Cities are the bedrock of civilization. For millennia, they have attracted people with the promise of superior standards of living — from better economic and educational opportunities to easier access to quality public infrastructure such as housing, healthcare, and public transport. Today, however, many cities around the world are finding it challenging to live up to this promise. With urban migration accelerating at a dizzying rate – the United Nations projects that over two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities or urban centers by 2050 – existing resources and services in cities are coming under increasing pressure, rendering them dysfunctional and leading to glaring inequities.
There is no singular way to define or assess liveability; every city has a unique set of characteristics, from its history, culture, geography, and demographics, to how it is governed and what urban issues plague it. Therefore, improving liveability requires concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders including people, governments, and experts, to identify critical problem areas and opportunities, and devise contextual solutions. The TV show Tale of Two Cities, where Indian architect and urbanist Dikshu C. Kukreja sits down with global leaders, brings out great insights into what some major cities in the world are doing to create more liveable environments for their inhabitants. Here we present five examples: from Bogotá, Kolkata, Hannover, Tirana, and Washington, D.C.
As urban areas around the world continue to experience population growth and increasing demand for housing, the land available for development is becoming both more limited and expensive. In large urban centers, many people deliberately choose the convenience and efficiency of compact living spaces in exchange for the benefits of city life, such as proximity to work, amenities, and cultural attractions. For others, however, the need to live in small spaces is a reality imposed by circumstances. In order to make construction feasible and increase urban density, builders and developers end up significantly reducing the size of rooms in homes, occasionally compromising the quality of life of those who live there. This has led to the adoption of various creative strategies to improve the efficiency of reduced interior spaces and provide greater comfort for occupants.
For over half a century, the open floor plan has remained at the cutting edge of interior architecture, with both new-build and renovation clients choosing to splice together rooms and their functions to bring more harmonious connectivity to their homes. Families, despite busier schedules, were able to cook, talk, study, and relax together, all at the same time.
As it can force users to share their space with competing sounds, smells, and ambiances, however, many are turning away from the open plan with new concepts such as the broken plan gaining ground. Another evolutionary route for the open-plan, meanwhile, is to move upwards. In combination with double-, triple-, or even higher-story living spaces, the open-plan is given the space it needs to breathe while staying connected to the rest of the home.
Water is a fundamental resource that sustains life, underpins agriculture, and fuels industry worldwide. However, water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue around the globe. Factors such as climate change, rapid urbanization, and industrial expansion exacerbate this situation. Among these contributing elements, water leakage remains an often underestimated and deprioritized aspect of water wastage.
Following an international competition, AMDL CIRCLE has been selected to create the pavilion which will represent the spirit and vision of the Nordic Countries at the Expo Osaka in 2025. Their proposal takes a sustainable and circular approach, as the structure is purposely designed for disassembly and reuse. Technically developed and engineered by Rimond and conceived by AMDL CIRCLE, the pavilion aims to showcase the Nordic people’s respect and connection with the environment while offering ample space for the display of technological innovations.
Seven architecture studios, including MVRDV, have designed separate buildings in the long-anticipated master plan for the Lake Side development in Brussels. To introduce diversity, the master plan has been designed by MVRDV and aims to bring about a denser and more vibrant life on the Tour & Taxis side, offering various amenities for its residents. The newly designed site also includes different workspaces and a nine-hectare park that promotes a more car-free communal environment. The project’s entirety is supervised by MVRDV, who also designs one of the 17 buildings within the new master plan.
In 2019, as the world was on the brink of facing one of the most significant pandemics in recent history, Ailton Krenak, a Brazilian indigenous leader, environmentalist, and philosopher, published a book titled Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. This brief booklet, comprising slightly more than 80 pages, came into circulation at a critical juncture, providing both reassurance and a cautionary message to humanity during a time when it observed the rapid evolution of history.
The world's recent shift towards prioritizing wellness has influenced people to seek healthier lifestyles by understanding the body and the mind collectively. External factors such as the geographic location, the environment, the community, financial status, and the relationships with friends and family have all shown to have considerable impacts on an individual's health. However, it became evident that ensuring physical and mental health was not limited to having access to medical facilities and professional treatments, but was also determined by several factors related to the quality of the built environment.
