AD Interviews: The Latest Architecture and News

The DAAily platforms Designboom, Architonic, and ArchDaily held a unique storytelling space to feature curated talks about design and architecture during the Milan Design Week 2022. Dubbed the DAAily Bar, the set served as a new meeting point inviting renowned designers and exhibiting immersive art installations.

As part of the DAAily Bar Live Talks, ArchDaily's Founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto had the opportunity to talk with Jakob Lange, architect and partner at BIG, about the BIG Ideas project, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group’s latest endeavors, and the future of the company.

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In the complex trade of architecture and construction, you are never alone. And behind every great building there is a strong team of professionals combining their expertise. 

Hanif Kara OBE is a structural engineer and one of the founders of AKT II, one of the top engineering firms in the world. Based in London, he has been closely collaborating with some of the world’s most innovative architects, including Grafton Architects, David Chipperfield, Norman Foster, BIG, Zaha Hadid, Thomas Heatherwick, and many more.

Notable projects include the Kingston University Town House by Grafton Architects, the Bloomberg HQ by Foster + Partners and the Peckham Library by Will Alsop, all recognized with the RIBA Stirling Prize, and the recently completed Twist Museum by BIG, LSE Marshall Building by Grafton Architects, and 404 One Park Drive by Herzog & de Meuron.

The House of Music Hungary is one of the biggest cultural investments in the European Union. Designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects, it is becoming a hub for city dwellers and worldwide visitors wishing to attend concerts, visit the exhibition or record music in the building's open studios.

ArchDaily editors first got in touch with the Liget Budapest Project in the summer of 2021 and were treated to an impressive site visit at the House of Music Hungary. We were among a few select invitees that caught a glimpse of the finishing phases at one of the city's major projects located in its 200-year-old park. Developers and contractors were racing to catch up on the time they’d missed due to the pandemic – a challenge they certainly fulfilled, with the project completed in less than six years and being opened to the public in December 2021.

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Designboom, Architonic, and ArchDaily which make up DAAily platforms, created a unique, storytelling-programmed space for design and architecture enthusiasts dubbed the DAAily Bar during this year's Milan Design Week. The space featured curated talk series and gathering spots, along with immersive art installations by renowned designers.

As part of the DAAily Bar Live Talks, ArchDaily's Founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto had the opportunity to talk with Mario Cucinella, founder of MC A - Mario Cucinella Architects and curator of “Design with Nature” for Salone del Mobile 2022, about his work and his recent projects.

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During this year's Milan Design Week, Designboom, Architonic, and ArchDaily which make up DAAily platforms, created a unique, storytelling-programmed space for design and architecture enthusiasts dubbed the DAAily Bar. The space featured curated talk series and gathering spots, along with immersive art installations by renowned designers.

As part of the DAAily Bar Live Talks, ArchDaily's Founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto had the chance to talk with Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's Senseable Lab and founder of innovation studio Carlo Ratti Associati about this multidisciplinary approach, the blurred boundaries of the profession and his recent projects.

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Along with the thousands of designers and craftsmen that took part in this year's Milan Design Week to showcase their innovative creations, renowned architects from across the world were also present in the Italian city to share how they tackle the challenges faced by our environment and societies today.

During the week-long event, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with Alper Derinboğaz, architect and founder of Istanbul-based Salon Alper Derinboğaz, selected among ArchDaily's 2020 Young Practices, to discuss the firm's responsibility towards the environment, seeing architecture as part of the Earth within Geospace's framework, challenges facing the new generations of architects and their access to information, and experimenting with the Metaverse.

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For its 60th and first post-pandemic edition, the Salone del Mobile.Milano was back in full force following two years of setbacks and alternations between digital and physical events. The week-long exhibition, which welcomed over 262,000 visitors from across the world, highlighted the opportunities of environmental consciousness, inviting designers to adopt and reinforce the values of sustainability in the long term, support the protection of human rights, and promote environmental responsibility through design.

One of the most anticipated installations within the Fiera was a centerpiece by Italian architect Mario Cucinella titled “Design With Nature”. The large-scale installation demonstrated the various ways people can improve their relationship with nature, inviting visitors to eat, drink, converse, and work in a piazza-inspired space. During Milan Design Week, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the architect to discuss the concept behind his installation, the relationship between the city of Milano and Salone, and the importance of valuing our natural resources.

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Led by architectural designers Khensani de Klerk and Solange Mbanefo, Matri-Archi is a collective based between Switzerland and South Africa that aims to bring African women together for the development of spatial education in African cities. Through design practice, writing, podcasts, and other initiatives, Matri-Archi — one of ArchDaily's Best New Practices of 2021 — focuses on the recognition and empowerment of women in the spatial field and architectural industry.

ArchDaily had the opportunity to talk to the co-directors of the collective on hegemonic space, informal architecture, technology, local idiosyncrasies, and the future of African and global cities. Read the full interview below.

What follows this short introduction is my unusually personal interview with a Lebanese-American architect and artist Nishan Kazazian. His work is inspired by numerous sources that come from many directions such as Kintsugi, the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together, primary color geometric abstractions evocative of Russian Constructivism, as well as paintings by Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee. Yet, a stronger inspiration comes from his memories of home and family history. Layering and superimposition of cultures and languages were constantly present in his life since childhood and remain guiding forces to Kazazian, who is both a licensed architect and a professional artist.

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Belmont (Monty) Freeman (b. 1951) founded his New York-based, currently eight-person practice, Belmont Freeman Architects in 1986. Its active projects are half institutional and half residential, with a special focus on adaptive reuse, predominantly in New York and nearby states. Among the firm’s most exemplary projects are the LGBT Carriage House on the University of Pennsylvania campus, a series of restorations at the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building, renovations at the Yale Club in Manhattan, and the renovation of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, designed by Kevin Roche. Current projects include an expansive but minimalist residential compound on Martha’s Vineyard, branch library renovations in New York City, and redevelopment of a former meatpacking building into a new Innovation Hub for Columbia University’s Business School.

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