Unbuilt Educational Spaces from the ArchDaily Community

Nour Fakharany — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 07:30:00 +0000

As educational institutions around the world adapt to shifting societal needs, the architecture of learning is also evolving. This curated selection brings together projects submitted by the global ArchDaily community, highlighting how architects are rethinking the future of schools and universities through design. These proposals reflect pressing global concerns: the importance of community-centered education, the revitalization of historical buildings and neighborhoods, the integration of natural systems, and the search for spatial expressions that accommodate both formal instruction and informal exchange. Whether situated in dense urban centers, rural villages, or coastal landscapes, these projects respond to specific cultural and environmental contexts while engaging with broader architectural questions about sustainability, access, and identity.

Building Appropriately: Brinda Somaya on Connecting Generations of Indian Architecture

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 07:30:00 +0000

India today is a country of 1.4 billion people requiring every type of building imaginable—hospitals, colleges, housing, and more. Championing sensibility and practicality in design is Brinda Somaya, an internationally acclaimed architect, urban conservationist, and academician, recently named an honorary member of the 2025 class of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. Her work demonstrates a careful response to cultural contexts enriched with a grounded understanding of functionality, transforming them into modern relics. A four-decade career has built her portfolio that spans architecture, master-planning, and historic preservation - a constantly unfolding legacy.

Globalization and Architecture: The Dependency on Foreign Talent in the Global South

Ankitha Gattupalli — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Through the post-war 20th century, the Global South saw much influence from foreign architects, often invited by local governments to bring their expertise and visionary thinking. Sought as a symbol of modernity, buildings designed by "starchitects" elevated the image of nations. Decades later, as local industries advance in capabilities, the desire for foreign talent continues to exist. Is this a natural result of globalization or is the continued presence of international architects in the Global South a persistent dependency?

Contemporary Mosques: Using Context as Driver over Symbolism

Mohieldin Gamal — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000

The configuration of the mosque, the worshipping place for Muslims, traces its history to the courtyard of the religion's founder. The first mosques were, therefore, simple open spaces marked for ritual prayer use. Over the years and centuries, they would gain multiple standard, functional features, such as the mihrab, a niche that indicates the direction of prayer, and the minbar, a pulpit for the preacher to give the sermon. Other elements also became common, such as domes and minarets, which were historically used for the call to prayer. These had the additional purpose of signifying the function of the building as a mosque and were used by rulers and benefactors to elevate its grandeur.

Exploring Fluid Forms in Indian Architecture: A Cultural Perspective

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 07:30:00 +0000

This year marked another milestone for Indian architects in pushing the boundaries of contemporary practice nationwide. A noticeable trend among the projects featured on ArchDaily has been the embrace of fluid forms, a subtle homage to vernacular practices that parallels a gradual departure from India's legacy of modernist design rhetoric. Indian architecture praxis has evolved to reflect a deeper engagement with local contexts alongside a willingness to experiment with global influences. This approach is likely to subsist in the coming years, opening the door for new architectural expressions in the country.

Computational Design in India: Dialogues between Modern and Vernacular Form

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 07:30:00 +0000

India's global identity has developed alongside its aspirations for a unique architectural future. Over time, the country's architectural landscape has evolved from vernacular traditions to foreign influences, from post-colonial revivals to modern digital expressions. Computational design has played an influential role in shaping contemporary styles, empowering homegrown architectural firms to experiment with form and structure.

"Buildings Have Their Own Lives:” Rafael Moneo on Creativity in Louisiana Channel Interview

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 05:30:00 +0000

In an interview with Louisiana Channel, Rafael Moneo, the celebrated Spanish architect and 1996 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, reflected on his career and philosophy. Born in Tudela, Navarra, Spain, in 1937, Moneo described how his early academic interests and professional experiences shaped his approach to architecture, resulting in a distinguished body of work that integrates historical, cultural, and environmental contexts.

Cover Me Softly: Beta 2024 Explores Architecture as an Act of Copying, Imitating, or Stealing

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

The 2024 Beta Architecture Biennial, in Timișoara, Romania, marks the tenth anniversary of this influential event. Curated by Oana Stănescu, this year's biennial, titled "cover me softly," explores the nuanced relationship between originality and influence, challenging conventional notions of copying, imitation, and appropriation. In addition to the Beta Awards, aiming to highlight significant contributions to architecture from across Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, the main exhibition offers a distinctive interpretation of recurring themes of the architectural field.

Dorte Mandrup and an Architecture Not Afraid to Contrast the Context

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Buildings are deeply interconnected with their surroundings—the climate, culture, landscape, and the lives of their occupants. For Dorte Mandrup, a renowned Danish architect, context is more than a mere consideration; it is the driving force behind her designs. Her work demonstrates a profound curiosity about the people who will inhabit her buildings and the unique stories embedded within each site. Her buildings aren't just structures; they're thoughtful responses to their surroundings, without aiming to disappear within them.

Healthcare Architecture in India: Strategic Design Principles to Address the Urban-Rural Divide

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000

In a nation as diverse as India, the healthcare landscape presents wicked problems and plentiful opportunities. The country's hospital infrastructure has been increasingly strained in the areas of accessibility, quality, and equity, especially with a snowballing population growth. While urban development expands amidst these constraints, architects have been able to position innovative design solutions as mediators, also sealing the gap between urban and rural healthcare quality and accessibility in India.

Creating Harmony with the Place: In Conversation with Kengo Kuma

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 06:30:00 +0000

The 3^rd edition of Shaping the City, a forum on sustainable urban development, took place in Venice between November 24-25, following successful events in Chicago and New Orleans. Organized by the European Cultural Centre, this forum was running in parallel to the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennial exhibition, Time Space Existence. The event, hosted at Palazzo Michiel del Brusà in Cannaregio, brings together global urban planners, architects, academics, and politicians. Notably, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma was among the experts invited to explore the intersection of nature and the built environment in Japanese architecture.

"The Site is the Architect, the Site is Materiality": On Ammar Khammash and Notes on Formation

Christele Harrouk — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Ammar Khammash is a Jordanian architect, designer, and artist best known for his approach that focuses on the preservation of cultural and natural heritage while crafting an architecture that engages with its surroundings. With deep admiration for nature and its ecosystems, Khammash trusts that "the site is the architect”, a statement for which he is renowned that underscores the profound influence of context on his architectural design. With over three decades of experience spanning various disciplines and across several Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, and the UAE, Ammar Khammash has consistently attempted to preserve and enhance the symbiosis between human constructions and the natural environment. His contributions include the Royal Academy for Nature Conservation, the Wild Jordan Center, and the restoration of the Church of Apostles.

How Can Architecture be Designed to Reflect Human Behavior?

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture is the design of spaces for human occupation. Despite architects’ skill in designing spaces to influence human behavior there often is a shortfall in anticipating and reacting to occupants’ behavior. To create environments that boost well-being, productivity, and social engagement, a symbiotic relationship between buildings and human behavior must be fostered. The intersection of architectural and anthropological studies forms an insightful framework for the design of physical spaces informed by human behavior and cultural context.