Created by the Union International des Architects (UIA) in 2005, World Architecture Day is celebrated on the first Monday of October, aiming to highlight and remind the world of the architecture's collective responsibility in designing the world's future cities and settlements. To celebrate, ArchDaily's editors have chosen stories from the year so far that have interested, excited, or inspired them. Read on to see the stories.
Becky Quintal, Head of Content
50 Planning Terms & Concepts All Architects Should Know
We approach architecture at ArchDaily with buoyed optimism. The transformative role that the discipline plays in our lives forms the core of our editorial strategy--to celebrate, acknowledge and champion the diverse ways architects around the world are contributing to the practice. But sometimes, we take a walk on the lighter side of things. For most readers there were no groundbreaking revelations or new terms on this list of planning terms and concepts, but the tongue-in-cheek nature of the writing provided refreshing witt. The article resonated with our readers and became one of the most viewed articles in June.
Eduardo Souza, Editor ArchDaily Brazil
How Acoustic Shells Work (And How to Design Them Effectively)
Acoustic shells have always intrigued me a lot. For me, they can represent a bit of what architecture is; a precise architectural gesture can modify space and can influence people's perceptions. This article explains, in a simplified way, the theory behind the acoustic shells.
Fernanda Castro, Projects Editor
How to Make a Facade with Recycled Materials: 16 Notable Examples
We can’t separate aesthetics in architecture from their function as an instrument and tool to improve the quality of life of the people who will inhabit the projected spaces. Architecture can’t be separated from its social role and the impact it can generate in public policies, especially in terms of sustainability and impact in the environment. United strongly with ArchDaily’s mission, in order to build a better world for the generations of the future we have to consider recycling and reuse of materials we produce and discard. This article collects good examples that show that it’s possible to create good design and recycle at the same time (without neglecting aesthetics and functionality).
Katherine Allen, Managing Editor
What it Means to Build Without Bias: Questioning the Role of Gender in Architecture
It’s easy to think that architecture is a neutral player in our social lives - a setting for action, rather than an active player itself. But architecture defines what is shared and what is closed; who can enter and who must remain outside. So what does it mean to make architecture that is truly open to all? Hannah Rozenberg’s graduation project at the Royal College of Art sought to answer this question. While her work focuses on gender, it’s no stretch to imagine how this thinking could be applied to the range of other invisible social borders we build for each other.
Niall Patrick Walsh, News Editor
50 Instagram Feeds for Architecture Students (And Everybody Else)
There are hundreds of architecture feeds worth a follow for designers at any stage of their career. However, for fresh students of architecture, the vast labyrinth of suggestions, stories, and tags can be overwhelming, distracting, and almost irrelevant. To address this, we compiled a list of 50 Instagram feeds that, although applicable for all designers, are particularly aimed at offering inspiration, support, and references for students finding their feet in the architecture world. It offers a refreshing mix of student work, young exciting firms, and insights into some of the world’s most vibrant university studios.
Romullo Baratto, Editor ArchDaily Brazil
The Cartographies of the Brazilian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2018
Among many architectural biennials and festivals around the world, one remains the most influential: the Venice Architecture Biennale. However, as important as it actually is, its priceless content remains exclusive to those who can afford to visit the venues or, at least, acquire its catalog. For the first time since we started covering the event, we managed to publish all (yes, all!) of the content produced by a national participant - the Brazilian Pavilion. Divided into two pieces (first and second), all texts, maps, plants and images presented in Venice by the exhibition entitled Walls of Air, are now available on ArchDaily for readers all over the world.
Monica Arellano, Editor ArchDaily Mexico
What It’s Like to be an Architect who Doesn’t Design Buildings
The architecture that is currently produced increasingly extends its limits recognizing itself in other disciplines that complement and enrich it. At ArchDaily, we consider it very important to recognize these points of intersection in which different actors join efforts to accept that architecture goes beyond designing buildings. Architecture is made up of the events that happen in spaces, of the choreographies that occur within the frame of the walls. Beyond being a material object, architecture is all of the manifestations and debates of which it is a participant.
María González, Projects Editor
10 Tiny Apartments Under 38 Square Meters and Their Axonometric Drawings
At ArchDaily we understand that drawing is the way in which architects express and communicate their ideas. This article shows the benefits of axonometric as a graphic representation system when it comes to understanding projects in their three dimensions; tall, wide and long. The article attracted the attention of readers due to the diversity of solutions proposed to develop departments of less than 38 m2, delivering ideas and tools for the design of minimal spaces that will be increasingly relevant for the future of our cities.
José Tomás Franco, Materials Editor
Concrete Blocks in Architecture: How to Build With This Modular and Low-Cost Material
At ArchDaily we are aware that what we publish is only a small part of everything that is built around the world, with or without the architects' expertise. Although there is a wide variety of materials and new technologies that evolve excessively fast, the cheapest and simplest materials will continue to lead the construction of our homes, buildings, and cities. Associated with social housing and the poorest neighborhoods, the concrete block is one of the most used materials in the world; in this article we seek to reveal its beauty, and the enormous design possibilities it can offer.
Fabián Dejtiar, ArchDaily en Español Editor
"To every age its art. To every art its freedom." announced the Viennese secession. And to each place its architecture? Every day we are more aware of local processes in architecture. Not only does this allow us to get more involved with the daily life and identity of our readers around the world, it also allows us to connect more deeply with them, and with their differences and particularities.
Nicolás Valencia, ArchDaily en Español Editor
Sometimes it seems history turns on itself: the putuco is a type of Peruvian, ancestral construction and a worthy example of sustainable architecture. Built with earth blocks in a simple, but sacred, execution process, the putucos serve as houses, kitchens, or even cellars, completely adapted to their environment. They don't pollute, offer a high thermal comfort and are built with environmentally-optimized materials.
Danae Santibáñez Valencia, LATAM Projects Editor
Lately I've been a fan of brick architecture developed in Paraguay by architects like José Cubilla, Javier Corvalán, - = + x-, Equipo de Arquitectura, Grupo Culata Jovai, tda, among others. They have managed to design sensible, efficient and functional architecture while rescuing a noble material: the humble brick.
Diego Hernández, Projects Production Editor
Winners of the 2018 Building of the Year Awards
I like to see the Building of the Year award as the most democratic prize in the architecture world, where readers vote for their favorite works of the year in 15 different categories. In 10 years of existence, our readers have awarded "surprise" projects that have regularly been excluded from international architecture awards and this gives them the chance to the world know them. This year this was exemplified in the awarding of Aleph Zero + Rosenbaum's 'Children's Village' and Emergency Architecture & Human Rights' '100 Classrooms for Refugees Children'. Both educational projects demonstrate with simplicity how to make a radical change in isolated areas.
