The housing shortage has long been the catalyst for architectural speculation over adaptive resue scenarios or the valorisation of underused places in cities. At the same time, the health crisis and its work from home imperatives have brought into sharp focus the adaptive reuse potential of offices spaces into housing. The probability that some office buildings remain vacant post-pandemic opens up the possibility of bringing back housing to city centres, enabling the implementation of a 15-minute city vision. The following discusses the challenges and opportunities of transforming office spaces into housing, highlighting this limited phenomenon's long-term feasibility and impact.
Slate is a metamorphic rock formed from the transformation of clay under high pressure and temperature. Very homogeneous and sober, with shades ranging from dark gray to black, it is commonly used in floors and roofs due to its durability and appearance. Slate also works very well for façades, combining the aesthetics of natural stone, shaped by nature for over 500 million years, with the thermal comfort and ease of installation of ventilated façades.
Ennead Architects have been chosen out of a three-part open international competition to design the new International Performance Center in Shenzhen, China. Dubbed 'The People’s Performing Arts Center', the project will be a part of a major cultural development that further marks the city as a metropolitan destination and reinforces the global arts community in the city.
Hiroshi Sambuichi and The Cisterns in Copenhagen reveal plans for a fourth chamber to extend the exhibition space with another immersive artistic experience, further establishing the venue as a cultural destination. The design continues the succession of spaces within the former water reservoir with a new room featuring a transparent roof with light filtering through the water from a recreated water basin located above, on the Frederiksberg Castle grounds. The sharp contrast between the existing Cisterns and the proposal highlights a unique spatial experience, where the natural elements are quintessential.
Railings play two roles in architectural projects, both as a support and safety component in a building, which involves a great deal of technical detailing and accessibility standards, and as an accent element in the design. In this article, we will explore the different ways in which these elements can be used in a project.
https://www.archdaily.com/967531/xian-city-sports-park-landscape-improvement-project-china-northwest-architecture-design-and-research-instituteYu Xin Li
The latest addition to Empa and Eawag's NEST research building in Duebendorf, Switzerland has officially opened. The innovative HiLo unit illustrates nearly a decade of formative ETH Zurich research in architecture and sustainable technologies, and features an intricate, doubly curved concrete roof, lightweight funicular floors, and self-learning building technology.