Have you ever thought that practically all the cities in the world, since the dawn of humanity, were and continue to be created and designed by men? From urban design to building projects, from public transport to chairs – women have not been part of the process of creating everything around us.
Hearing – one of the human body’s five senses – enables our interaction with sound, a crucial factor for daily communication and much more. One commonly hears people say a place is noisy, but what exactly is the definition of noisy? Known as situations with unwanted sounds that interfere with daily activities, noisy places also have the potential to negatively interfere in society’s development.
Sound is measured in decibels (dB), and humans are able to resist a maximum average noise level of 85 dB without risking hearing damage. While a conversation usually ranges between 60 and 70 dB, according to the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, workers at a construction site are exposed to an average of 90 dB during eight-hour periods.
Acoustical Surfaces, a company specializing in noise control, has developed a product guide for minimizing the transmission of sound, thus promoting healthier lifestyles.
Urban green spaces are considered one of the most appropriate and accessible ways to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures in urban environments. As the global climate warms, cities worldwide face more frequent and extreme heat waves, putting their citizens at risk. Many cities are employing strategies for reducing the impact of urban heat islands, which are generated when natural land cover is replaced with surfaces that absorb and retain heat, such as pavements and buildings. This raises the temperature by several degrees compared to the surroundings. Cities have their micro-climate, influenced by this phenomenon combined with a series of often overlooked factors. For a climate strategy to be efficient, all factors need to be taken into consideration.
It is expected that by 2050, the rapid depletion of raw materials will leave the world without enough sand and steel to build concrete. On the other hand, the cost of building continues to soar, with an increase between 5% and 11% from last year. And with respect to its impact on the environment, the construction industry still accounts for 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes. Evidently, the construction industry, the environment, and the human race are facing several challenges that are influenced by one another, but it is the human being who is at the greatest disadvantage.
As a response to global challenges such as climate change, discrimination, and physical vulnerability, designers and engineers from across the world have developed innovative construction materials that put the human wellbeing first in urban, architecture, and interior projects.
This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights private villas submitted by the ArchDaily community. From a Mediterranean retreat in Greece to a one-person residence in Iran, this round up of unbuilt projects showcases how architects design private villas that combine contextuality and functionality in structures that promote comfort, privacy, and connection to nature. The article includes projects from Indonesia, Greece, Iran, and Jordan.
With the onset of the 2020s, Gen Z is noticeably claiming their place in the world with bold perspectives and even bolder aesthetics. Gen Z proudly experiments with their identities, having grown up on an opinionated internet and through confusing lockdowns. They're bringing in a culture shift with organic shapes, colorful elements, and clashing patterns dominating art, media, fashion, and interior design. The trend is pushing away once-reigning minimalism, shouting Venturi's Less is a Bore.
In a time where housing prices are unattainable and residents are looking to downsize their homes more than ever, enter the concept of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). These small and highly customizable homes are taking backyards across the United States by storm, enabling homeowners to build homes on their land, and rent them out to tenants.
Flexibility within a space emerges as an architectural concept that follows society’s transformations. As the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Architecture is life, or at least as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.” In that sense, changing a kitchen’s layout goes further than its aesthetic adjustments; it reflects the way people are living. Opening the traditional closed kitchen creates a more flexible space in which different activities share a visual connection without structural barriers.
The withdrawal of kitchen walls allows for increased interaction within areas and gives way to fluidity throughout the space. The design of an open kitchen involves using specific types of products - each with their own material, style and use - that adapt to a home’s dimensions and needs. In this article, we provide a selection of products which can be found in Architonic’s ‘Kitchen’ category.
The tiny home trend has been hard to ignore over the last several years. There's an increasingly saturated market of TV shows and Pinterest pictures dedicated to the topic of exploring micro-dwellings where your home is reduced to the size of a walk-in closet and each room takes on a triple-duty programmatic role has only increased its popularity. What looks enticing on reality TV is often much less desirable in real life, and as people continue to long for a lifestyle that frees them of material goods and the ability to travel, what does this mean for the actuality of tiny home construction? Is it just a wanderlust fantasy that no one actually lives and was there ever any promise to its realization in the mainstream world?
