Materials & ProductsExclusive Articles, from ArchDaily

Blending in with its urban context or standing out to draw attention, a façade tells a building’s story. It is an expressive medium through which we engage with architecture, defining first impressions and setting the tone for the interior by experimenting with transparency, movement, texture and color, among other aesthetic possibilities. Of course, the envelope also plays a crucial functional role, acting as a protective barrier against extreme weather conditions and directly impacting light transmittance, energy efficiency and acoustic comfort. Architects therefore face an important challenge: to achieve a balance between an attractive look and performance. To do so, it is pivotal to specify the right materials during the design stage.

From smartphones to space rockets and self-driving cars, the power of technology in this modern digital era is enormous (and practically limitless). It has impacted every aspect of our lives and will continue to open up endless possibilities that today we cannot even begin to fathom. When applied in a socially and environmentally responsible way, technology has the power to enhance productivity, communication and sustainability, enabling global communities to function efficiently, addressing people’s everyday needs and improving their quality of life. Simply put, good technology serves humanity. And just as the healthcare or manufacturing industries have taken advantage of this, the architecture, design and construction world cannot fall behind.

Square shapes convey a sense of reliability and safety, while triangles represent stability, balance and movement. Circular forms, in turn, tend to be more "friendly", as they encompass all other shapes. This is known as the psychology of shapes, a science that studies the influence of shapes on people and their meaning and effects on our minds. In fact, geometric shapes are almost naturally familiar to us, even if we have no formal studies or mathematical references specific to them, as this study showed. In architecture, basic geometric shapes are also widely explored through playing with volumes, subtractions and intersections in floorplans and façades. The shapes may also appear in their truest forms, in interior elements and accessories. This is the case of AXOR Universal Accessories, which comprises three product lines, each representing a basic shape: rectangular, round and with rounded corners, reinterpreted into bathroom accessory products.

Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich’s German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition is known as the most written-about modern building. But no matter how many times the pavilion is redrawn for analysis, there are always new angles from which to interpret it. Identifying its capacity to redefine the German image, while genuinely introducing new strategies that continue present in contemporary architecture projects are two key elements of the architects’ intentions behind their design strategy.

Dimensions, textures and colors are not the only factors to consider when designing a space. Choosing the right lighting also rises as a key strategy to create a project’s atmosphere. Appropriate lighting adds new aspects to space. Within the same project, different ways of applying light develops diverse situations, playing with light and shade, warmness and coldness, as well as depth and height.

Material researchers and Ph.D. students at Imperial College London, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks have won the 2022 OBEL AWARD for Seratech, a solution for carbon-neutral concrete. With a special focus this year on “embodied emissions”, the OBEL AWARD jury selected scientists to obtain the architecture award to “encourage innovative cross-disciplinary solutions to the challenges of climate change”.

How does school design influence the process of teaching and learning? Understanding current educational design trends and methodologies is key to designing healthy spaces for students to develop their social and academic capacities.

In the architectural conversations we are having in today’s world, conversations on materials are widespread. There is discussion on the viability of concrete in the contemporary context, how timber can be more sustainably sourced, and on how biodegradable materials such as bamboo should be more common sights in our urban environments.

Wooden elements have the power to add warmth to a space or building. Through their shades, textures and rustic look, wooden surfaces tend to stand out, especially when used alongside more neutral and sober materials. In the Aldapeta María Ikastetxea School, a project developed by IDOM in the city of San Sebastian, Spain, the architects used the material in a particularly interesting way. Wood panels brought visual comfort and warmth to the building, whose material palette is limited, focusing especially on the use of glass, steel and exposed concrete.

Inspired by the warm tones of harvested crops, Wild Wonder was selected as Color of the Year 2023 by AkzoNobel. Extensive research conducted by AkzoNobel, including color experts and international design professionals, identified the "Wonders of the Natural" swatch at the heart of global social and design. This trend is inspired by nature as people are re-evaluating their relationship with the environment as the source of everything in their lives. # d0c599, or pale yellow/ olive green, captures the moment's mood and conveys serenity and positivity after these recent years of uncertainty and despair.

The relationship between architecture and nature is complex. If, on the one hand, we enjoy framing nature as art in our homes; on the other hand, we try at all costs to avoid the presence of obstructive "real" nature in our walls and structures, which can be damaged by roots and leaves. At the same time, we use green roofs, vertical gardens and flower boxes to bring cities closer to nature and improve people's wellbeing; but we also construct buildings with materials that are completely dissociated from fauna and flora. Although the advancement of biomaterials and new technologies is gradually changing this, we should nevertheless ask ourselves whether the structures and buildings we occupy need to be separated from the nature that surrounds them. This was the question that led researchers at the University of Virginia (UVA) to develop geometrically complex 3D-printed soil structures on which plants could grow freely.

Interior courtyards can be found in various types of traditional architectures around the world, especially in warmer climates. They can be classified as introverted, safe, and even sacred spaces in some cultures. They can also be gathering places and, above all, provide greater contact with nature while providing light and ventilation to home interiors. To properly design these spaces and create a functional relationship between the inside of a house and its courtyard, it is important to use appropriate doors and openings. In this article we highlight 5 projects that use sliding glass doors for the seamless integration of both spaces.

“We should admit nature as an immense multitude of forms, including each part of us, who are part of everything”, says Ailton Krenak, renowned indigenous leader, in his book Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. The culture of native peoples does not understand humanity and the environment as things that are separate or superior to each other, but rather as parts of a whole. Through this particular understanding of the universe, these peoples are led to a sensitive appropriation of the territory, with structuring beliefs that are also reflected in their architecture, raising the very concept of sustainability to another level, since nature is not seen as a resource to be used, it is thought of as part of the community.

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It is expected that by 2050, the rapid depletion of raw materials will leave the world without enough sand and steel to build concrete. On the other hand, the cost of building continues to soar, with an increase between 5% and 11% from last year. And with respect to its impact on the environment, the construction industry still accounts for 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes. Evidently, the construction industry, the environment, and the human race are facing several challenges that are influenced by one another, but it is the human being who is at the greatest disadvantage.

Flexibility within a space emerges as an architectural concept that follows society’s transformations. As the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Architecture is life, or at least as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.” In that sense, changing a kitchen’s layout goes further than its aesthetic adjustments; it reflects the way people are living. Opening the traditional closed kitchen creates a more flexible space in which different activities share a visual connection without structural barriers.