The “smart” movement has gained traction and generated buzz over the last decade, but despite all of the hype, what even is a smart city? The dogma behind its loose definition and goals has been rather elusive, and while some claim that it relies on digitization of all urban aspects, others argue an increase in personal data collection is the sole method for improving urban lifestyles. One person’s digital paradise is perhaps another person’s technophobic doomsday. Extending beyond the mere definition of these cities, what role do designers and researchers play in creating this loosely identified futuristic landscape? As Corbusier once defined a home as a machine for living, it’s time to redefine how our buildings shed their passive exteriors and become the true machines for working that they were always meant to be.
Architecture News
ArchDaily China's 2020 Building of the Year Awards are Now Open for Nominations
As we successfully launched our 12th Building of the Year (BOTY) award earlier this year, we want to thank you for being part of our community for over 10 years. Together we have been growing and contributing to the architectural scene, aiming for a better world.
ArchDaily China is 5 years old this year. We have been introducing Chinese architecture to the world and bringing global architecture to our readers in China. We are an open platform that benefits global audiences, making the industry more inclusive and equal. While our database, mission, and focus develop, some traditions stay with us over the years, such as our flagship award series – the Building of the Year Awards. Now, we are proud to announce that BOTY's 4th Chinese edition celebrating the best architecture in the country, as chosen by you, the reader.
By nominating and voting, you form part of an interdependent, impartial, distributed network of jurors and peers that has consistently helped us celebrate architecture of every scale, purpose, and condition, from large and small countries, and architects of all profiles. Over the coming weeks, your votes will result in 600 Chinese projects filtered down to just 10 best projects in China.
Read below for more details on how to submit, and thank you for helping us continue to democratize architectural excellence across the world.
UNStudio Rethinks Traditional Glazing in Two Adaptive Reuse Designs
UNStudio completed two remodel projects in the Netherlands rethinking traditional glazing techniques. Located in Eindhoven and on the P.C Hooftstraat in Amsterdam, the projects each draw from their context and take inspiration from local history and culture. Made to restore and connect the two existing structures to their respective cityscapes, the projects are designed to restore the urban fabric as they connect to passerby.
Ravi Naidoo from Design Indaba Elaborates on the Purpose of Design in reSite Podcast
Design and the City is a podcast by reSITE, raising questions and proposing solutions for the city of the future. In the final episode, Ravi Naidoo from Design Indaba discusses the purpose of design. Aiming to define the field, the founder of Interactive Africa, a company based in Cape Town, and the design platform Design Indaba shares his personal thoughts on empowering people to create a better future through creativity.
Adapting Existing Spaces: New York City’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
As New York is facing unprecedented circumstances and as the numbers of infected people with the coronavirus are reaching new highs, officials are seeking fast and efficient solutions to generate useful spaces for patients. With a timeline of a few weeks, the city is looking into ways of altering the existing structures.
World Architecture Festival Still Planned for December and Gives Additional Time to Submit your Entries
World Architecture Festival and World Festival of Interiors: Inside is scheduled for 2 – 4 December, in Lisbon. Preparations for the event are going ahead in the typical way and architects from across the globe are continuing to submit their online awards entries.
8 Tips for Designing Residential Kitchens
When designing residential spaces, be it a new construction or a renovation, the kitchen is a space that tends to be one of the most complex. Not only does it need to serve a very specific function, but it also needs several pieces of furniture, household appliances, and the ability to adapt to electrical and plumbing considerations. Kitchens often also serve as an hub for social interactions and family gatherings, so it is critical that the space can provide a degree of flexibility.
American Architect Michael McKinnell Dies from Coronavirus Complications
Michael McKinnell, a British-born American architect, known for his work on the acclaimed Boston’s Brutalist City Hall, and co-founder of the Kallmann McKinnell & Wood architectural design firm, has passed away on March 27, 2020, at the age of 84, from COVID-19-induced pneumonia.
GWP Creates Fengsheng 101 Tower, a New Landmark in Guangzhou's Skyline
GWP Architects imagined a mixed-use development tower, reaching a height of 200 meters with a total construction area of approximately 81,000 square meters. Located in Guangzhou, the project entitled Fengsheng 101, includes hotels, offices, apartments, and commercial stores.
