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 vast history of the United States involving migration, the great variety of climates and the mix of cultures, has built a very diverse urban and architectural landscape. Despite this, there is a large number of historic buildings that – unfortunately, as in many other countries – are in the state of decay due to poor maintenance, which attracts developers.

Ivy Tech and Cummins have selected IwamotoScott Architecture of San Francisco to create the new Ivy Tech Columbus campus building. The College anticipates breaking ground in 2020 and taking occupancy in 2022.

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Henning Larsen has unveiled its vision for Brouck’R, a city block transformation project facing Brussels’ busy Place de Brouckère. Inspired by traditional and contemporary heritage, the proposal generates a 21st-century, vibrant, mixed-use destination in the city center.

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A team of five firms have come together to design the first large-scale timber building in Western Australia. Lyons Architecture is working with Officer Woods, The Fulcrum Agency, STH and Aspect Studios on the new academic building at Murdoch University in Perth. Constructed from locally sourced timber, the four-story project will include offices, learning spaces, and informal gathering areas.

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Japanese mass housing from the 1960s is a fascinating cross-cultural experiment that merged Western and Soviet modernist typologies with traditional Japanese elements. Once a symbol of a new “modernized” way of life, it has since become a burden for Japanese society. Current living conditions in these housing estates are unsuitable for elderly residents and have given rise to the phenomena of kodokushi—lonely, unnoticed deaths inside of the apartments. Researcher and photographer Tatiana Knoroz explores the tragic fate of this modernist project in her essay for Strelka Mag.

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Design practice Conrad Gargett have created a proposal for a sculptural mixed-use complex in the Brisbane suburbs of Queensland, Australia. Sited in Lutwyche, the project aims to become an integrated development built to accommodate an ageing population in Queensland. Dubbed Lamington Markets, the design overlays public amenities and commercial spaces with local recreation space.

How do street art practices resonate through the digital world, and how do we trace such resonance back to the street? More generally, what happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Andrea Baldini (Nanjing University) reflects on the role that the Internet, and social networks, in particular, have had in boosting the circulation of graffiti and street art and, in turn, their communicative and denouncing power.

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.

Architects Julie Smith-Clementi and Frank Clementi have changed the built environment of Southern California and Los Angeles for over three decades. Together, the duo recently launched Smith-Clementi, a new multidisciplinary design practice working at the intersection of urbanism, architecture and product design. Following a "plates to parks" design philosophy, the duo is transforming the built environment at multiple scales.

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Framlab, an innovation studio based in Bergen and New York City has created Glasir, a community-based system for urban farming. The proposed modular structure relies on aeroponic growth systems to provide local products.

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Located on Qetaifan Island North in proximity to Lusail International Stadium, which will host the opening and final games of the FIFA World Cup 2022, ADMARES and Sigge Architects are developing 16 floating hotels to serve tourists and fans that will be visiting Qatar.

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Everybody’s talking about Grasshopper. It’s an exciting way to explore parametric and generative designs in architecture — and the ability to create and render those concepts and animations to present to clients is considerably even more impressive.

V-Ray is a trusted 3D renderer that gives Rhino users the power to render everything, from quick concepts to finished designs. It also allows designers to deliver professional-quality renders every step of the way. V-Ray for Grasshopper comes with V-Ray for Rhino, which makes it quick and easy to animate and render your parametric designs.

The global climate crisis is one that requires discussion in many areas of life, from planning for containment to the prevention of consequences. One of the main factors in this debate involves our means of energy production that, historically, were responsible for severe damage to the environment. This was due to the lack of concern to seek renewable and sustainable sources to generate electricity, and also the lack of technology. In general, traditional methods of electrical energy are ones that produce waste, release atmospheric and water pollutants, and use non-renewable resources. 