The A’ Design Award was "born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well-designed products." The A' Design Award, recognizing the excellent and original talent from across the globe, is both a major achievement for designers and a source of inspiration for award-winning architects, brands, and design agencies. Entry and nomination are open to contestants from every country. Registration for the A' Design Award & Competition 2022-2023 period is now open. Register and upload your design here.
The newly transformed Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, US, is ready to open to the public on April 22, 2023. Designed by architecture practice Studio Gang in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox and landscape architecture and urban design practice SCAPE, The Museum’s new architectural identity aims to signify its role as a leading arts institution in the region. One of the Museum’s most recognizable features, the folded plate concrete roof, is now complete. The new roofline spans the length of the building, connecting the new construction and the renovated spaces to create a coherent architectural character for the cultural institution.
The Quadracci Pavilion by Santiago Calatrava and the Contemporary Arts Center by the Pritzker-winner Zaha Hadid are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Both buildings are the first US projects completed by these legendary architects that have contributed to the stimulation of economic development in Midwestern American cities over the past two decades. In fact, for that reason, Milwaukee's mayor declared September 16 "Santiago Calatrava Day" to commemorate the Pavillion's opening.
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
Jim Polshek, who died at 92 last week, was an award-winning architect (AIA Gold Medal, 2018), designer, public advocate, and educator (architecture dean at Columbia, 1973–1987). He was a Midwesterner, born in Akron, Ohio, who went on to open his own practice in 1963, when he founded James Stewart Polshek Architects. Ultimately, the practice became internationally recognized as Polshek Partnership Architects. In 2010, the partners renamed the firm Ennead Architects, and he remained involved as a design consultant.
There is an unusual story involving railings during World War II. To meet the demand for ammunition, ships and vehicles for battle, various fences and railings in the city of London were removed for repurposing. The real fate of these pieces, however, is unclear: some say they ended up being dumped into the Thames river or became ballasts for ships, as they couldn't be recycled. The reason was that they were all made of cast iron at the time, making them difficult to reuse; unlike the large amount of materials and designs available today. Their functions, however, have not changed: railings provide protection to occupants and can be prominent elements in architecture. In this article, we explain how to specify and design different types of railings, according to the different materials available.
Kuwait is planning a 1,600-hectare development that will provide residential units, jobs, and amenities for 100,000 residents. Developed by URB, the ambitious project aims to promote a sustainable lifestyle with high standards of living, yet a low impact on the environment. The masterplan for the smart city is designed to optimize density and amenities distribution to create a walkable city, while also optimizing the green space ratio. This will help mitigate the effects of rising temperatures and the urban heat island effect. The green transportation systems and dedicated cycling tracks will make this a car-free city, apart from a ring road that allows for limited vehicular access. The city also promotes a circular economy that aims to provide food and energy security for the residents.
The Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC has revealed the five anonymous design proposals for The Bezos Learning Center, and they are now awaiting public feedback. The transformation of the National Air and Space Museum represents an unprecedented moment in the conservation and preservation of thousands of artifacts and a remarkable revival of space exploration and space tourist travels. With a record-breaking $250 million donation from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and leaders in the aerospace industry, the Smithsonian Institution is undergoing a massive multi-year renovation, which began in 2018.
The marquee-busting title says it all: Joseph Giovannini’s Architecture Unbound is an ambitious attempt to explore the wilder shores of design and explain how and why maverick architects have dared greatly. It’s also a wide-ranging introduction to artists who laid the groundwork for architectural innovation a century ago; to the philosophers and theorists who mapped new ways of thinking, and to the complexities of chaos theory, parametric and software programs that have shaped exceptional buildings over the past few decades.
