Providing an end-to-end design and construction framework for creating low-carbon workplaces, Canoa is a design tool with an embedded marketplace that aims to reduce the environmental impact of commercial interiors. Operating under the circular economy principles, Canoa seeks to keep goods in use for as long as possible, design out waste, and help preserve natural resources while supporting businesses, designers, and suppliers in carrying out commercial retrofits.
Selected as one of Archdaily's Best New Practices of 2021, Canoa is a New-York based start-up founded in 2019 by designer and entrepreneur Federico Negro, with the purpose of delivering environmentally conscious working environments for a wide range of businesses. Canoa is a business-to-business marketplace for low-carbon office products, ranging from furniture to lighting and accessories. The company focuses on providing conscious, durable furniture and prefabricated units with traceable materials and manufacturing that can be easily moved and reused.
Australian architecture firm Angelo Candalepas and Associates has been selected by the Victorian Government and the National Gallery of Victoria to design NGV Contemporary, Australia’s largest gallery dedicated to contemporary art and design. The 30,000 sqm Victorian landmark will feature dramatic arched entries, a 40-metres-high spherical hall, more than 13,000 sqm of exhibition galleries, and an expansive rooftop terrace and sculpture garden overlooking Melbourne.
MVRDV, together with Spanish practice GRAS Reynés Arquitectos, is transforming the iconic El Terreno neighbourhood in Palma, Mallorca, into a vibrant residential area, through renovations and new additions. After decades of decline, a series of neighbouring plots in Plaza Gomila are to be redeveloped through a public-private venture, with the aim of restoring the essence of the bohemian neighbourhood. Each executed in a different colour and material, the seven diverse buildings form a recognisable district with a variety of typologies.
Cozinha Americana, 1946. Autor: Harris & Ewing, fotógrafo. N STREET, KITCHEN. [Entre 1905 e 1945] Fotografia. Recuperado da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA [www.loc.gov/item/2016861773/]. Imagem em Domínio Público [PD US Government]. Image via Wikimedia Commons
The discovery of fire was one of the great events that changed the social organization of human agglomerations, which gradually passed from nomadic to sedentary lifestyle. Fire, which in that context served to keep people warm and protect the group, was also being explored as a source for cooking food, which not only changed human eating habits, but also made it possible to conserve food, changing the social organization of communities. The preparation and meals were collective acts, which brought people together to feed, warm up and protect themselves. It is from this habit that we inherited the practice of large banquets and the appreciation of food and meal times. Food preparation, on the other hand, was gradually marginalized.
While the Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks and Romans shared the habit of holding large banquets, the preparation gained less and less prestige, losing its collective social dimension until it was physically segregated in a specific room: the kitchen.
What, exactly, is the point of architecture criticism? The word “criticism” is derived from the Greek term krinein, meaning to separate, to sift, to make distinctions, to discern, to examine, or to judge. According to Wayne Attoe, an architect and educator who writes about architecture criticism in his book Architecture and Critical Imagination (now sadly out of print), this does not necessarily mean to disapprove of, or to find fault with. It can be favorable or unfavorable; it can praise or condemn.
https://www.archdaily.com/978701/whats-the-point-of-architecture-criticismMichael J. Crosbie
Bjarke Ingels Group has unveiled the design of a new Neuroscience Center building that will bring together psychiatry and neuroscience under one roof, combining research and treatment of physical and mental brain diseases, spinal cord, and nervous systems. The 20,000 sqm facility, which will be a part of the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, translates the "gyrification of the human brain" in a spatially-efficient structure that creates synergies between the different disciplines within the hospital.
Construction is underway for OMA’s Simone-Veil Bridge in Bordeaux, with the first elements of the metal framework installed on the right bank of the Garonne river. Spanning 548 metres, the sixth bridge across the Garonne will connect the municipalities Floirac and Bègles and provide the city with a new public space, thus framing the bridge as a contemporary boulevard. Designed as a continuous surface extended to landscaped public spaces on each bank, the 44-metre bridge will accommodate cars, public transport, bicycles, with the largest surface dedicated to pedestrians. When completed, the project will become the first bridge in OMA’s body of work.
March is the month in which St Patrick's Day is celebrated, a tribute to the patron saint of Ireland who died on March 17, 461. In addition to the religious celebration, St Patrick's Day is marked by great parties in the streets, bars and pubs of English colonized countries such as Canada, the United States and, of course, the Republic of Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland is located on the Island of Ireland, northwest of Continental Europe and borders Northern Ireland, one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom, from which it gained independence at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1919, after an intense conflict. Since the War of Independence, the country has struggled to value and recognize its local culture, including its architecture, whether historical or contemporary. Get to know a little more about the country's architecture through the work of the seven contemporary practices gathered below.
