Latin America's natural landscape is incredibly diverse, featuring everything from majestic mountains to expansive deserts. In this varied geography, many architectural projects are noteworthy for their seamless integration with their surroundings, blending subtly into the landscape. This is accomplished by carefully choosing materials, colors, and shapes that reflect the natural environment.
Mission Bay, San Francisco, once an industrial landscape of warehouses and railroad land, has transformed into the city’s fastest-growing commercial and urban development area. This rapid change, typical of such developments, has led to gentrification, driving up housing prices and making the area unaffordable for many. To address the affordable housing crisis, the Lillian Murphy Housing Complex was built—not just as a place to live, but as a project that redefines the standards for low-income housing. This success was achieved through the collaboration of Paulett Taggart Architects, Studio VARA, and BŌK Modern, demonstrating that functional, intuitive, and high-quality design that strengthens a community is accessible to everyone.
In a recent interview with ArchDaily, Sigurd Larsen, renowned for his innovative architecture practice, reflects on his journey and the evolution of his office. A significant player in shaping contemporary European architecture, Larsen shares insights into his career development, the current profile of his practice, and his approach to various types of projects.
Currently, Larsen's office is known for its diverse range of projects, including residential homes, hotels, and public spaces across Europe. "Our focus is on combining conceptual creativity with practical considerations," Larsen explained. Projects such as landscape hotels and public schools in Germany exemplify this approach, showcasing a blend of innovation and context-sensitive design.
Situated in Hangzhou's Central Business District, the Euro American Innovation City is a mixed-use development designed by Foster+Partners to become a dynamic addition to the city. The 346,450 square-meter project includes two 200-meter-high office towers and four high-rise apartment buildings, complemented by a public plaza, an IT incubator, and a retail mall on the lower levels. Construction is currently progressing in phases, with the first phase nearing completion next month and the second set to finish by year-end, while the entire project aims for completion in September 2025.
Goettsch Partners has just revealed the design for a new tower in Nashville, United States, which is set to become the city’s tallest structure. The building, named “Paramount,” will reach 750 feet across 60 stories, surpassing the current tallest, the 617-foot AT&T Building. Located in downtown Nashville, the Paramount will include 360 apartments, 140 condominiums, a 517-space parking garage, and a 60,000-square-foot expansion to the neighboring Downtown YMCA.
New developments, companies, start-ups in the real estate industry are transforming perceptions and needs around home ownership and rental experiences. In a society where home ownership is attributed to personal success, innovations in the residential rental market seek to enhance the appeal of renting. Evolving consumer needs are resulting in a trend of exclusive, community-focused living models. This shift is redefining how people view their living spaces, interact with their communities, and perceive the value of their homes.
Throughout history, stone has been a vital building material because of its strength, beauty, and inherent appeal. Stone has been used to build long-lasting constructions for ages, from historic monuments to contemporary residences. Because of its resilience, it is suitable for both interior and exterior design projects, providing a diverse array of appearances. There are numerous varieties of stone, each with a distinct texture and color, including marble, granite, and limestone. Because of this diversity, stone may be creatively used by architects and builders to create accents or entire buildings. This curated selection of Unbuilt Architecture, submitted by the ArchDaily community, showcases how stone is still a dependable and adaptable building material that can combine old-world craftsmanship with contemporary style.
Snøhetta has unveiled a vacation home design nestled within the landscape of Hokkaido Island for the Japanese hospitality group NOT A HOTEL. Situated atop the renowned Rusutsu Resort, the project centers itself around Mount Yotei and provides framed views. The 1200 sqm building’s design aims to be minimal, influenced by the surrounding terrain and defined site boundaries.
According to the United Nations (UN), over 1 billion people worldwide live with disabilities, whether physical or intellectual, with 80% residing in Global South countries. Despite advancements in their rights, they still encounter significant barriers and remain among the most marginalized in accessing essential services like healthcare, education, and employment. In this context, architecture is crucial for ensuring safety and spatial independence, enabling their full and effective participation in society.
The Skidmore Owings & Merril (SOM) two-tower development in Downtown Chicago has just started construction. Situated at the intersection of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, the new residential development seeks to redefine Chicago’s skyline. Composed of 635 residential units in its first phase, 20% of which are designated as affordable housing, the scheme also outlines the design of DuSable Park. Phase one of the project has officially commenced, occupying the last undeveloped waterfront parcel in the Streeterville neighborhood.
