Creating a model for rendering does have its own set of rules. To get you up and rendering as quickly as possible, here are SketchUp's top five tips for prepping your SketchUp model for rendering.

The largest fish market in the southern hemisphere, designed by 3XN, has received the final go-ahead from the NSW Government, paving the way for construction to begin within the next eight weeks. Part of the revitalization of Blackwattle Bay, in Sydney, Australia, the new 65,000 m2 Sydney Fish Market was envisioned as a major public and cultural destination.

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OMA and LOLA Landscape Architects have revealed their design development for the New Feyenoord Stadium, in Rotterdam. Part of the Feyenoord City master plan, the scheme “has been optimized to ensure on-time and cost-effective delivery, while reinforcing its integrity as a vital iconic building”.

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Fender Katsalidis has released details of a masterplan to revitalize Melbourne’s Southgate precinct. Submitted for planning approval, the project is made to create a new urban marker for Southbank and the city. The $800 million project includes a new 21-level office tower, 2,000 square metres of publicly accessible parkland, and 2,000 square metres of landscaped open spaces.

Since the moment the first all-glass building was proposed by Mies van der Rohe, architects have sought the perfect façade. A well-designed façade system is often the difference between a mediocre and a spectacular design impression. Budget, aesthetic, and performance constraints require careful balancing. While every project is different, developing a decision-making framework greatly simplifies the process.

Despite all the news of re-openings, lifted restrictions, al fresco options dining, and a return to something more closely resembling “normal,” COVID-19 is still very much with us. And despite the defeatist/downplayed/nothing to see here stance embraced by the current presidential administration, the United States is still in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. In some states, both new reported cases and hospitalizations have now reached record highs.

This being said, the need for accessible, easy to fabricate, and quick-to-deploy testing facility solutions are still in great need, particularly in dense urban areas, at large institutions and workplaces, and in underserved communities where coronavirus testing might come as a luxury, not a basic necessity. In terms of testing availability, all bases need to and must be covered.

The relevance of the Greater Bay Area within international geo-political assets is steadily increasing. Relying on projections and observations by Li Shiqiao, Rem Koolhaas and Manuel Castells as main bases for his interpretation of this process, Thomas Chung investigates the future layout that president Xi Jinxing’s project will delineate, involving nine urban areas of the Pearl River Delta and the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. In order to construct a range of possible futures, the author critically traces the various political turns that affected the Pearl River Delta since the 80s Open Door Policy up to affirming its contemporary role on a global scale.

For the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," (21 December 2019-8 March 2020) ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies might impact architecture and urban life. The contribution below is part of a series of scientific essays selected through the “Eyes of the City” call for papers, launched in preparation of the exhibitions: international scholars were asked to send their reflection in reaction to the statement by the curators Carlo Ratti Associati, Politecnico di Torino and SCUT, which you can read here.

What makes Denmark a role model, and what are the ingredients of the coveted Danish everyday life? The new exhibition Hello Denmark presented by The Danish Architecture Centre (DAC) in Copenhagen showcases the conditions that contribute to the Nordic country’s high quality of life and this exploration of the mundane creates a new and unique way of understanding architecture and design.

As remnants of the Industrial Age, the London gas holders are a fascinating presence across the urban landscape, one which is on the verge of disappearing. The photographic essay Ruin or Rust portrays the uncanny structures as the backdrop of everyday life, capturing their relationship to the urban context. The result of a two-year-long endeavor, this personal project of London-based photographer Francesco Russo frames the dialogue between these elements of the cityscape and the life going on around them, investigating their role in contemporary society and the urban fabric.

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The University of Oxford and internationally-renowned architecture practice NBBJ have unveiled images of the new Life and Mind Building. The development, the University’s largest building project in its history, will be the new home of the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Biology, including Plant Sciences and Zoology, accommodating 800 students and 1,200 researchers.

Part of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), in the Netherlands, Echo is a new multifunctional and flexible inter-faculty building, now under construction and due for completion in Dec 2021. Designed by UNStudio, in collaboration with Arup and BBN, the future-proof facility meets the needs of the ever-increasing numbers of students.

