Videos

Past, Present, Future is an interview project by Itinerant Office, asking acclaimed architects to share their perspectives on the constantly evolving world of architecture. Each interview is split into three video segments: Past, Present, and Future, in which interviewees discuss their thoughts and experiences of architecture through each of those lenses. The first episode of the project featured 11 architects from Italy and the Netherlands and Episode II is comprised of interviews with 13 architects from Spain, Portugal, France, and Belgium.

The goal of the series is to research these successful firms and attempt to understand their methods and approaches. By hopefully gaining a clearer picture of what it means to be an architect in the 21st century, the videos can also serve as inspiration for the next generation of up-and-coming architects and students as they enter the field.

Andrés Jaque is an architect, academic director, and author, who founded the international architecture firm Office for Political Innovation in 2003. Award-winning OFFPOLINN is based in New York and Madrid, and works on projects of different scales and media, intersecting design, research, and critical environmental practices. In parallel to his career as an architect, Jaque is the director of the Advanced Architectural Design Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a visiting professor at Princeton University and The Cooper Union. The architect is acknowledged for his transectional approach to architectural design, "practicing architecture as the intervention on complex composites of relationships, where its agency is negotiated with the agency unfold by other entities".

SHoP Architects has broken ground on Fulbright University Vietnam, the country’s first independent, not-for profit institution of higher education. Formed as part of a 15-hectare flagship campus, the project is located within Saigon High Tech Park in District 9 of Ho Chi Minh City. The university was designed to serve Vietnamese society through innovative teaching programs and research aimed at supporting Vietnam’s continued development.

What happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Ahead of the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section at the Biennial to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies – and Artificial Intelligence in particular – might impact architecture and urban life. Here you can read the “Eyes of the City” curatorial statement by Carlo Ratti, the Politecnico di Torino and SCUT. If you are interested in taking part in the exhibition at UABB 2019, submit your proposal to the “Eyes of the City” Open Call by May 31st, 2019: www.eyesofthecity.net

We live in a world full of electric products, and we have been influenced by them deeply, especially by those with digital screens, like cell phones, computers and TVs. We use computers for work and social media like Twitter and WeChat to connect with others, we use Mobike for short-distance commutes, Dianping to navigate us to a good lunch and then Alipay to pay the bill. At the end of a long day, we usually spend the rest of our time watching TV or playing online games in order to finally relax. These electric products bring convenience to our life, but at the same time, they are kidnapping it. The overuse of them immerses us in a virtual world and pushes people farther apart. We are losing face-to-face communication and ignoring the enjoyment of real life. Currently, people are spending more time on their mobile phones than ever before. According to a report published by Aier in 2018, the average screen time in China is 6 hours per day, and the average person uses their cellphone 108 times. This mobile-dependency is leaving our lives increasingly fragmented. 

Architect and godfather of Chicago's architectural community, Stanley Tigerman, has passed away. At 88 years old, Tigerman died in his home town of Chicago after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Former director of the architecture school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he founded his own practice, Tigerman McCurry, in the early 1960s.

Munich-based photographer Tom Hegen has published a set of aerial images capturing the beauty of sea salt production seen from above. The images, shot from a small airplane in Western Australia, demonstrate the impact of human intervention on natural environments, and depict how even seemingly rural landscapes are alive with the hyper-globalized demands of humankind.

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The 2019 CANactions International Architecture Festival focused on an exploration of a notion of "Hromada" — Ukrainian name for the 'community', which is embedded into the country's historic and cultural codes and reflected in contemporary social movements and architectural forms.

Architect Illya Rastvorov is one of the winners of this year’s CANactions Youth Competition presented in Kyiv, Ukraine. For his proposal, the architect transformed the railroad depot of the Copenhagen Railway Station in Denmark into the “Copenhagen Playground”, a recreational area that caters to people of all ages and enhances the social conditions of the city.

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This article was originally published on Strelka Magazine.

This year’s Garage Screen summer cinema has been unveiled. The structure, located in front of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, is the result of an architectural competition organized by the museum and Strelka KB.

Resembling a flat-topped pyramid, the SYNDICATE architects-designed pop-up cinema invites viewers to watch films in a highly unique space in the middle of Gorky Park. While the structure is without walls, red velvet curtains create the illusion of a cozy, enclosed chamber where movie-goers can relax and allow themselves to get lost in the plot.

Ukraine-based 33BY Architecture has designed a Babi Yar memorial and information center for the city of Kiev. The concept of the project is designed to remind people about the tragedy at Babi Yar from 1941-1943. The info center was made to be a Holocaust memorial that could be moved and reinstalled in different locations. The project aims to convey the tragedy of events and create a space for contemplation and remembrance.

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Drawing as an architectural tool serves not only as a means of communication, but through drawing we can also gain a deeper understanding of the subject. To this purpose, Alessandro Luporino has created the Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture. The series of beautiful and evocative illustrations serve as companions for the book “Dictionary of Architecture,” by Nikolaus Pevsner, John Fleming, and Hugh Honor.

