The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina are joined by Architect Greg Faulkner, founder & director of Faulkner Architects to discuss his background as a design engineer in the aircraft industry; his tools and process; working with the site; his design philosophies and architectural truths; running and maintaining a small-sized practice; collaborating with Tom Kundig to design his house; and more.
Designing a living room is not just about deciding on the sofa and rug set. Often, because it is the main environment of the house, it is connected with other programs of more public use, such as kitchens and offices - or even private, such as dormitories, in the case of apartments with a reduced area -, therefore, in order to conceive greater spatial flow, it is necessary to think of different strategies that help design a more comfortable and pleasant space.
Aranya Community Housing / Vastu-Shilpa Consultants . Image Courtesy of Vitra Design Museum
In almost every Indian language, a colloquial term for “family” - ghar wale in Hindi, for example - literally translates to “the ones in (my) house”. Traditionally, Indian homes would shelter generations of a family together under one roof, forming close-knit neighborhoods of relatives and friends. The residential architecture was therefore influenced by the needs of the joint family system. Spaces for social interaction are pivotal in collective housing, apart from structures that adapt to the changing needs of each family. The nuanced relationship between culture, traditions, and architecture beautifully manifests in the spatial syntax of Indian housing.
When developing a project, an architect needs to deal with numerous decisions: Does the building correspond with the client's requirements? Can the contractors build it without problems? Are the costs what were initially expected? Does the project have a good relationship with its surroundings? How will it age? To figure all of this out, the professional must take into account several issues that will both influence each other and directly affect the final product. Among these, the chosen materials and constructive techniques play an essential role, as these elements are what give shape to the designer's vision and can influence factors such as the accessibility or the environmental impact of a building.
However, being well-versed in all the options, advantages and disadvantages of each decision is a herculean task that demands resources, research and time - factors that are usually scarce in our profession. Under the motto “What is good architecture”, we have compiled a series of articles that exemplify best practices in the use of constructive materials and techniques, seeking to cover as much ground as possible for all types of questions:
Once Upon a Forest / OBMI. Image Courtesy of Dubai Design Week
One of the most significant cultural events in the Middle East, Dubai Design Week represents a platform that offers individuals and companies the opportunity to showcase their design experience and to open conversations about the most pressing issues of our times. Developed in a strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), the event presents a series of immersive, large-scale installations that highlight the festival’s theme: Design with Impact.
This year’s program is focused on designing a sustainable future. To promote this, Dubai Design Week has invited international and regional architects and designers to create installations that demonstrate creative design thinking, to introduce innovative materials, and spark conversations about the ways in which design can have a positive impact on the environment.
Videos
Concept Renders. Image Courtesy of ICON Build
Pioneer in large-scale 3D printing, ICON announced the construction of a 3D-printed 100-Home Community co-designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and developed by Lennar. Located north of Austin, in the city of Georgetown, "The Genesis Collection at Wolf Ranch" will become the first and largest house estate in the world built by a fleet of robots integrating additive construction techniques.
Combining the digital possibilities of 3d printing with sustainable features at an affordable price, the project aims to support the housing crisis in Austin, one of the U.S.A's most dynamic and growing cities, home to the new Tesla Gigafactory and other giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Theodore Prudon, the founding president of Docomomo US, recently stepped down as the organization’s head. (Robert Meckfessel is the new president.) “Docomomo” is shorthand for the group’s mission: the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the Modern movement. Prudon has had a storied career as a preservationist, architect, and educator, heading his own practice and teaching at Columbia University. In October, he was presented with the Connecticut Architecture Foundation’s Distinguished Leadership Award at the newly reborn Marcel Breuer building in New Haven, which began its life in 1970 as the Pirelli Tire Building and is now the Hotel Marcel (designed, planned, and developed by architect Bruce Redman Becker).
https://www.archdaily.com/992013/theodore-prudon-modernism-has-never-been-a-popular-movementMichael J. Crosbie
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.” If one or more of these aspects are compromised, quality of life and happiness can be severely affected. In recent years, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, this has proved to be especially challenging. Commuting restrictions forced many to stay indoors and businesses to pause in-person operations, aiming to prevent the virus from spreading but inevitably sacrificing psychological, emotional, and even physical health in the process. As a result, people’s lifestyles shifted to find new ways to address their well-being, including adapting their living spaces accordingly. Home gyms, for example, became a popular initiative.
Clinic Dr. Dragic in Novi Sad, Serbia, project by Studio Fluid, 2015; photo by Ana Kostic. Image Courtesy of Studio Fluid
Combining high style with low maintenance, Corian® Design’s Solid Surface aids designers and architects to create healthy spaces for complete peace of mind. designboom and ArchDaily continues its three-part webinar series with the material producer, this time to explore the future of healthcare facilities. Including Studio Fluid, Operamed and NOAS Sweden, leading architectural and design experts join the conversation which can be watched live – register here.
The tenth edition of the Architectural PhotographyAwards has announced its shortlist, selected from entries from 64 different countries. The photographs are divided into six categories: Exterior, Interior, Sense of Place, Buildings in Use, Mobile, with Bridges being this year’s theme, and Portfolio, focusing on the theme of Transport Hubs. The photographs will be displayed at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Lisbon in Portugal from 30th November - 2nd December. The winners, two per category, will be announced by the end of the festival.
Stefano Boeri Architetti presented a new design for the Vertical Forest towers during COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The prototype would be in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the next host of COP28 in 2023. The ambitious project would represent the first Vertical Forest prototype for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and it is the latest in an extended list of greenery-covered buildings by Boeri Architetti, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan, the Easyhome Huanggang in China, and a prototype of the First Dutch Vertical Forest.
Design for assembly (DFA) is hardly new. Thonet’s 1859 No. 14 chair, when disassembled, could be shipped in batches of 36 per 40-square-inch box.
