This video introduces and defines common architecture terms from A to Z. It is no secret that architecture is full of jargon. This can be the subject of jokes and memes but it can also lead to confusion and frustration. The reliance on jargon is somewhat forgivable — the task of translating complex spatial, geometric, and compositional principles into verbal language is difficult. However, it means that one must invest in learning the language to fully grasp written and verbal communication about buildings. This video helps by providing definitions for 26 common architectural terms in alphabetical order. Terms include aesthetic, buttress, circulation, diagrammatic, enfilade, fenestration, geodesic, hierarchy, iconic, jamb, kitsch, legibility, morphology, node, ornament, program, quoin, rustication, stereotomy, tectonics, urbanism, yurt, and zeitgeist. Armed with this fundamental vocabulary, you’ll be able to keep up with any architectural conversation.
Architecture News
Architectural Vocabulary Defined A to Z
Madame Architect's Julia Gamolina: "The More Architects Can Accumulate Skills to Run a Business and Tell a Compelling Story, the Better Their Work Will Be"
Madame Architect, the platform dedicated to the built environment and to the empowerment, advancement, and visibility of the women who work in it, has just reached a milestone, publishing over 250 interviews with the females who shape our world. “Designed to break the architect’s mold”, the website was founded 3 years ago by Julia Gamolina, an architect that shaped her own path in the field, becoming Director of Strategy at Trahan Architects, focusing on the business, its development, growth, and evolution.
Archdaily's Christele Harrouk had the chance to speak to Julia Gamolina, Founder, Editor-in-Chief of Madame Architect, and one of Professional Women in Construction's "20 Under 40", to discuss her career choices, the online magazine, the business of architecture and communication.
Valentino Gareri Atelier Proposes a New Model of 3D Printed Residential Village
Valentino Gareri Atelier have joined forces with technology and wellness consultant Steve Lastro of 6Sides and global wellness real estate innovators Delos to create Sunflower Village, a humanistic and sociological approach to residential technology & community living. The proposed residential village includes 19 homes arranged in a sunflower composition that 'follows the sun'.
MVRDV Begins Renovation of Shenzhen Tower
Work has begun for MVRDV's renovation of Shenzen Women & Children Centre, a mixed-use tower featuring an array of public functions, now in need of a comprehensive transformation. Constructed during the city's explosive growth following the Special Economic Zone designation in the 1980s, the building is one of the many nearing the end of their initial lifespan, and MVRDV's adaptive re-use project sets an important precedent for repurposing these buildings by bringing colour, greenery and a new layer of public spaces.
Modernizing the Sacred: Gottfried Böhm's Mother Church of São Paulo Apóstolo in Brazil
In the hilly landscape of Blumenau, a city located in the state of Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil, stands a gem of modern religious architecture by Gottfried Böhm, who recently passed away at the age of 101: the Mother Church of São Paulo Apóstolo, built from 1953 to 1963.
The São Paulo Apóstolo Church was built before the São Luiz Gonzaga Church in Brusque - two religious temples designed by Böhm with the office he inherited from his father, the architect Dominikus Böhm (1880-1955).
We Already Have Viable Models for Quality Affordable Housing
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
In this week's reprint, author Walter Jaegerhaus explores the U.S. housing challenge, drawing a timeline of the evolution of different architectural solutions, from around the world. Seeking to "inspire designers today to create new housing options", and hoping "that the U.S can again embrace its experimental origins and try out new ideas and methods", the article highlights examples from Europe and the Americas.
London Design Biennale 2021 Winners: Chile, Venezuela, Pavilion of the African Diaspora, and Israel
The jury of the London Design Biennale 2021 has announced today June 24 the winning pavilions to the third edition. Responding to artistic director and curator Es Devlin's theme ‘Resonance’, the Biennale brings together over 30 pavilions to showcase how design can provide solutions to the challenges of our times, from sustainability to globalization, to migration to the future of humanity.
