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As climate change continues to reach unprecedented levels, many are pointing towards enhancing circularity in the construction sector. Essentially, the circular economy aims to eliminate waste and the continual use of resources by repeatedly reusing, repairing or recycling materials. The cyclical approach is able to meet demand and minimize CO2 emissions by extending a product’s lifespan, which is especially important when dealing with limited resources. Unlike the traditional linear extractive method –where everything goes through an extremely contaminating process of 'take-make-waste'–, circularity keeps materials in use for as long as possible to extract maximum value. This, in turn, reduces pollution, regenerates natural systems and contributes to a healthier built environment, hence building economic, natural, and social capital.

Although things seem to have returned to normal, it is undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone. The truth is, its impacts on the economy and society can still be felt and will remain for some time. As a consequence, most people have become more conscious about public health, disease dissemination and the importance of science in everyday life. Many began to place more importance on time spent with family and at home, while companies have realized that not all office spaces are really essential and that home office can be just as effective.

The result is that people have began modifying their spaces to accommodate new uses which might have been unthinkable before. Our homes had to become, in a few weeks, places for rest, work, study, sports and leisure. Most were not prepared for this change, but gradually both residents and architects and designers found ways to adapt to the new reality. We've learned that accommodating new functions into a home means more than just setting up a table in the only free corner of the apartment. The pandemic also accelerated certain global trends and changed our relationships with products, companies and services, in terms of sustainability, social justice, digitization and individualization. The common factor between these different elements is that now they no longer require you to make a choice between one thing or another. Instead, all these elements are now connected, making life, people and products more agile and long-lasting. Under the motto “Create Transitions”, EGGER shows how decors and wood-based products can create and shape change in everyday living.

Danish Maritime Architecture Studio MAST has developed the “Land on Water” project, a system that provides an adaptable solution to building almost anything on the water: floating homes, campsites, even small parks, and community centers. The project represents a response to the acknowledgment of raising sea levels and increased risks of urban flooding, which has led to a growing interest in adapting architecture to be built on water. The “Land on Water” proposes a flexible and sustainable solution, a departure point from previous solutions, which are proven to be difficult to adapt, transport and are often using unsustainable materials such as polystyrene-filled concrete foundations or plastic pontoons. The project is developed with the support of Hubert Rhomberg & venture studio FRAGILE.

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German-based architecture firm OMT designed Africa's tallest hybrid timber tower in Zanzibar City, Tanzania. In partnership with Birk Heilmeyer Frenzel Architects, engineering firm Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineers, and CPS Developers, the "Burj Zanzibar" will rise 96 meters tall to accommodate 266 residences and recreational and conferencing facilities. The mixed-use tower will promote the locally available wood and support the growing urban infrastructure that, according to the government plans, expects to attract tech companies to turn the island into a leading hub for Africa's technology companies.

The British magazine Time Out has selected Barrio Yungay in Santiago, Chile, as one of the most attractive neighborhoods in the world. The neighborhood was selected under the Time Out Index survey, where respondents from different countries answered the question "What is the most attractive place in your city at the moment?" and was ranked ninth out of a list of 51 neighborhoods, including Colonia Americana in Guadalajara, Shimokitazawa in Tokyo and Cours Julien in Marseille.

Spanish cities are clear examples of the overlapping of historical periods. Medieval urban layouts coexist with modernist urban plans, and their buildings show traces of Roman, Arab, Gothic, and Romanesque architecture. Moreover, in the era of Maritime Expansion, Spanish architecture was exported from the Iberian Peninsula to much of the world, especially the Americas. It is also difficult to speak of Spanish architecture without mentioning the Catalan genius Antoni Gaudí, whose distinctive style remains unparalleled in architectural history – inspiring and unsettling, without fitting into any particular single stylistic movement. In recent decades, Spanish architects have remained highly respected throughout the world. From the complex structures of Calatrava and the virtuosity of Enric Miralles, to the respect for context of Rafael Moneo. There are many others that should be noted, such as Ricardo Bofill, Alberto Campo Baeza, and the recent Pritzker winners, RCR Arquitectes.

Architects and designers often struggle with questions such as how to win more work, how to leave behind unprofitable, ineffective marketing methods, how to level up their design firm, and to say yes to more fulfilling work, and more. One way of facing these challenges is through continuing education and training.

IE University's free online sessions of their Business of Design series feature outstanding guest speakers with tips to enable architects and designers to become better managers, business developers, and entrepreneurs.

The construction industry's future will undoubtedly include "carbon reduction" as a mandatory task. Aside from locally sourced, virgin materials, an increasing number of new materials are becoming available. New materials can be developed in several ways, including low-carbon substitution, recycling, performance enhancement, and 3D printing. New materials will not only be more environmentally friendly and enable new construction methods, but they will also influence the starting point and direction of design concepts, resulting in new buildings with new perceptions and spaces.

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“Art aims to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”, Greek polymath Aristotle remarked. Public art in cities worldwide seeks to pursue this aim by offering a sense of meaning and identification to its residents. Taking the form of murals, installations, sculptures, and statues, public art engages with audiences outside of museums and in the public realm. This art presents a democratic manner of collectively redefining concepts like community, identity, and social engagement.