New York-based architecture studio ODA has revealed the design of its newest project in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 47-story tower is located south of the New River in the Rio Vista neighborhood. The program comprises 830 residential units, studios with two bedrooms, while also offering ample space for amenities and commercial use, measuring 13,000 square feet. At ground level, the project incorporates a large corner plaza. By placing functions for the public at the lower levels, the project aims to activate the walkways and public spaces, thus adding to the life of the neighborhood.
Honoring the 2022 Laureate, the Burkinabé architect Francis Kére, The Pritzker Prize releases a ceremony video from the recently opened Marshall Building at the LSE, designed by the 2020 Pritzker Laureates Yvonne Farrell, and Shelley McNamara. The documentary includes remarks by the awardee, Tom Pritzker, and previous Laureates such as Alejandro Aravena, Norman Foster, Anne Lacaton, and Jean-Philippe Vassal. This ceremony presents Kéré with the 2022 Pritzker Prize medallion, the highest honor in architecture, certifying him as a Laureate for his extraordinary work with communities and architectural ingenuity.
Jean-Luc Godard, through his films, talks about architecture almost as easily as he talks about cinema itself. In honor of the nouvelle vague icon, who passed away today at the age of 91, we revisit How Architecture Speaks Through Cinema.
There are several ways of making films. Like Jean Renoir and Robert Bresson, who make music. Like Sergei Eisenstein, who paints. Like Stroheim, who wrote sound novels in silent days. Like Alain Resnais, who sculpts. And like Socrates, Rossellini I mean, who creates philosophy. The cinema, in other words, can be everything at once, both judge and litigant. — Jean-Luc Godard [1]
Next to a wall or in the corner of a room, most sofas seem relegated to lean against the only available wall in a space, preferably with a TV in front. As they are usually very large pieces of furniture, they can be complicated pieces to integrate into a room. In consequence, a sofa might end up "stiffening" a space, restricting movement and compromising flexibility – an increasingly important aspect for interiors – in a room. This is why the sofa can be considered an anchor piece in interior design; an element whose placement will probably not change throughout time, and that will certainly have an impact on the other elements within a space.
Modular sofas, however, give flexibility and versatility to an otherwise rigid piece. Made of separate parts, they can adopt several shapes and sizes, creating different ambiances and completely changing the layout and distribution of an environment. In this article, we showcase some modular sofa options – and how they can add dynamism to interior spaces – with product examples from the Architonic catalog.
The real estate industry moves fast. It wasn’t so long ago that potential buyers narrowed their searches by driving around with a sheaf of printed listings, and designers and builders relied on CAD drawings and artist renderings to show yet-to-be-built spaces. Nowadays, advances in graphics technology have brought us interactive 3D renderings, making it easier for investors, buyers, and other stakeholders to truly understand the designs they’re looking at.
Following on from these advances, we’re also seeing technology that can excite and entice buyers, like sales configurators and interactive tours, where visitors can choose finishes and design their own spaces right before their eyes; virtual reality experiences, where architects can get feedback from investors on design at key stages of the process; shadow studies, where potential occupants can see how a space will be affected by sunlight at various times of day; and digital twins, where cities can get a true idea of a building’s usage, which leads to new ways to optimize efficiencies and design better spaces for residents.
Herzog & de Meuron and landscape designer Piet Oudolf are collaborating to create Calder Gardens, which will house and display artworks by American sculptor Alexander Calder. Located between Vine Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, the 6,500 square meter site will house a two-story building, half of which is developed underground. Instead of developing the site as a typical museum, the team decided to transform it into a garden as an attractive alternative for the people of Philadelphia.
The 311-meter-high Mixed-Use Tower in Downtown Austin designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), will become Texas' tallest when it opens in late 2026. Called Waterline, this skyscraper is intended to define the skyline of one of the U.S.A.'s most dynamic and growing cities. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the 74-story project will include apartments, offices, hotel rooms, and a ground-floor paseo. The development will also add two new pedestrian bridges and three additional public pedestrian and bike access points.
