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Exterior doors provide a sense of security and define first impressions, which is beautifully demonstrated in the pivot door presented above (designed and crafted in Europe by Air-Lux). On the other hand, inside of a house, interior doors are capable of generating privacy, buffering noise, separating rooms and enhancing a room’s architecture. Therefore, in order to fulfill these needs – and considering that they are used multiple times a day – interior doors must be durable and timeless without sacrificing beauty and style. Among all the options that meet these criteria, pivot doors stand out because of their elegant movement, aesthetics and versatility. With a sleek contemporary design that exceeds the regular function of a traditional door, these swinging doors rotate on a vertical axis with nearly invisible hardware, taking on any type of décor, use and measurement with endless creative possibilities.

We are all experienced and we have all done it! I am referring to one's reaction to less than good lighting of course. Think about it.

We have all experienced architectural spaces wherein something about the lighting is not quite right. It could be any of the following issues, to name a few: appearance, color quality, controllability, emphasis or lack thereof, flicker, harshness of shadows, lack of shadows, illumination levels on horizontal and/or vertical surfaces, luminaire placement, proportions, and/or scale. Any of these issues can be perceived as bad lighting.

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A new place for design - State of Address (SOFA) - is a world-first design community on the blockchain, shifting how design and architecture is made, owned and collected.

Founded by four Melbourne entrepreneurs - Chris Stribley, Domenic Cerantonio, AJ Batra and Anmol Sekhon - SOFA uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to turn products of architecture and design into tokenized and investable assets that are unique, scarce, and transferable. All of which provide a plethora of digital and physical utility and have the potential to be on-sold for longer term gain. 

Offsite construction is a fast-growing sector within the global building construction industry. With that growth, many challenges lie ahead for all parties involved, especially architects, who have traditionally remained at arm’s length to the means and methods of construction. Cost challenges have led many firms to want to learn more about optimizing for offsite delivery methods. To help speed up industry transformation, a cooperative and open-source initiative led by the Quebec Wood Export Bureau has been developing a suite of nonprofit and collaborative tools for architects. At www.offsitewood.org, they offer a free Revit plugin, detailed content packs, and a BIM-integrated early-phase embodied carbon estimator called Carbon Fixers.

Real-time visualization is used to generate renderings with excellent visual quality from a BIM or CAD model. When integrated into your design workflow, it can also facilitate collaboration and allows all parties within an architectural project to engage throughout the design process.

Here are five ways in which integrating real-time visualization can provide a complete understanding of design at various project stages. 

Affordable housing has become an increasingly dire global issue. Be it rent or homeownership, the unaffordability of homes has been on the rise. A look at U.S. Census data illustrates a sharp decline in homeownership in recent decades. Although Millennials were the most populous generation by 2019, they only contributed to homeownership at a rate of 47.9%. Contrastingly, Gen-X’s homeownership rate stood at 69%, following the silent generation at 77.8%. Trends of generational decline in homeownership are mirrored in other parts of the world, such as in the U.K. where rates have steadily dropped from 71% in 2003 to 64% by 2018. Many experts point to affordability as a large reason for this decline.

As cities become denser and the pandemic continues to shape living and working patterns, people have become well aware that the space they inhabit greatly influences their physical and mental well-being. As a result, the interior design of homes has focused on promoting sensitivity, comfort and calmness as a way of escaping the uncertain outside world. As a safe space where we practically start and end each day, the modern bathroom has also adapted accordingly, taking on a key role as an environment dedicated to relaxation and self-care. Hence, what used to be a purely functional zone is now perceived as an energizing personal retreat and flexible living space that can even adopt other functions – from a gym to a private spa.

It is fascinating to think how Scandinavia - such a small geographic region - has had such a strong influence on design, starting in the middle of the 20th century and continuing into the present day, globally. Scandinavian design is known for combining simplicity, craftsmanship, elegant functionality and quality materials. Sophistication is present in its details and its furniture is characterized by well-studied dimensions, economy of materials and the lack of information overload. In fact, there is even a Danish and Swedish term that defines this philosophy: “hygge” refers to the coziness that provides a feeling of well being and contentment. But how can we incorporate some lessons from Scandinavian design so that our interior projects can become more cozy and comfortable?

With more than 100 categories, the A' Design Award and Competition is the most important design competition in the world. It rewards the best designs, design concepts, products, and services, whether at the concept stage, prototype, or as finished products. By highlighting and promoting good design, the A' Design Award not only gives tremendous visibility to winning projects but at the same time supports global design culture, creating incentives for entrants to submit superior designs for a better future.

