Culture reflected in a material. Portuguese tiles narrate historical themes, from the religious to the profane. They shape the Portuguese landscape and scenery when covering buildings, interiors and public spaces. In this way, its expression continues in constant change and adaptation to weave the Moorish ancestry with contemporaneity.
After the interruption of the 2019 edition due to the Social crisis in Chile, the Chilean Architecture Biennial returned to Santiago in January 2023 under the theme of 'Vulnerable Habitats', addressing issues such as "the emergence of the housing deficit in a context in which slums, informality, and illegal land takeovers have increased in recent years" and "the vulnerability and deterioration of public spaces; the urgent protection of tangible heritage; and environmental vulnerability in a context of a climate crisis."
Over the last few years, we have explored different ways of taking advantage of small spaces in residential architecture. From efficient furniture to kitchens with transformable systems to adapting essential household appliances, architects have begun looking for effective ways of optimizing scarce floor space or making spaces more flexible in multifunctional and mixed-use typologies.
The bed, as an indispensable element, is an essential consideration in these experiments. Its functions can be fulfilled without completely losing the valuable space it occupies, and the bedroom experience can be enriched with careful thought. How can we reinvent and take advantage of the opportunities of the traditional bed?
As we successfully launched our 14th Building of the Year Awards earlier this year, we want to thank you for being part of our community for over 10 years. Together we have been growing and contributing to the architectural scene, aiming for a better world. Now, we are proud to announce the 7th edition of The ArchDaily Building of the Year China, celebrating the best architecture in China, as chosen by you, the reader.
By nominating and voting, you form part of an interdependent, impartial, distributed network of jurors and peers that has consistently helped us celebrate architecture of every scale, purpose, and condition, and architects of all profiles. Over the coming weeks, your votes will result in 700 Chinese projects filtered down to just 10 best projects in China.
The 2023 Building of the Year Awards China is brought to you thanks to Dornbracht, renowned for leading designs for architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens.
Looking back at 2022, last year had seen major female-led stories. Kimberly Dowdell was chosen as AIA’s First Black Woman President, Carol Ross Barney has received the 2023 AIA Gold Medal, Jeanne Gang won the 2023 Charlotte Perriand Award, Frida Escobedo was selected among the 100 Emerging Leaders by TIME 2022, Renée Gailhoustet was presented with the 2022 Royal Academy Architecture Prize, "Infinite Freedom, A World for a Feminist Democracy" opened at the 2022 Biennale of FRAC in France, and ArchDaily presented SkyFrame’s Women in Architecture’s documentary, following Toshiko Mori, Gabriela Carrillo and Johanna Meyer-Grohbrügge, three architects in three different countries, in different contexts, at different stages of their life and career, but with a lot in common. And that's just to name a few...
After arguing in 2021 “why is it still important to talk about "female architects"? and contributing to “rebalancing forces and adjusting narratives” in 2022, for its 3rd edition of the annual International Women’s month coverage, ArchDaily will focus on the achievements of female architects working specifically on global challenges, and finding innovative approaches to the problems of today. Fitting partially with the theme selected by the United Nations for the 2023 International Women’s Day, centered on Innovation and technology for gender equality, ArchDaily will reflect on what is innovation in the face of global challenges.
Under the theme of "Mosque: a cross-cultural building", the 4th cycle of the Abdullatif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture (2020-2023) has announced its 5 winning projects hailing from Australia, Turkey, Serbia, Slovenia, and Mozambique. The award ceremony took place at the Riyadh National Museum on March 5th, 2023, followed by a 2-day architectural seminar in which the architects explained the design process behind their winning projects.
Looking into mosques between the past, present, and future, the selection took into account each project's contextuality, privacy, its religious and architectural significance, and contribution to the community. Over 200 mosque were submitted from across the world, narrowed down to a shortlist of 22 projects. The five winning mosques, however, were commended for looking beyond common mosque typologies, as they explored the importance of feeling within a religious space, their value as "urban communication tools", and how their architectural languages are re-establishing the values of the religion.
The Austin Transit Partnership has selected UNStudio, HKS, and Gehl to lead the architecture and urban design of Project Connect, a major expansion of the public transportation system in Austin, Texas, in the United States. The project is set to become a transformative investment, including and integrating the light rail system, expanded bus routes, and connectivity with more services across the city. The initiative is also voter-approved. In November 2020, Austin citizens approved Project Connect, leading to the creation of the independent entity Austin Transit Partnership charged with implementing the project. The citizens of Austin are invited to continue to get involved and provide feedback.