Mario Cucinella Architects (MC A) has just received the go-ahead for the Ekspozita Building, an urban oasis in the center of Tirana, Albania. Comprising commercial, residential and public amenity spaces, the 93m tall mixed-use statement building is scheduled for completion by 2023.

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Another year, another successful ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards! With more than 95,000 votes gathered over the past 20 days, the results of the 2020 edition are in! Once more, the award has proved to be the largest architecture prize centered around people’s opinion. Crowdsourced, the most relevant projects of the year were both nominated and selected by our readers.

Having been utilized as early as the Roman era in buildings of almost every scale, it is almost impossible to think of a building that does not have at least one concrete element. In fact, it is the most widely used construction material in the world, due to its versatility, resistance, ease of handling, accessibility, aesthetics, and other factors. At the same time, its manufacture is also one of the main polluters in the atmosphere, mainly due to the fact that the cement industry emits around 8% of all global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

In addition to its intensive production, concrete is an extremely rigid material, heavy and composed of cement, water, stone, and sand. Thus, would it be possible to continue to use concrete sustainably after demolition, eliminating its disposal as mere waste and overloading landfills?

Located in the Zhujiang New Town district of Guangzhou, the Guangfa Securities Headquarters has just been completed. Designed by Jaeger Kahlen Partner, the 308-meter tall super high rise is the latest addition to the skyline of the city.

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The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures by Renzo Piano Building Workshop is set to open this December in Los Angeles. Set along the Miracle Mile, the design consists of the renovation of the May Company department store located at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire, as well as a new glass sphere addition that will house the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater.

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If you've procrastinated, now is your last chance to enter your design in the 2020 A’ Design Award Competition - the final call for entries ends February 28th, 2020 for an opportunity to showcase your work to a global audience. The international competition was "born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well-designed products" of designers, architects, and innovators from all design fields. Among other design competitions and awards, the A' Design Award stands out for its exceptional scale with over 100 design categories.

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The advent of steel in architecture at the beginning of the 20th century is considered as one of the most innovative construction developments in history, allowing architects to create structures with heights, flexibility, and freedom never seen before. Henry Bessemer invented the most successful steel-making process in 1855, but it was not until 1890 that the process was refined enough for construction. The first steel constructions on both sides of the Atlantic, the Rand McNally Building in Chicago and Forth Bridge in Edinburgh, were record-breaking structures of their time.

Part of ArchDaily’s mission to highlight the best Architecture in the world, we are frequently rounding up unbuilt projects submitted by our readers. In this feature, we are focusing on competition proposals, showcasing a vast variety of functions.

A master plan from Seoul, a park in Bagdad, a chapel in Rwanda and an observation deck in Italy, to name a few, each of the described schemes responds to a different brief and offers a new perspective. With countless daily submissions from all over the world, ArchDaily is seeking to feature the finest projects and ensure a platform for everyone.

After centuries of Portuguese colonization and recent conquest of independence, Mozambique has undergone a difficult period with new challenges, such as the combat against poverty, the infrastructure deficit, and uncontrolled urban expansion. On the architecture field, it is possible to notice the impact of these challenges on the evolution of the Mozambican projects. Some examples are: the prediction of the need to expand the building in the future, the adoption of climate control passive measures and the utilization of vernacular constructive techniques adapted to the local context (as a way to minimize energy consumption in the different phases of building construction and its respective costs).

In 1979, the Pontchartrain Park golf course was renamed the Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. Municipal Golf Course by the City of New Orleans. While perhaps not the ‘catchiest’ of title changes, the event was a posthumous chapter in the legacy of one of the most celebrated golf course architects of his time. Joseph Bartholomew (1888-1971) began life as an African-American in racially-segregated Louisiana only 23 years after the end of the American Civil War; fought in large part over the legality of African American slavery. But his life, chronicled in the latest New York Times’ Overlooked series, would see him reach the pinnacles of golf course architecture, and design nationally-celebrated landscapes that Bartholomew, because of his race, was himself not allowed to play on.