The deadline for submission is February 28, 2022 and the results will be announced to the public on May 1. Register, nominate, or submit your design here, and find more information below.

For many design teams, logging into multiple applications a day to access BIM information is the norm. Yet the information contained in each of these applications tends to be siloed, making it difficult for project teams to make informed decisions, collaborate, and share information.

In a building industry where topics such as quality and sustainability are high on the agenda amongst the leading players, the contract team at BoConcept London is gaining traction.

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The outer layer of surfaces and buildings is the interface with the world and communicates much of its appearance, characteristics, and conditions. There are times that, whether due to budget constraints, difficulties, or lack of time, we need to look for quick and easy-to-install solutions. 3M™ DI-NOC™ Architectural Finishes are adhesive decorative films that offer a sustainable, cost-efficient option for refurbishing surfaces, providing less landfill waste, minimal downtime, noise, and dust for use on casework, doors, columns and internals walls. There is also a version for exterior solutions, the 3M™ DI-NOC™ Architectural Finishes Exterior EX Series product line. The finishes can be applied directly over existing façade material, providing high design along with other features. Below we will explore two examples that will highlight the possibilities with 3M surface finishes.

With V-Ray 5 for SketchUp, Update 2, Chaos has introduced intelligent new tools that make it easy for architects and arch-viz artists to create incredible renders. You can make use of the free models and materials provided in Chaos Cosmos, customize surfaces with V-Ray Decal, and tune your render with LightMix and post-processing.

In this tutorial, V-Ray Product Specialist Ricardo Ortiz uses an interior scene to demonstrate how these powerful new additions can accelerate your creative processes and add extra details for exceptional photorealism.

How many times have you heard the old claim that “Email is dead”? Surely, more than once. To the surprise of many, and despite the rise of new messaging tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams during the pandemic, Email remains by far the most widely used communication tool in many businesses. Every day, more than 300 billion emails are sent and received globally, and employees spend an average of 5 hours checking their online correspondence. This trend is only expected to rise in the upcoming years, especially within project and client-based industries – like architecture, engineering and construction – that heavily rely on this means of communication.

However, its consolidated use doesn’t always equal efficiency, particularly in companies that don’t set up the necessary internal processes to file emails in a central space. With the silent threat of poor mail management, many architecture firms and other businesses must face unnecessary risks, time and productivity costs, and increased stress among workers.

With the increase of extreme weather events due to climate change, sustainable architecture is only becoming more important. After all, to mitigate the impact of climate change, the International Energy Agency has recommended that industries aim for a net-zero energy system. For the construction sector, that means working to mitigate 11.4 Gt of CO2 emissions.

To help, architects should ensure their specifications are sustainable. External membranes, for instance, are often a go-to waterproofing method, but they come with many risks, including the tendency to fail frequently, and they are not environmentally friendly. In short, a better alternative is necessary.

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Bringing the latest contemporary furniture from Milan Design Week straight to Shanghai, B&B Italia curated the setting at Villa 17 in Amanyangyun, an impressive Chinese antique architecture.

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Among the many factors that can impact the character, style, and functionality of a living space, doors are certainly important in setting the tone. Besides their decorative function, they protect rooms from weather and noise, delimit spaces, define circulations, and provide privacy. As recent design trends continue to move towards clean, modern lines, the pivot door has never been more in style – being applied not only in main entrances, but also appearing more frequently in interior design. Apart from being bigger, heavier, and offering a dramatic contemporary look, pivot doors allow for a beautiful, elegant movement with nearly invisible hardware that rotates on a vertical axis, setting them apart from regular hinged doors.

This article was written by Julia Mingorance, Senior Workplace Consultant at CBRE and alumn from the Master in Strategic Interior Design at IE School of Architecture and Design.

More than 500 days ago, our whole world was turned upside down and our way of life changed overnight. We were forced to stay at home and work away from the physical office, in a purely virtual collaboration.  In general, companies were surprised to maintain the same levels of productivity and results during these months—many even predicted the end of the office. As the health situation has started improving, a lot of companies have returned to the office, experimenting with different flexible models combining remote work and in-office days. The normalization of remote work means that many organizations see it as an opportunity to reduce office space and therefore, save costs.

The classic concept of estimating m2 for an office is being challenged completely. New variables are appearing in the equation and these are increasing uncertainty about just how much office space is needed.