Although considered common practice today, the concept of hand hygiene was not initially deeply ingrained in society. It wasn't until 1847 when the Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, supported by scientific evidence, proposed that hand washing was a hygienic measure with a direct impact on people's health. From this point on, the rest is history. Hand hygiene has become a widespread practice, ranging from washing to drying, accompanied by various accessories that play specific roles in the process.

In contemporary environments, especially in the context of collective well-being, public restrooms have become a focal point. This shift in focus is, in part, a response to the post-pandemic emphasis on hygiene and the role of restroom accessories in these settings. Among the accessories available, hand dryers have garnered significant importance, even transcending their primary function. In light of this, Mediclinics has innovated by introducing a new hand dryer concept that places a strong emphasis on enhancing the user experience while offering innovative restroom equipment with a distinctive U-shaped design.

Design confidence is crucial to the team at Checkwitch Poiron Architects. If they can be confident in their design, then it becomes much easier to advocate for it with clients. The team builds that confidence with flexible software and cultural awareness.  

Nowadays, we spend over 90% of our time indoors, and it is becoming increasingly evident that architecture has a profound influence on our brains and bodies. The interest in comprehending how the environment affects human well-being is on the rise, with a growing number of new studies on this subject emerging each year. Moreover, architecture firms are increasingly enlisting the expertise of researchers and human experience design consultants to explore and optimize these effects.

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Synonyms for ‘dark’ read like a who’s who of negativity. Words like ‘gloom’, ‘murk’, and ‘despair’ are a world away from the light and airy interiors we’re told to covet by magazines and influencers. But for many people who look for tranquillity in the bathroom, there is comfort to be found in the dark.

Many of us tend to close our eyes while searching for peace and mindfulness. In turning off the sense of sight we can retreat inside of ourselves, and focus on our own self-care. These four dark bathrooms from the ArchDaily catalog use this theory of peaceful darkness to create calming bathrooms with low, ambient lighting; natural materials, and dark surfaces.

In the last three years, we have gone from asking ourselves how we will live together to doubting if we can ever live together.

Despite the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the anticipated urban transformations resulting from it have yet to materialize. Global polarization and geopolitical unrest have us fixated on immediate issues, overshadowing our outlook for the future.

Chris Bosse started LAVA, Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, with his partners Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck the year Watercube, the Aquatics Centre for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics was completed. Bosse was one of the leading designers of Watercube when he worked at PTW Architects in Sydney. Now LAVA employs about 100 people in four offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Stuttgart, and Berlin. There are also two satellite offices in Honduras and Parma, Italy, led by former associates. Projects range from furniture to houses and hotels to master plans, urban centers, and airports in the Middle East, Central America, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam.

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In the contemporary context, global warming has marked a turning point in the way we think about architecture. We are witnessing record temperatures on our planet and a challenging panorama in many large cities, characterized by heatwaves and, in some cases, more severe winters. These circumstances have triggered a cycle in which the demand for heating and cooling systems increases, which, in turn, translates into higher energy and operating costs for buildings.

Given this situation, it becomes imperative to design energy-efficient buildings to reduce both the environmental impact and the associated costs. One of the strategies to achieve this is to properly plan the facade, which, serving a function similar to the building's skin, can help reduce the energy required for heating and cooling. In this context, the polycarbonate panels developed by Rodeca contribute to the energy efficiency of buildings, in addition to their lightweight, slender construction, and translucent aesthetics.

Representing a fusion of innovation and convenience, a smart home can be defined as an environment in which one or more devices are connected and can be controlled remotely, either through a smartphone or voice commands. Automation, or home automation, is an advanced technology that has become increasingly accessible and popular. It enables tasks ranging from efficiently controlling lighting and room temperature to managing security devices, entertainment systems, and voice-activated personal assistants. Smart homes empower residents with continuous and user-friendly control over their environment. This dynamic synergy of automation and connectivity not only promotes efficiency and resource conservation but also opens new horizons in customization and comfort, envisioning a future where homes adapt to the needs and preferences of their occupants, making life simpler and more enjoyable. However, these systems often require the installation of new cables and wiring to build the necessary infrastructure, as well as the hiring of highly specialized labor, which can often make their implementation impractical.

A home is a sacred realm, a place that embraces and honors a variety of emotions and sensations. As Gaston Bachelard asserts, it serves as our refuge in the world, our initial universe, a true cosmos in every sense of the term. Its intricate symbolism transcends mere functional aspects like room count or bathroom size. Entire universes find their place within its walls.