With many high streets hollowing out and the National Health Services Association pushed to its limits, Heatherwick Studio is calling for a new kind of health space in metropolitan cities. The Health Street initiative is placed right at the heart of urban communities, reimagining the way we look at well-being and the holistic health of complete localities. Moreover, this radical approach to health creation is based on integrating community-led facilities into the local high streets.
It is rare for houses in favelas to be recognized for their architectural qualities. In the history of the ArchDaily Building of the Year Award, this has happened only twice: in 2016 with Vila Matilde House, by Terra e Tuma Arquitetos, and in this year's edition with House in Pomar do Cafezal designed by Coletivo LEVANTE. Located in Belo Horizonte, the house was built for the musician and cultural manager Kdu dos Anjos, who prefers to call it "my shack".
In both cases, the reduced area, simple materials and modest budget were not impediments to a virtuous architectural project that took full advantage of the qualities of the surroundings and the terrain's orientation, proving that limitations can serve as an impetus for higher quality projects.
March 8th is celebrated as International Women's Day, a date remembered for years as a symbol of the fight for their rights. However, although many countries have laws establishing equal rights for men and women, gender inequality and all its consequences are still experienced every day by girls and women all around the world. The patriarchal system, rooted in many societies over the centuries, has been responsible for inequality of power between the genders which, in the most extreme cases, results in violence and femicide.
Lighting is often a numbers game — too much, and interiors lose their edge (literally), too little, and the dim atmosphere can make a space seem bland. Its importance in interior design cannot be overstated: done right, it not only accentuates a space's architectural features but also makes inhabitants feel at ease. As Carmelo Zappulla of Lighting Studio External Reference explains in a recent interview with Architonic, light is a crucial tool to add an emotional element and "animate a space." It follows that a lighting concept gone wrong can have catastrophic consequences for an otherwise perfectly designed room.
Data Feminism, as conceptualized by D’Ignazio & Klein (2020), introduces intersectional feminism in data science and invites us to examine power relations and dynamics of oppression that are built into data infrastructures that underpin society today.
Architecture’s highest honor, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, has named Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH, as laureate of its 2023 edition. “Embracing the preexisting, designing and intervening in dialogue with time and place”, while creating “structures able to last, physically and culturally”, as the official statement of the award explains, David Chipperfield is the 52nd winner of the award founded in 1979, succeeding Francis Kéré in 2022, and Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal in 2021. The 45th Pritzker Prize ceremony, honoring David Chipperfield will be held in Athens, Greece this May.
Leading offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai, and Santiago de Compostela, the 2023 laureate is a civic architect, urban planner, and activist, with an extensive body of built projects that includes over one hundred works, spanning over four decades, covering 3 continents, and comprising different typologies. Recognized for his “subtle yet powerful, subdued yet elegant” approach, as well as his “commitment to an architecture of understated but transformative civic presence […] done always with austerity, avoiding unnecessary moves and steering clear of trends and fashions”, Chipperfield was knighted for his service to the world of architecture in 2010, received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2011, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture—the Mies van der Rohe Award and curated the 13th Biennale Architettura in 2012.
Few architects in history have had the honor and privilege of intervening in the famous St. Mark's Square in Venice — a tourist landmark of incomparable historical value to humanity. Sir David Chipperfield is one of them. As if that was not enough, he also left his mark on another project of inestimable value: the Neue Nationalgalerie, designed originally by Mies van der Rohe in Berlin. The four centuries that separate the design from its restoration seem to pose no difficulties for the 2023 Pritzker Prize winner, who rejects an international style of architecture in search of a trait that highlights local qualities.
The 2023 Pritzker Prize has been awarded to Sir David Chipperfield, London-born, architect, urban planner, and activist. David Chipperfield, founded his architectural practice in 1985 in London under the name of David Chipperfield Architects, after shaping his career working with renowned architects such as Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Douglas Stephen. He studied art and architecture at the Kingston School of Art, graduating in 1976, and continued his studies at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, concluding in 1980. Today, David Chipperfield Architects has expanded to include offices in Berlin, Shanghai, Milan, and the latest office opened in Santiago de Compostela.
