This article is part of "Eastern Bloc Architecture: 50 Buildings that Defined an Era", a collaborative series by The Calvert Journal and ArchDaily highlighting iconic architecture that had shaped the Eastern world. Every week both publications will be releasing a listing rounding up five Eastern Bloc projects of certain typology. Read on for your weekly dose: Monumental Museums and Memorials.
Bringing together technical experts in different fields to address issues of global importance, Fabien Cousteau, first grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center (FCOLC) announced the inception of PROTEUS, “the world’s most advanced underwater scientific research station and habitat to address humanity’s most critical concerns”. Conceived as the underwater version of the International Space Station, the project is designed by Yves Behar and fuseproject.
Text by Reutov Design. I was inspired to create this project by the nature of the island of Lanzarote in the Canary archipelago. Inspired by the extraterrestrial landscapes of this island combined with the bright colors of the nature of the island of Ibiza, we managed to create a light futuristic interior.
Hytera, one of the world's leading radio and communication systems manufacturers, has selected SOM to design its global headquarters, in Shenzhen, China. Integrated within the context, the project joins other emerging technology enterprises in the city and introduces a new typology of office space, as well as activates the surrounding public space.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced three joint winners of the Rethink: 2025 international design competition. Looking for designs for a post-pandemic world, the competition invited architects and students to consider what life and our built environment could look like by 2025. In total, there were over 147 entries from 18 countries that were submitted to reimagine daily life.
This essay is a summary of the book “The Multi-Skilled Designer: Cognitive Foundation for Inclusive Architectural Thinking.” Using the theory of multiple intelligences from cognitive psychology, and developments in psychometric research, the book advocates eight skills to incorporate skill diversity in design. Design problems of 21st Century vary far too greatly—in terms of their content, scale, and complexity, and demand a repertoire of skills. To consider multiple skillsets is to recognize the presence of individual differences, representations, and approaches in design. This allows a shift from formalist practices of architecture that emphasize graphical and formal logic skills, that tend to produce the same type of designers and privilege a narrow section of designer thinkers.
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.
Episode 3 will be streamed online on ArchDaily Facebook, Monday, July 27, at 11:30 am EST, and will focus on the future of Architecture and the Public Realm. Our guests will be Benedetta Tagliabue, co-founder of Barcelona-based EMBT, and Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism and incoming William W. Wurster Dean of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley.
The concept of “decarbonization” has been in vogue recently in political speeches and global environmental events, but it has not yet gained enough attention in the field of architecture to profoundly change the way we design and construct the world of tomorrow. Buildings are currently responsible for 33% of global energy consumption and 39% of greenhouse gas emissions, indicating that architects must play a significant role if we are to stop or reverse climate change. With carbon acting as a universally agreed upon metric with which the greenhouse gas emissions of a building can be tracked [1], one of the most important ways through which this goal can be achieved is therefore the decarbonization of buildings.
https://www.archdaily.com/938866/urgent-issue-10-strategies-to-decarbonize-architectureLilly Cao
After a prolonged closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Farnsworth House reopens its doors with a new exhibition entitled “Edith Farnsworth Reconsidered”, a temporary refurnishing of the country house to reflect its 1955 appearance. Focusing on Dr. Edith Farnsworth’s life and times, the exhibition aims to highlight the untold story of this woman.
The London Design Festival has announced the program for its 18th edition to be held this fall. Despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the festival will return to the city as "a symbol of London's determination to maintain its creative and cultural leadership." Since its inception in 2003, London Design Festival brings together practitioners, retailers and educators to celebrate and promote design annually across the capital.
CSG. Image Courtesy of Eastlake Studio, Kendall McCaugherty, Hall + Merrick Photographers
In the last few decades, architecture and interior design have experienced a dramatic shift in the workflows that professionals consider standard. Hand-drafting is long gone; for many it’s nostalgic, and many more embrace the power incumbent to digital drafting tools. Some take it even further with BIM, embracing the process to lead their businesses into lasting success.
Constrained by a lack of transportation and resources, vernacular architecture has started adapting the distinct strategy of utilizing local materials. By analyzing projects which have successfully incorporated these features into their design, this article gives an overview of how traditional materials, such as tiles, metal, rocks, bamboo, wooden sticks, timber, rammed earth and bricks are being transformed through vernacular architecture in China.
God Bless America by Seward Johnson on view at Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey. (sk/ Flickr)
As many Americans tentatively ease back into their museum- and park-going routines, numerous cultural institutions and public spaces are slowly coming back to life on a limited/adjusted basis after months of hibernation to greet them, with coronavirus precautions firmly in place. Meanwhile, large, indoor gallery-centered museums continue to plot their eventual returns. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, for example, plans to reopen in late August while the Getty Center in Los Angeles has still not announced its phased re-opening dates.
