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Design for Resilient Communities at the UIA World Congress of Architects 2023

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 is an invitation for architects from around the world to meet in Copenhagen July 2 – 6 to explore and communicate how architecture influences all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more than two years, the Science Track and its international Scientific Committee have been analyzing the various ways in which architecture responds to the SDGs. The work has resulted in the formulation of six science panels: design for Climate Adaptation, design for Rethinking Resources, design for Resilient Communities, design for Health, design for Inclusivity, and design for Partnerships for Change. An international call for papers was sent out in 2022 and 296 of more than 750 submissions from 77 countries have been invited to present at the UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 in Copenhagen. ArchDaily is collaborating with the UIA to share articles pertaining to the six themes to prepare for the opening of the Congress.

In this third feature, we met with co-chairs of Design for Resilient Communities Anna Rubbo, Senior Researcher, Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD), The Climate School, Columbia University, and Juan Du, Professor and Dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto.

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Clay as a Sustainable Raw Material for High Quality and Durable Pavers

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Composed of very fine mineral particles and formed through the weathering and erosion of rocks over long periods of time, clay has properties that make it useful for a wide range of applications. When wet, it becomes extremely malleable and plastic, and can be molded into different shapes. When dry, it is hard and rigid, and is widely used for construction and ceramics. Clay pavers are quite common for outdoor use due to their durability, resistance to weather and traffic, their natural hues and ease of installation.

8 Common Building Access Requirements for Architectural Projects

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In medieval cities, walls played a crucial function, acting both as a defense against external threats and as a symbol of power and control, while also regulating local trade. The access to the interior of these cities was strictly controlled by guarded gates, drawbridges, and portcullises, ensuring the free flow of local residents and simultaneously obstructing travelers and potential invaders. While fortified towers and armed guards are now primarily associated with prisons, creating access conditions that promote security, reliability, and practicality remains a challenge for architects and designers, especially in complex infrastructure projects such as airports, hospitals, and educational centers. 

Brazilian Houses: 10 Huts to Enjoy Nature

“The first man wanted to build a shelter that would cover him without burying him.” With some logs found in the forest, he built a square covered with straw so that neither the sun nor the rain could enter, and thus, he felt safe. The description above refers, in a simplified way, to the theory of the primitive hut developed by the abbot Marc-Antoine Laugier in the mid-1700s. The small rustic hut described by Laugier is a model upon which he imagined the magnificence of architecture. It provides an important reference point for all speculation about construction foundations and represents the first architectural idea."

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Rounding Up: Tactile Surfaces and Sculptural Curves at BoConcept Spring/Summer '23

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Tactile surfaces, rich materials and sculptural curves take center stage in the new SpringSummer23 collection from Danish furniture manufacturer BoConcept. Known for its simple Scandinavian design DNA, this season’s new range of furniture and accessories invite the senses to get involved, to carefully observe and touch these new pieces with their captivating materiality and rondure.

Digital Wallpaper Meets Architecture and Art in Venice Biennale's CHAOS//LOOP 2023 Exhibition

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The often difficult relationship between art or artists and algorithms will be at the center of an exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale, entitled "CHAOS//LOOP 2023". Developed by Christof Babinsky, CEO of ASB GlassFloor, the exhibition will include ten works of art using digital technology and exhibited on LED panels called "Digital Wallpaper," which also extend the scope of architectural design and are now being put into a new context in Venice.

Oficina Bravo: A Guide to Coffee and Ice Cream Shops in Santiago de Chile

Sebastián Bravo leads Oficina Bravo, an architectural practice founded in Santiago de Chile that has been developing projects with a clear strategy: to contribute to the city by efficiently using architectural, economic, and constructive resources through renovation and remodeling. Among their projects are spaces that openly interact with the immediate context, including works of patrimonial, administrative, and residential value such as Casa Compañía and Zagreb Office, as well as a large series of gastronomic and commercial spaces such as Felix Café and Apolo Helados.