Around the two-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little that looks the same as it did in March 2020, whether it’s how we work, how we study, or even how we move about our own homes. Many titles in this selection of spring architecture and design book releases show just how authors and design professionals are grappling with the major changes of our time. Volumes such as Debbie Millman’s Why Design Matters and Paola Antonelli’s Design Emergency share the diverse viewpoints and design solutions of some of the world’s leading creative voices; Otto von Busch’s Making Trouble and Max Holleran’s Yes to the City evaluate forms of DIY and housing activism; and Stephen Vider’s Queerness of Home and Suchi Reddy’s Form Follows Feeling tap into a more empathetic, human-centered approach to space. All of them, in some way, look at the past as a way to see clearly into the future of the built environment.
African architecture has received deserved international attention in the last decade and one of the main responsible for this is, undoubtedly, Diébédo Francis Kéré, 2022 Pritzker Prize Winner. Born in Gando, Burkina Faso, Kéré graduated in architecture at the Technische Universität Berlin, in Germany. Today, he maintains branches of his firm, Kéré Architecture, in both countries, through which he seeks to develop works in the "intersection of utopia and pragmatism", exploring the border between Western architecture and local practice.
Known for involving community in the construction process of its buildings, Kéré and his office have developed works that go beyond the conventional limits of architecture and touch on themes such as local economy, migration, culture and equity. We had the pleasure and privilege of talking with the architect about some of his projects and his broader vision on architecture. Read the full interview below.
David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and Arup have unveiled the design of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games arena. The structure will sit in the core of Milano Santa Giulia, a new urban district currently under redevelopment in the south-east of Milan. The new arena will house sports and cultural events with up to 16,000 visitors, and offer individuals of all demographics a vast outdoor area that promotes social gatherings and recreational activities.
BIG revealed the design for a treetop hotel room wrapped in 350 bird houses created for the Treehotel in Lapland, Sweden. Designed in collaboration with ornithologist Ulf Ohman, the 34 square-metre Biosphere room seeks to enhance the surrounding biosphere by providing a habitat for local birds while allowing guests to be immersed in the surrounding forest. The project is the latest addition to the hotel's series of individually designed rooms created by some of Scandinavia's most renowned architects, such as Snøhetta, Rintala Eggerstsson, and Tham & Videgard.
In different parts of the world, women are transforming cities and taking up spaces in urban planning and management as never before. Paris, Barcelona and Rome, for example, in addition to being cities where almost anyone would like to live, are now cities managed by women for the first time in their history, all in their second term. Major changes and currently celebrated plans, such as the “15-minute city” in Paris, the opening of Times Square to the people in New York, and the urban digitization of Barcelona as a smart city, were led by women.
Bohem Project by Team Group. Image Courtesy of Team Group
This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights private residential projects submitted by the ArchDaily community. From a residential quarter comprising eight urban villas, to private getaways in the suburbs of Hyderabad, India, this round up of unbuilt projects showcases how architects design private spaces that combine locality and functionality in structures that cater to the residents’ lifestyles and behaviors. The article also includes projects from Iran, the United States, Thailand, and Greece.
Almost no one buys an automobile for its stated price with cash on hand, so those looking to buy a car look to what the cost will be each month to own their automobile. Homes are our deepest investment, and most homeowners are equally as proud of their home as they are of their car and are terrified of its cost. So it is not surprising that “Net Zero” homes use the same sales tactic, proving their value by promising no monthly energy bills.
Diébédo Francis Kéré founded his architecture practice Kéré Architecture, in Berlin, Germany in 2005, after a journey in which he started advocating for the building of quality educational architecture in his home country of Burkina Faso. Deprived of proper classrooms and learning conditions as a child, and having faced the same reality as the majority of children in his country, his first works aimed at bringing tangible solutions to the issues faced by the community.
“Through buildings that demonstrate beauty, modesty, boldness, and invention, and by the integrity of his architecture and geste, Kéré gracefully upholds the mission of this Prize,” explains the official statement of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Announced today by Tom Pritzker, Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, Francis Kéré is the 51st winner of the award founded in 1979, succeeding Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal. Praised “for the gifts he has created through his work, gifts that go beyond the realm of the architecture discipline”, the acclaimed architect is present equally in Burkina Faso and Germany, professionally and personally.
Among the many difficulties that the construction industry currently faces, confronting the climate emergency continues to be one of the main challenges. In fact, considering that the sector is responsible for around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, aiming towards net-zero, carbon-neutral architecture should and must be the top priority. Although there is a long way to go for most buildings to cancel out the amount of carbon dioxide they produce, the concept is quickly gaining traction and will certainly become the new norm as we look into the not-too-distant future. As a result, the following question arises: how can architects, designers and other actors involved in the industry contribute to sustainable design and net-zero architecture?