Architects have a choice to design better and consequently, help people make better choices. So what is considered a good interior design, and what are the factors that make any interior space a good one? In this interior focus, we will explore this "good" side of design, looking at how architects ensured the needs of users by acknowledging accessibility, demographic diversity, economy, and the environment, regardless of aesthetic.
With large populations come formidable challenges, particularly in the realm of health and hygiene. In the last century, upholding sanitary conditions in urban areas has remained a persistent challenge, particularly in a nation that houses over 1.5 billion people. India grapples with a myriad of issues- inadequate infrastructure for sanitation, lack of public toilets, and poor waste management practices. In densely populated cities, the struggle intensifies as sanitation and cleanliness management falters. India's rapid urbanization has outpaced the development of sanitation infrastructure and cleanliness issues have deeply entrenched in the nation's built environment.
On a site that also hosts the Olympic Sports Centre, the 2023 Asian Games complex, UNStudio has unveiled the design of the new Hiwell Amber Centre, a complex of four high-rise towers planned to add a mix of offices, apartments, hotels, art spaces and retail to the city center of Hangzhou, China. Responding to the area’s rapid economic and cultural growth, the new development aims to provide a wide range of services to residents and visitors alike. To open up towards the city, the smooth glass curtain wall of the towers peels apart to reveal a tapestry-like facade that envelops the main plazas and civic spaces, creating an ‘urban living room.’
Carlo Ratti Associati has revealed the design transformation of Turin’s historic waterfront in Italy. The project’s main aim is to address the current climate crisis and leverage architectural solutions to create spaces that can withstand the recurring floods of the Po River. Throughout the scheme, many architectural elements are kinetic, allowing them to rise above the water. “Floating Above the Floods” creates new solutions for urban climate adaptations and provides insights into universal strategies for urban waterways.
The convergence of neuroscience, architecture, and landscaping has ignited a creative revolution in the design of our built environments. Neuroarchitecture, an emerging discipline that blends principles of neuroscience with architectural design, sheds light on the significant impact of physical spaces on our emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being. Amidst this, sensory gardens emerge as intriguing therapeutic spaces, investigating the distinct interplay between the human brain and nature.
What you see is said to be what you get. The low-skilled cooking techniques and apparatus employed at branded fast-food restaurants, for example, are presented in full visibility to waiting customers. But this concept for designing open, transparent hospitality environments at least serves customers with honesty, because although the freshest ingredients and cordon bleu techniques are nowhere to be seen, neither is the grease and grime formerly associated with the category of eatery.
Compare that to more upmarket establishments that keep the cacophony of a commercial kitchen hidden from view during service, and you start to wonder what else they might be hiding. By installing the same open-kitchen concept, professional kitchens that use talented chefs and high-quality ingredients are able to prove it.
Behind facades lie vibrant lives, where the exterior melds with the interior, transforming neglected urban spaces into captivating residences. In cities around the world, architects, engineers and designers face the challenge of integrating new buildings into existing urban landscapes with limited space. Many architects are now embracing this concept, expanding their designs beyond conventional boundaries and transforming small city lots into layered and interconnected living spaces.
Right place, right time: that's how you could describe the origin story of Future > Factory > Furniture >, a special event at Dutch Design Week 2023, which returns to the iconic Klokgebouw –along with over one hundred other sites in the city of Eindhoven– from 21 to 29 October. It was in the former Philips factory building that, earlier this year, another industry gathering took place. Destination Design hosted over 40 international and Dutch brands for the second year running in an effort to shed light on new products and innovative ideas.
Imagination and policy development go hand in hand. Before we can create policies that bring about a desirable future, we must first envision what that future looks like, which is particularly significant in Architecture because we see the future as an integral part of the design process. This familiarity with envisioning the future carries a responsibility for us to create guidelines and regulations that can either support or obstruct the direction our planet takes.
In this moment of climate change, resulting from centuries of irresponsible practices, the idea of the future has been invaded by fear, an alert that would determine the survival of our existence. Architecture, along with other disciplines, has begun to channel efforts toward reexamining, reconceptualizing, and reformulating its practices toward the future we need to achieve. Beyond statistics and projections, the approach of architecture in relation to climate action brings to light numerous concepts, among them, the need for a historical review for the creation of this future.
