The global reference for architecture

This guide covers a workflow for generating multiple style variations, testing material and furniture options, and assembling a visual presentation package, all from one photograph of the existing room.

MVRDV, in collaboration with local co-architects ACS Integrated and PWA Architects, has broken ground on a 12,000-square-meter mixed-use office block in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Known as the Veranda Offices, the 8-story building draws inspiration from local Sri Lankan weaving patterns, creating a system of flexible interior office spaces that open onto verandas and panoramic glass windows.

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Architectural Record has released the 2017 edition of its annual list of the “Top 300 Architecture Firms” in the United States. Compiled by Record's sister publication Engineering News-Record, the list ranks firms based on architectural revenue from the previous year (2016). This year, the top 4 firms held fast to their spots, led by Gensler with a record-best $1.19 billion in revenue. Moving into the top 5 was HOK, while the designation of biggest mover in the top 25 belongs to Dallas-based Corgan, who jumped from 22nd place in 2016 to 14th this year.

See the top 50 firms after the break.

Ah, clients. Sadly, we can't all be paper architects, dreaming up improbable futures (and even the members of Archigram eventually settled down to found studios that actually build stuff). As a result, we're forced to work with people who often think that just because they're paying for our services, they own us like slaves. They come in many different varieties, from the client that thinks that everything is an emergency to the client that obsesses over the design budget. The following infographic produced by "startup studio and accelerator" Coplex will help you diagnose your own clients—and more importantly, offers some tips on how best to deal with them to make your life easier.

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Manhattan-based architecture practice Edg has created an ambitious proposal that replaces major highways into driverless ones, as well as adding green corridors spanning the length of the island. Named “Loop NYC,” the scheme aims to improve Manhattanites' quality of life and reduce the city’s urban pollution. Edg has released a video outlining the proposal and its uses (see above)—read on for the project breakdown.

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Need some data on the world's inhabitants? Population Explorer is an online software that can estimate population information from any region of the world based on the Landscan application and is described as a "high-precision population database produced by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory" in the United States.

The tool is the first and only application of its kind, and instantly displays population and density counts in a user-selected flexible area, allowing you to create and save scenarios based on that data - Developers of Population Explorer.

It is possible to use the platform to know a variety of statistics: how many people live in a certain region, the number of women and men living in a given area, the age pyramid of a given population, and how densely populated a territory is (among other applications) - making the tool useful for both municipal and government authorities around the world. 

A post shared by Christoph a. Kumpusch (@xtrlab) on Jun 29, 2017 at 3:04pm PDT

Columbia GSAPP's Extraction Lab, led by Christoph Kumpusch, is a five year-long project beginning in August of this year with a student workshop at the 2017 Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. "With the desert as a canvas, and Burning Man as a context," the project will deploy a roof structure into the heart of the gathering in order to—among other goals—"extract what is most absent in the landscape: water." In this episode of GSAPP Conversations, Kumpusch outlines just what the new laboratory has planned.

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Architectural Adventures, a travel program from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), is the premier travel provider for architecture, art, and photography enthusiasts, as well as intellectually curious travelers. The program offers a variety of small-group tours specializing in the exploration and appreciation of some of the world’s most remarkable architecture, all while enjoying a destination’s culture, food, and traditions.