Just like SketchUp, Chaos' V-Ray 5 for SketchUp has been built from the ground up to keep things as easy as possible.

For many, schools and kindergartens represent the first contact with public architecture. They, together with every educational facility, serve as the foundation for learning and knowledge dissemination, playing an important role in shaping the formative years of children and young adults. In consequence, these buildings need to respond to the needs of different age groups, while creating functional and flexible spaces for learning, but also for play and unstructured interaction. Light and ventilation needs contribute to the complexity of these architectural programs. However, designing educational facilities presents opportunities for innovation and creative expression, as they are required to adapt continuously to the changing needs of students and faculty while creating a conductive environment for learning.

This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights designs submitted by the ArchDaily community dedicated to cultural institutions. From a learning center created to offer the girls in Mozambique an equal opportunity to learn, play and connect, to a naval station redesigned as a research center on the coast of Puerto Rico, this selection features projects created to encourage learning, curiosity, and the exchange of knowledge and expertise. The article includes designs from both established and emerging architectural practices, including Moore Ruble Yudell, C+S ARCHITECTS led by Carlo Cappai and Maria Alessandra Segantini, Hello Wood, and snkh studio.

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This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights visionary homes by the ArchDaily community. From a prefabricated house to supporting Ukraine war victims, a modular multi-story house highlighted during the Dutch Design Week, and a villa "shaped" by the Dubai coastline wind flow, this round-up of unbuilt projects showcases how architects move forward from the conventional residence concept to project alternative habitational standards in responding to harsh environments, nature, and technology.

Featuring firms like architecten van Mourik, Archigardener, DKTV, Exint, Kalbod Design Studio, Lana Alk habbaz studio, Mitchell Designs Architecture, Mossawi Studios LLC, Void, and Team Group, the following list explores homes at different scales and varying stages of their development. Whether competition-winning projects or ongoing planned execution, each project develop a vision of living generated by unique site conditions and technical possibilities.

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From October 2022 through January 2, 2023, The Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Safdie Architects will display the most groundbreaking unbuilt projects by Moshe Safdie. With Intention to Build showcases the architect's creative process throughout the 55 years of his career, including models, drawings, and various texts and photographs. The exhibition provides context and tells the story behind these radical unrealized designs that have influenced projects such as Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada, and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

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A square as a ludic space for children to freely explore – this was the idea behind the project for the Children Square Iguatemi, which will be built shortly on a site of 900 m², in the midst of a residential area.

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Designing residential projects has become nothing short of a challenge. Whether it being for the housing crisis and its repercussions, the heightened environmental awareness, or the fact that people are spending more time inside their dwellings, architects are now focused on building projects that look beyond the typical house and that provide answers to questions like: how can architects offer residents privacy and comfort while maintaining a connection with the outdoors? And how can these spaces cater to the spatial and functional needs of all family members, especially when the lines between work, play, and rest are blurred? 

From a Matrix-inspired housing compound in Saudi Arabia to the world's first steel 3D printed structure of modular houses in Sardinia, this round up of unbuilt apartments showcases how architects have reimagined the traditional residential typology, and looked into how these structures can cater to their users, the site, and the environment. This round up also includes projects from the Netherlands, Siberia, Sweden, and Italy.

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ODA, the New York-based architecture office, has recently unveiled its design for Paseo Gigena, a former parking lot that will be transformed into a mixed-use project and a public park in Buenos Aires. Around the same time, ODA has also announced the beginning of the construction phase of its first residential venture in the same city: The ZETA building.

Located in the Belgrano neighborhood, next to the modern structure of the University of Belgrano and facing the historic mansion that houses the Australian Embassy, the 126-unit project seeks to "reimagine the language of residential buildings in Buenos Aires", according to the architects.

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OMA New York has designed a new 145-meter pedestrian bridge over the Apatlaco River in Jojutla de Juárez, Mexico, as part of a larger reconstruction effort by Infonavit (National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute) following the 2017 earthquakes.