Michael Maltzan Architecture's Inuit Art Centre to Open this Fall
The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre (IAC) is set to open in Manitoba this fall. Designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture in collaboration with Cibinel Architecture, the 40,000-square-foot scheme will include new galleries, a lecture theater, research areas, and a visible art storage vault. The IAC is set to become Canada's largest gallery space devoted to Inuit art, culture, and history.
How to Design Museum Interiors: Display Cases to Protect & Highlight the Art
Museums are complex organizations: curators, exhibition designers, conservationists, editors, and marketers have to work together to ensure that artworks in galleries and exhibitions are properly displayed to the public. Instrumental to this process is the use of effective display cases, which must both protect the art and highlight it aesthetically. Below, we delineate some of these visual and practical considerations with photographic examples from Goppion, giving some indication how one should choose which display cases to use.
Spotlight: Mario Botta
Working since he was 16, Swiss architect Mario Botta (April 1, 1943) has become a prolific and well known crafter of space, designing a huge array of places of worship, private homes, and museums, perhaps most notably the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Church of San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Switzerland. His use of traditional masonry over the streamlined steel and glass of so much modern architecture creates strong, self-confident buildings that pull together the contrast between the weight of his materials and lightness of his designs.
Snøhetta, Marcio Kogan and Juan Herreros in ArchDaily Instagram Live Interviews
In times of quarantine, architects and designers are settling into a new remote working environment. In this process of implementing platforms and workflows to work from home, the risk of social isolation remains real, even for companies used to this environment, such as ArchDaily. As David Basulto, CEO of ArchDaily, wrote last week, the quarantine implies not just working online, but "staying connected and support each other."
Reparametrize Studio Envisions the Future of Post-War Smart City
Reparametrize Studio has followed up their ongoing research “Re-Coding Post-War Syria”, with a project that focuses on analyzing the damaged fabric of post-war cities through 3D scanning technologies. Taking a Street in Zamalka Town in Damascus, Syria as a case study, the investigation can distinguish the areas in need of reconstruction from the areas in useful conditions.
The Czech Republic Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Reveals Desert Cultivation Technologies
Located in the sustainability zone of EXPO 2020 Dubai, the Czech pavilion, designed by Formosa AA and R/FRM, is an invitation for discovery. Raising questions concerning desert cultivation, it integrates and exposes the S.A.W.E.R. system cultivation plant. Visible technologies form the main formal and visual components of the pavilion.
Indonesian Architect Ahmad Djuhara Dies at 54
Chairman of the Indonesian Architects Association (IAI) Ahmad Djuhara died at the Infection Disease Hospital (RSPI) Sulianti Saroso last Friday afternoon. The news was posted by the IAI, though no cause of death has been confirmed. Djuhara founded the architectural firm Djuhara + Djuhara together with his wife, architect Wendy Djuhara, and was a major voice for architecture and design throughout Indonesia.
Learning by Doing: Hand-on Projects
In a world marked by urbanization, the digital revolution, and climate change, traditional approaches to real estate are not enough. To respond to this context, students in the Master in Real Estate Development at the IE School of Architecture and Design are encouraged to go beyond traditional practices and think outside the box.
The World's Answer to the Lack of Medical Facilities: Temporary and Convertible Hospitals
Just 2 months ago, the city of Wuhan, China announced the construction of Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, adding 1,000 beds, 30 ICUs, and new isolation wards to the city's medical arsenal to combat the Coronavirus epidemic. The building was completed in under 10 days by a team of 7,000 construction workers, a far cry from the reality many countries are facing as they scramble to quell the outbreak and wrestle with the shortcomings of their own healthcare systems. With over 14,000 dead and more than 300,000 infected worldwide, not to mention a shortage of medical supplies and facilities, health systems across the globe are feeling the strain of preparing for a crisis.
The BIG U: NYC Community Spaces as Barriers for Flooding
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the eastern coastline of the United States and caused a level of flooding and destruction that was unprecedented for a major, densely populated city like New York. Storm surges brought a terrifying amount of water to the city streets, tunnels and subways; the National Ocean Service reported a 9.4-foot surge over Battery Park. Essential infrastructure was damaged in many areas, homes were flooded and people were trapped.
How to Minimize Harmful Effects of Formaldehyde Gas Indoors
As people are spending more and more time inside their homes, offices, and other closed areas, it is important to ensure that these spaces are safe and healthy environments, especially indoor areas designed for children and seniors. In recent years, several of the materials that shape the spaces we inhabit and directly influence the quality of the air we breathe have increasingly used a potentially dangerous chemical compound. This compound is called formaldehyde.