By emulating manual manufacturing techniques, 3D printing utilizes digital models to create customized three-dimensional objects through an additive production process. This tool enables architecture to explore innovative forms, structures, and materialities, providing new paths for creative thinking. Progressively expanding its limits, 3D printing is integrating other existing technologies to unlock new uses and typologies. Such is the case with the work of Philipp Aduatz, which combines 3D printed textured structures with LED lighting, adding a new layer of complexity to enable the creation of the world's first 3D printed film studio.
Identified as small rectangular blocks made of fired or sun-dried clay, bricks have traditionally been used for building pavements, walls and other elements of masonry construction. Laid in courses or rows and joined together with mortar, bricks are known for their strong structural strength and durability. But beyond their basic functional purposes, their multiple patterns, sizes and shapes allow for a distinctive aesthetic with an infinite design versatility, becoming a design feature themselves. Showcasing an example of aesthetic brickwork, we will take a closer look of Villa Peer, an architecture project in Belgium that uses Randers Tegl’s long format waterstruck bricks as the main design feature for the whole building’s facade.
The World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced a commitment of more than US$10 million to go towards preservation projects to protect culturally significant places from around the globe in urgent need of intervention. The initiatives vary in scope, from winterization efforts at Ukrainian heritage sites to protecting remote archeological sites representative of Peru’s Chachapoyas Civilization. The suite of projects launching in 2023 aims to address and help mitigate the threats that heritage sites are facing: conflict, climate change, and underrepresentation.
At the 2023 Biennale Architettura, Finland's Pavilion will present its exhibition Huussi, Imagining the Future History of Sanitation, which deals with the architecture of water and nutrient circulation, questioning the water toilet and Its implications for the future. "Huussi" is the Finnish word for an outhouse, a small compost toilet commonly used by Finns in rural settings and holiday homes. The exhibition, curated by Arja Renell and The Dry Collective, a group of Finnish architects, presents this typology as a starting point to finding alternative solutions to managing wastewater, inspiring professionals to start envisioning new sanitation solutions. At the core of the presentation, the exhibition questions the consequences of waste in the context of the current climate crisis the world is going through.
Despite not being found in nature, right angles are the most used by architects. In the search for more functionality and practicality in construction, squares and rectangles emerge as the main option when designing. On the other hand, several vernacular and ancestral architectures adopted arches and circular plans as a solution. The game of geometric shapes in the architectural composition is vast, but we cannot forget a polygon that also stands out: the hexagon.
I’ve written before about my preference for showers over baths in the sanitation stakes. An instant hit of hygiene therapy, they’re quicker, cleaner, more energy efficient, and use less water than their horizontal siblings.
Thankfully, I’m not in the minority. Shower popularity means there’s a huge range of shapes, sizes, and types on the market. However, bathroom planning can be exhausting with so many to choose from. Here are six simple questions to ask when looking for the perfect shower enclosure to fit any type of space, lifestyle, or preference.
When people describe the modernist movement as a whole, they broadly reference the steel and glass skyscrapers which dot many of our cities’ skylines, or more specifically, the International Style that once emerged from Europe after World War I. The International Style represented technological and industrial progress and a renaissance of social constructs that would forever influence the way that we think about the use of space across all scales. Often designed as politically charged buildings seeking to make a statement towards totalitarian governments, many architects who influenced the style moved to the United States after World War II, paving the way for some of the most iconic buildings and skyscrapers to be built in the 20th century.
As farmers water crops by moonlight, undocumented children head to school and villagers scan the sky for surveillance airplanes—these are glimpses of a complex culture that emerges in south Lebanon after dark. In collecting some of these nightly practices, Mohamad Nahleh—lecturer in architecture and urbanism at MIT—journeyed across the landscapes of Jabal ‘Amil hoping to build a new alliance between architecture and the night. His "Path of Nightrise" research has turned into a construction to revive a forgotten river path and was published by Places Journal. The interview with Nahleh argues for a new nocturnal imagination in design and reveals, not only how the night has changed in Lebanon over time, but also how he has changed alongside it.
As part of our yearly tradition, we have asked our readers who should win the 2023 Pritzker Prize, the most important award in the field of architecture.
For those who don't know, the Pritzker Prize is funded by Jay Pritzker through the Hyatt Foundation in the United States and has been awarded to living architects, regardless of their nationality, whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture."