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A new boutique hotel in South Africa will re-purpose train cars as guest rooms on a bridge above the Sabie River. Each car has been converted to house 31 luxury guest rooms made to highlight local culture. Called the Kruger Shalati, the train scheme aims to celebrate where the first visits to Kruger National Park were allowed in the early 1920s.

NBBJ has been selected to design the new Vivo headquarters, introducing the next generation of work environments that integrates nature, health, and equal access to amenities. Located in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district, the 32-story spiraling tower highlights an innovative design that embraces the urban-coastal site and reflects the company’s values. Construction began in May 2020 and is scheduled for completion by fall 2025.

Wrightwood 659, a private institution located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, will host the first U.S. Exhibition of Indian architect, urbanist, and 2018 Pritzker Prize winner Balkrishna Doshi. Running from September 9 till December 12, 2020, the retrospective entitled Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People, is the first display devoted to the works of the laureate, outside of Asia.

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NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund has selected 62 grant recipients to support funding in parks and open spaces across New York City. The effort was made to support a coalition of national, family, and community foundations. As the first round of funding, the grants range from $5,000 to $120,000 to support essential maintenance, stewardship, public programming, and management of parks and open spaces across the five boroughs.

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In her Sesc Pompéia theater, architect Lina Bo Bardi designed a central stage revealing the structure and all the functions of the theater's program, and renouncing traditional theater seating. Her seats were not upholstered, were close to each other, and encouraged a more aware, attentive, and upright posture among the audience, thus honoring, according to her, the ancient art of theater.

In the same way that the characteristics of architectural spaces alter our mood, feelings, concentration, and learning, so does the integral design element of furniture, which must be taken seriously when considering comprehensive user experiences. Regarding schools and learning environments in particular, the same attention given to teaching materials is often not conferred on furniture and physical structure.

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The urban crisis brings many challenges, but also presents opportunities for landscape architects to help build more equitable green spaces and cities.

As a Los Angeles resident who doesn’t drive, navigating the city on foot and bike has always made me feel like I have the whole place to myself.

But over the last two months, Angelenos have been freckling the streets—it’s like they’ve all discovered for the first time that they’re capable of exploring this city without a car. While most beaches and trails in the city were shuttered (they have since re-opened), I noticed the LA River becoming the city’s new “it spot” for socially distant hangouts. And in a city that lacks adequate public parks, people are turning any patch of grass or sidewalk—whether it’s an elementary school yard, a traffic median, or a bit of concrete next to a parking lot—into a bit of respite from the madness.

Interior design is a fundamental piece in creating an ambiance and complementing the architectural qualities of a residential project. It can either reinforce or subvert aspects of a building, create its own narratives within the rooms and also define the living spaces. Whether in renovations or designs started from scratch, creating interiors requires an understanding of the purposes and dynamics of those who will occupy the spaces. It brings architecture closer to a day to day level, in its most intimate form when it comes to housing programs.

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Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture has built the first socially distanced tent, a pop-up school proposal in London. Located at Manorfield Primary School in Tower Hamlets, the project aims to maximize social distancing measures among students and teachers, during this post COVID-19 period.

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Videos

The Citizen Care Pod is a new initiative for COVID-19 smart screening and testing, combining intelligent technology with a modular design. Led by the Citizen Care Pods Corporation, the multi-disciplinary team, consisting of Toronto based WZMH Architects, PCL Construction, Insight Enterprises, and Microsoft, collaborated to bring the project from concept to reality in less than a month.

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Videos

The issue of the housing deficit plagues virtually all countries today. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, 330 million urban families worldwide lack decent housing, or housing costs are so heavy that they need to forgo other basic needs such as food, heath care, and education for children. According to the WRI (World Resources Institute), it is estimated that 1.6 billion people will lack adequate housing by the year 2025.

Solving this problem is, understandably, complex. Having good housing means much more than simply having a roof over your head. Good housing is essential for physical and financial security, economic productivity, and human well-being. In addition to adequate comfort, it is essential that these houses are integrated with the city, jobs, infrastructure, and city services. For people living on the street, this issue is even more delicate. Among many other necessities, having a place to structure a life is essential to moving forward and prospering. One project that confronts this issue is Emerald Village Eugene (EVE), an affordable micro-housing community with a unique housing model structured to enable residents to transition from the streets.