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The fabric of our cities is shaped by millions of small decisions and adaptations, many of which have become integral to our experience. Nowadays taken for granted, some of these elements were revolutionary at the time of their implementation. One such element is the curb cut, the small ramp grading down the sidewalk to connect it to the adjoining street, allowing wheelchair users and people with motor disabilities to easily move onto and off the sidewalk. This seemingly small adaptation has proven to be unexpectedly useful for a wider range of people, including parents with strollers, cyclists, delivery workers, etc. Consequently, it lends its name to a wider phenomenon, the “curb cut effect”, where accommodations and improvements made for a minority end up benefiting a much larger population in expected and unexpected ways.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Since the advent of Modernism, architects have become schizophrenic in dealing with the reality of time. This is a problem, because time and gravity are two universal forces. Architects are exquisitely good at dealing with gravity—it is present in everything we design. We study it and engineer its unrelenting requirements. Gravity does a symbiotic dance with structure. No matter how a design feigns weightlessness, its mass cannot be denied. Architects must deal with gravity, whether it’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s sagging balconies at Fallingwater or today’s steroidally enhanced parametric buildings.

Architecture is a unique field that combines equally constant aesthetic and functional needs, while immersed in dynamic technological environments. At this juncture, design processes and buildings are becoming increasingly intricate, requiring architects to manage projects efficiently while fostering multidisciplinary and multi-level collaboration throughout workflows. Additionally, the new technologies and tools we employ in the process must evolve at the same pace —sometimes even faster— by embracing aspects such as sustainability and efficiency, all while keeping an eye on the future.

The tools available in the multidisciplinary architectural environment have evolved significantly quickly. Both students and experienced architects have now nearly completely transitioned from manual methods to computer-aided drafting software. Today, we find ourselves immersed in the era of architecture driven by technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), artificial intelligence, and digital processes. At the same time, the fundamentals of BIM and its historical background trace back to the early days of computing, research, and new technologies, which sparked a rapid evolution within the AEC industry and among its professionals.

In 2021, the Government of Catalonia recognized Casa Gomis, designed by the architect Antoni Bonet Castellana for the Gomis-Bertrand family between 1949 and 1956, as a Cultural Heritage of National Interest in the category of Historical Monument.

Designed from a distance in Argentina, 'La Ricarda,' as the residence is also known due to its proximity to the eponymous pond, which recently became the center of debate over the expansion of Barcelona Airport, stands out for its vaulted roof and glazed enclosures that engage with the surroundings of Prat de Llobregat.

Although more related to evolutionary aspects than to architecture itself, the inherent physical fragility of human beings has required, since prehistoric times, that we protect our bodies and our buildings from external elements. As an example, beginning with the primitive huts used in the earliest forms of domestic architecture, furs were employed as an exterior covering to restrict the flow of air and, consequently, regulate the interior environment.

Subsequently, we have observed an evolution that clearly shows advances in insulation techniques, going from vernacular materials such as adobe to an increase in the thickness of walls using stone or brick, finally reaching the cavity walls developed in the 19th century, which left a small air chamber between an exterior and an interior face of the wall. Its later popularization led to the introduction of insulation between both faces, a system that is widely recognized and used today and has laid the foundations for further developments in this field.

Today, most architects are used to the complex workflow of using multiple tools during the design process. These traditional legacy tools can be bulky and slow, hamper creativity, and often do not talk to each other nor let architects collaborate with their teams. This limits their ability to design, as they spend most of their time getting 3D models BIM-ready.

Snaptrude is aiming to solve these issues by establishing itself as a powerful, browser-based, collaborative 3D design tool. It combines smart, parametric modeling, live building information, easy real-time collaboration and strong interoperability with BIM tools like Revit. Below, a comprehensive list of how these features can make 3D modeling easier.

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A mirage can refer to an optical phenomenon caused by the refraction of light on certain surfaces, creating the illusion of a liquefied appearance. It can also represent an illusion, where something appears to be different from what it actually is. Paul Clemence capitalizes on this dual interpretation in his photographic essay, Modern Mirage, which features Casa do Baile (now the Reference Center for Architecture, Urbanism, and Design), the Art Museum, and the Church of Pampulha. He captures these iconic structures as they are reflected in the water mirrors of the modern complex designed by Oscar Niemeyer in Belo Horizonte, MG.

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