The question may seem straightforward, but the answer can be very complex, leading to a whole series of issues related to the target audience of hyper-realistic architectural renderings, as well as to what their goals are.

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Design projects rely heavily on visual tools that illustrate the project's features and overall atmosphere, and whether you are an architect, interior designer, furniture designer, or engineer, the term 'mood board' has definitely come up at some point during the early stages of the design process. Generally speaking, images have immense powers of influencing and inspiring their viewers, so putting together a powerful mood board can be a game changer for the architect, the visual artist, and the clients, and can amplify the project's story telling process. So what is a mood board and how can you create one?

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SHoP Architects has designed a new mixed-used development and tower that will also house the Museum of Civil Rights in West Harlem. Combined, the project could total nearly one million square feet of office, residential, and retail space with the cultural program. SHoP submitted a draft scope of work for the project, dubbed One45, that was made in collaboration with Judge Jonathan Lippman and Reverend Al Sharpton.

Videos

Perhaps no building is closer to a date with the wrecking ball in Chicago than the James R. Thompson Center. While those responsible for initiating this threat cite years worth of deferred maintenance and high costs of operation as the primary reasons for their decision, these are not the real reasons for the building’s demise. It suffers from a much more lethal ailment — treating it like a normal building. In this video, Stewart explains why the Thompson Center is definitely not a normal building and offers alternative ways to evaluate it. What if we considered it to be a piece of urban infrastructure or public plaza instead? Relating the building to Rem Koolhaas’ theory of ‘Bigness’, this video builds the case that the Thompson Center should be valued for how it brings people together in space rather than its colors, or material palette, or any other normal ways of appraising mere buildings.

The Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) has announced the list of contributors for its 2021 edition The Available City, selected by Artistic Director David Brown. Bringing design perspectives from around the world, the list of 29 contributors includes the global perception of cities such as Cape Town, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dublin, Paris, Basel, and Tokyo.

Titled "American Framing", the United States pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, will explore the omnipresence and creative power of wood-framed construction in American architecture, an overlooked structural element. Curated by Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner, the exhibition will be on display at the Giardini della Biennale from May 22 through November 21, 2021.

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The Fundació Enric Miralles has launched MIRALLES, a series of exhibitions and events celebrating the work of the influential Catalan architect, whose passing marked twenty years in 2020. Curated by Benedetta Tagliabue and Joan Roig i Duran, the program will unfold over the course of this year in different emblematic venues in Barcelona. The first three exhibitions of the circuit inaugurated this month showcase the multiple facets of Enric Miralles through archival materials ranging from drawings and collages to photography and models, exploring his legacy in architecture and artistic creation.

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The distribution of natural light, improved ventilation, and the propensity to connect  living spaces with the outdoors while maintaining the privacy of the inhabitants have made courtyards a go-to in architectural design around the world over the centuries.

Courtyards are characterized as outdoor or semi-outdoor spaces that are enclosed within the walls of a house or building.

Videos

In today's climate, energy and how we use it is a primary concern in the design of built spaces. Buildings currently contribute nearly 40% to global carbon emissions and with a projected growth of 230 billion square meters in construction before the end of 2060, the focus on construction decarbonization efforts should be paramount.

On the week commemorating American-Chinese architect I.M Pei’s birthday, Delhi-based photographer and photojournalist, Nipun Prabhakar, has shared with us a series of images of I.M Pei & Partners’ building, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. The firm was commissioned in 1968 by Cornell University to build the university’s museum that would also serve as a teaching facility and cultural center for the educational community. The building was completed in 1973 and was awarded the American Institute of Architects Honor Award in 1975.

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The Design Educates Awards recognize, showcase, and promote globally the best ideas and implementations of architecture and design that can educate. DEAwards reach beyond the regular architecture contest priorities, it searches for something that will have a lasting influence beyond the ever-present effects of design and architecture.

KCAP Architects & Planners have designed a new mixed-use building at the rail station of Gouda. The design takes the form of a public plinth with a program of hotel, apartments and amenities. Created for ABC Vastgoed, the project aims to enhance the areas surrounding the existing rail stop and its overall quality as the final piece in a larger redevelopment of the station's northern area.

Videos

As part of its first Virtual World Tour, Architects, not Architecture visited New York to meet Elizabeth Diller.

The international event format Architects, not Architecture is known for inviting some of the most influential architects of our time and asks them to talk about their path, influences, and intellectual biographies. With its new event series, „AnA“ brings the architecture community a bit closer together by taking attendees on tour around the globe to “visit” selected cities and virtually meet two of their renowned practices.

In a competition organized by Shenzhen Airport, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and China Northeast Architectural Design & Research Institute (CNADRI) have won a competition to design the Terminal 4 Bao’an International Airport in Shenzhen, China. The winning design offers a new 400,000 sqm building with connections to existing and new transport infrastructure, as well as a space that promotes passenger interaction and wellbeing, all while maintaining a safe post-pandemic environment.

Slovenia's contribution to the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale explores interior public spaces as vital social infrastructure through the lens of the local cooperative centre typology. Titled "The Common in Community", the exhibition curated by Blaž Babnik Romaniuk, Martina Malešič, Rastko Pečar and Asta Vrečko details the architectural spaces of social interaction built after WWII in rural and suburban Slovenia, which continue to serve their purpose as local community centres to this day.

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Wood is, without a doubt, one of the most versatile building materials there is. Treated lumber, boards, composites, or rustic hardwood, have structural and visual qualities that attract architects and clients searching for a wide range of possible applications and designs. Logs are one of the oldest ways of using this material since they require very little treatment and processing after the tree is cut and are the most natural form of lumber.

Rustic lumber is often used in vacation homes, but not only for this purpose. Below, we have gathered Brazilian houses that use rustic wood elements either in their structure or walls and finishings.

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Around six years after the decision was made to renovate the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin (New National Gallery in Berlin), the completed design is soon to reopen to the public. The extensive renovations, which were planned and implemented by David Chipperfield Architects, utilized product design brand Dornbracht for the interior fittings. These iconic fittings combined the iconic modern style of the gallery's architecture with Dornbracht's unique design language, which is equally reduced in form.

The awards entry deadline is next Friday, May 7th, 2021, allowing all completed and future projects up until this date to have the chance to compete in the awards program.

For the first time, the World Architecture Festival will take place in Lisbon, from the 1-3 December 2021. The annual global awards program is now open for entries to all international architects and designers. WAF attracts more than 1000 entries each year to compete in Completed Building, Future Project and Interior categories.

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia was awarded to Spanish architect, educator, critic, and theoretician Rafael Moneo. Selected by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, upon recommendation of the Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2021, Hashim Sarkis, the acknowledgment will be awarded to the architect on Saturday, May 22nd, 2021 together with the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in memoriam to Lina Bo Bardi.

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