Open House Thessaloniki 2024 poster, designed by Joana Mollaj. Courtesy of Open House Greece.
Open House Thessaloniki returns on November 23 and 24, bringing the city’s architecture to life with over 70 open buildings and a variety of parallel events. This year, the festival focuses on “Accessibility and Inclusion,” promoting architecture that is welcoming, functional, and open to everyone. With free guided tours led by dedicated volunteers, visitors will have the opportunity to explore Thessaloniki’s rich architectural heritage and contemporary designs that shape the city’s landscape today.
The Yeongsan River, which flows through downtown Gwangju, holds immense potential and future value as an ecological, historical, and tourism resource. However, its potential has yet to be fully realized. By planning the Asia Water Heritage Experience Center and Water Playground with a story, we aim to establish a cohesive theme and create an immersive space. city of Gwangju plans to simultaneously develop two unit projects, the Asia Water Heritage Experience Center and the Natural Playground Experience Center. Together, they will create a synergy effect as a multi-purpose space called the Yeongsan River Exciting Zone.
Exhibition: Sergei Tchoban: Toward a New City OPENING: November 5, 2024; 4 PM EXHIBITION: November 6, 2024 – November 24, 2024 VENUE: Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) ADDRESS: 45 Maxwell Road, 069118 Singapore
Dining room at Maison Louis Carré, contemporary designs by Esa Vesmanen and minä perhonen, photo: Yuji Ono
This exhibition presents an ongoing, cross-cultural design collaboration between Finnish interior architect and designer Esa Vesmanen and the Japanese brand minä perhonen. Within the interior of Maison Louis Carré, Vesmanen and Akira Minagawa—artist, designer, and founder of minä perhonen—integrate the influence of Alvar Aalto into their shared creative dialogue. Minagawa, inspired by Nordic design culture, shares with Esa Vesmanen a deep interest in tactile materials and craft-based techniques. Their design discussions inspired a special edition of Vesmanen's Finom lighting line, which explores the possibilities of paper-thin plywood, continuing Aalto's legacy of experimenting with wood's formal potential.
Can academic projects explore new directions and contribute to public discourse on global and local issues? The 2024 Politecnico di Torino Students Award aimed to address these questions, showcasing how architectural research, training, and experimentation can be integrated into a school curriculum.
Politecnico di Torino is ranked among the top 10 architecture schools in Europe (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 - Architecture and Built Environment). With over 3,000 students, the Department of Architecture and Design offers a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and three Master's programs—Architecture for Sustainability, Architecture Construction City, and Architecture for Heritage—all featuring dedicated English tracks. The Department offers also two Bachelor's and one Master's programmes in Design.
As global urbanization accelerates, the demand for forward-thinking urban development and construction strategies is more pressing than ever, with an estimated 80% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2080—particularly in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. From 26 to 29 November, Big 5 Global, together with co-located events LiveableCitiesX, GeoWorld and Future FM, will host five strategic summits, bringing together 1,500 leaders from both government and the private sector to shape the future of urban communities.
Highlighted submissions. Image Courtesy of Buildner
Buildner is pleased to announce the results of its second annual Architect's Chair Competition, which received excellent ideas from around the globe. As this competition series gains traction and interest, Buildner is excited to announce the launch of the Architect's Chair Edition 3 competition with a registration deadline of January 15, 2025. Buildner has also published its first book on the topic, highlighting key ideas and outstanding projects past editions.
By now, most people in the construction industry know that addressing the carbon emissions that come from the built environment is key to solving the climate challenge. Yet, knowing where to start can be a challenge for many professionals. That's why education and upskilling across the value chain—from architects to urban planners, and real estate developers to engineers—are essential to fostering sustainable construction practices.
With a longstanding dedication to empowering designers and beautifully bringing their ideas to life, SketchUp software offers an intuitive, comprehensive 3D modeling toolset straight out of the box. Still, users can supercharge its capabilities with a range of powerful extensions.
SketchUp's Extension Warehouse features hundreds of plugins for everything from animation and urban planning to interior design and architecture. These tools eliminate repetitive tasks, improve accuracy, and streamline workflows, allowing designers to customize and enhance their SketchUp experience. But with so many extensions to choose from, diving in can feel daunting. Get started with this list of the top 11 SketchUp extensions to extend and customize your workflows.
Fresh/Salt: Design Thinking for Coastal Adaptation
Jeffrey Huber: Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, ASLA, NCARB, LEED AP, WEDG is a principal and manages the South Florida studio of Brooks + Scarpa. In addition to practice, Huber currently serves as a Professor of the School of Architecture at Florida Atlantic University. He holds master's degrees and licenses in both architecture and landscape architecture. A distinguished architect and landscape architect, Huber's work specializes in public realm projects that combine ecological, landscape, urban, and architectural design. He has advanced sustainability initiatives in soft cities, agricultural urbanism, green school design, missing-middle housing, transit-oriented development, low-impact development/green infrastructure, and adaptation/transformation design methodologies to address emerging and future climate disruptions.
Buildner has announced the results of the Kharkiv Housing Challenge, the first competition in a two-part series focused on rebuilding Ukraine. Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has been deeply affected by the ongoing conflict, and this competition is part of a broader effort to rebuild its housing and public spaces.
Over the past two decades, the Holcim Foundation Awards has committed USD 20M to spotlight transformative projects by architects, designers, and engineers who pioneer sustainable design and construction practices. To capture these stories, the Foundation launched a short film series titledWords withWinners.
This series provides an in-depth look at award-winning sustainable design projects through exclusive interviews with their creators. It includes one of the first films to showcase the BIG U, also known as the DryLine, in its built form, featuring an exclusive one-on-one with Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director and Founder of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).
Serapool, a leading brand in porcelain pool tiles and complementary porcelain products, has been innovating and producing sustainable design solutions for residential, spa and wellness centers, hotels, water parks, and Olympic-size pools globally for 40 years. The brand's holistic approach to pool design has led to a comprehensive porcelain collection that includes pool tiles, stair nosings, pool copings, porcelain pool grates, infinity tiles, concealed overflow handles, terrace nosings, and rain channels. With years of expertise in the industry, the company stands as a leading example of innovation, consistently delivering safe and long-lasting products.
The Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp is planning a comprehensive redevelopment of its site to create a future-oriented campus that integrates and enhances scientific, medical, and educational activities. For this, it is collaborating with the Vlaams Bouwmeester through an Open Call procedure (OO48), in which designers can apply until November 11, 2024.
