Arch Daily Interviews: The Latest Architecture and News

The climate crisis has reshaped contemporary architecture. Sustainability has become a central guiding force in design, and in turn, architects are rethinking how to build today. For CO Adaptive Architecture, addressing the climate crisis begins with a process oriented practice. Together, Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston have created a firm that embodies how a values-based approach can tackle the most pressing issues of our time. The result is elegant and impactful architecture brought to life with poise and finesse.

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HANNAH Office is a US-based experimental research and design studio whose work focuses on advancing architecture and contemporary construction practices by examining the possibilities of new digital routines and fabrication technologies. Selected as one of Archdaily's Best New Practices of 2021, HANNAH Office was founded in 2012 by Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic and constitutes a platform for exploring technology and material methods across a variety of scales, from furniture to urbanism in search of new design outcomes.

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During the past couple of years, luxury and fashion brands began venturing into architecture. Some built museums, foundations, and cultural organizations while others shaped residential structures that translated their identity into space. Following this same concept, KARL LAGERFELD, along with Spanish Developer Sierra Blanca Estates and the Design and Branding Firm The One Atelier, have developed the fashion house’s first “luxury architectural project”, the Karl Lagerfeld Villas in Marbella, Spain. Designed by The One Atelier, of which Andrea Boschetti is Head of Design, the project has low carbon impact, aligned with the brand’s commitment to the Fashion Pact - a global sustainability initiative that seeks to transform the fashion industry through objectives in climate, biodiversity, and ocean protection.

Asking what is “luxury architecture” and questioning why fashion brands are expanding into architecture, ArchDaily met with Andrea Boschetti to further understand the architect and urban planner’s take on the subject.

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Salone is the most important furniture event in the world, strongly connected to the city and the design culture. This year we are seeing a new expanded format to mark the 60th anniversary of Salone del Mobile, titled "SuperSalone", a prequel to the 2022 edition, with a very accentuated focus on the materiality and the sustainable aspect.

Managing to put together the physical and the digital, in order to make the event more accessible for the world, Salone ran during the first week of September, at the Rho Fiera. During these design days, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the curator, Stefano Boeri, discussing this very special edition, the relationship between the city of Milano and Salone, the democratization of design as well as the environmental quality in his projects around the world.

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Questioning the new now, especially with the new challenges of Covid-19, around the world, cities are advocating for structural change and collective action. Berlin questions, an annual, multi-day conference and a platform for transdisciplinary dialogue, in its 2021 edition “Metropolis: The New Now”, tackled the immediate present, creating a place for debate. Dedicated to local solutions to global challenges, the event took on a hybrid format, at various locations in Berlin and online, resembling the world we live in.

ArchDaily had the chance to meet up with the winner of the Iconic Awards 2021 in the Architects of the Year category Dorte Mandrup, architect, founder, and creative director of Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter at Berlin Questions, to discuss the firm’s latest project in the German capital, the Exile Museum and to reflect on her career and visions.

Questioning the new now, especially with the new challenges of Covid-19, around the world, cities are advocating for structural change and collective action. Berlin questions, an annual, multi-day conference and a platform for transdisciplinary dialogue, in its 2021 edition “Metropolis: The New Now”, tackled the immediate present, creating a place for debate. Dedicated to local solutions to global challenges, the event took on a hybrid format, at various locations in Berlin and online, resembling the world we live in.

ArchDaily had the chance to meet up with Lesley Lokko, architect, academic, and novelist at Berlin Questions, to discuss her talk “Africa as the lab for the future”, her visions for the future of architecture education and the future of big cities on a social, cultural and urban level.

Great design builds upon the past with an eye to the future. For Ondrej Chybik and Michal Kristof, Co-Founders of CHYBIK + KRISTOF, architecture can best respect history by reinterpreting it. The Czech design practice is currently based in Prague, Brno and Bratislava, and was founded in 2010 by Ondřej and Michal. Operating with over 50 international team members, the practice aims to bridge the gaps between private and public space while transcending both generational and societal spheres.

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Madame Architect, the platform dedicated to the built environment and to the empowerment, advancement, and visibility of the women who work in it, has just reached a milestone, publishing over 250 interviews with the females who shape our world. “Designed to break the architect’s mold”, the website was founded 3 years ago by Julia Gamolina, an architect that shaped her own path in the field, becoming Director of Strategy at Trahan Architects, focusing on the business, its development, growth, and evolution.

Archdaily's Christele Harrouk had the chance to speak to Julia Gamolina, Founder, Editor-in-Chief of Madame Architect, and one of Professional Women in Construction's "20 Under 40", to discuss her career choices, the online magazine, the business of architecture and communication.

Continuing our quest to redefine how architecture is perceived nowadays and exposing the different notions out there, ArchDaily gave space for its users to answer four fundamental questions: “What is architecture? What can architecture do? What is your architectural position? What is your design method?” With around 200 entries per interrogation, gathered from all over the world, the ideas shared are mostly complementary and non-conflicting, underlining a general understanding of the role and essence of this field.

After having shared insights, in collaboration with WIA, from 16 different notable figures in the architectural scenes, such as Odile Decq, Kjetil Thorsen from Snøhetta, Peter Cook, Anna Heringer, Yona Friedman, Ma Yansong from MAD Architects, Liam Young, and Wolf D. Prix from Coop Himmelb(l)au, to name a few, this article highlights the best responses of our readers to the timeless interrogation “What is architecture?”

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