Tag: data-visualizations | ArchDaily

Becoming a City Scientist: How to Draw Urban Spaces with Data

Olivia Poston — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

City Science, a rapidly expanding profession, is the scientific study and engineering of urban systems. It uses advanced technologies, big data, and complex systems physics to tackle challenges such as decarbonization, mobility, and livability. At its core, city science is about data-driven solutions. It employs statistics, modeling, and artificial intelligence to reveal the hidden dynamics of cities, from energy use to human movement. It employs strategies that reduce carbon emissions, enhance efficiency, and foster urban environments that are more sustainable and resilient.

Data-Driven Architecture: Delving into 4 Building Information Tools

Enrique Tovar — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture is a multifaceted discipline influenced by diverse sources of data and information, which play a fundamental role in shaping architectural production. In the past, horological instruments like the sundial were used to obtain data, such as time, and gain knowledge of solar incidence at different times of the year and geographical locations. This made it possible to determine the optimal orientation of buildings, resulting in benefits such as better use of sunlight and greater thermal comfort.

A Brief History of Maps and Their Role in Urban Development

Kaley Overstreet — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Cartography, or map making, has played a critical role in representing spatial concepts for thousands of years. While the earliest forms of maps displayed geographic information carved into clay tablets and etched onto cave walls, the maps we use today have significantly evolved to creatively show a range of different information. These visualizations draw conclusions about population sizes, historical events, cultural shifts, and weather patterns to help us understand more about our world and how we impact it.

Manuel Lima on How Data Visualization Can Shape Architecture and Cities

Fabian Dejtiar — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Manuel Lima is a designer, researcher and author well known for his work on visualizing and mapping complex networks. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he was named one of the "50 Most Creative and Influential Minds" by Creativity magazine, and is both the founder of VisualComplexity.com and a Senior UX Manager at Google.

These GIFs Compare Cities' Metro Maps to Their Real Life Geography

Rory Stott — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Metro and subway maps can tell us a lot about cities. For example, by comparing metro maps from different cities, you might be able to understand those cities' relative size or level of development. Or, by comparing a metro map to an earlier version from the same city, you can learn about the pace of development being experienced in that city. What these "maps" rarely tell you with any reliability, though, is the actual geography of the city itself.

The Numbers Behind the Top 300

Patrick Lynch — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 10:45:00 +0000

Last week, Architectural Record released their list of the top 300 Architecture Firms in the US, based on architectural revenue from 2015. But what can we learn from those numbers and the firms generating them? In this post for ArchSmarter, Michael Kilkelly dives deeper into the figures that have made these firms so successful, comparing numbers based on firm type, firm location and project location.

Interactive Infographic Tracks the Growth of the World's Megacities

Evan Rawn — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

With more than 7 billion people now alive, the greatest population growth over the last century has occurred in urban areas. Now, a new series of interactive maps entitled "The Age of Megacities" and developed by software company ESRI allows us to visualize these dramatic effects and see just how this growth has shaped the geography of 10 of the world’s 28 megacities. Defined as areas with continuous urban development of over 10 million people, the number of megacities in the world is expected to increase, and while Tokyo still tops the list as the world’s largest megacity, other cities throughout Asia are quickly catching up. Find out more after the break.

Software Engineers Map All the Buildings in the Netherlands

Jose Luis Gabriel Cruz — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Waag Society, together with designer and software engineer Bert Spaan, have put the Netherlands back on the map - the data map. After several months of coding and design, the partnership has managed to account for all 9,866,539 buildings in the country, visualized in varying colors to identify old and new buildings. After a user clicks on a specific block, additional building and city information displays square footages, addresses, populations and programs, among other stats. Users can navigate from Amsterdam to the Hague experiencing hundreds of years of urban development along the way, from the pre-1800s to post-2005 buildings, indicated by the red to blue gradient.

Visualizing How People Utilize Cities, data analysis by Schema Design

Irina Vinnitskaya — Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Atlantic Cities recently wrote about this project by Schema Design that was initially produced as a result of a call for projects for the Urban Data Design Challenge. The intention of the challenge was to use various methods of data visualization to develop insight into public transit in three cities: Philadelphia, Zurich and Geneva. Join us after the break to watch the videos.