In the ever-evolving world of architectural visualization, Chaos Vantage is emerging as a valuable tool for architects, designers, and creative professionals who want to get a fresh, photorealistic perspective on their V-Ray projects in real-time. So, why should professionals consider exploring Chaos Vantage, in addition to the tools that already exist? This article will delve into its advantages, particularly in the realms of real-time, super-fast rendering, and photorealism.
From October 12 to 18, NYCxDESIGN presents the Design Pavilion, a prominent public architectural exhibition in New York. Occurring during Archtober, a month-long celebration of architecture, this year's Design Pavilion highlights three imaginative installations spanning materiality, sustainability, social justice, and more.
Two tangible installations have been designed to transform Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District into urban retreats, while the third exhibit offers a digital art projection at the World Trade Center Podium, addressing the nation's history of enslavement and the quest for healing. Along with the pavilions, the Design Talks program highlights and opens discussions on relevant issues of the profession, centering around themes of sustainability, repurposing, and waste reduction.
Henning Larsen has revealed the design proposal for Bolzano’s Industrial Zone. The concept revitalizes and reconnects part of the city through prioritizing adaptive reuse, urban mining, and timber construction. The proposed design will transform the post-industrial area into “Pone Roma Quartier,” an inviting, multigenerational, mixed-use neighborhood with a solution to the city’s pressing housing crisis.
What role will bicycles play in the cities of tomorrow? Their implementation as a more sustainable form of transportation for commuting to work or school, as well as for various household and recreational activities, has become an opportunity for thousands of architects and urban planners.
Courtesy of 180 Degrees Design Studio | The Fabric
As the landscape of architecture and urban development adapts to the modern climate, the traditional notion of construction has been significantly modified and adjusted. Specifically, principles of reuse, recycling, adaptive reuse, and the power of transforming existing structures into something more meaningful and sustainable have gained much traction. Looking at these curated collections of unbuilt projects, one can begin exploring a different way of looking at buildings and heritage, which is significantly more sensitive to the built environment.
From the austere office buildings of the United Kingdom to the proposal to re-activate a skyscraper in Ostrava, these diverse contexts tell stories of resilience, innovation, and a profound commitment to the existing built environment. Offering a new way of looking at things, the projects champion adaptive reuse and activation concepts.
Each architectural style intrinsically relates to a specific context, period, or place. An illustrative example is the region of the United States, which was strongly influenced by the period of British colonization in the Americas (17th-18th centuries). In this context, dwellings emerged that adopted a distinctive architectural language. Moreover, the large distances between major cities in many areas of the country had a significant impact on the configuration of domestic architecture, resulting in the inclusion of barns and other structures that served various functions in addition to housing. This architectural style is characterized by its rectangular floor plan, two-story structures, gable roofs, and wooden cladding on the facade. These elements constitute an integral part of the vernacular expression of the houses from that time.
Speaking specifically of gable roofs, they are the feature most associated with the traditional aesthetic of dwellings developed between the 17th and 19th centuries, as well as later ones. One example is the Beachside House, which is a contemporary project documented in Swisspearl Architecture Magazine. This settlement is located on the shore of Long Island Sound, which divides Connecticut from Long Island, New York. With its four gable-roofed structures, covered with light-toned fiber cement panels, it seeks to be an abstraction of New England vernacular architecture.
https://www.archdaily.com/1008129/the-beachside-house-a-case-study-of-vernacular-inspired-architecture-using-modern-materialsEnrique Tovar
The Republic of Poland boasts diverse geographical territories and cultural tribes that span thousands of years. Its cities and towns reflect a whole spectrum of styles, from Romanesque architecture to Gothic Revival and postmodernist residential and commercial structures. In addition to its unique topography and rich urban fabric, the country houses 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One site, however, has stood out from the rest and given the country a royal status. Tucked beneath the Malinowka stream, just outside the southern city of Krakow, is one of the world's oldest and largest hand-chiseled underground mines that has been transformed into an expansive, all-inclusive complex. From a naturally-healing health center to a secluded church and an underground bungee jumping platform, this colossal adaptive reuse project is the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, founding partners of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, to discuss their upbringing, moving to the United States in their youth; meeting at Berkeley; studying and teaching Architecture; moving to China; starting their office together; running a multi-disciplinary office; their philosophy; and more.
