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.

Construction has begun on MVRDV’s “Downtown One,” a 140-meter-tall mixed-use skyscraper for the Albanian capital city of Tirana. Set to become Albania’s tallest building, the 37-story scheme is defined by its “relief of cantilevered houses and offices, which form a pixelated map of Albania, each representing a town or city.”

Situated in the center of the city, on the Bajram Curri Boulevard, the scheme intends to boost the economy of the capital through a mix of apartments, shops, offices, and restaurants. In addition to manifesting as a map of Albania when viewed from afar, the iconic cantilevers also generate spectacular panoramic views of the city and mountains, and create a connection between residents of this “vertical village.”

With an academic background that includes social sciences, curatorship, and architecture, Michelle Mlati's trajectory is an interesting one; more so for the way her current work dabbles in these areas simultaneously.  

Describing herself as an afrofuturist critical spatial designer, Johannesburg-based Mlati’s practice investigates elements of the city, from sustainability through to social dynamics, architecture to aural and visual cultures.

Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue towers have officially broken ground in downtown Los Angeles. After over a decade in the making, the project was designed from a central retail core into the two terracing towers with a mix of retail, entertainment and residences. The $1 billion complex aims to turn Grand Avenue into a full entertainment district. Conceived as a public-private partnership, the project is considered a capstone for the Grand Avenue Redevelopment initiative to complete the city’s main downtown cultural corridor.

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw has been named the 2019 laureate of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, an award personally approved by Her Majesty The Queen recognizing a lifetime's work in architecture. Grimshaw is known particularly for his modernist public buildings and large-scale infrastructural projects, both in the UK and internationally.

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Design practice White Arkitekter has created a 65 meter-long ‘sofa’ for Forumtorget Square in Uppsala, Sweden. Designed to provide space for rest and social interaction, the linear outdoor seating is the centerpiece of wider improvements to the large square. The project aims to attract more visitors to Forumtorget and its surrounding shopping area by building on the area’s character as a gathering place.

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In the design of the “Stump House,” situated in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, Brooklyn-based PARA Project was faced with unique constraints and unique possibilities. With local regulations imposing a 1,200 square foot footprint limit, 40-foot height limit, and provision for an adjoining 1,000 square foot uninhabitable structure, the design team was challenged to fit an extensive live-work space with little margin for maneuver.

In response, the design team, led by Jon Lott, stacked one structure on top of the other, with an uninhabited art studio at the lower level embedded in the sloping landscape. Combined with the above habitable space, the proposal creates a combined live-work program under a single roof, in-keeping with height and use regulations. Such was the beauty of their response, the Stump House has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2019 Architect Magazine Progressive Architecture Awards.

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Ohhh Valentine's Day... The international holiday of love. While you're spending your day (and hopefully night) eating chocolate and sipping on fine wine with your loved ones, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you just how much you love.... architecture ;)

Regardless of your relationship status, one thing that unites us all is our love for making the world a better place through design. At ArchDaily, we realize how important tolerance, acceptance, and love are to the process of building a better world.

With over 450 submissions (including a card called ARCHItinder that shows what Mies' and FLW's tinder would look like today), we present to you the best architecture-themed Valentine's Day cards. From us to you, may you feel a wealth of love on this special day.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen has announced details of their second U.S. project: the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts. An adaptive reuse project that will bring new life to Boston’s Commonwealth Pier, the 68,500-square-meter mixed-use project seeks to reactivate a historic maritime hub to create a new waterfront destination.

The largest pier building in the world when completed in 1901, the Commonwealth Pier will be reactivated with the introduction of new materials, increased daylight, and new points of connectivity. The exercise in adaptive reuse will contain flexible office space, dynamic event space, new retail, dining, and public amenities.

London's Serpentine Gallery has announced Japanese architect Junya Ishigami as the designer of the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion. Ishigami, who at 44 is the second-youngest designer of the pavilion (after 2018 designer Frida Escobedo), is known for his light and ephemeral approach to design.

Ishigami's design for the pavilion takes the form of a slate sheet rising from the landscape of the park, held up by light pilotis that form an interior field reminiscent of a forest. The single-canopy space takes inspiration not just from natural canopies but from roofs - the essential structural element that defines and unites architecture. Within, the darkness of the slate roof will create a serene space for contemplation and relaxation. Ishigami explains that his design for the pavilion exemplifies his 'free space' philosophy in which he "seeks harmony between man-made structures and those that already exist."

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Starting this month, ArchDaily will introduce monthly themes. Our editors and curators will align their efforts to go deeper into topics we find relevant in today’s architectural discourse, presenting new articles, projects, collaborations, and submissions by our readers. This month we will begin with Architectural Representation.

What started as a ground cut to represent buildings as a 2D maze or the flat representation of styles on an elevation, later evolved into the axonometric representations of battlefields and fortresses for military use, and since then into a diverse variety of views, formats and techniques that go beyond the mere representation of a volume for its construction.

Videos

The slightly trembling linework, the distinctive crossed corners, the parallel hatching, and the uppercase letters: it is undeniable that architects have developed a style of drawing over time. And though free-hand perspectives are no longer the only (or even primary) form of representation for architectural projects, they still have enormous importance during the design process. They are a design tool rather than a form of representation. 

