As democratizing catalysts, educational spaces play a fundamental role in shaping individuals and entire communities. These places, where students spend a significant amount of time developing their capabilities, skills, and competencies, are more than a background for the promotion of a fundamental right, they are key elements to providing equal opportunities for all.
Open and common facilities, such as schoolyards, courtyards, and auditoriums are great examples of how spaces can encourage students, teachers, parents, and community members to learn with each other in an active dialogue. Flexibility and accessibility are two other key points to promote the democratization of both design and education, as seen in programs that go beyond school time and encourage communities to participate, for example.
Netherlands-based architecture, urban planning, and research firm Waterstudio.NL in collaboration with Dutch Docklands and the Government of The Maldives have revealed the design of Maldives Floating City (MFC), a first-of-its-kind “island city” that offers a new approach to modern sustainable living on the Indian Ocean. The project has been in development for over a decade, and will feature thousands of residences, floating along a flexible, functional grid across a 200-hectare lagoon.
The Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, designed by Steven Holl Architects, has been honored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) with its Twenty-five Year Award. AIA’s award is conferred on a building that has set a precedent, stood the test of time for 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architectural design and significance. The Chapel of St. Ignatius finished in 1997, reflects the ideal of the Jesuit practice, a religious order of the Catholic Church, in which no single method of worship is prescribed. Instead, the sect recognizes that “different methods helped different people.” That idea is reflected in the Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University’s main chapel, where differences in light unify to support the worship and ritual needs of the university community.
Ceramic fragments and figures found at the Neolithic site of Mureybet, in Syria's Middle Euphrates valley, indicate that clay and fire work date back to the 7th millennium BC. This means that dealing with ceramics is one of the oldest activities in human history. More than 9,000 years later, ceramic, and all its derivatives, has become one of the most used materials in construction, being used at different times, from structure to finishes.
A few weeks ago, this year’s edition of the Serpentine Pavilion opened to the public. Designed by Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, it’s an evocative project, its cylindrical form referencing American beehive kilns, English bottle kilns, and Musgum adobe homes found in Cameroon.
What the pavilion is named tells the viewer a lot more about its intentions as a spatial experience. Titled Black Chapel, it houses a spacious room with wraparound benches, and an oculus above that allows daylight to filter into the space. It’s a fairly minimal interior – designed as a site for contemplation and reflection. This minimal quality of Gates’ Serpentine Pavilion raises particularly interesting questions. How artists and architects opt for a “less is more” approach when designing meditative spaces, but also how these introspective spaces have been equally enhanced by ornamentation.
The A’ Design Award was "born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well-designed products." It is an international award whose aim is to provide designers, architects, and innovators from all design fields with a platform to showcase their work and products to a global audience. This year's edition is now open for early entries; designers can register their submissions here.
Calla Pendant Ceiling Lights. Image Courtesy of Cocoweb
Characterized by a simple structure and a gable roof, the traditional barnyard typology responds to its original function: sheltering farm products and livestock. In recent years, however, the barn aesthetic has evolved tremendously, sparking the interest of designers with its enduring rustic charm, minimalistic shape, refined ornamentation and modularity – qualities that have long made it popular in countryside hideaways. Reinterpreted to fit a contemporary style, the vintage typology has conquered modern projects that seek to offer an escape from the fast-paced, dense reality of urban life. Whether refurbishing historic farms or building new homes designed to resemble barns, architects have drawn inspiration from the industrial origins of traditional barnyards, but adding a modern twist.
A square as a ludic space for children to freely explore – this was the idea behind the project for the Children Square Iguatemi, which will be built shortly on a site of 900 m², in the midst of a residential area.
Housing Upcycle Program, Barrio Mugica of Buenos Aires. Image Courtesy of Special Project Unit Barrio Padre Carlos Mugica, Buenos Aires City Government
Organized under six categories: Open Category, Improving Energy Efficiency, Adequate, Safe & Affordable Housing, Participatory, Land-Use Efficient & Inclusive Planning, Access to Green & Public Space, and Utilizing Local Materials, the jurors picked a winner per section, yet were unable to identify an overall winner in the open category and chose instead to recognize six projects as Highly Commended, honoring in total 5 laureates and 15 commendations.
