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The artist and writer Jill Magid presents a documentary dedicated to the life of the "artist among the architects": Luis Barragán, who is one of the most famous architects of the 20th century. Upon his death in 1988, much of his work was locked in a Swiss bunker, hidden from view of the world. In an attempt to resurrect Barragán's life and art, the redefinition of "The Proposal" limits creates an audacious proposal that becomes a fascinating work of art in itself, a cable negotiation act that explores how far it will go an artist to democratize access to art.

The 20 shortlisted projects for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture have been announced. Located in 16 different countries, the shortlisted schemes will compete for a US$1 million prize fund that recognizes all parties involved in the conception, design, and realization of a built project.

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London-based firm Carmody Groarke and the National Trust for Scotland have celebrated the public launch and debut of The Box in Helensburgh. Designed for the Hill House by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the project was made to conserve one of Scotland’s most important buildings. First announced in late 2017, the endeavor aims to preserve the building and its iconic facade from extensive moisture damage.

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In case of fire, protecting the lives of people is the most important. All occupants of the building should have the opportunity to evacuate on time, and the time available depends largely on the materials chosen and their behavior during fire exposure.

In order to facilitate and optimize this process, the European Union has adopted the Standard EN 13501 [1], introduced in the 2000s, which specifies a series of classes that determines the anti-fire properties of different materials. Their classifications are unified and compared based on the same test methods, and are currently used as a reference in many countries around the world.

Because of the architect’s role in choosing materials for projects, we have compiled the most important nomenclature to better understand the level of security of our built environment.

Entries for the World Architecture Festival close on Friday 3^rd May. The 12th edition of the World Architecture Festival will take place in Amsterdam from the 4th to 6th December, where more than 550 architectural and design practices from over 68 countries are expected to compete for category and overall prizes. 

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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.

Niger-born architect Mariam Kamara shared how she is shifting perceptions of her home country at the 2019 Design Indaba Conference in Cape Town. Founder of the architecture and research firm atelier masōmī, Kamara was a software developer for several years before joining united4design, a global collective of architects working on projects in the U.S., Afghanistan and Niger. At the Design Indaba Conference, Miriam discusses her work and what it means to put people at the forefront of practice.

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The Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao – founder of the architecture firm based in Mexico City Tatiana Bilbao Estudio – has been awarded the eighth Marcus Prize. This recognition has been given to different world-renowned architects as Jeanne Gang (2017), Joshua Ramus (2015), Sou Fujimoto (2013), Diébédo Francis Kéré (2011), Alejandro Aravena (2010), Frank Barkow (2007), Winy Maas (2005) and seeks to recognize architects from all over the world whose trajectory is on the rise.

odD+ architects have released details of their proposed Grove Tower in Quito, Ecuador. A 10,000-square-meter office building for one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, the scheme has been designed as a “monumental structure that represents the values of the firm on an extremely narrow terrain.”

The Statue of Liberty Museum is set to open on Liberty Island, New York. Designed by New York-based firm FXCollaborative led by Nicholas Garrison, the 26,000-square-foot scheme seeks to create the illusion of a structure lifted from the earth. To achieve this, the project incorporates angular design techniques and native materials to the island and statue, such as Stone Creek granite, copper, plaster, and native vegetation.

It is often difficult to detect structures' potential deformations and behaviors with the naked eye, which is why interactive education and model-making have proved to be some of the most beneficial methods of learning about structural design.

To help with the learning of structures in a more playful and intuitive way, Brazilian brand Mola, have developed Mola Structural Kits, a selection of interactive physical models that simulate the behavior of architectural structures and create countless design combinations.

Following the success of the Structural Kits 1 and 2, Mola will be launching the Mola Structural Kit 3 in a Kickstarter campaign in a couple of weeks, and to celebrate, the innovative company has once again teamed up with ArchDaily for another exclusive giveaway, offering 10 of our readers the chance to win a complete structural kit, along with additional accessories.

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It is expected that within the next couple of decades, Earth will have absolutely nothing left to offer whoever/whatever is capable of surviving on it. Although the human race is solely responsible for the damages done to the planet, a thin silver lining can still be seen if radical changes were to be done to the way we live on Earth and how we sustain it. 

Since architects and designers carry a responsibility of building a substantial future, we have put together an A-Z list of every sustainability term that you might come across. Every week, a new set of letters will be published, helping you stay well-rounded on everything related to sustainable architecture and design. Here are the terms that start with letters A, B, and C.

Quito-based odD+ Architects have designed a residential skyscraper inspired by sunflowers for Ecuador. Taking cues from the rhythmic formations of the plant's seeds and petals, the tower is a direct response to the increasing urbanization of Quito. Aiming to address development patterns that threaten the natural landscape and its endemic species, the project was made to be a vertical ecosystem for the city.