Those cost savings tied to DFA are still valuable. And as it helped revolutionize shipping in the industrial era, it now carries prestige as a powerful carbon-reduction tool. In fact, DFA is currently the distinguishing feature of at least six highly visible product launches among commercial furniture manufacturers in just the past year.
Windows and doors dictate the relationship between interiors and exteriors in buildings, helping to either integrate or separate them. They are also important components in architecture that can add to a façade's composition, balance and rhythm, while fulfilling its main function: to protect the interiors and serve as a barrier to the weather. While the first windows were composed of reduced spans and small glass panes with heavy frames, today there are almost invisible options that easily adapt to any type of project. It is up to the designers to choose among the various possibilities of materials, operations, colors and finishes.
Glenlyon Norfolk School. Image Courtesy of Low Hammond Rowe Architects
Low Hammond Rowe is an architecture firm from Victoria, Canada who are discovering that switching to a new design software can provide them with amazing results. You’ll read about how the firm continues business operation during the switch as well as how they’re realizing undeniable efficiencies that save them time and money.
In a presentation at the Buildings Pavilion Auditorium during COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) presented the Urban Sequoia NOW concept. The proposal, developed by an interdisciplinary team at SOM, represents a design that can sequester carbon from the atmosphere throughout its lifecycle. The design can be implemented with today’s technologies. This represents SOM’s concept of going beyond net zero carbon by combining multiple strategies: reducing embodied carbon, generating energy, absorbing carbon, and increasing the typical 60-year lifespan of the building.
The Danish architectural practice 3XN won the 10th International High-Rise Award for the office tower Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, the world's most innovative high-rise in 2022/23. From over 1000 high-rises completed in the last two years, the Quay Quarter Tower was selected because it implemented innovative solutions in a time of increased ecological challenges by integrating a large proportion of the existing 1970s high-rise structure into the new building.
In the complex trade of architecture and construction, you are never alone. And behind every great building there is a strong team of professionals combining their expertise.
Hanif Kara OBE is a structural engineer and one of the founders of AKT II, one of the top engineering firms in the world. Based in London, he has been closely collaborating with some of the world’s most innovative architects, including Grafton Architects, David Chipperfield, Norman Foster, BIG, Zaha Hadid, Thomas Heatherwick, and many more.
Starting on November 6, world leaders are gathering in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27. The name stands for the 27th conference of parties, an almost annual event started under the 1992 UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC). The purpose of these conferences is to ensure that counties around the world are committed to taking action to avoid dangerous climate change and find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally in an equitable way. The effectiveness of these meetings varied throughout the years, with some successful initiatives, like the 2015 Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty adopted by 196 Parties with the goal of limiting global warming below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group has released a photo series of the Vancouver House and the Telus Sky towers, captured for the first time since their opening in 2020 during the pandemic. In a sort of "yin and yang," both skyscrapers are shaped by a curvilinear silhouette that involves the surrounding like a giant curtain revealing the building to the skyline.
The 220-meter-tall Telus Sky tower, and the 149 meters high Vancouver House, accommodate mixed-use offices and residential spaces, with connections to cycling and pedestrian pathways in their platforms. Moreover, both hold the highest level of Energy and Environmental Design. Vancouver House is the city's first LEED Platinum building, and TELUS in Calgary now occupies the largest LEED Platinum footprint in North America, with 70,725 square meters.
With different shapes, sizes, and styles suiting different locations, functions, and personalities, mirrors can be used as points of self-reflection for dressing and beautifying, but also for multiplying light and space in naturally dark or narrow environments, or simply as strikingly decorative objects. Here are the right questions to ask when lost.
Many associate bathrooms with small, simple and practical rooms with no defining design characteristics. Historically, they have been conceived as merely functional environments strictly programmed for hygiene, privacy and ease of maintenance –often with no room for creativity. But as lifestyle changes have placed health and wellness as a top priority, contemporary bathroom design has been reimagined accordingly, shifting towards spacious personal retreats intended for comfort, relaxation and recuperation; an escape from a chaotic outside world. Because we tend to spend most of our time inside the home, many recent discussions naturally revolve around residential bathrooms, overlooking another setting where we also spend a significant number of hours in (around one third of our lives to be exact): the workplace.
House of the Desert. Image Courtesy of Guardian Glass
Few materials offer the design flexibility of high-performance glass to help achieve energy efficiency, and often without compromising aesthetics. It can be beautiful yet versatile, innovative yet timeless, able to inspire but also help save energy and promote well-being. Guardian Glass's new eBook introduces some important topics that begin to demonstrate how glass can do this.
Hirshhorn Museum. Image Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum
The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Selldorf Architects to jointly develop the modernization plan for the Hirshhorn Museum’s interior and plaza. As the first renovation in the last fifty years, the museum plans to upgrade its galleries and public spaces in order to fit the contemporary requirements of a public museum of modern art. It also represents a response to the increased attendance during the past five years. The federal contract was awarded following a competitive process by Smithsonian Facilities in consultation with the Hirshhorn. The concept design, to be submitted in 2023, will be subject to a public consultation process.
The Bronx Museum Renovation. Image Courtesy of Marvel Architects
New York-based firm Marvel revealed schematic designs for The Bronx Museum's new multi-story entrance and lobby, as part of the museum's revamp for its 50th anniversary. With a budget of USD $26 million and slated for completion in 2025, the renovation will relocate the access on the Grand Concourse Street, one of the most iconic The Bronx boulevards, and focus on the cohesion of the multiple sections for a fully accessible route through all of the galleries. Coinciding with this announcement, the Museum reinvented its brand identity and website for the first time in over two decades to reflect its ethos as a vital space at the intersection of art and social justice in New York City.
