Public spaces are the beating heart of our cities. They act as the hubs of social and cultural activity where people congregate, interact, and escape the clamor of the city. These areas are crucial in determining a city's identity, character, and citizens' well-being and standard of living. Public spaces can define our communities and significantly impact how we live, work, and interact with one another through their architectural designs, facilities, and activities. Furthermore, they provide leisure, exercise, and recreation opportunities, allowing individuals to escape the confines of their daily routines and connect with nature.

This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights projects submitted by the ArchDaily community showcasing different proposals made to enhance public space. Ranging from reimagining central squares to placing massive land art in the urban epicenter, these public spaces enhance the quality of life for the city's locals. In Germany, the redesign of the entire Memorium Nürnberger Trials reimagines this as a place to come together, grounded in its history, while in Havana, the new Cuban Square reimagines the metaphor of unity in the city center. The design and accessibility of public spaces significantly impact our well-being and quality of life. Thoughtfully planned and inclusive spaces with seating, greenery, and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure can promote physical activity, mental health, and community engagement in a city.

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The complexity of our world is constantly increasing, and with it, the pressure and demands placed upon our built environment. Architects are faced with a monumental task: to translate society’s ever-changing needs into tangible, effective and sustainable solutions. Pressing issues such as the climate crisis, rapid urbanization, population density and housing shortages call for a new architecture –one that isn’t afraid to question the traditional way of working and is prepared to take on the challenge. Today the industry must adapt, evolve and innovate to cope with these challenges. The availability of data is changing the game, and as technology continues to advance, it will open new ways of thinking, creating and engaging with the built environment.

In this article, we delve into the effects of the digital transformation, how it is reshaping the industry and the questions it raises about the future role of architects. 

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In the south of Burkina Faso, sharing borders with the northern environs of Ghana is Tiébélé; a small village exhibiting fractal patterns of circular and rectangular buildings, housing one of the oldest ethnic groups in West Africa; the Kassena tribe. With vernacular houses dating back to the 15th century, the village’s buildings strike a distinctive character through its symbol-laden painted walls. It is an architecture of wall decoration where the community uses their building envelope as a canvas for geometric shapes and symbols of local folklore, expressing the culture’s history and unique heritage. This architecture is the product of a unique form of communal collaboration, where all men and women in the community are tasked with contributing to the construction and finishing of any new house. This practice serves as a transmission point for Kassena culture across generations.

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Colors directly influence space perception. Through them, it is possible to stimulate the user's mood - making the environment calmer or more dynamic - and also change our perception of space without changing a centimeter of any wall. Dealing with them is not always easy. In a time when we want rooms with more personality (or more "instagrammable"), learning to compose with different shades and textures is essential.

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As true spatial orchestrators, architects’ expertise extends beyond the mere construction of buildings, often transcending the physical realm of design. They possess the unique ability to craft spaces that are not only visually appealing, but that also feel welcoming, harmonious, and, above all, functional. Embracing this vital role involves careful consideration of all the bits and pieces that make up a project; from a building’s foundations to a sofa, architects must ensure that all the elements, in every scale, tie together in a way that is cohesive and positively influences our everyday lives.

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 fourth feature, we met with co-chairs of design for Health architect Arif Hasan, former Visiting Professor NED University Karachi and member of UNs Advisory Group on Forced Evictions, and architect Christian Benimana, Senior Principal and Co-Executive Director at MASS Design Group

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Environments that inspire, promote well-being and stimulate a connection with nature. Biophilic landscaping in education spaces recognizes the importance of this bond for student development, as it benefits well-being, academic performance, and people's health. We have selected eight projects that bring natural elements to the classroom or that place students directly in nature to illustrate the qualities in these spaces.

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In a world of extravagant textures, colors, and flavors, who would have thought that a substance that has no color, no smell, and no taste is precisely the most essential for human existence? Antagonistic in itself, water carries an ambiguity of values and meanings that confer a high degree of complexity sustained by the versatile and soluble profile that distinguishes it in a complex simplicity. In this sense, water, as a source of life, has become an object of devotion and study over time. This has fostered a continuous effort focused on understanding, transporting, and controlling this element.