In many locales, a trickle of small but positive re-openings has taken place in recent weeks and/or are slated for mid-to-late July. With an eye toward public landscapes, open-air museums, and multifaceted art spaces with room to spread out, here’s a small sampling of places across the country that have reopened or expanded public access or are due to allow visitors in the very near future.
Skating took root as a sport in California during the 1960s and 70s, a time when extreme activities like surfing found their niche among the United States populace. Beginning as an urban adaptation of surfing, skateboarding became the pastime of choice for adolescents and, by the 1980s, acquired a worldwide following. Soon, city-scapes across the globe began transforming as spaces were created for people to engage in this uniquely urban sport.
Chinese courtyard houses are one of the most common housing typologies spanning all the way from the northern capital of Beijing to the poetic southern cities Hangzhou and back to the picturesque regions of Yunnan. Typically referred as heyuan, these courtyards homes are simply a “yard enclosed on four sides."
The Midnight Charette is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by architectural designers David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features a variety of creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions. A wide array of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes provide useful tips for designers, while others are project reviews, interviews, or explorations of everyday life and design. The Midnight Charette is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
https://www.archdaily.com/944221/tips-and-tactics-how-to-develop-a-design-conceptThe Second Studio Podcast
The use of brick plays a very important role in the architectural history of the United Kingdom. Construction techniques that involve brick and stone have been in constant progress. In fact, brick production improved over time, making the material the most popular one in the construction industry. From the 18th century onwards, brickwork was predominantly used in domestic and industrial architecture, but later on, it was introduced to the structure of warehouses and factories, as well as other various forms of infrastructure.
While many of these buildings are still operating to this day, it comes as no surprise. Refurbishment and reuse are highly recommended techniques, and in many cases, the only methods to maintain densely populated European cities. Therefore, the challenge lays in reusing these buildings and recycling the materials available, always trying to retain as much of the original structure as possible.
MVRDV is celebrating the upcoming opening of its Berlin office with an in-house exhibition, showcasing the firm’s 30 years’ worth of work in Germany. Launched at the Architektur Galerie Berlin, the event takes over the walls of MVRDV Haus Berlin, showcasing the company’s archive, some only on paper but much of it realized, with “both current and past German projects, including unseen projects from the past and newly-revealed future projects”.
HKS Architects has won a commission to design a mountain resort on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East of Russia. Made for Three Volcano Park, the plan is envisioned as a year-round mountain resort focusing on the ecological side of the Kamchatka Region. Facilities will include a range of ski-in ski-out hotels, an eco-village, cable cars and residences overlooking views of the Moutnovsky, Vilyuchik and Gorely Volcanoes.
The Reggio Emilia Approach was created in the post-WWII period at the initiative of widowed mothers and under the coordination of journalist and educator Loris Malaguzzi. In a time of postwar urban reconstruction, the group's primary concern was the formation of new schools, where they wanted to create a peaceful, welcoming, and cheerful environment, with a domestic atmosphere where children could stay while their mothers worked. Understanding the children's interests and providing a suitable environment for exploration and experimentation is one of the focal points of this pedagogy. The creation of a safe and stimulating environment is so fundamental that, in much literature, it appears as a third teacher.
Making material recycling commonplace within the architectural field would require a top-down approach in adapting the industry’s processes and standards to create a suitable framework for the task. However, individual endeavours are bringing about change within the profession, pushing for a reconsideration of architecture’s relationship to waste. This article looks at some of the initiatives that are spearheading the transition towards a common practice of material recycling.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is one of those rare movies that not only gets better with time but also presents a new layer of meaning with each viewing. Recently I’ve come to believe that it’s the most important movie about environmentalism ever made, not only because of its warning about nuclear annihilation, which is obvious, but because of its sly critique of the idea of professionalism and the nature of work.
https://www.archdaily.com/944214/dr-strangeloves-strange-environmental-lesson-for-architectsChristopher L. Cosper
During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the lack of exhibitions and commissions, artists around the world started to struggle. The Artist Support Pledge, an initiative born in March of 2020 in response to this global crisis, seeks to support creative individuals, including architectural photographers. Founded by artist Matthew Burrows, the global movement connects communities in order to ensure “an equitable and sustainable economy for artists and makers of all countries, media, and ethnicities”.
ADDP Architects has unveiled its Avenue South Residences project in Singapore, the world's tallest prefabricated, prefinished residential construction. Scheduled for completion in 2026, the two 56-story towers “sits amidst five historically preserved buildings on one of Singapore’s most verdant avenues”.