Photographer: Paul Warchol Photography | ArchDaily

Building with the Landscape: Non-Invasive Design Strategies for Steep Terrain

Olivia Poston — Thu, 07 May 2026 07:30:00 +0000

The relationship between constraint and design excellence is well established in architectural theory, yet often remains underexplored in discussions of site-specific practices. When architects encounter extreme topography, they face a fundamental choice: transform the landscape to accommodate the building, or modify the building to fit the landscape. The first approach is straightforward and requires the builder to cut, fill, terrace, and build on level ground. This choice, however, carries cascading consequences as any amount of earth moved may destabilize slopes, disrupt drainage, and fracture ecosystems. A growing body of innovative architectural work demonstrates an alternative to earth-moving and retaining walls.

Guesthouses and Lessons in Generosity: Spaces of Hospitality in Rural America

Olivia Poston — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Spaces of hospitality are a mirror to how different cultures articulate generosity, care, belonging, and identity. In busy city settings, this is reflected in hotels, service systems, and curated amenities that directly shape the visitor experience. These spaces translate care into measurable forms, where success is correlated with efficiency, luxury, and brand identity.

A Different Type of Rurality: Designs for Post-Industrial Heritage Transformation

Olivia Poston — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Across the rural terrains of North America and Western Europe, traces of past industry remain embedded in the land: mills rusting in meadows, smokestacks punctuating quiet townscapes, the skeletons of once-thriving economies. For decades, these sites have signified decline through the remnants of an extractive era that has shaped the environment and local identity. The challenges of remediation often encompass technical, environmental, and cultural aspects that require creativity, precision, and sensitivity.

The Museum for Architectural Drawing Explores Steven Holl’s Design Process Through Drawing in Berlin, Germany

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 06:30:00 +0000

The Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin, Germany, will host a new exhibition titled "Steven Holl – Drawing as Thought," curated by Kristin Feireiss. The exhibition explores the creative process of internationally renowned architect Steven Holl with a focus on his use of drawing as a fundamental tool in architectural design. Furthermore, the exhibition highlights Holl's extensive artistic practice, which includes over 50,000 sketches, black-and-white drawings, and watercolors, offering insight into his approach to architecture through visual exploration.

Steven Holl's Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle Receives AIA's Twenty-Five Year Award

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 05:30:00 +0000

The Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, designed by Steven Holl Architects, has been honored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) with its Twenty-five Year Award. AIA’s award is conferred on a building that has set a precedent, stood the test of time for 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architectural design and significance. The Chapel of St. Ignatius finished in 1997, reflects the ideal of the Jesuit practice, a religious order of the Catholic Church, in which no single method of worship is prescribed. Instead, the sect recognizes that “different methods helped different people.” That idea is reflected in the Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University’s main chapel, where differences in light unify to support the worship and ritual needs of the university community.

New York's Interiors: Apartments, Penthouses and Lofts in the Big Apple

Mónica Arellano — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

One of the most important cities in the world –and the most populated in the United States of America–, New York is home to a great mix of cultures and history that has been shaped over the years, while art and architecture play a fundamental role in this development.

Spotlight: Steven Holl

Finn MacLeod — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 03:30:00 +0000

As the founder of Steven Holl Architects, Steven Holl is recognized as one of the world's leading architects, having received prestigious awards for his contributions to design over the course of nearly forty years in practice, including the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal in 1998, the AIA Gold Medal in in 2012, and the 2014 Praemium Imperiale. In 1991, Time Magazine named Holl America's Best Architect. He is revered for his ability to harness light to create structures with remarkable sensitivity to their locations, while his written works have been published in many preeminent volumes, sometimes collaborating with world-renowned architectural thinkers such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Pérez-Gómez.

2018 Brick in Architecture Award Winners Announced

Niall Patrick Walsh — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:30:00 +0000

The Brick Industry Association (BIA) has announced the winners of the 2018 Brick in Architecture Awards, given to “the country’s most visionary projects incorporating fired-clay brick.” This year, 19 projects were selected from 88 total entries, spanning commercial, educational, landscaping, and residential categories.

Bent, Not Broken: The Natural Process of Shaping Fantastic Wooden Forms

Jack McManus — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Even as technology advances—leaving many of the old ways of building obsolete—certain traditional crafts and building techniques continue to captivate our imaginations with their simple ingenuity and unimpeachable effectiveness. Although used for millennia, the process of temporarily turning rigid members of wood into pliable, twistable, bendable noodles of lumber remains a favorite woodworker’s trick, capable of producing whimsical transformations and otherworldly forms from the most natural of materials.

Photographer’s Loft / Desai Chia Architecture

Karen Valenzuela — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 11:00:00 +0000

This loft was designed for a photographer who was seeking a serene live-work environment. The 5,000 square foot industrial space was fully renovated to include a library/reception area, living and dining areas, a kitchen, a photo studio, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a powder room, and ample storage space.

9 Projects Selected for AIA Education Facility Design Awards

Sabrina Santos — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 08:00:00 +0000

The American Institute of Architects (AIA)'s Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has announced the winners of its CAE Education Facility Design Awards, which honor educational facilities that “serve as an example of a superb place in which to learn, furthering the client’s mission, goals, and educational program, while demonstrating excellence in architectural design.”

ArchDaily Editors Select: Our Favorite Projects in the USA

Vanessa Quirk — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Happy 4th of July! To celebrate the USA's Independence Day, our editors have selected their favorite projects located in the USA, from architecture classics to extraordinary newcomers. Enjoy them all, after the break!

Cornell School Of Ecology / Gruzen Samton • IBI Group

Victoria King — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

2 North Moore / Turett Collaborative Architects

Victoria King — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The two-story brick building on the corner of West Broadway and N. Moore Street lies at the edge of the TriBeCa West Historic District, a neighborhood given landmark status in recognition of the history of manufacturing there. The 1870s-era structure itself was singled out for preservation on account of its distinctive corbelled brickwork, prominent location, unusual acute plan, low massing, and multitude of French- and double-hung windows.

Barcode House / David Jameson Architect

Kelly Minner — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Barcode House explores juxtapositions between the heavy and light and the old and the new. The work is formed by positioning the project’s diverse pressures into a unique situational aesthetic.

AD Classics: Chapel of St. Ignatius / Steven Holl Architects

Kelly Minner — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The Chapel of St. Ignatius, designed by Steven Holl Architects, is a Jesuit chapel for Seattle University. A series of light volume corresponds to a part of Jesuit Catholic worship service, such as the south facing light corresponds to the procession, a fundamental part of the mass.

Lorber Tarler Residence / Robert Gurney Architect

Kelly Minner — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Located in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood of Washington DC, an existing row house has been reimagined as a modern, light filled urban dwelling for a professional couple. The compartmentalized interior of the existing house was gutted, and the rear façade and porch were removed. Surrounded by buildings on three sides and limited to the existing seventeen foot wide by thirty foot deep footprint, the new floor layout and open plan are intended to provide dynamic interior spaces in sharp contrast to the originally dark, cramped house.

Blue Ridge Farmhouse Addition / Robert Gurney Architect

Kelly Minner — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Standing prominently on a hilltop just outside Washington, Virginia, the eighteenth century farmhouse is surrounded by five hundred acres of farmland providing vantage point views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The owners desired an addition to their beloved farmhouse that would bring the outside in and enable them to share the landscape and its changing seasons with friends and family.