Due to its design process and its ability to transform and restore spaces, Oficina Bravo was selected by ArchDaily as one of the best new architectural practices of 2023. They make a point of talking with clients, understanding them, and involving them in the process. This, they say, is the only thing that ensures that the ideas behind the project survive with dignity.

We have selected seven coffee and ice cream shops in Santiago that were designed by Oficina Bravo, while also conducting an interview to get to know their inspirations, working methods, and future projects. The result is a true daily guide for you to enjoy their work, their design process, and a good cup of coffee.

When Mixed-Use Architecture Uses Open Facades to Make Friends

Let’s talk. Good communication is key to building and maintaining working relationships, be they personal, romantic, business, or geopolitical. The importance of communication with and respect for one’s neighbors is a lesson that has featured heavily in many texts and teachings from all religions and cultures for millennia, possibly sparking civilization itself. 

Some of the fastest growing economies are keen to shout from their garden rooftops about their growing environmentalism, infrastructure, attractive investment opportunities, and rising architectural scene, but also to keep alive the history and culture of their past, and build socially active environments.

These four building projects from across East Asia and Europe both visually and symbolically invite guests inside to see how they operate, building positive relationships with residents of the building and the city, and visitors from beyond.

Pump Stations: A Practical and Cost-Effective Solution for Wastewater Management

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Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans understood long ago the importance of sanitation and wastewater management, building elaborate sewage systems by using underground drainage channels to carry wastewater away from their cities. These systems relied on gravity to transport wastewater to nearby bodies of water, since water cannot flow upward without being pumped. Today, many sewage systems continue using gravity in a similar way, with a suitable slope that facilitates the flow of wastewater downhill to treatment facilities or other infrastructure. This also occurs inside private lots, where a height difference is needed between the building's piping and the urban drainage or sewage system. But there are times when the available height difference is not sufficient, or when the system is lower than necessary, causing gravity to get in the way, and making the system impossible to function in turn.

Social Housing: 60 Examples in Plan and Section

Social Housing is a principal element for a more democratic city. These housing structures provide decent dwellings for all citizens in urban areas and connect them to the rest of the city and its services.

Unfortunately, in many countries, the term "Social Housing" still has a negative connotation. It is often seen as a project that seeks to build the largest number of units with cheap materials, and little-to-no concern for the quality of life of its residents. Often times, it is designed for monetary reasons, as opposed to a project that serves the city and its people. Although this fact is recurrent, there are several examples that portray the opposite, in which architects manifest their political point of view through exceptional projects with innovative solutions that improve the urban experience.

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Brick Industry Association Presents 2022 Brick in Architecture Award Winners

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Since 1989, the Brick Industry Association (BIA) has sponsored one of the most prestigious architectural award programs in the US: the Brick in Architecture Awards. As the only national association to represent both manufacturers and distributors, BIA is an authority in the clay brick industry. Throughout the years, the Brick in Architecture Awards has become a premiere architectural award featuring clay brick.

This year, the award introduced a new Thin Brick category, and 45 winning projects spanning the United States, Australia, Canada, China and Germany. As this video shows, winners include nine Best in Class, 10 Gold, eight Silver, 17 Bronze and an overall Craftsmanship Award.

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Prairie New School: Kansas City’s Architectural Renaissance

The American Midwest is making a new name for itself. While cities like New York and Los Angeles are known as global design capitals, dynamic modern architecture has begun emerging across the country’s fly-over states. Advocating world-class architecture, sustainability, and craft, Kansas City has become a leader in great American design.

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Five Glassy Homes that Withstand the Elements

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Incorporating indoor-outdoor living into a home isn’t just limited to warm climates and beach front properties. Connecting homes to nature through copious amounts of glass creates serene environments while maintaining stable home temperatures. Below, see how five homes utilize sliding glass doors regardless of the weather, while maintaining energy performance.