While walking through the city, have you ever felt afraid to be yourself? As strange as the question may sound to some, it is a reality for most LGBTQIA+ people, who at some point have been victims of hostility when they were noticed performing outside the "heteronormative standards" of public spaces. If violence comes from social layers that go beyond the designed space, this does not exempt the importance of thinking about projects that can integrate the physical sphere and insert a symbolic or representational factor to include and educate its citizens. This is the case of Homomonument, which for more than three decades, has become a platform for queer celebration and protest in the heart of Amsterdam.
The Age of Digitalization began nearly 40 years ago with the rise of information technology. With it came massive changes in the way humans interacted and industries operated — that is, with the exception of the education field. For the longest time, in spite of continuously evolving technologies around us, classroom learning remained the same. A teacher stood addressing students, imparting knowledge through conventional methods of reading, orating, and chalkboard drawing. This has also been true for architecture education so far. But times are changing. Today’s students have grown up with digital technologies around them and therefore can benefit from new learning methods, such as gamification, to challenge their intellects.
Heatherwick Studio, in collaboration with The Woolbeding Charity and the National Trust, have unveiled their latest project, a kinetic Glasshouse and Silk Route Garden set on the edge of Woolbeding Gardens, a historic estate in West Sussex. The unfolding structure serves as a focal point to a new garden that highlights how ancient Silk Route has influenced English gardens of today. The structure features ten steel ‘sepals’ with a glass and aluminum façade, which creates a 141 sqm space in the shape of a crown once it opens.
The City of Rotterdam has selected Powerhouse Company, Atelier Oslo, Lundhagem to renew and extend the city’s Central Library, a landmark building from the early 1980s designed by Van den Broek & Bakema. The new design adopts the concept of radical reuse in order to transform a 1980s building into a contemporary library, well-adapted to the necessities of modern users. The team combines the expertise of Powerhouse Company, Atelier Oslo, and Lundhagem, the latter two offices being awarded in 2021 with the Public Library of the Year Award for their design of Oslo!s Deichman library. Construction is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed by the end of 2028, the year marking the building!s 45th anniversary.
“Let me tell you what I think of the bicycle. It has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a sense of freedom and self-confidence. I appreciate every time I see a woman cycling... an image of freedom”. Susan Anthony, one of the most important American suffragette leaders, said this at the beginning of the 20th century, praising the libertarian power represented by women and their bicycles at the time.
“Creating an equitable city implies that every citizen has their needs met”, states architect Wanda Dalla Costa at a time when metropolises were noticing change. Architects and the public have started to acknowledge the gender-driven design of public spaces. Across the world, urban areas have been a site of discrimination and danger to the LGBTQ+ community. Gender is demonstrated in public zones that promote visibility and interaction between people. An arduous challenge lays upon architects and planners to design fair environments and equitable spaces.
In the face of increasingly alarming predictions regarding the climate crisis, just increasing the efficiency of buildings is no longer enough. Zero energy buildings - or, better yet, energy positive buildings - make it possible to mitigate the negative impacts of the construction industry, which is responsible for 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions. These are buildings capable of producing more energy than they consume through the use of renewable sources. To reach this ambitious goal, it is necessary to follow three main steps:
Install a renewable power system to provide clean energy;
Include high efficiency systems, such as climatization equipment and low energy lighting.
Improve the construction envelope to conserve energy and reduce loads.