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Videos

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 Mitchell Joachim, PhD, Associate Professor, NYU and Co-Founder, Terreform ONE to discuss the complexities of urban design; the role of the urban designer; the real-life applications of his research; funding projects; cricket farms; and more.

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Ana Pinto da Silva, Co-Founder & CEO at Minka Homes & Communities, will give the closing keynote address at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Lisbon on Friday 2 December 2022. She will follow a stellar line-up of the industry’s most influential figures shaping the global architecture agenda over the three-day event, including Ole Scheeren, Christina Seilern and Reinier de Graaf. The festival runs from 30 November to 2 December.

Stairs are often an inevitable part of a building's DNA. Nowadays, staircases not only serve the function of practicality but are also a showcase of their own kind, especially if paired with a color that is guaranteed to grab attention. Among warm colors, red is considered to be the most powerful one. On one hand, it evokes feelings of joy and energy, and on the other, feelings of alertness and danger. Red can stimulate a whole range of emotions. Therefore, its usage should be attentive, delicate, and thought out.

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Cities have been, and will always be multi-faceted, elastic sites. They are settlements in continuous evolution, molded by proximity to natural resources, by migrating populations, and by capital. Despite the diversity in the urban character of disparate cities, it has been said that cities look alike now more than ever before, a uniformity that means a glass-and-steel tower in Singapore would not look out of place in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex.

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Architectural projects have been growing in complexity at an exponential pace while delivery times have shortened. In response to these demands, specialized visualization studios have become essential to architects and firms with high demands and tight deadlines. Brick Visual, the Budapest-based high-end visualization studio, reflects on its 10 years in the industry and the current state of architectural visualization. 

Brick Visual was founded in 2012 by a few ambitious young professionals whose dream was to create visuals for the most reputed architecture firms around the globe. From a small downtown apartment in Budapest, the handful of visualizers worked to address the needs of its clients while building a culture of innovation and artistic excellence. Since then, the small Hungarian collective transitioned into an international team of nearly 100 experts, who are based in their loft headquarters in Budapest, and satellite offices in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and Verona, Italy.

Selldorf Architects have released a revised version of the plans to remodel the National Gallery and the Sainsbury Wing, both classified as Grade-I-listed monuments. Sainsbury Wing is also the recipient of the 2019 AIA Twenty-five Year Award. The plans for the Sainsbury Wing, designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and opened in 1991, have faced intense criticism, with former RIBA Journal editor Hugh Pearman calling the remodeling plans “unnecessarily destructive”. The plans to remodel were first revealed earlier this year as part of the NG200 Project to celebrate the National Gallery’s bicentennial in 2024. The project proposes the remodeling of the Sainsbury Wing’s front gates, ground-floor entrance sequence, lobby, and first-floor spaces.

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From October 2022 through January 2, 2023, The Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Safdie Architects will display the most groundbreaking unbuilt projects by Moshe Safdie. With Intention to Build showcases the architect's creative process throughout the 55 years of his career, including models, drawings, and various texts and photographs. The exhibition provides context and tells the story behind these radical unrealized designs that have influenced projects such as Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada, and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

A famous skyline can evoke rich associations and unleash imagination, but the real experience of a city is in its streets. Early humans evolved to see the first 20 feet in front, above, and around them so they could identify potential threats in the landscape. In our modern urban environment, this is still how we experience buildings and places. While aerial views and Google Earth imagery are useful for reference, the main experience of the outside of a building is what we pass by on the street, up to about the second or third story. The height of a building doesn’t necessarily matter if the street experience is rich and accessible. 

Lessons Learned is a podcast by Dutch Design Week and ArchDaily. In each episode we pair young design talents with seasoned designers to further their practice and help them learn from the mistakes of the past. The young talented individual asks one pressing question, and the designers share their learnings and their biggest fuckups.

Blending in with its urban context or standing out to draw attention, a façade tells a building’s story. It is an expressive medium through which we engage with architecture, defining first impressions and setting the tone for the interior by experimenting with transparency, movement, texture and color, among other aesthetic possibilities. Of course, the envelope also plays a crucial functional role, acting as a protective barrier against extreme weather conditions and directly impacting light transmittance, energy efficiency and acoustic comfort. Architects therefore face an important challenge: to achieve a balance between an attractive look and performance. To do so, it is pivotal to specify the right materials during the design stage.

The noisier the environment, the harder it is to concentrate on the sounds we really want –and need– to hear. We spend about 90% of our time indoors, either at home or at work, often with little concern for acoustic qualities, making our body remain in a constant warning state. In offices this is an even more critical issue. While traditional open plan working spaces encourage teamwork and effective communication, many professionals face the challenge of being able to concentrate with the frequent noises, whether from a nearby conversation, the construction site next door, or a noisy espresso machine. Among the problems that noise pollution can cause in the human body are stress, accelerated heartbeat, increased blood pressure, insomnia, and a constant state of vigilance. Studies also show that poor acoustics negatively affect productivity.

This can be further amplified by the environment itself, often composed of "hard" surfaces (masonry, concrete, glass) that reverberate sound several times over, making it necessary for people to raise their voices to be understood. Furthermore, acoustic devices are generally perceived as accessories that are not very aesthetically pleasing, often with clumsy designs and with little or no flexibility.