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In an industry-affiliated overshadowed by the so-called ‘starchitects’, do we really know who is dominating in the field of architecture? Often it is found that for most of the projects bearing the big names, there are the firms assuming the roles of “executive architect” that work behind the scenes to enable the high-profile buildings to get through planning and construction.

To give us insight into which architecture practices actually have the most impact across in New York City, The Real Deal have compiled a list of the 30 firms with the highest square footage of new buildings across the five boroughs over a six-year period from the 1st of January 2012 until the 31st of January 2018. There are of course many of the firms that you would expect, although as you will see there are also a few that have gone under the radar so far and may be worth watching out for in the future...

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Following up on their series of urban block flashcards, Spanish publisher a+t architecture publishers recently launched a new deck of cards featuring architecture that "promote[s] the compact city and the desirable dwelling." Titled 50 Housing Floor Plans, this new version contains examples of recent collective living projects, featuring buildings constructed between 2000 and 20017.

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Recently, long-standing architecture critic for the LA Times Christopher Hawthorne announced that he was stepping down to take up the position of chief design officer for the City of Los Angeles in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s administration. According to Hawthorne, the role will involve raising “the quality of public architecture and urban design across the city — and the level of civic conversation about those subjects.” This dramatic shift raises the question: what is the role of the critic and architecture criticism in shaping civic architecture?

While Moshe Safdie may be more well known for the bold forms defining his portfolio of built projects—ranging from the National Gallery of Canada and the horizontal Raffles City Chongqing to the iconic Habitat 67—the architect considers his unbuilt works as important, if not more. Safdie ponders the role of these projects and more in PLANE-SITE’s latest addition to the series Time-Space-Existence.

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As hundreds of refugees continue to arrive in Paris, France, the city faces an ongoing struggle to find safe and suitable housing for the influx of migrants. As a result, many end up sleeping in underused urban spaces or on the side of the road with almost no access to water, sanitation, and food.

In response, Paris- and Santiago-based firm 1week1project in collaboration with Sophie Picoty unveil their design for a speculative public park titled “Illuminate Paris!” beneath an elevated railway bridge to provide additional support for organizations handling the influx of refugees. This modular “field of experiences” features a series of lantern-like environments forming a canopy along the underside of the bridge that allows for much-need space for migrants who are currently forced to sleep in encampments under similar infrastructure and in parks.

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The Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte presents the exhibition De todos, para todos. Diseño y espacio público en la Ciudad de México [Of All, For All: Design and Public Space in Mexico City] from March 3 to April 28, 2018, as part of the cultural program of World Design Capital CDMX 2018.

The exhibition highlights how design practices, across various scales and levels, contribute to open urban public spaces, optimizing their functionality and expanding possibilities for users to enrich their experience.

In a recent interview with Metropolis Magazine, Kenneth Frampton answered questions about his existing architectural influence and his opinion as it relates to the direction of architectural theory and criticism. Frampton has long been a prominent voice in the world of architectural theory and writing. He has taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) since 1972, all the while publishing a large collection of critical essays and books on the topic of 20th-century architecture—the most notable of those being his 1983 essay “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance.”

Even today, Frampton's evaluation of critical regionalism is still widely appreciated. In the interview, Frampton admits that he now sees the influence of critical regionalism primarily outside of "the Anglo-American world," but he believes that the implied importance of a "direct democracy" is what he sees as most beneficial.

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The Shenzhen International Energy Mansion is the main headquarters of the Shenzhen Energy Company in China. In designing the building, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) paid special attention to one feature: the building's facade. The firm knew that in such a tropical climate, using a traditional curtain wall glass envelope would overheat the buildings and make people crank up their air conditioners. What BIG came up with in their winning design, and what is now the building's most defining feature, is a folded, origami-like facade. This facade provides high insulation and diffuses incoming sunlight, while reflecting the strongest rays onto solar panels.

Laurian Ghinitoiu points his lens towards this uncommon facade design and places the skyscraper within the lively metropolitan context of Shenzhen, China.

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