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The term brick is often used as a synonym for common clay solid blocks, but there's more to it. Bricks are perhaps the most elementary of building materials and can be used to design modular, optimized, and most importantly, versatile buildings. This article explores the most popular types of bricks according to their use in construction.
Violent cities result from social and economic inequality, which also affects the urban landscape and the way we live. In honor of International Cities Day, we have selected a series of projects to reflect on non-violent ways of using public space.
Far beyond its decorative features, landscaping brings with it biological and cultural issues that need to be addressed in projects. However, what can be seen in most public, residential, condominium, commercial and business gardens is a series of approaches that distance landscaping from all its attributes, reducing it to a decorative layer in the construction. Next, we have put together strategies to avoid the main problems of landscape design, joining aesthetics with its environmental and cultural possibilities.
Many architectural projects have been giving special attention to cabinetry and built-in furniture. These custom-made wood pieces are designed for specific purposes and can be used to organize the space, which can be living rooms, bedrooms, studies, kitchens, and bathrooms. Besides functionality, these elements also introduce different materials, textures, and colors into the environments. This article will explore some examples of how colorful cabinets and furniture can make architectural projects more vibrant.
In tropical countries like Brazil, external areas are highly valued in residential projects. The backyards are used differently and configured according to the architectural project. Whether large or small, landscaped, with a pool, or equipped with other features, Brazilian families seek to make the most of their outdoor areas when possible.
The transformation in the domestic spaces’ dynamics impacts the architecture inside and outside houses and apartments. Kitchens are the prime example of this transformation. Historically considered marginalized workspaces, they have gained more prominence as architectural spaces. This influences not only the size of the rooms and their organization but also the used claddings.
Commerce is a human activity practiced by societies since the beginning of evolution. Exchanges were made between products negotiated by entire communities at first. They began to be based on a common currency and practiced individually over time, from family to family. In one way or another, this activity is a characteristic of civilization and even influences our territorial organization. Historically practiced in outdoor spaces, commercial activity defined many spatial configurations.
One of the most common decorative objects in projects, mirrors have existed since the Badarian civilization, around 4,000 BC. With several transformations in its material and manufacture, the mirror is a decorative object and can also serve as a design strategy.
In each region of the globe, vernacular constructions of the most varied kind emerged, whether buried underground, inside caves or even built with stones, wood and fabrics. Shelter solutions were based on available materials and weather conditions. The architecture arises from the development of these shelters, built to protect people from predators and the weather.
The construction solutions employed thousands of years ago have evolved and become increasingly complex but kept a common goal: dealing with the weather.
Glass is one of the most important discoveries of mankind. Originally used as a cutting tool, it has been around for about 75,000 years. The first records of glass making, however, date back to the Egyptian and Mesopotamian. Since then, the mastery of the manufacturing technique has been developing in different civilizations and nations until the Industrial Revolution popularized the material and allowed its production on a large scale. In architecture, glass was first used as a sealing element around 100 AD.
Animals measure distances and weight for their survival. On the other hand, stemming from their need to communicate to live in society, humans created languages and, later, established the standards of measuring. Whether for moving around, portioning food, making tools, or calculating the weight of objects and animals, measurement standards arise from this need that was already present in human activities in the age of chipped stone and has been with us ever since. Nowadays, most of the world's population uses meters and centimeters to measure distances. These standards come from the need to establish comparisons that allow trade between peoples and also from political and social disputes.
Research by the Science Museum Group based on objects from different periods of UK history shows how their colors have transformed over time, leaving vibrant tones behind and becoming grayer every day.
Cat Sleeman examined more than seven thousand photographs of everyday objects from the Science Museum Group Collection in research funded by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Center (PEC). From cameras to lamps and other household objects, they were organized into 21 different categories according to their use. The analysis was carried out based on counting pixels of different colors and also addressed the shape of the objects.
Artificial lighting offers a range of strategies for interior design. Widely used in commercial projects and restaurants as an aesthetic device to attract customers and to create environments that stimulate the senses, it can transform rooms and create cozy and well-lit places in residential projects.
The backyards, outdoor areas usually located at the back of the lot, are spaces dedicated to rest, entertainment and family interaction. Its setting is essential to guarantee the warmth and comfort we seek in our homes. At the same time, as they are areas exposed to rain, sun and, sometimes, snow, they also need to have resistant, durable and easy-to-maintain materials.
The rationality of orthogonal shapes dominates architecture, despite grand gestures that have sought to oppose themselves throughout history. In large-scale production, the right angles, repetition and modularity of the block or grid of pillars help in the efficiency of construction, despite reproducing the same spatial solutions. Unlike buildings, interior architecture can propose alternatives to break this rationality, whether from partitions or decorative objects.
In the past, in a less densely populated urban context, houses and buildings were built with a direct connection to the street, with no need for walls and front fences. Over time, the urban fabric was transformed, and the division between public and private spaces became increasingly evident and — under the argument of public safety — necessary. Although this division occurs in different ways in Brazilian cities, in general, walls, fences and railings are used on the facades, creating a transitional space between the building and the street, transforming the relationship between them.
At a historical moment when industrialization and urbanization are continuing at a fast and predatory pace, we need to design and produce spaces that can adapt to new realities. Based on this need, concepts that can guide the transformation and production of future cities emerge.
Recent surveys have revealed the average frequency of daily baths in some countries. While in Latin America, led by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, people take 8 to 12 baths a week, in the vast majority of countries affected, the average is around 6 to 8. Bathing, throughout human history, involves health, religious, spiritual and even social aspects.
