Photography is still one of the most widely used means of representation and communication in architecture. Although it does not incorporate the temporal dimension, the level of fidelity with which photography represents the other three dimensions of the built world makes it one of architect's favorite tools to convey their buildings.
To celebrate World Photography Day, we've gathered 15 photographers from around the world who are worth knowing - and following on Instagram.
Anna Saint Pierre's Granito project is harvesting the ingredients for new architectural building blocks from demolished structures.
Rapid urban change comes and goes without many even noticing it. Entire slices of a city’s history disappear overnight: What was once a wall of hewn stone is now fritted glass and buffed metal. The building site is always, first, a demolition site.
This is the thread that runs through Granito, a project by the young French designer and doctoral researcher Anna Saint Pierre. Developed in response to a late-20th-century Paris office block due for a major retrofit, one involving disassembly, it hinges on a method of material preservation Saint Pierre calls “in situ recycling.” Her proposal posits that harvesting the individual granite panels of the building’s somber gray facade could form the basis of a circular economy. “No longer in fashion,” this glum stone—all 182 tons of it—would be dislodged, pulverized, and sorted on-site, then incorporated into terrazzo flooring in the building update.
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 and long-format conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and more personal discussions. Honesty and humor are used to cover a wide array of subjects: some episodes provide useful tips for designers, while others are project reviews, interviews, or simply explorations of everyday life and design. The Midnight Charette is available for free on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, and all other podcast directories.
On this episode of The Midnight Charette podcast, hosts David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet discuss how to create a design portfolio that will get you interviewed and hired. The two cover everything from the critical points most designers overlook and what employers look for in a portfolio to format, binding, book sizes, graphics, what projects to include and exclude, cover design, layout, ordering work, digital submissions, and more. If you have any questions or advice about portfolios or any other design-related topics, leave a voicemail at The Midnight Charette hotline: 213-222-6950.
Design trends are often the result of foreign cultural influences, avant-garde creations, and innovative solutions for people's ever-evolving needs. Although the design world seems like one big mood board, some cities have managed to outshine the rest with their recent projects.
As part of their annual Design Cities Listing, Metropolis Magazine has highlighted 10 cities across 5 continents with intriguing projects that have harmonized contemporary urbanism with traditional and faraway influences.
.jpg?1565194684 "Paro Internacional de Mujeres el 8 de marzo de 2019, en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Defensoría del Pueblo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]. Image Cortesía de Wikimedia Commons")
The feminine experience and its contributions in different fields of knowledge have experienced increasing acceptance, being mostly praised. The voice of architects, academics, designers, urban planners and activists has gained strength in view of the relevant reception of issues such as inclusion and gender perspective, in the face of challenges that test the great cities of the world and their inhabitants. Every March 8th – the day women take to the streets as an act of resistance and the exercise of citizenship – there are some brief reflections that highlight the link between the cities and their political-social events, as well as in related disciplines to architecture and urbanism.
Over the past two decades, the role of representation and rendering has changed dramatically in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. New rendering technologies, techniques, and programs, such as Lumion, have been contributing to this change. By including 3D rendering tools, architects and designers can take advantage of easy-to-use, multifunctional visualization technology that serves to strengthen creativity rather than stifle it.
In the mid-to-late 20th century, a secular, socialist Poland served as the backdrop for the construction of thousands of Catholic churches. In their book Day-VII Architecture, Izabela Cichonska, Karolina Popera, and Kuba Snopek analyze the paradoxical facets of this architecture born at the intersection of secularity and religion, charting how its development was influenced by liturgical reform, political movements, and the growth of postmodernism. In the excerpted introduction below, the authors unfold this history, touching on the Second Vatican Council, Solidarity, the Iron Curtain, and more in relation to the development of Day-VII Architecture's ultimately unique postmodern style. The publication has collected photographs of 100 Polish churches built after the year 1945, accompanied by interviews with their architects. To read more about the authors' original Day-VII documentation project, which served as the groundwork for this book, be sure to visit the original article "These Churches Are the Unrecognized Architecture of Poland's Anti-Communist 'Solidarity' Movement."
Russia is an enigmatic country known for its sublime constructivism developed during Soviet times, its greatness and enormous scale. It comes as no shocker — architects, such as Ivan Leonidov and his student Leonid Pavlov, and artists like El Lissitzky, have definitely contributed to the history and image of a strong Russian personality.
Considering the prevalent poverty in Russia, the reason for the fixation on cheap construction is rather clear. However, even local leading architects find something attractive and beautiful in the suburban barns and flimsy dwellings. Creating authentic installations in the shape of houses or changing and enhancing the experience of existing structures with materials at hand, Russian artists and architects express the country's skill of turning the ruined and inhabitable into the lively and cozy.
Bee Breeders have announced the winners of the SKYHIVE Skyscraper Challenge. The purpose of the competition was to allow architects, design students, engineers, and artists from all over the world to generate design ideas for iconic high rise buildings in cities around the globe. As part of this design series, participants were encouraged to incorporate new technologies, materials, forms, spatial organizations, and construction systems in their designs for a skyscraper.
This year’s theme for the famous annual Burning Man festival revolves around the notion of “Metamorphosis”. Taking place in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, from the 25th of August till the 2nd of September, each year artists and architects from around the world get creative and imagine installations and pavilions responding to one general question.
For the 2019 edition, Burning Man has already revealed the design for the Central Temple by Geordie Van Der Bosch. Read on to discover more about 2 interventions, taking part in this year's event, an Ornamental Shade from San Francisco and a Desert Sauna from Finland.
