2022 brought with it what is now known as the triple ‘C’ crises – COVID, Climate, and Conflict, with new environmental challenges, boiling disputes, and an ongoing health emergency, fueling a growing inequality, creating wider gaps, and contributing to more poverty. However, 2022 wasn’t only a year of difficulties, it actually opened up a closed-off world, allowing people to come together through traveling, events, and lesser health restrictions, to reflect on how to build “more resilient, sustainable, and healthy societies” that can survive current and future threats.
Always true to our vision of "empowering everyone who makes architecture happen to create a better quality of life", the 2022 ArchDaily's Best Articles selection highlights a huge spectrum of topics. Tackling past, present, and future, the themes explored ranged from the architecture of the metaverse and AI to history and theory 101, retracing stories, adjusting common misconceptions, and projecting a future that is already here. Moreover, this year, editorials offered more tips and ideas for everyone’s living spaces while also investigating the multidisciplinary aspects of the field, in order to broaden perspectives and present new notions. The very diverse ArchDaily team delved into territories, not commonly portrayed in the media, to tell the architectural story of every typology, community, and movement. Believing in contextuality and locality, inclusiveness, and leaving no one behind, our articles reflected our vision for a better world.
Discover the 30 best articles of 2022, written and developed by ArchDaily editors, across all 5 sites, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese.
From a Necessary Evil to Luxury: The History of Bathrooms in Modern Society
The Building That Moved: How Did They Move an 11,000-Ton Telephone Exchange Without Suspending Its Operations?
A Woman Architect in the Mad Men Era: The Story of Natalie De Blois
Demolished and Rebuilt: The Identity of Architectural Replicas
“A Broken House”: the Collective Struggle of Longing for Home
Is Minimalism Dead?
Architecture Criticism: Cultivating An Understanding of the Practice
Tiny Living in Japan: How to Optimize Tiny Living Spaces
The Veranda: A Disappearing Threshold Space in India
Cabin on the Border: What the Architects Learned from Living in a Tiny House
Placemaking through Play: Designing for Urban Enjoyment
Living Small: Furniture and Accessibility
The AI Image Generator: The Limits of the Algorithm and Human Biases
Democratizing Reality: Designing for VR, AR, and the Metaverse
The Graphic Novel as Architectural Narrative: Berlin and Aya
The Architecture of Virtual Environments: Designing for the Metaverse
Architecture in Animation: Exploring Hayao Miyazaki’s Fictional Worlds
Is There a Future for Open Source Architecture?
Sustainability: The Space Debate
What Is the Environmental Impact of Each Building Material?
Geothermal Energy: Using the Earth to Heat Buildings and Generate Electricity
OSB Panels in Interiors: From a Humble Material to a Design Feature
Strategic Green Spaces: How to Make the Most of their Cooling Effects
Materials to Build India's Identity
What is Net-Zero Architecture? Terms and Design Strategies
Queer Spaces: Why Are They Important in Architecture and the Public Realm?
Culinary Architecture: 16 Projects that Explore Different Kitchen Layouts
12 Chinese Home Remodeling Ideas: Solutions to Housing Problems
Bed Guide: 5 Tips on Choosing the Right Size Mattress
Concrete, Wood, Steel, and Glass: How to Choose the Material of a Staircase?
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Year in Review presented by Randers Tegl.
“When creating unique architecture, visionary ideas aren’t always enough. A unique look demands character, courage, and distinctive materials. And a format to achieve the extraordinary. At Randers Tegl, we aim to add a unique touch to exceptional brickworks by bringing premium bricks to life and into the world of architecture. Making the impossible possible. We are proud to be a part of unique architecture worldwide since 1911.”
Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our ArchDaily topics. As always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