Bathrooms in Spain: Color and Material Trends Inside 10 Homes

Over time, the space of the bathroom in the domestic sphere has increasingly gained importance. Nowadays, it is conceived as a space for well-being and health, where one can have an experience that meets the needs and requirements of its users. Beyond the different technologies implemented, the designs applied, or the materials used, architects and designers demonstrate, day by day, the multiple configurations and arrangements that these spaces can adopt through their projects, developing strategies both on an aesthetic and design level, as well as on a technical and functional level.

The Fractals at the Heart of Indigenous African Architecture

Fractals are complex geometric shapes with fractional dimensional properties. They have emerged as swirling patterns within the frontiers of mathematics, information technology, and computer graphics. Over the last 30 years, these patterns have also become important modeling tools in other fields, including biology, geology, and other natural sciences. However, fractals have existed far beyond the birth of computers, and have been observed by anthropologists in indigenous African societies. One of which is Ron Eglash; an American scientist who presents the evidence of fractals in the architecture, art, textile sculpture, and religion of indigenous African societies. In his book, “African Fractals: Modern Computing and indigenous design”, the fractals in African societies are not simply accidental or intuitive but are design themes that evolve from cultural practices and societal structures.

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Is AI Really the Next Big Thing in Architecture?

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

It’s here! The 21st-century digital renaissance has just churned out its latest debutante, and its swanky, sensational entrance has sent the world into an awed hysteria. Now sashaying effortlessly into the discipline of architecture, glittering with the promise of being immaculate, revolutionary, and invincible: ChatGPT. OpenAI’s latest chatbot has been received with a frenzied reception that feels all too familiar, almost a déjà vu of sorts. The reason is this: Every time any technological innovation so much as peeks over the horizon of architecture, it is immediately shoved under a blinding spotlight and touted as the “next big thing.” Even before it has been understood, absorbed, or ratified, the idea has already garnered a horde of those who vouch for it, and an even bigger horde of those who don’t. Today, as everyone buckles up to be swept into the deluge of a new breakthrough, we turn an introspective gaze, unpacking where technology has led us, and what more lies in store.

Designing Naturally Illuminated Learning Environments on a Tight Budget

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As societies evolve, educational facilities also undergo continuous transformation processes to keep up. In terms of their design strategies, they must embrace modern approaches that respond to the changing needs of students and teachers. Including flexible, inclusive, and engaging spaces that seamlessly integrate technological advances, contemporary educational design aims to enhance learning and collaborative work, as well as comfort and wellbeing.

Kalwall focuses on developing forward-thinking solutions for human-centered design that address these evolving needs, while responding to a tight budget. Through a collaborative strategy with architecture and engineering projects, they focus on four ways to design optimal learning environments, including daylight design, energy efficiency, safety, and cost savings through renovation and installation.

How Sentio VR's Presentation Tools Can Help Architects Win Over Clients

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Architects often face the challenge of effectively communicating their designs to clients, as architectural design is a complex process that involves numerous technical details and decisions. Current methods of presenting architectural designs, such as 2D drawings or renders can be limiting. In addition, clients may not have the same level of understanding of architectural concepts and may find it difficult to envision the final outcome leading to misunderstandings, delays and costly revisions.

To overcome these challenges, architects have increasingly turned to Virtual Reality (VR). However, the limitations of most Virtual Reality software to show photorealistic designs without requiring complicated VR setups has been a challenge.

How to Design a House with Less than 75 m2? Examples of Houses and Apartments in Mexico

Small homes are a common reality in many urban areas around the world for various reasons. These homes made up of small houses or compact apartments, have become increasingly popular due to the shortage of land and high housing prices in urban areas. Although their size may be limited, contemporary architecture practices focus on intelligent designs to maximize available space and offer comfort to their inhabitants. They often offer efficient layouts, with multifunctional areas that adapt to needs. In addition, some of them integrate innovative design and furniture solutions to optimize space and provide additional storage.

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