If one were asked to picture a Catholic Church, the first image to come to mind would probably resemble a medieval gothic cathedral with buttresses, pointed arches, and a spire pointing toward the sky. On second thought, many more styles could easily be identified as catholic architecture: the simple yet grandiose structures of the Romanesque or maybe the ornate styles of Baroque and Rococo. An image more difficult to associate with sacred architecture is that of Modernism. The Roman Catholic Church is a particularly conservative establishment. Modernism, on the other hand, is revolutionary; it is rational, functional, and technical; it rejects ornaments and embraces innovation. Surprisingly, in the years after the end of the Second World War, places of worship defied expectations. Blocks of concrete, raw materials, angular shapes, and exposed structures have all been employed to break from tradition and create churches that barely resemble a church. This article will explore Modernist mid-century Church architecture with the support of images from Jamie McGregor Smith.
Suburbs are one of the favorite fields of action for people who deal with social architecture in “first world” contexts. In 2020, a group of students from the Architecture for Humanity course at YAcademy– the renowned international school of architecture located in Bologna, Italy – had the opportunity to work with Michele De Lucchi in order to bring arts, beauty and quality into the drab suburbs of Milan.
Alphabet of light by BIG x Artemide. Image Courtesy of Artemide
Following two years of delays and cancellations, this year's Milan Design Week saw thousands of designers, artists, and craftsmen put their skills on display and present different solutions for the future of manufacturing, interior design, materials, and the environment. As every year, renowned architects also took part of the week-long event, using products, furniture pieces, and installations to share their professional angle and answer some of the biggest questions of the practice, showcasing how it can contribute to the betterment of the environment and society as a whole.
Focusing on sustainability and environmental awareness with respect to furniture production, this year's architectural contributions at Salone del Mobile saw innovative takes on “inclusive” design.
This year's architectural contributions, which were on display across the busy streets of Milan, Brera design district and botanical garden, Alcova, BASE, and other cultural venues, highlighted this year's Milan Design Week theme of sustainability and environmental awareness with respect to furniture production.
The School of Architecture, founded by Frank Lloyd Wright as the Taliesin Fellowship in 1932, is undergoing significant transformations. Two years after separating from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, TSOA landed at Arcosanti, an experimental desert community in Arizona owned and operated by The Cosanti Foundation. In line with the school’s values, the program at Arcosanti seeks to provide students with a contemporary design education based on immersive, experimental, and experiential learning. The curriculum offers 2 and 3+ year NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture degrees and a 1.5-year Master of Science in Design-Build.
The design and functionality of public spaces in cities are always under scrutiny. Whether its accessibility to public parks and green spaces, the distance people live from public transportation, or the ways that spaces can be designed to make city life more safe and equitable. But now a new issue and one that lives at a smaller scale is starting to arise- where did all of the public seats go?
HeartFelt® Multipanel. Image Courtesy of Hunter Douglas Architectural
Known as the “fifth wall,” a ceiling is the interior overhead surface that covers the upper limit of a room. Unlike decor, wallpaper, furniture and other pieces that define indoor ambiance, it is not usually emphasized as a crucial design component, often resulting in the classic plain white shade that continues to be the norm in many, if not most, interior spaces. Nonetheless, ceilings can serve multiple purposes in any architectural project. For example, they provide comfort, act as protective surfaces for other building systems, conceal structural elements, and add layers of texture, movement and color. They also allow the enclosure or separation of spaces and contribute to sound diffusion, hence reducing noise transfer between rooms.
As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. Foundational in creating opportunities for learning, as well as supporting literacy and education, the resources and services each library offers all work towards helping to shape new ideas that are central to building a creative and innovative society.
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.jpg?1656364895 "Co-creation of Urban Spaces by the Nobogonga River. Image Courtesy of Co.Creation.Architects, Jhenaidah Citywide People's Network, Platform of Community Action and Architecture (POCAA), Community Architects Network (CAN)")
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.jpg?1656315984 "Node+ by UNStudio. Image Courtesy of UNStudio")
.jpg?1656315920 "Soliscape by UNStudio. Image Courtesy of UNStudio")
.jpg?1656315918 "Soliscape by UNStudio. Image Courtesy of UNStudio")
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