“The winners of the 2021 London Design Biennale Medals truly illustrate the importance of design thinking to help bring social change and economic growth across the world," said John Sorrell, President of the London Design Biennale. While Victoria Broackes, Director of the London Design Biennale, stated the winners "clearly demonstrate how brilliant design can be in telling complex stories that communicate directly to hearts and minds."
Rural Frameworks: Ghana's New Spaces for Learning
Ghana's architecture has long been tied to local building materials. From traditional thatch roofs and mud walls to contemporary concrete and glass structures, the country's built environment is a refection of the surrounding context. This is true for urban and rural projects alike, and as new educational buildings are created across Ghana, these spaces reflect the country's landscape as they look to the future of learning.
Design in the Age of Digitalization: 6 Digital Pavilions at the 2021 London Design Biennale
Responding to artistic director and curator Es Devlin's theme ‘Resonance’, designers from different countries, territories, and cities showcased how they envision new perspectives and solutions to global issues, exploring topics such as sustainability and the environment, globalization, migration, and the future of humanity. The diversity of the contributing curators was not only present in the solutions they presented, but in how they displayed them as well. While some opted for the tactile experience of exploring natural elements, others relied on one of the most prominent themes of the 21st century: digitalization and the virtual world.
Olson Kundig Reinterprets Noah's Ark for Children's Experience at the Jewish Museum in Berlin
Completed in 2020, amidst the pandemic, ANOHA- The Children’s World designed by Olson Kundig for the Jewish Museum in Berlin is finally opening its doors to the young public. The design reinterprets the myth of Noah’s Ark and furthers the concept and ideas of a similar installation at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, created by the firm then named Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen. More than a museum experience, the project is a space for community building, a place for imagination and play that enacts a universal story, creating an inclusive environment for children and families of all cultures and backgrounds.
Winners of the 2021 European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention Announced
The European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention, a biennial award organized by the COAC (Association of Architects of Catalonia) and the AADIPA (Association of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage), has announced the winners of its fifth edition.
New Images for Nuremberg Concert Hall Released
Architecture firms Topotek 1, Johannes Kappler Architektur und Städtebau, and Super Future Collective have released new images for the Nuremberg Concert Hall. While the project is on hold due to the pandemic, the competition-winning design was made as an addition to the ensemble of the Meistersingerhalle. The project is driven by the 1960s architecture of the existing building, and will address acoustic issues to provide a world-class space for performance.
NBBJ Unveils World's First Anti High-Rise Building
Architecture firm NBBJ have unveiled the design of The Net, a next generation office tower in Seattle that fosters wellness and community. The firm's proposal comes as an answer to the problematics that high-rise buildings impose on individuals and urban spaces, such as lack of communal integration and the difficulties of accessing fresh air from the outdoors due to mechanical ventilation systems imposed on the facades.
Innovative Residential Buildings and Concepts: Meet the Winners of the iF Design Award 2021
Clear structures, restrained colors, and natural grace characterize the innovative residential building concepts that delighted members of the 2021 iF Design Awards jury. The awards were granted to impressive ideas that created a visual symbiosis with nature, among other concepts. These are residential buildings that fit casually into their natural surroundings—as if they themselves had emerged from their environment.
GeoGuessr Game Uses Street View to Create a Geographical Puzzle
A geographic discovery game based on Google imagery, GeoGuessr requires players to guess various locations worldwide using only the clues provided by a Street view. Created in 2013, the game has taken on new relevance amidst the pandemic, as it provides a virtual travel experience. From desolate roads to famous sites, the game teases deductive reasoning, requiring players to make use of any clue, from signs, language, flags, landscape, to pinpoint their surroundings.
Argentine Axonometries: 30 Works of Architecture Put Into Perspective
As Francis D. K. Ching explains in his book Architectural Graphics, unlike the traditional, two-dimensional orthographic drawings used to represent layouts, sections, and floorplans, which only allow a project to be glimpsed through a series of fragmented images, axonometries, or axonometric projections, offer unique, simultaneous three-dimensional views of a project with all the depth and spatiality of tried and true technical illustrations.