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Brutalism is merely a basic equation of reinforced concrete + geometry, but while the result of this equation is rather minimal, the architecture movement remains as one of the most debatable styles, ranging between “fascinating structures” and “is it even worth preserving”.

While many perceive Brutalism as “ugly” or “incomplete”, 17 year-old Arhan Vohra found glory in these modernist structures and launched Brutal Delhi, a photography website of New Delhi’s Brutalist buildings, shot through his camera lens.

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The Kingdom of Thailand has broken ground for its pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, becoming the first South East Asian country to begin the construction of its pavilion. The Thailand Pavilion will represent the country through its ‘Mobility for the Future’ theme to showcase transportation, logistics, digital connectivity and personal mobility. To help reduce the heat transmitting to the building, the pavilion will be draped in a curtain made from more than 500 artificial blossoms. Inspired by traditional floral garlands used to welcome guests, the design symbolizes hospitality, luck and respect.

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Architecture firm NUDES has released details of their proposed secondary school in Malawi, constructed from straw bales. Responding to a brief focused on modularity, incremental expansion, deployment, and sustainable technology, the scheme is formed of a modular “ladder” component deployed to create a structural system that houses the pedagogical intent of the school.

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MUDA-Architects has released details of their M50 Art Hotel project located in Pingle, Sichuan, China. Situated within an ancient town with strong musical heritage, the design process for the scheme involved exploring and activating local cultural genes, creating a landmark building that reflects its historical context, with an architecture that is forward-looking.

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Contemporary artist Yhonnie Scarce and Melbourne architecture studio Edition Office have been announced as the winners of the 2019 National Gallery of Victoria Architecture Commission. Occurring annually, the NGV Architecture Commission is an open national competition that invites architects to create a site-specific work of temporary architecture to activate the NGV’s Grollo Equiset Garden. The winning scheme, In Absence, explores the histories of Indigenous construction, design and agriculture, as well as the villages and dwellings of Indigenous communities.

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'A quien corresponda' is an exhibition at the Kirkland Gallery at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, which emerges as a call within another. Being aware of the scarcity of opportunities for exhibition and appreciation of design in Mexico, an open invitation extended to practices dedicated to architecture, design and / or art interested in showing their work in an area of 0.0588m2 (the area of one leaf letter) within the space of the gallery, taking advantage of the opportunity to appropriate the gallery in a period of two weeks.

This article was originally published on CommonEdge as "Notre-Dame and the Questions It Raises About Sacred Space."

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, Sharon Zukin discusses the economic and social impact the technology industry has had on cities around the world, the relationship between gentrification and the commodification of modern life, building improvement districts and the increasing securitization of public spaces, and the desire to live in authentic neighborhoods.

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Urban design is a branch of design intimately related to urban planning and landscape architecture; it focuses broadly on interpreting the form and public space with physical-aesthetic-functional criteria. Different experts in the field such as Jane Jacobs, Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, Jaime Lerner, Jan Gehl, Kevin Lynch have devoted themselves to studying the needs of urban societies within the common spaces to give adequate responses to different contexts. These questions are renewed with new generations and the public space is transformed according to technological advances but what always remains is the sense of belonging of these sites that are only successful when users adopt them as own.

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Woods Bagot has designed a new technology building and campus hub for Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. Located in the suburb of Sunshine, the project was made for Technical and Further Education (TAFE) courses to foster a transition from a manufacturing economy. Dubbed the Sunshine Skills Hub, the project provides space for education and training alongside the university's Construction Futures trade training center. The center will provide training in health technologies, advanced manufacturing and construction.

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Studio Gang is celebrating a significant milestone with the topping out of their twisting high-rise MIRA tower in San Francisco. Construction of the 400-foot-tall tower began in mid-2017, with steady progression leading to projected occupancy in late 2019. The scheme's design is centered on the evolution of the bay window element, a feature common to San Francisco’s early houses. The bay window is reimagined in a high-rise context, twisting across the full height of the tower to offer views across the city.

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Although ancient buildings carry compelling architectural presence, demolition or radical change is often their fate. While some architects prefer to introduce thoroughly new structures, others choose to honor the works of historic architects, who built the basis and foundations of structures that helped shape up cities today.

For the refurbishment of Paris’ Hotel Fouquet Barrière, located one block facing Avenue des Champs Elysées, Edouard François was selected to renovate the entire property, including offices, spa services, façade, and courtyards. François’ design strategy was rather unambiguous, using only two keywords as reference: “COPY-EDIT”; a reinterpretation of the “old” through contemporary technologies and modified material.

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