The Sustainable Hub in Seville emerged as an innovative concept through an open idea passive Sustainable Design Competition, launched in October 2023 with submissions received by February 2024. Spearheaded by Dar[e]-Europe, a renowned research firm based in Seville, Spain, the competition aimed to foster sustainable design solutions while promoting comfort for users with minimal reliance on non-renewable energy sources and environmental impact.

German-based architecture and design studio Beta Realities has developed the “Collective Parts” initiative, a design and technology platform for enabling the construction of affordable 3D printed housing. The project has been recognized as one of the winners of Inititative99 by ICON, a global architecture competition aimed at reimagining affordable housing that can be built for under $99,000. The other winners of the open category are MTspace Studio from New Zealand and For Everyday Life from the United Kingdom. The competition also highlights contributions from students as a separate category, featuring Casa Fami by IAAC from Spain, Juan Felipe Molano from Colombia, and Victoria Roznowski from Germany.

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Cobe Architects has just unveiled its winning design for the future Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. Aiming to revitalize Denmark’s historic administrative center, the studio envisioned an inviting, accessible space, “where everyone can experience democracy up close.” The design features an underground visitor center, leading to facilities within the Parliament Courtyard, and an interconnected pathway uniting historic buildings formerly used by the Danish National Archive.

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For centuries, arid environments have solved the problem of light, privacy, and heat through a statement architectural feature of Islamic and Arab architecture, the mashrabiya. Crafted from geometric patterns traditionally made from short lengths of turned wood, the mashrabiya features lattice-like patterns that form large areas. Traditionally, it was used to catch wind and offer passive cooling in the dry Middle Eastern desert heat. Frequently used on the side street of a built structure, water jars, and basins were placed inside it to activate evaporative cooling. The cool air from the street would pass through the wooden screen, providing air movement for the occupants.

Similar to the Indian jali, the vernacular language also offers a playful experience with daylight while still maintaining a certain degree of privacy. Traced back to Ottoman origins, the perforated screens protected occupants’ from the sun while simultaneously letting daylight through in calculated doses. Although the mashrabiya was a statement in arab and Islamic architecture languages, it wasn’t until 1987 that the archetypal element began appearing with a revised contemporary application.

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In nature, zinc is mainly found as zinc sulphide ore or zinc carbonate, which is mined to obtain the metal. Once refined, it is used in a variety of applications, including metal alloys, battery manufacturing, medicines and supplements, as well as in the fabrication of pigments, chemical compounds and coatings. In the latter, which is used in architectural applications, zinc is well known for its weather resistance and self-healing properties and is highly durable, with a lifespan of up to 100 years, requiring minimal maintenance. In addition, because it is 100% recyclable and has a low environmental impact during its production, zinc is a sustainable choice for construction projects.

Videos

TRANSFER Architecture Video Award 2023 has just announced the winners of this year's edition of the innovative architecture short film competition. Due to the high quality and the diversity of the entries, the jury has decided to award 4 winners ex aequo and 2 honorable mentions.

The TRANSFER Architecture Video Award 2023 ceremony took place on February 22 in Lausanne, as part of the film festival Écrans Urbains. You can discover the winning, finalist, and shortlisted videos in TRANSFER.

Black Females in Architecture (BFA) is a social enterprise supporting a membership of more than 450 Black women in built environment professions worldwide. Founded by architects Neba Sere, Selasi Setufe, and Akua Danso, the group advocates for diversity, race and gender equity across all sectors of the built environment, including architecture, urbanism, landscape, engineering, design, and construction.

We are happy to premiere their short film "A Voice for the 450 Plus" to a global audience for the first time since it was shown at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. The film is a celebration of the ongoing contributions of Black women in the built environment fields, showing the world how they contribute to shaping the future of our cities.

Commissioned by Diriyah Company, HKS Architects have revealed the design for a new multisport arena in Diriyah. Envisioned as a catalyst for the local culture and the entertainment sector, the 20,000-seat venue will be located in the center of The City of Earth, a 76,000-square-meter development aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, aimed at becoming one of the most attractive venues for tourism in the Middle East.