Back to Basics: Natural Ventilation and its Use in Different Contexts
Automation is everywhere around us - our homes, furniture, offices, cars, and even our clothing; we have become so accustomed to being surrounded by automated systems that we have forgotten what life was like without them. And while automation has noticeably improved the quality of interior spaces with solutions like purified air and temperature control, nothing compares to the natural cool breeze of mother nature.
But just like everything else in architecture, there is no one size fits all; what works in Tanzania cannot work in Switzerland or Colombia. This is due to several reasons, such as the difference in wind direction, average temperature, spatial needs, and environmental restrictions (or lack thereof). In this article, we take a look at natural ventilation in all its forms, and how architects have employed this passive solution in different contexts.
How an Insulated Metal Panel Envelope Can Meet Fire Safety Codes
The way in which a fire evolves largely depends on the materials that constitute the building, as well as how it is designed. For this reason, there exist a number of fire safety requirements in building codes that must be followed during the initial design stages, as well as the physical construction of a building. In addition to these building codes, there are other considerations that must be taken into account such as thermal comfort, acoustics, and accessibility. When specifying a material or product for part of a building, the architect or design professional must pay close attention to meeting these demands. An example of a suitable material choice is the Insulated Metal Panel (IMP), which can have superior thermal properties, various appearance possibilities and good fire resistance.
10 Wooden Stilt Houses that are Lifting Architecture off the Ground
Stilt houses are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Dating back to the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages, a wide variety of raised dwellings have been identified in a variety of forms worldwide, designed with several diverse and innovative methodologies. Stilt houses are well suited to coastal regions and subtropical climates. More than just a distinctive structural design resolution, they also protect against floods, maximize views and allow homeowners to build on rocky, steep, or unstable land. They also serve to keep out animals and vermin, provide ventilation from underneath, and minimize a house’s ecological footprint.
Snøhetta Proposes "Manifestation of Technology" for Qianhai Design Competition
Snøhetta has proposed Lunar for the International Competition of the Landmark Design of Qianhai's New City Center. Inspired by the city's pioneering past and technology-driven future, the proposal is satellite-like structure that resembles landmarks in the era of data and technology. The proposal ranked second place in the competition alongside Sou Fujimito's floating tower.
National Pavilions at the London Design Biennale 2021 Highlight the Role of Design in Addressing Global Challenges
London Design Biennale is currently unfolding at Somerset House, with 38 exhibitions from across six continents showcasing the role of design in addressing global challenges. Curated by Artistic Director Es Devlin, the event centres around the theme ‘Resonance’, inviting designers and artists to consider the ripple effect of “ground-breaking design concepts on the way we live, and the choices we make”. At the third edition of the London Design Biennale, the national pavilions highlight new perspectives on world issues, exploring sustainability and the environment, globalisation and migration, history and daily life.
Open Assembly: Spanish Town Halls Shaping Community and Place
Town halls and civic architecture are defined by spaces for gathering and focused work. Located in urban centers, they bring systems and people together. As one of the most diverse nations in the world, Spain balances a respect for history with an optimism for the future. Exploring environmental, social and economic impact, town halls represent emerging Spanish design culture and local values.
Urban Agency Designs New "Vancouver Forest" Block in Canada
Architecture firm Urban Agency has shared new details of their Vancouver Forest development in Canada. Taking inspiration from the forest regions of the area, the project includes timber, bamboo and greenery to form a sustainable block for the city. As a series of stepped terraces, the project was designed as a 'living canopy' with trees and foliage growing along the building envelope.
Heritage and Refurbishment: 16 Interior Renovation Projects of Houses in Spain
In the last few years, Europe has become a leader in refurbishment architecture by renovating and remodeling buildings and historic city centers. These initiatives have halted horizontal expansion and promote equitable city development.
This trend has not only become a contribution towards the densification and revitalization of underserved sectors but has also allowed families who had been displaced to the periphery to inhabit city centers and improve their quality of life.