A line that is too thick, an ill-chosen color, a disproportionate scale figure – these are all elements that can draw attention away from the things we actually want to show. Even for an unpretentious and quick sketch, some rules are very important. Some tips help turn an ordinary sketch into something you take pride in and want to show to others. Taking advantage of the huge collection of youtube videos, we have selected some content creators who dedicate themselves to sharing their expertise with the masses. 

A new mixed-use tower by Sydney-based practice Koichi Takada Architects has been designed for downtown Los Angeles. With the potential to rise as high as 63 stories, the project was inspired by California’s redwood trees and Marilyn Monroe’s iconic wind-swept skirt. Dubbed Sky Trees, the project will include clustered towers clad in timber mullions that transformed into free-flowing wooden awnings at the base of the project.

Every year we see new tools and techniques for better, faster architectural visualization. The last few years have been a particularly exciting time because of advances in real-time rendering applications. When coupled with supporting technology like virtual reality headsets, projectors, and graphics cards, real-time photoreal rendering is putting stunning, dynamic visualization media within reach—mixed and augmented reality worlds, interactive configurators, game-like presentations—so architects and designers can truly tell their stories.

Architecture and design practice REX has unveiled their design for Brown University’s new Performing Arts Center. The academic and cultural building was made to be a flexible and adaptable space that serves as a hub for performance. Combining a multi-functional main hall with an open stage floor, the design addresses the need for a dedicated performance space suitable for large ensembles. The new center was designed to encourage collaboration and inspire new modes of artistic and cultural production.

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In 2020, the French city of Marseille is set to host Manifesta 13, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art. In preparation for the event, MVRDV has collaborated with thinktank The Why Factory (directed by MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas) in unveiling “The Grand Puzzle,” a 1200-page interdisciplinary pre-biennial research study of the urban potential for Marseille.

MVRDV produced the study through deep analyses of the city, such as interviews and spatial data, culminating in suggestions for possible urban interventions. As part of this engagement, the firm worked with The Why Factory, founded as “the think tank on the future city” at Technical University Delft, who collaborated with local architecture and design schools on the study. Having received overwhelmingly positive feedback, the work will now be “contextualized, analyzed, and refined as it becomes a tool for Marseillais to imagine possible futures for their city.” In addition, the study will serve as a point of inspiration for artistic and cultural interventions both before and during the Manifesta biennial.

Construction has begun on “The Spiral,” a 1,031-foot-tall project in New York’s Hudson Yards designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The fifth supertall to be added to the area, The Spiral was commissioned by developer Tishman Speyer as part of the ongoing revitalization of the Midtown West region of Manhattan.

The tower is named after its defining feature - an "ascending ribbon of lively green spaces" that extend the High Line "to the sky," says Bjarke Ingels. The scheme will offer 2.85 million of office space, with the anchor tenant Pfizer occupying 18 floors, according to New York YIMBY.

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Five finalist projects have been shortlisted for the 2019 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, an award given jointly by the European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation. The biennial prize, for which ArchDaily is a media partner, recognizes the Europe-located projects that demonstrate excellence in "conceptual, social, cultural, technical, and constructive terms."

Manuelle Gautrand has designed a 400 unit mixed housing block for the futuristic Hyde Park district in Amsterdam. The homes are divided into nine buildings that make up "thematic" houses organized around a landscaped island core. Each house stands unique, made of different volumes, materials, colors and heights. Formed around the idea of a village, the project aims to develop ambitious environmental goals while bringing people together to rethink urban life. 

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Opening in the late 1980s after more than ten years of construction, the Slovak Radio Tower is an unmissable feature in the landscape of Bratislava. The building, an inverted pyramid of steel frame construction, was designed by Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič, and Barnabáš Kissling during the height of socialist realism.

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The Serpentine Galleries, Google Arts & Culture and trustee David Adjaye have released a call for augmented reality (AR) architecture proposals to run alongside the 2019 Serpentine Pavilion this summer. Applicants are asked to propose "imaginary city spaces and speculations on the built environment to be developed and experienced” in AR onsite at the galleries. The call invites applicants to consider AR as a digital layer that offers new opportunities to design, visualize and experience.

MVRDV has won a competition to renovate and extend the Palais du Commerce in Rennes, France. Developed in collaboration with co-architects Bernard Desmoulin and developers Frey and Engie Avenue, the transformation of the historic landmark will “signify a renaissance for both the building and its surroundings.”

The MVRDV scheme will reactivate both the Place de la Republique and the Palais, turning a former public building into a centerpiece of the city’s main commercial street as was originally intended. While being respectful to the existing building, the MVRDV proposal adopts a critical approach to its drawbacks, such as transparency and accessibility.

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US-based innovators HOZO Design C.O. have launched an Indiegogo campaign for the “first compact digital rolling ruler.” The “ROLLOVA” seeks to replace traditional measuring tapes with a compact gadget that measures curves and lines. The pocket-sized stainless steel body contains a 10000:1 high-contrast ratio OLED screen, displaying measurements of flat surfaces and curved objects.

With a maximum tolerance of +-0.4%, the rolling device is capable of measuring to a distance of 10 meters (32 feet). When measuring distances between corner to corner, such as window sills, the device’s offset mode adds either the radius or diameter of itself into the measurements, similar to conventional laser measures.