In the last decade, Miami has progressively transformed into a mecca of architecture and design. While the city’s tropical persona is most often associated with Art Deco, Miami offers a wide range of architectural styles from Mediterranean Revival to Miami Modern and everything in between. Over the years, the city has welcomed a some of the world’s leading talent including Pritzker Prize winners like “Queen of the Curves” Zaha Hadid, French visionary Jean Nouvel, Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron, Frank Gehry and more – who have all left a lasting impression on Miami through their work. Whether visiting Miami Beach’s Art Deco district or the quaint, village-like Coconut Grove neighborhood, visitors can discover an array of awe-inspiring architecture no matter where their travels take them.
The Government of Maharashtra has deemed Virgin Hyperloop One a public infrastructure project, setting it up to become the first hyperloop project in the world. The announcement brings the hyperloop transportation system in India closer to reality, recognizing hyperloop technology alongside other more traditional forms of mass transit. Dubbed the Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop, the project will link central Pune to Mumbai in under 35 minutes, as opposed to the current 3.5+ hours by road.
When famed architect Michael Graves contracted a mysterious virus in 2003, a new chapter in his life began. Paralyzed from the chest down, the pioneer of Postmodernism would be permanently required to use a wheelchair. Graves could have been forgiven for believing that having fought for his life, having been treated in eight hospitals and four rehab clinics, and needing permanent use of a wheelchair, that his most influential days as an architect were behind him. This was not the case. To the contrary, he would use this new circumstance to design trend-setting hospitals, rehab centers, and other typologies right up to his death in 2015, all with a new-found awareness of the everyday realities of those in wheelchairs, and what architects were, and were not doing, to aid their quality of life.
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava was fined by the Court of Accounts of Venice to pay 78,000 euros for errors that increased the cost of the construction of the Constitution Bridge on the Grand Canal of Venice.
After a 2-year trial, GROUPWORK and Amin Taha Architects won the motion against demolishing the 15 Clerkenwell Close building.
The architects behind the RIBA award-winning project have been in an ongoing battle with local planning authorities over attempts of demolishing the 7-storey building in the city of Clerkenwell, UK. Taha has also received an enforcement notice last year, claiming that "the structure does not reflect the building that was granted planning permission and conservation area consent in 2013".
However, a planning inspector overturned the council’s demolition request, granting the architects planning permission regardless of the differences between what was proposed and what is developed.
Insurance brand Budget Direct has released a series of commissioned images showcasing six alternative visions for Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge. Standing at 134 meters high, it‘s the largest steel arch bridge in the world. The design by Dorman Long was selected in a worldwide design competition back in 1924, but what if another entry had been chosen? The project brings to life different visions for the landmark structure and how they may have shaped The Emerald City.
One of the main attractions of 2018’s Burning Man Festival was the ORB, designed by Bjarke Ingels, Iacob Lange & Laurent de Carniere. The inflated spherical mirror was created as a conceptual representation of Earth and human expression, leaving no trace after its deflation. The project consumed 30 tons of steel, 1,000 welding and sewing hours, and $300,000 of personal funds to make the ORB come to life.
As part of their mini-film series, creative duo another : have collaborated with music composer Yu Miyashita and released a short video that explores the process of creating the ORB in an otherworldly way.
Of all the steps a city can take to make itself more pedestrian-friendly, developing a integral system of signage is both a quick and easy improvement that makes a world of difference--as shown by initiatives like Legible London, New York's WalkNYC, or Rio on Foot, in Río de Janeiro.
The Global Climate Strike is set to happen on the 20th of September 2019, just before the UN emergency climate summit, where people will disrupt their work to protest and advocate for actions against climate breakdown. Architects are joining on the march, through “Architects Advocate”, a movement encouraging the professionals of the industry to stand in solidarity with the rally.
Carlo Ratti Associati's spin-off company Scribit has partnered with leading artist Olafur Eliasson's Little Sun non-profit to draw a crowdsourced illustration of the sun's path in thousands of people's homes. Write&erase robot Scribit works as a smart vertical plotter to create illustrations inspired by sun path charts. The two teams hope to bring the climate crisis center stage and instigate change for the future of the planet.
The design of spaces for people with visual disabilities is an important issue when it comes to talking about accessibility. Architects who adopt the principles of universal design understand that the needs of a blind client are the same as those of all people.
Inclusive design is vital in order for all users to be able to develop comfortably and to correctly understand the various functions of a space. Given the need for our cities to promote integration, we present three exemplary projects for a blind user; a house, a building and a public space.
MVRDV has designed an office and residential building on a corner lot next to the Dommel river in the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel. Made with a facade that takes the form of potted plants, the project uses a gridded “rack” system to cover the building’s entire exterior in a variety of plants. Designed with MVRDV’s co-architect, Van Boven Architecten, the team wanted to create a landmark project for the village while also being socially conscious and environmentally progressive.
The winners of the ICONIC AWARDS 2019: Innovative Architecture competition, have been announced. The “Architects of the Year” went to David Chipperfield Architects, and “Interior Designers of the Year” was granted to Snarkitecture. As for the “Architects’ Client of the Year” prize, it was presented to the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany.
Inaugurated recently, The Chimelong Theatre, a circus hall on the island of Hengqin, in Zhuhai, China, was conceived to replace the Chimelong Hengqin International Circus City, damaged by a typhoon in 2016. Imagined by Stufish Entertainment Architects, founded by the late Mark Fisher, the project is one of many permanent entertainment spaces designed by the studio in China.
_HI_RES_(5)_copy.jpg?1565259186 "© Robin Hill. ImagePark Grove / OMA | Shohei Shigematsu")
.jpg?1565259275 "Courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron. Image1111 Lincoln Road / Herzog & de Meuron")
