Tag: architecture-essays | ArchDaily

The Paradox of Sustainable Architecture: Durability and Transience

Ankitha Gattupalli — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 08:30:00 +0000

To convey the might and prestige of their empire, the Romans constructed enduring architecture as symbols of their long-lasting reign. Emperors employed grand public works as assertions of their status and reputation. Conversely, Japanese architecture has long embraced ideas of change and renewal, evident in the ritualistic rebuilding of Shinto shrines. A practice, known as shikinen sengu, is observed at Ise Jingu, where the shrine is purposefully dismantled and reconstructed every twenty years. Across the world, philosophies around permanence and impermanence pervaded architectural traditions. Amidst the climate crisis, how do these tenets apply to modern architectural design?

The Impact of AI Tools on Architecture in 2024 (and Beyond)

Nicolás Valencia — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:30:00 +0000

In 2022, a wider audience gained access to unexpectedly powerful AI tools, including Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E 2 for text-to-image generation, as well as the human-like chatbot OpenGPT.

Architecture and Communication: Dissemination, Curators and Architecture News

Nicolás Valencia — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In 1999, Birgit Lohmann and Massimo Mini co-founded designboom, self-proclaimed as the "first online architecture and design magazine." Seven years later, Facebook transitioned from Ivy League universities to massive audiences, while the first tweet was posted on formerly-known Twitter. Sixteen years have passed since these milestones.

Creating Architectural Value through Aesthetics

Duo Dickinson — Wed, 18 May 2022 03:30:00 +0000

Humans try very hard to make the inexplicable understood. Our spirituality becomes religion. Fairness becomes law. And what delights us becomes aesthetics, and aesthetics are dumbed down to “style” in fine arts and architecture. The description, then definition, of aesthetics enables us to judge, and hopefully, control what thrills us: "Styles may change, details may come and go, but the broad demands of aesthetic judgement are permanent". -- Roger Scruton

Copycat: Why Is Copying a Style Bad for Cities?

Marília Matoso — Sun, 15 May 2022 07:30:00 +0000

CopyCat is the act of emulating something that's already been created and using it in a different context. Copycats can exist in music, arts and design; but they are not exactly a design inspiration or a style reference, but rather a literal copy with almost no modification of the original work.

The Space Age Aesthetic: Influencing Architecture and Interiors

Rebecca Ildikó Leete — Sun, 08 May 2022 07:30:00 +0000

The dawn of nuclear power, dramatic advances in rocketry, and the desire to be the first to put men into space and on the moon, kick-started an era known as the ‘Space Age’. Upon the closure of WW2, both the Soviets and the Allies found themselves in a state of antagonism, as they both began to struggle to make advancements in space exploration before the other, a race for space. The era would give way to rapid advancements in technology and huge accomplishments including the moon landing in 1969. The Space Age aesthetic completely changed the way designers visualized the new world and left a dramatic impression on architecture and interiors. A new vision of futurism and prosperity.

Why Francis Kéré Won the Pritzker Prize?

Nicolás Valencia — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 08:30:00 +0000

Last Tuesday, March 15, Francis Kéré became the first African architect to win the Pritzker Prize, the most important award in the architecture discipline.

Architecture as Sexual Technology

Jaime Solares — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 05:00:00 +0000

By defining sexuality as one of several sexual technologies, Michel Foucault has expanded our understanding of sex. This way, the relationship between architecture and the body is shaped not only by the built object, with its various spatial mechanisms for the production of bodies, but also by thinking, in the form of academic discourse. And vice versa, since gender and sexuality also impact architectural theory. One way or another, these relationships are very rich and capable of expanding our knowledge about architecture and the creation of generic sexed bodies.

Before “Colonial” There Was Immigrant Architecture in North America

Duo Dickinson — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 03:30:00 +0000

There is an architecture of the migrant. It is survivalist, built with what is available, made as quickly as possible, with safety as its core value. Americans romanticize that architecture as “Colonial”: simple timber buildings, with symmetric beginnings, infinite additions, and adaptations. But “Colonial” architecture is not what was built first by the immigrants to a fully foreign land 400 years ago. Like all migrant housing, time made it temporary and forgotten.

Queer Looks On Architecture: From Challenging Identity-Based Approaches To Spatial Thinking

Olivier Vallerand — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000

A growing number of theorists and practitioners have been discussing the impact of gender and race on the profession and theory of architecture. Issues linked to the relationship between the built environment, sexual orientation, and gender identity, however, remain particularly understudied, perhaps because of their relative invisibility and less clearly identifiable discriminatory consequences. Moreover, they are also completely neglected by design theory in the Francophone world. This article partially remedies the situation.

Architecture Out of the Closet

Arquitetura Bicha — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Architecture can be many things, also queer. Alongside many other transgressing words that carry different meanings and perspectives, this term triggers new insights into society and questions how we create architecture and urban planning projects, including their programs and activities. If there is any statement about how architecture should be done, if there is any conviction about what it represents, we wish here to avoid knowing what it is and be able to question its traditions to broaden the profession, its meanings, and social representation.

Living On the Edge: Why We’re Attracted to Places Where the Manmade Abuts the Natural

William Fulton — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 03:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge as "Living on the Edge."

"As Long as There Are Human Beings and their Challenges, There Will Be Architecture": In Conversation with Ole Bouman

Christele Harrouk — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 07:30:00 +0000

Believing firmly that "architecture is [...] too important to leave solely to architects", Ole Bouman embarked on diverse activities throughout his three decades of work, reflecting on “architecture, not so much as the art or technique of making buildings, but architecture as the intelligent way to organize our lives on earth, and infuse it with purpose”.

"Architecture not Exclusively for Architects": Ole Bouman on Finding Measure

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:30:00 +0000

“We can all be designers” states Ole Bouman, one of the most influential figures in the world of Architecture. Implicated in the contemporary architectural discourse, the founding director of Design Society, in Shenzhen, China has introduced, since the 1990s, many design concepts, founded culture brands, and took on institutional roles all over the world.

The Precarious State of the Mom-and-Pop Store

Philip Langdon — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 03:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The Chase Residence: The History Behind One of Texas' Most Radical Houses

David Heymann — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:30:00 +0000

The following text is excerpted from John S. Chase — The Chase Residence (Tower Books, 2020) by architect and University of Texas professor David Heymann and historian and Rice University lecturer Stephen Fox. Richly illustrated with archival materials and new drawings, the book is the first devoted to Chase, who was the first Black licensed architect in Texas. The study is divided into two parts, with Heymann examining the personal, social, and architectural significance of Chase’s own Houston house and Fox describing Chase’s architectural career.

The Case for a Feeling Architecture

Jacob DiCrescenzo — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 04:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Tech, Class, Cynicism, and Pandemic Real Estate

Leijia Hanrahan — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 03:30:00 +0000

It didn’t take long for the coronavirus pandemic to inspire both cutting-edge architectural design solutions and broad speculation about future developments in the field. Many of the realized innovations have been contracted by or marketed to the real estate sector. But as firms compete to provide pandemic comforts to rich tenants, the COVID-19 technology that directly affects working-class communities is mostly limited to restrictive measures that fail to address already-urgent residential health hazards or administrative conveniences for developers that allow them to circumvent public scrutiny. These changes had been long-planned, but they have found a new license under the pretext of coronavirus precaution. In terms of “corona grifting,” this sort of thing takes the cake.