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Videos

The outer layer of surfaces and buildings is the interface with the world and communicates much of its appearance, characteristics, and conditions. There are times that, whether due to budget constraints, difficulties, or lack of time, we need to look for quick and easy-to-install solutions. 3M™ DI-NOC™ Architectural Finishes are adhesive decorative films that offer a sustainable, cost-efficient option for refurbishing surfaces, providing less landfill waste, minimal downtime, noise, and dust for use on casework, doors, columns and internals walls. There is also a version for exterior solutions, the 3M™ DI-NOC™ Architectural Finishes Exterior EX Series product line. The finishes can be applied directly over existing façade material, providing high design along with other features. Below we will explore two examples that will highlight the possibilities with 3M surface finishes.

Muz Yer, a permanent public exhibition in Rennes, France, has invited 8 internationally-renowned architects to design birdhouses that highlight the relationship between contemporary architecture and nature. Each birdhouse serves as a response to one or more of the 13 bird species designated by the Birds Protection Committee (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux - LPO), and raises awareness of the architectural heritage of Rennes and its urban ecology. The list of exhibitors includes Julien De Smedt Architects, ADEPT, a/LTA, Duncan Lewis, Marion Normand, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tham & Videgard, and Dominique Perrault Architects & Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost Design.

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Powerhouse Company revealed its design for the new Tilburg University Lecture Hall, which upon completion, will be the Netherlands’ first academic building made of cross-laminated timber. Set within a wooded landscape, the lecture hall is a nod to the 1960s grade-listed Modernist architecture of the campus, echoing its monastic atmosphere through the rhythm of the windows and the limestone façades.

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A project for the Commemorative Landmark Pehuenche Commission carried out by the recently graduated Chilean architect Antonia Ossa, is part of the series of small-scale interventions built in the Andean sector of the Maule Region, Chile, as part of the certification process of the School of Architecture of the University of Talca.

Although artificial intelligence is showing the potential to carry out successive iterations with good results, designing the layout of spaces takes up large portions of a designer's time. The organization of elements present within a space determines the flow of movement, the points of view and will largely dictate how it will be used. But the idea of stifling the use of the environment may not work for all cases. Due to space restrictions or supplementary uses that a room can have, some architects have developed dynamic layouts that have more than one possible use. Whether through dividing elements or special modules, these projects allow the space to change radically through movement.

Dübendorf, Switzerland is something of hallowed ground for architectural technologists. There, on the shared academic campus of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, public university ETH Zurich has conducted nearly a decade of engineering and construction experimentation at the ever-evolving NEST research building. In August, ETH Zürich unveiled its latest extension of the building, HiLo (short for high performance-low emissions)—a two-story modular addition to the chameleon structure that harnesses medieval building principles and contemporary digital methods to raise the bar for more sustainable applications of concrete.

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With V-Ray 5 for SketchUp, Update 2, Chaos has introduced intelligent new tools that make it easy for architects and arch-viz artists to create incredible renders. You can make use of the free models and materials provided in Chaos Cosmos, customize surfaces with V-Ray Decal, and tune your render with LightMix and post-processing.

In this tutorial, V-Ray Product Specialist Ricardo Ortiz uses an interior scene to demonstrate how these powerful new additions can accelerate your creative processes and add extra details for exceptional photorealism.

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