The proposal "EN OPERA. Future Scenarios of a Young Forestry Law" by INST/MAPA + Carlos Casacuberta has been selected to represent Uruguay at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, to be held from May 20th to November 26th, 2023.
When lockdowns first hit and retailers were forced to shut up shop, many took to the digital high street instead, with those investing hardest and quickest in their online personas invariably winning the battle for our bookmarks. As the world opened again, some kept both their physical and digital presence in a hybrid model, while others chose to remove themselves from bricks and mortar altogether.
As we become more accustomed to using both models together, it’s clear that physical retail spaces can offer sensorial experiences that the digital simply can not – yet. These four projects buck the online retail trend and encourage consumers – and therefore other retailers, too – to move back into the physical, by turning the act of shopping into an exciting, invigorating, or relaxing luxury pastime, rather than a chore.
Cleveland-based gallery SPACES has been selected to organize the US exhibition at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. As curators, Tizziana Baldenebro, the executive director of the gallery, has collaborated with Lauren Leving, a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, on the proposal. Together they plan to fill the space of the pavilion with works in plastic by architecture professors, designers, and artists. The exhibition, titled “Everlasting Plastics”, aims to examine the role of this material “both literally and as a cultural metaphor”.
The Brick Award is an internationally established award that presents outstanding brick architecture from all around the world. Independent architecture critics, experts, architects and developers are invited to submit innovative and creative buildings and other construction works made of clay building materials. The spectrum of applications ranges from building solutions using classic clay blocks, facing bricks and roof tiles to the creative application of clay pavers and ceramic façade panels.
Architects’ registration boards in UK and US have reached an agreement that enables architects to benefit from a more straightforward process to get licensed in both countries. The Mutual Recognition Agreement results from a negotiation between the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) in the United States and its United Kingdom counterpart, the Architects Registration Board (ARB). This week, the two organizations announced that the agreement has been signed by both parties. It will become active on April 25, 2023, allowing architects to apply for reciprocal licensure in the US and the UK.
This agreement is the result of over nearly four years of research and negotiation between NCARB and the ARB. In 2018 NCARB initiated a process of evaluating the requirements for registration in the United Kingdom, comparing it to the licensing process in the US. The analysis found a substantial overlap between the standards in both countries. These similarities form the base of the mutual agreement, which will provide a streamlined path for architects seeking reciprocal licensure in the two countries, along with the subsequent professional opportunities that could come with it.
Sir David Adjaye unveils new plans for the new Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Central Brooklyn. This center is the first-ever community development institution in the country, established in 1967. The scheme envisions a space that accelerates wealth creation and closes the racial wealth gap that has affected the United States.
Ceilings were once a symbol of grandeur and opulence, adorning grand buildings, churches and palaces with their intricate and elaborate designs. We still find ourselves looking up in awe at these mesmerizing historical buildings, with our eyes drawn to their magnificent vaulted ceilings, remarkable truss structures or distinctive works of art depicting mythology, historical events and landscapes. Contemporary design, on the other hand, has shifted towards a sleek, minimalistic aesthetic; one where plain white ceilings have become the norm in most modern buildings. As Rasmus Wærn and Gert Wingårdh suggest in their book What is Architecture? And 100 Other Questions, “Ceilings have devolved from being the focal point of a room to being a zone for mechanical equipment.” And yet they have extraordinary creative potential.
This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights cultural centers by the ArchDaily community. From a spiral- gallery symbolizing the Jinju culture in South Korea, a building devoted to Irish culture to a gallery to serve as a cultural incubator for Indonesia, this round-up of unbuilt projects showcases how architects, community, and institutions team up to promote culture, arts, history, and reflection.
Featuring the firms Id lab architecture, Oxo arc, Atelier of spatial matters, ddrlp, Brno Architectural studio AOSI, Nir Shmueli Studio, Macary-Bensh Architecture, MZ Architects, and Studio BANAA, the following list explores cultural centers at different scales and varying stages of their development. Whether competition-winning projects or ongoing planned execution, each project gathers neighborhoods, arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored or activist-run.
Architecture is a referential discipline. From ziggurats, machines for living, to contemporary biophilic high-rises designs, it is impossible to know whether ideas are genuinely novel or whether they have been conceptualized before. Artificial intelligence has ignited the conversation on intellectual property (IP) even more. As millions generate unique graphic work by typing keywords, controversies have arisen, specifically concerning protecting creative work and the Copyright of architects in their creations. Therefore, understanding the scope of what is protected helps determine whether licenses are sufficient, whether trademark registration's long road is worth it; or perhaps a graphic piece cannot be protected and belongs to the public domain.
Selecting materials for an architectural project is an art form in itself. From the ruggedness of stone to the transparency of glass, materials and their unique qualities can set the tone, influence the mood and define the atmosphere of any interior. They have the power to transform a cold, sterile room into a warm and inviting sanctuary or a modern and sleek environment. Functionality and comfort are also closely tied to material selection; for example, durable, low-maintenance materials like terrazzo are an ideal choice for high-traffic areas, while the softness of carpet or fabric can provide a sense of coziness in hospitality settings.