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now home to the world’s first 3D-printed mosque, spanning an area of 5,600 sqm. Located within the Al-Jawhara suburb of Jeddah, the mosque stands as a tribute to the late equestrian Abdulaziz Abdullah Sharbatly. The project by Forsan Real Estate utilizes cutting-edge 3D printing technology from Guanli.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

If you follow housing policy in America, you may have noticed a particular term cropping up a lot recently: social housing. Maybe you’ve read a longform academic article, live in a city that is codifying a social-housing policy like Seattle or Atlanta, or seen one of the recent mentions in The New York Times, highlighting U.S. and Viennese success stories. On the design front, Dezeen is running a social-housing revival series.

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Videos

Flooring plays a fundamental role in defining the ambiance and atmosphere of a space. Among the variety of options on the market, solid wood plank flooring stands out as a timeless choice. Known for their classic beauty and enveloping textures, these floors not only enhance the visual aspect of a room but also provide exceptional thermal comfort, resistance, and resilience, able to withstand wear and tear and heavy traffic. Their easy maintenance and durability are further markers of their quality, making them one of the favorite choices of architects, designers, and homeowners in search of long-lasting elegance and functionality for their projects.

When we look at a meticulously installed floor, we often forget that it was once part of a tree that was taken through a series of processes to eventually become the flooring product beneath our feet. The round trunk of the tree naturally results in boards of different dimensions, from the wide widths of the central core to the narrower dimensions of the outer layers. Various methods can be used to optimize the use of these trunks, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled a large-scale project for the redevelopment of the Al Khuwair waterfront in downtown Muscat, the capital of Oman. The $1.3bn project covers an area of 3.3 million square meters. It aims to revitalize the area through sustainability-led design principles to accommodate the expected population growth, which is expected to almost double by 2040. The plans are developed in collaboration with Buro Happold to incorporate and transform the existing buildings on site, introduce coastal and climate resilience measures, and create an efficient transit-oriented infrastructure.

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Pioneering advanced construction and large-scale 3D Printing, ICON was selected as ArchDaily’s Best New Practices of 2021 due to its boundary-breaking technology that is advancing capability in the built environment. The Texas-based startup has just unveiled various toolkits and products to modernize construction processes further. Dubbed “Domus Ex Machina,” the event showcased a range of innovations, such as an AI Architect created for home design and construction, a digital library containing over 60 pre-designed home plans, a new eco-friendly building material, and a robotic printed facilitating multi-story construction. Together, these developments aim to offer a quicker, more environmentally friendly way to build high-quality, affordable housing globally.

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Bamboo, renowned for its strength and eco-friendliness, often faces a formidable adversary: insects and fungi. Despite its resilience, these pests can compromise its durability over time. However, there exists a simple yet effective solution to bolster bamboo's longevity and sturdiness. In this article, we unveil the Vertical Soak Diffusion (VSD) method—a budget-friendly approach that ensures your bamboo projects stand the test of time.

This article is the eighth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints. In this feature, architect John Marx interviews Heather Gallagher, an international expert in transformative events and the experience economy and former Head of Technology at Burning Man.

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Last week, Japanese architect and social advocate Riken Yamamoto was announced as the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, becoming the 9th Japanese architect honored with the profession’s most prestigious award. Throughout the 45-year history of the Pritzker Prize, Japan stands out as the nation with the highest number of laureates. While geography is not a criterion in the selection of the laureates, Japanese architecture consistently impresses with its interplay of light and shadow, the careful composition of spaces, soft transitions between interior and exterior, and attention to detail and materiality. An ingrained culture of building also celebrates diverse designs and encourages global dialogue and the exchange of ideas and best practices. Read on to rediscover the 9 Japanese Pritzker laureates and glimpse into their body of work.

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Foster + Partners has just unveiled the designs for the Xicen Science & Technology Center at the heart of the Yangtze River Delta Region in Shanghai, China. The project is strategically located along the Shanghai – Huzhou development axis, ensuring connectivity to the city center through high-speed rail links. Drawing inspiration from the timeless allure of the surrounding water towns, the center blends new and existing waterways to create a community featuring residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.

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