Metropolitan cityscapes come with the appeal of sophistication, luxury, and exclusivity. Their glittering skylines and vibrant energy attract thousands of tourists and residents seeking luxurious experiences every year. Catering to this market, several renowned brands and real estate firms have teamed up to offer "branded residences" – a modern typology that elevates hotel-like living into a daily delight.
The concept of branded residences can be traced back nearly a century to 1927 when New York City's Sherry-Netherland Hotel and Apartments joined forces with the famous Sherry's restaurant. Over the past decade, the trend has witnessed a 230% growth with over 580 developments from 133 brands equating to nearly 100,000 residential units established worldwide. The drive for this demand goes beyond aesthetics and architectural grandeur. World-class services and amenities such as spas, fitness centers, private cinemas, and concierge services offered by luxury housing developments build on a sense of indulgence.
Beyond being a prefabricated material currently produced in large quantities, the use of concrete blocks in architecture continues to evolve to meet the demands and needs of contemporary societies that are constantly changing. Whether in interior or exterior spaces, their use can align with concepts of circular economy, resource efficiency, sustainability, and more, with the goal of creating habitable spaces while also understanding their constructive advantages and disadvantages, their expressive and aesthetic qualities, and so on.
American architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), in collaboration with Mexico City-based Estudio AMA and interior designer Esrawe Studio, has revealed a new 190-meter-tall mixed-use tower in Guadalajara, Mexico. The new addition, which broke ground on May 24, is slanted to become the tallest building in the Andares Zapopan district of the city, offering residential units, hotel rooms, and various amenities.
Organizing, shaping, stacking. Transforming raw materials from the soil into architecture. This is a challenge that many Latin American architects embrace, demonstrating that scarcity can be daunting but also a rich opportunity to unleash creativity.
The use of materials extracted from the local soil serves a dual purpose. In regions with limited industrialization, using locally sourced materials makes economic sense because industrial materials such as concrete and steel are expensive and often require long-distance transportation, adding to their cost. Environmentally, choosing locally sourced materials from the start of a project reduces transportation needs and carbon emissions, supporting sustainability efforts.
Delving into the realm of unbuilt architectural projects by renowned offices offers a peak into the design principles and ethos of the studios. The curated list of unbuilt projects submitted by established architecture practices has the potential to reveal new perspectives on the socio-cultural and environmental factors shaping contemporary architecture. These designs often respond to complex challenges such as sustainability, urbanization, and cultural preservation, reflecting architects' efforts to navigate and contribute meaningfully to the built environment.
Within this curated selection, one standout project is Rafael Viñoly Architects' Médano El Pinar, marking the late architect's last contribution to the architectural landscape. Other projects such as Aedas' Ellinikon Commercial Hub explore the opportunities of new developments, such as the disused airport transformed into Europe's largest coastal park in the periphery of Athens, while others are highlighting natural landscapes or offering spaces for creative and innovative programs. Featuring internationally recognized offices like SOM, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Gensler, or GAD Architecture, the selection showcases the unrealized concepts and architectural experimentations of renowned offices.
Faced with the various ways of inhabiting that characterize contemporary societies and their adaptability to future uses in architecture, lofts represent an opportunity to design spaces ranging from storage areas to living, study, leisure, or even resting spaces, both for their residents and potential visitors. Depending on their scales, sizes, and proportions, these elevated spaces allow for the optimization of interior environments in apartments that, in some cases, lack sufficient square footage to perform these types of functions at ground level and have a certain height to accommodate them.
New York-based architecture office ODA has unveiled its design for Lorimer House and Copper Lofts, a development comprised of two residential buildings located in East Williamsburg in New York City. The design takes advantage of the triangular shape of the plot, employing rounded corners throughout the building to soften its image and create contextual references to its urban surroundings. Containing a total of 336 residential units, in addition to various amenities, the construction is slated for completion in 2024.
Powerhouse Company, together with Studio Donna van Milligen Bielke & Ard de Vries Architecten, Team V Architecture, Joppe Kusters, and DELVA Landscape Architecture | Urbanism, has won the competition to design a creative urban district in Havenstraat, a well-known fringe area in Amsterdam. Set in a location defined by disused industrial remnants, historic trams, and informal greenery, the area shows its potential in offering space for experimentation, opening itself to local businesses, creatives, and makers to refine its character.