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150 first-year EPFL architecture students are creating architecture installations and gardens around the Buvette d'Evian near Lake Geneva in France. In response to a request from the French-speaking Switzerland chapter of the Swiss Architects’ Federation (FAS), EPFL agreed to study how to better protect architectural heritage even outside of Switzerland. Students tested their designs on the Swiss side of the lake before construction, and the new designs aim to bring La Buvette back to life.

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The Studio Gang-designed 11 Hoyt has topped out in Brooklyn to its full height of 620 feet. Offering 481 luxury residential condominiums, with interiors by Michaelis Boyd Associates, 11 Hoyt features a scalloped façade comprised of exquisitely crafted, shimmering cast concrete and glass, animated by bays that appear to peel away from the building and change as sunlight moves across them throughout the day.

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Dubai Based architects Islam El Mashtooly and Mouaz Abouzaid along with Steven Velegrinis, Drew Gilbert & Abdelrahman Magdy have unveiled “LifeLines,” their vision for the future of Cairo. Centered on the idea of connecting people with water, a series of lines and paths are laid over the city to serve as a catalyst for development.

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A recent report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report reveals that the health of our ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide. At this point, scientists believe that ecosystems untouched by human interventions no longer exist. Human civilization and technology have permanently altered our planet and some of the most tangible impacts include imploding population numbers, deforestation, pollution (air, water, soil, and industrial), ocean acidification, climate change, and invasive alien species.

Designer and Fulbright fellow Stanislas Chaillou has created a project at Harvard utilizing machine learning to explore the future of generative design, bias and architectural style. While studying AI and its potential integration into architectural practice, Chaillou built an entire generation methodology using Generative Adversarial Neural Networks (GANs). Chaillou's project investigates the future of AI through architectural style learning, and his work illustrates the profound impact of style on the composition of floor plans.

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The Prequalification Meeting of the International Competition for the Landmark Design of Qianhai New City Center was held in Banquet Hall, 3F, Tower C, MingWah International Convention Centre on May 20, 2019. The jury was made up of 7 experts and 2 client representatives. The jury studied the registration documents and conceptual proposals of the 124 applicants. After deep discussion, through 5 rounds of open votes the jury selected 10 shortlisted competitors into the competition and 2 alternatives in order who will enter Stage 2 - Proposal Preparation and Review by order if any of the 10 competitors quit.

Architecture firm ARCHSLON has designed a black residence for the forests outside Moscow. Taking inspiration from Russia's landscape, the house was made to integrate the building into the picturesque natural context with minimal impact to the forest. Aiming to preserve as many trees as possible and create a modern dwelling, the home was made to add depth to the surrounding forest.

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Archimatika has designed a modern high rise residential scheme for Manhattan. “The Snail” prioritizes slow living in the high-paced metropolis, providing residential amenities usually lacking in typical Manhattan housing. While proposing a departure from New York City’s fast-paced lifestyle, the scheme blends with the city’s urban fabric with mosaic concrete facades over a steel frame structure.

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Architectural photographer Kris Provoost has published his latest series, on the subject of Steven Holl’s Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China. Designed in 2007, and completed five years later, the scheme sought to break the standard typology of Chinese cities, bringing public interaction to new heights. Six years on from the building’s completion, Provoost captured the building immersed in the daily life of Chengdu citizens.

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Some assembly required for this vision of future urban living. Known for simple, well-designed, flat-pack furniture, IKEA is proposing expanding their DIY-model to a much larger scale: entire city centers. Democratic Design Days is an annual event where IKEA introduces its upcoming brands and collaborations, this year featuring The Urban Village Project, a collaboration between SPACE10 and EFFEKT Architects. After two years of research, SPACE10 (IKEA’s global research and design lab) is releasing their vision to the public for a new way to design, build, and share our homes, neighborhoods, and cities.

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This article was made in partnership with Design Indaba, a website and annual festival that uncovers innovation for good. Click here to learn more about the annual event.

Dong-Ping Wong has created exceptional interior spaces, residential and commercial buildings, and public spaces for some of the biggest names and brands in the world. During his Design Indaba talk, the architect chose to design a city in 15 minutes with the help of fashion designer Virgil Abloh, who was on a live video call with the architect during the presentation.

As an entry to the 2019 Evolo Skyscraper Competition, JCPOA Tower was designed to combine cryptocurrency mining with a water park. Created by Ilia Attarpour, Dadbeh Mohebbi Gilani, and Ramtin Taherian, the project considered the US economic sanctions on Iran and the geopolitical crisis around the country's currency devaluation and near economic collapse. The designers proposed a cryptocurrency mining tower under the cover of its secondary water park function. The skyscraper explores how sanctions can be manipulated as a way out of crisis.

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