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The institution of slavery shaped landscapes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. And in turn enslaved and free Africans and their descendants created new landscapes in the United States, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. African people had their own intimate relationships with the land, which enabled them to carve out their own agency and culture.

At Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., a symposium — Environmental Histories of the Black Atlantic World: Landscape Histories of the African Diaspora — organized by N. D. B. Connolly, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Oscar de la Torre, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, sought to highlight those forgotten relationships between people and their environment.

Some architects have left their mark on history; one such case is Antonio Gaudí. Through his nature-inspired conceptions, he became the foremost representative of Catalan modernism. The impact of Gaudí's work can be seen on various architectural scales, including the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Colònia Güell, Casa Milà, and Casa Battló, the latter being an iconic landmark of Barcelona’s architecture.

Casa Battló emerged from the renovation of an 1877 building, which was acquired in 1903 and subsequently commissioned to Gaudí for its transformation. Inspired by animal forms, particularly those of the ocean, the facade and interior were renovated using curves and a combination of vibrant colors. This intervention marked a turning point for the house, as it significantly changed the facade, redistributed the interior, and provided a sublime interaction with natural light. Following the nature of the renovation that began with Gaudí, a new interior project for the stairs and atrium of Casa Batlló was developed in 2021. This renovation is the result of a dialogue between the anodized aluminum chains developed by Kriskadecor and the abstraction of the ingenious use of light in Casa Batlló through Kengo Kuma's design.

Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity introduces the mind-blowing concept that time – as we know it – is not as stable and reliable as it first seems. As a defining characteristic upon which all of human history is referenced, the fallibility of time is a confusing prospect. 15 minutes, for example, seems an eternity while waiting in line, and yet the 300,000 years of human history equates to less than a day in the lifetime of the Earth.

So when we talk about ‘saving the planet’ by slowing and reversing climate crisis, what we really mean is extending our own existence upon it. Because no matter what we do, this rock will continue to spin for billions of years yet. In reality, humanity itself is only a temporary installation.

These four outdoor installation projects use the Earth’s environment and borrow its resources to investigate our human relationship with time, and how it affects our lives down here on the surface.

Researchers point out that "proto-greenhouses" arose to fulfill the desire of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC to 37 AD) to eat cucumbers every day of the year. Since it was impossible to grow the vegetable on the island of Capri in winter, his gardeners developed beds mounted on wheels that they would move into the sun when possible, while on winter days they would place them under translucent covers made of Selenite (a type of gypsum with a glassy appearance). But the production of large-scale greenhouses only became possible after the Industrial Revolution with the availability of mass-produced glass sheets. Since then, they have been used to grow food and flowers, forming a microclimate suitable for plant species even in places with severe climates. But in some cases, these artificial growing conditions can also form interesting living spaces. The recent Lacaton & Vassal awards rekindled this interest. How is it possible to create greenhouses that can be good for both humans and plants?

Acquiring real estate through cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB), is already a reality in many countries, including the United States, England, and Brazil. With the rise of this market and the increasing acceptance of these assets as a legitimate form of payment, investors and buyers are exploring new possibilities for transactions with cryptocurrencies, including the real estate sector.

June 8th was World Oceans Day 2023, which brought the theme 'Ocean Planet: Tides are Changing'. The purpose of the United Nations was to generate a "new wave of enthusiasm for caring and protecting the ocean and the entirety of our blue planet."

A new opportunity to reflect on the importance of preserving these vast aquatic ecosystems that cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface - and an opportunity to reflect on how architecture can contribute to their protection and conservation through the design of resilient coastal infrastructure, the development of marine energy technologies, sustainable design of coastal buildings, and regeneration of marine ecosystems.

An arid environment refers to specific regions characterized by a severe lack of available water and extremely dry weather conditions. More specifically, arid regions by definition, receive less than 25 centimeters of rain per year. In the immense vastness of arid environments, where extreme climates present significant challenges, the role of water in architecture takes on a new dimension.

For centuries, architects and designers dealing with harsh desert landscapes and the vital necessity of water have invented techniques, technologies, and new structures. Moreover, many creative approaches have been created to harness, collect, and cool water in arid environments. 

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