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.

As more and more visualization professionals adopt real-time rendering for presentation and collaboration, we’re seeing yet another trend in this emerging field: the integration of various technologies to serve a wide variety of workflows.

Every firm has different needs for compatibility with their chosen CAD programs. No one wants to learn a new process from scratch when they've already spent countless months setting up a design-to-presentation process that works for them.

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The purpose of architectural photography is to show a design in the best possible way, with the artform often characterized by perspective correction and atmospheric lighting. However, few architectural photographers have experimented with other artistic disciplines. Miguel de Guzmán, Paul Vu and Jules Couartou are among those who have challenged the limits of this form of photography, generating an interesting crossover between architecture photography, fashion and performances. In their images, the relationship between space and the user is shown through a scene designed to register an effect on the viewer. The results are images which are full of creativity.

Cardboard tubes are so commonplace that we may no longer even notice them. Yet they are everywhere: in a roll of toilet paper, in the packaging of the college diploma, in fireworks, and in the tissue and paper industries. And now, more and more, they can be found in unusual places, such as on the walls of houses and buildings. The material is part of modern life and is being produced for a multitude of industrial applications and consumer products. The vast majority are used as structural cores in winding operations. Immediately after manufacturing, paper, film or textiles are rolled directly onto cardboard tubes resulting in a stable roll that is easily stored and transported.

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In the city of Milan, architecture firm LAD identified a busy roundabout with the potential to host a new public square typology. Sovraparco, literally “over park,” is a design by the Italian firm and Hypnos Studio to better utilize an existing area in the city, Piazzale Loreto, by infusing it with greenery and public space. The project intentionally does not impose on the surrounding buildings to revamp the area, but instead inserts itself into the central space and aims to rethink what belongs to the public sector.

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In 2005, as a way to increase its competitiveness, the government of the state that borders Mexico City – named Estado de México– launched a program called “Bicentenary Cities,” a nod to the 200th anniversary of the Mexican Independence.  This program proposed careful land-use planning and the creation of a state structure for key population centers selected based on location, capacity for population increase, potential to host infrastructure and strategic equipment, and the possibility to create adequate communication lines to enable regional, statewide and national integration.

Architecture, just like art, has the ability to detach the individual and provoke a sense of intrigue and inspiration. Some buildings leave a greater mark, especially if the project or the site it is built on has a story of its own. 

The Mask by WOJR is developed for an individual who lost his younger brother in a lake in Ithaca, New York. After the tragedy, the lake became a zone of detachment from the everyday world, transforming the structure from just a house on a lake, to a space of contemplation.

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Developed by Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit, this series of articles offers here a set of evidence-based optimal practices for social housing, applicable in general situations. Varying examples are discussed in a Latin American context. Adaptive solutions work towards long-term sustainability and help to attach residents to their built environment. 

They propose, then, new insights in complexity science, and in particular the work of Christopher Alexander on how to successfully evolve urban form. By applying the conceptual tools of “Pattern Languages” and “Generative Codes”, these principles support previous solutions derived by others, which were never taken forward in a viable form. 

This article was originally published on CommonEdge as "Women in Architecture Need a New Set of Role Models—Beyond the Star System"

Faced with the challenge of designing housing units for rural areas south of the city of Bogotá, Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos (Colombian Society of Architects) called upon a participation of proposals with technical and spatial solutions, not only allowing the development of viable forms of productivity and growth, but also applying criteria of sustainability, efficiency and comfort.

Considering the adaptability of this architecture of the unity to the terrains situated in three varying geographies and characterised by an Andean landscape, the jury granted the first price to the team of FP Arquitectura and the second prize to Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos + Estación Espacial Arquitectos. Get to know the latter project in detail below, described by the authors. 

Rafael Viñoly's 125 Greenwich Street skyscraper in downtown Manhattan has topped out. The 912-foot-tall luxury condominium skyscraper was designed as a slender structure with exposed concrete columns. Rising 88 storys, the project includes a curved glass façade to enhance the panoramic views of the Hudson River, the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center Complex, and the New York City skyline.

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The We Company has announced plans to launch a Future Cities Initiative, hiring the head of Studio Dror and a former Google executive to lead the team. Dror Benshetrit and Di-Ann Eisnor will work with engineers, architects, data scientists, biologists, and economists to generate ideas addressing problems raised by globalization, urbanization, and climate change.

Known for pioneering works such as their vegetated biosphere in Montreal, Studio Dror has been creating visions for designing without boundaries since their inception 17 years ago. Working at the intersection of art, design, and architecture, Dror has led a team of designers, artists, architects, researchers, and communicators to create holistic design solutions for everything from a vase to a city masterplan, a lightbulb to an island, and a collaboration with NASA.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans for a $10 billion coastal resilience project, designed to protect Lower Manhattan from flooding. In an editorial piece in New York Magazine, Mayor de Blasio outlined the ambitious plans to alter the waterfront of the Financial District, constructing a major infrastructural element up to 500 feet into the East River.