The old structure called Playa Gigena, in honor of the equestrian of the same name, located between the hippodrome and the Rosedal de Palermo in Buenos Aires, will now be converted by ODA into a Class A office building and a public park including cafes, restaurants, shops, and a covered parking lot. The partial demolition of the old parking lot has begun on June 28th.

Designed by the American architecture office ODA, the next Paseo Gigena will be the firm's first mixed-use project in the city of Buenos Aires city. The team involved in the process also includes the participation of Aisenson studio, Inscape Landscape, Coinsa, and the developer BSD Investments, to which the government has granted the concession of the property known as Ámbito Gigena, for a period of 15 years.

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This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights commercial projects submitted by established firms. From art museums to offices, this article explores cultural functions and commercial spaces, and presents projects submitted to us from all over the world.

Featuring a reception center that merges the cultures of China and Italy by aoe architects, and a post-pandemic office building by NBBJ, this roundup explores how established architecture firms have designed buildings that optimize the functions of projects and ensure the comfort of their users. This round up also includes a collection of proposals from KPF Architects, Nordic Office of Architecture, AFF Architekten, along with many other firms, each responding to different spatial needs, facilities, and environments.

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As Africa's cities grow, architects and urban planners in charge of development must face the challenges brought on by a lack of infrastructure. 

Ennead Architects has unveiled details of the Zhangjiang Science City, representing a conscious shift in the planning and design of large-scale urban blocks in Shanghai towards a human-scaled design that integrates a wide range of programs. Responding to a masterplan mandate, the scheme creates an open campus designed to foster a holistic built environment with a focus on providing a balance of living, work, and play spaces.

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Sasaki has released details of their Wuhu Urban Renewal project in China, spanning 67 hectares on the banks of the Yangtze River. The scheme centers on distinctive colonial buildings scattered throughout the city’s urban fabric, such as the Customs House, British Consulate, and St. Joseph’s Cathedral.

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Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center is relocating to a new building in the downtown area, designed by Rand Elliott Architects, a native firm of the city. This exhibition and educational center, originally a community-oriented arts center founded in 1989, will be open to everyone and free of charge, in order to facilitate the public access for art and education.

Herzog & De Meuron presented this week to the public their new vision for the cityscape and the urban life of Munich. The plan revolves around a former postal railway hub, the Paketposthalle, an impressive concrete structure built in the 60’s, used lately as a sorting office for general mail. The 87,000 square meters site was recently acquired by Büschl, a private group of developers, who commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to create a new urban study for the area.

Andres Jacque / Office for Political Innovation has released their design for the Reggio School in Encinar de los Reyes, Madrid. Promoted by the Reggio Center for Pedagogical Research and Innovation, the project is based on the idea that architectural environments can evoke in children the desire for exploration and inquiry.

Bee Breeders has announced the winners of the Abu Dhabi Flamingo Observation Tower competition. Situated in the Al Wathba Reserve, 40 kilometers southeast of Abu Dhabi, the competition site oversees five square kilometers of wetlands, salt flats, and fossilized sands and dunes.

EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture has revealed their design for Alcantara Gardens in Lisbon, Portugal. The 23,000-square-meter scheme contains residential, apartments, office spaces, and public amenities behind facades inspired by vernacular design.

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Superspace has designed a system of energy-harvesting balloons for Abu Dhabi. The project, titled “solarCLOUD” formed part of the LandArt generator competition and is intended as the city portal of Masdar City. The system consists of a group of solar balloons woven with solar fabric, creating a shaded park during the day while tracking and harvesting solar energy. At night, the system settles down to become a kinetic light art show.

WilkinsonEyre has gained planning permission for a major biodome complex in the Reykjavik region of Iceland, designed in collaboration with a local design team. The Aldin Biodomes consist of a Main Nature Dome and Tropical Dome, showcasing exotic plants from environments around the world, and the Farm Lab; an educational environment for local food production.