Pretentious as it may sound, we can say with certainty that bamboo is one of the most promising materials for the future of the construction industry. Neil Thomas, principal engineer at atelier one, says that if we were to design an ideal building material, it would look a lot like bamboo. This is because it grows very fast, is present in many countries around the world, has a highly efficient cross-section, and has impressive load-bearing strength. But beyond its structural use in its raw form, bamboo is also a material that allows a high level of processing and can be laminated for flooring, fixtures and, as we will see in this article, for Structural Engineered Bamboo (SEB) structures, which are very similar to Engineered Wood. We spoke with Luke D. Schuette, founder and CEO of ReNüTeq Solutions, LLC, a company in St. Louis, Missouri, that has been working with this structural material technology.
Opus Architecture & Simon Mahringer have just been awarded first prize in an open competition for the new museum and science center in Oulu, Finland. The competition was held in 2022, and the winners were announced on January 12th, 2023, chosen from a total of 95 proposals. The building is situated in the coastal city of Oulu, right at the center of the Myllytulli area, where the current science center Tietomaa is located. The new proposal will house the current science center and the facilities of the Oulu Art Museum.
Snøhetta, the Norweigan-based architecture and landscape practice, has been chosen to re-imagine the French Asylum and Administrative Courts of Montreuil. The proposal puts together both institutions on one site, surrounded by luscious green areas and a biophilic landscape. Set to begin construction in 2024, and be completed by 2026, the project includes the design of the buildings, landscape, wayfinding, interior, and furniture.
The philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre coined the notion of "production of space" in 1974, breaking with the vision of space as a container or scenario of objects and social relations, to move towards space understood as a process. From this vision based on the Marxist tradition, space is a product and a producer of social relations and processes.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
This week, the Museum of Modern Art officially launches a new series of exhibitions entitled Architecture Now. According to MoMA, “The first iteration of the series, New York, New Publics, will explore the ways in which New York City–based practices have been actively expanding the relationship of metropolitan architecture to different publics through 12 recently completed projects.”
The exhibition will showcase public-facing work, such as parks, community gardens, and pools, by Adjaye Associates, Agency—Agency and Chris Woebken, CO Adaptive, James Corner Field Operations, Kinfolk Foundation, nArchitects, New Affiliates and Samuel Stewart-Halevy, Olalekan Jeyifous, Only If, PetersonRich Office, SO – IL, and SWA/Balsley and Weiss/Manfredi.
Selected from a shortlist of 10 proposals, David Chipperfield’s design won the competition for the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece. Housing one of the world’s most important collections of prehistoric and ancient art, the National Archaeological Museum, will undergo refurbishment and extension works, including a subterranean addition with a roof garden. The proposal was developed together with Wirtz International, Tombazis & Associate Architects, wh-p ingenieure, Werner Sobek, and Atelier Brückner.
With more than 900 projects in over 40 countries, every project that Zaha Hadid Architects designs and builds has an impact on the narrative of contemporary architecture. At ArchDaily, we know that each architectural project has a team of professionals behind it which makes it possible. In this edition of the ArchDaily Professionals Video Interviews, we talked to Johannes Schafelner, associate director at Zaha Hadid Architects, and Enrique Peiniger, founder of OVI-Office for Visual Interaction about their long-standing collaboration in projects merging design and lighting.
L.E.FT Architects, an architecture firm focused on examining the cultural and political intersections in the built environment, exhibited Jerba: Prototype 366, in the first edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Presenting a historical and contemporary exploration of Islamic heritage, the biennale, curated by Sumayya Vally, was located in the Western Hajj Terminal, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1981.
After two weeks of voting in our 14th edition of the Building of the Year Awards, our readers have narrowed down over 4,500 projects to just 75 finalists across 15 categories, casting over 100,000 votes. This year's awards celebrate the very best in design, innovation, and sustainability from around the globe, with the shortlist featuring an exceptional range of projects, from a house in a favela to cutting-edge cultural centers and innovative public spaces that are sure to impress. As a crowdsourced award, we are proud to say that your selections are a true reflection of the state of architecture, and this year's finalists are no exception.
The ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards is brought to you thanks to Dornbracht, renowned for leading designs for architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens.
On February 15, 2023, the Living Places / Simon Architecture Prize 2023 award ceremony was held in Barcelona. An initiative by Simon, with the support of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, the prize seeks to recognize excellence in architecture from the perspective of the inhabitant. In fact, "it distinguishes those works which strengthen the ability of adaptability of spaces to reach comfort and well-being to its residents".
Walking down the streets of cities like Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam, you might encounter houses with surprisingly narrow facades in contrast to the stacking of three to five floors, with windows for ventilation and natural light only on the front facade. These are the famous traditional Tube Houses. According to ancient popular culture, this type of housing emerged due to property taxes being based on the width of the facade, but the true reason is to optimize land use, allowing a larger number of plots in the same square.
However, this legacy is now being recreated in contemporary designs by Vietnamese architects. Old facades give way to innovative solutions featuring atriums for natural lighting and ventilation, courtyards and interior gardens, greenery incorporated into different environments, split-levels, etc., allowing for high-quality spaces. With that in mind, we have put together a selection of Tube Houses, together with their respective section drawings. Check out below:
Aridly Abundant is the title of the body of research being exhibited at the UAE National Pavilion at the 18th annual International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. The Pavilion was curated by Faysal Tabbarah, Associate Dean and Professor of Architecture at the College of Architecture, Art, and Design at the American University of Sharjah. The exhibition explores the possibility of architectural possibilities in, with, and for arid landscapes.
I've been designing websites since 1997, and in that time, websites have changed quite a bit. With all the changes over the years, it's no surprise that I often find some firm owners don't understand how architecture website design really works. While you might know a bad website when you see one, you might not understand what makes a good site work. This article will change that.