Part of the Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study, and designed in collaboration with climate scientists and local offices, the Mayor describes the scheme as “one of the most complex environmental and engineering challenges [New York] has ever undertaken and will, literally, alter the shape of the island of Manhattan.” The multi-billion dollar project is designed to protect Manhattan through the year 2100.

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La Casa por el Tejado, a company specializing in the construction of old buildings, duplicated both the living spaces and the number of floors of an apartment building on Avenida Meridiana in the El Clot neighborhood of Barcelona. The new residences were built off-site in 12-weeks time and in accordance with the building's original dimensions and characteristics.

As a space to unify and reveal, the Wangari Maathai Center in the Saint-Blaise area of Paris was made to break free from constraints. Designed by Bruther, the center was created so inhabitants could appropriate the space. Now photographer Alexandra Timpau has captured the sports and cultural center through a series of new photographs. Through the images, Alexandra worked to show how the building adapted to the needs of the people living inside, through decoration, new temporary enclosures, and through the facade.

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Architects often find inspiration from the most unexpected places and objects. For Kalliope Kontozoglou, the C6th Cypriot Sphinx in the Louvre Museum and its tilted head were great influence behind her proposal for the International Architectural Competition for the New Cyprus Museum.

To honor the country’s rich historic archeology, and frame Nicosia’s topography, Kontozoglou proposed a multidimensional museum, which aims to weave the city’s topography, the exhibitions, and the public spaces all together in a sequence of ‘narrative landscapes’, promoting dialogue between the visitors, Cyprus’ landscape, and the country’s heritage.

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Dutch practice Mecanoo has created a new skyscraper design for the Hengli Group Headquarters in Shenzhen, China. In the city's dense urban context, the design will host the world's largest weaving enterprise in two volumes above a commercial plinth. Inspired by the Hengli Group’s textile tradition, a bronze metal grid wraps the transparent volumes like threads on a loom. As a Shenzhen Bay landmark, the project was designed to display the company’s culture and embrace new urban design strategies.

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Architectural bureau Tsimailo Lyashenko and Partners have unveiled their concept for "Brodsky", a new residential building on a high-density plot in the central district of Moscow. Situated along a river embankment, the scheme seeks to create a strong functional and visual connection between itself and the surrounding context.

The 14-story scheme named after the famous Russin poet seeks to enhance the public realm by creating a courtyard with a pedestrian alley, weaving around the scheme’s arch façade to connect with the embankment. The positioning of the courtyard alley also establishes a new visual experience not currently realized: a two-point perspective from the courtyard to the river.

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3XN has released details of its plans for T3 Bayside, the first office building in Toronto’s emerging Bayside community, and the tallest timber office building in North America. Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, the structure stands at 42 meters in height and serves as part of the 2,000-acre revitalization initiative to transform Toronto’s waterfront.

The scheme is designed to reflect and emphasize the emerging neighborhood in which it sits, intertwining principals of life, work, and play. A continuously-activated ground level is abundant with retail opportunities, bleeding into a central plaza, exhibition spaces, flexible office spaces, and coworking facilities.

“The Dragon of Tarapacá,” a new project for Museo Antropológico Regional de Iquique (Regional Museum of Iquique) that will overlook Playa Huayquique, is moving forward with the design presented by Daniel Libeskind. The proposal comes after extensive work that began in December of last year, when the American-born architect visited Chile to familiarize himself with the the project, originally proposed by Mauricio Soria Macchiavello, the local mayor.

The first inklings of the project started almost 30 years ago, as the city sought to optimize the spaces along the coastline, allowing residents better access to the sea and optimizing the community's public spaces. 

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced some of the most influential names in international architecture as the members of the jury for its 12^th awards programme, which is to be held in Amsterdam from 4-6 December 2019.

Design studio Space Encounters has partnered with Creative Holland to build a temporary museum for Milan Design Week. The installation is made to combine room for art and design, with atmospheres that promote relaxation, contemplation and focus amidst the pace of the Salone di Mobile. The Museum was designed as a journey through different spaces in which visitors constantly interact with Dutch creativity.

Responding to the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, “Beauty Unites People,” a team led by Dodi Moss imagined a multi-layered architectural experience evoking Italy’s history and identity. The design pulls apart the pieces that make up architectural space, separating the building into its structural volume and its tactile, material components. The proposal won third place in Invitalia’s competition to design the Italian Pavilion at the Expo, behind carlorattiassociati and Gianluca Peluffa & Partners.

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Danish studio Henning Larsen has won the competition to design a new four-star hotel in Tórshavn, the capital city of the Faroe Islands. The project centers on a new social commons and grand foyer made to create connections and give the hotel an active role in city life. The design taps into the Faroese landscape to create a heart of new activity in the city center. The project was made to be an inviting landmark for guests and an active commons for Tórshavn’s locals.

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