The Architecture Film Festival London, now at its third edition, fosters conversations around architecture, society and the built environment through the medium of film. Along with the International Film Competition, the 2021 programme, debuting on June 2nd and held online, will feature a collection of diverse thematic screenings, essays and events titled "Capsules", which offer a platform to multiple curatorial voices.
Lighting design for exhibition spaces in museums can be quite challenging because light must simultaneously enhance the space, preserve the integrity of the artworks and highlight them in a way that ensures the best conditions for the visitor's enjoyment.
In addition to having the highest CRI (Color Rendering Index), daylight contributes to a feeling of comfort and well-being in the built environment. In exhibition spaces, natural lighting is important to accurately reveal the colors of the objects on display, which is very significant for works of art and provides more visual comfort for visitors to clearly perceive the exhibits.
Titled "Planet of the People", the Lithuanian pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, brings cosmic imagination to the picturesque Renaissance church Santa Maria del Derelitti. Curated by Jan Boelen, the pavilion will be on display from May 22nd until November 21st, 2021.
Canada’s contribution to the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale explores Canadian cities’ established “career” in cinema as stand-ins for the world’s metropoles, raising questions of authenticity, architectural identity and the collective understanding of the built environment. Curated by David Theodore of McGill University and realized by Montréal architecture and design practice T B A / Thomas Balaban Architect, the exhibition Impostor Cities highlights the diversity and versatility of Canada’s cityscapes as portrayed on film.
Plastic is an incredible material. The big problem with it is how we are using it and discarding it in nature. It was with this idea in mind that The Plastic Museum was created: to show the vital role that plastic plays in our lives and the possibilities that its reuse and recycling offer. Opened in Madrid on May 8, it not only contains plastic but was built entirely from this material. Through the artifacts displayed inside, including objects for health care, communication, construction, food, and sustainable mobility, the visitor will learn about the essential functions that plastic provides us when used correctly.
Titled "In Our Home", the Albanian pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, exhibits the impact knowing one's neighbor has on the built environment. Curated by a team of four architects: Fiona Mali, Irola Andoni, Malvina Ferra, and Rudina Brecani, the pavilion will be on display at Arsenale's Outdoor Arena no.2 from May 22nd until November 21st, 2021.
Carefully placed within the urban context and the product of searched perspectives and precise gestures, Ateliers Jean Nouvel's mixed-use project Tours Duo is set to become a landmark for Eastern Paris. Located close to the Paris ring boulevard and in the vicinity of a vast expanse of railway infrastructure, the project's site was the main driving point for the design, giving it its iconic shape. The project featuring two inclined towers nears completion, and photographer Jad Sylla shows the structures changing the Parisian skyline.
The International Union of Architects (UIA) has announced the UIA Gold Medal and Prizes winners. The UIA Gold Medal is awarded to Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, president of the 27th UIA World Congress of Architects — UIA2021RIO Honour Committee. The architect will also participate in a keynote speakers session programmed for July.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, now 92 years old, has been honored with important awards, such as the Pritzker Prize in 2006, considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes, and the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, in 2016. Mendes da Rocha was the first Brazilian to be awarded this prize.
Peru is home to a wide range of new cultural architecture. Strongly tied to the country’s megadiverse geography, Peru’s modern projects reinterpret past building techniques. Taking inspiration from the vernacular and varied landscapes, these contemporary buildings arise from long traditions rooted in ancient cultures and civilizations.
Part of the official collateral events of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia, Caravane Earth Foundation will bring a unique bamboo Majlis, to the gardens of the Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. Designed by internationally acclaimed bamboo architects Simón Vélez and Stefana Simic, the project will be on display from 22 May to 21 November 2021.
Titled "elephant", the Thai pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia answers the question of how architecture can promote the way human beings and other species live together naturally and culturally based on the culture of Kuy and their elephants. Curated by Apiradee Kasemsook and designed by Boonserm Premtada of Bangkok Project Studio, the Thai pavilion will be on display at the Sale d’Armi, Arsenale, from May 22nd to November 21st.
As urban dwellers become more aware of the environmental impacts of food production and transportation, as well as the origin and security of what they consume, urban agriculture is bound to grow and attract public and political eyes. Bringing food production closer, in addition to being sustainable, is pedagogical. However, generally with small size and other restrictions, the concerns of growing food in cities differ somewhat from traditional farming.
Urban gardens can occupy a multitude of places and have varied scales - window sills and balconies, slabs and vacant lots, courtyards of schools, public parks and even unlikely places, such as subway tunnels. They can also be communitarian or private. Whatever the case, it is important to consider some variables:
Titled "Who is We", the Pavilion of the Netherlands at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia deconstructs normal concepts of space, visualizing what is often overlooked behind the structures that typically define urban spaces. Curated by a team led by Francien van Westrenen, the pavilion will be on display from 22 May to 21 November 2021.
For this edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Irish Pavilion focuses on data technologies and their presence within the physical landscape, exploring the cultural end environmental implications of data production and consumption. Titled Entanglement and curated by the multidisciplinary research and design collective ANNEX, the exhibition challenges the presumed immateriality of the Cloud, highlighting the infrastructure of data production and its impact on everyday life while also examining Ireland’s role in the evolution of global communication.
OMA New York / Jason Long has revealed the design for The Terminal, a new performance venue serving as a cultural anchor for POST Houston, the office's redevelopment of the historic Barbara Jordan Post Office in downtown Houston. Integrated within the eastern wing of the mixed-use design, the 5,000 capacity music venue makes use of industrial materials and lighting effects to create a performative space on and off the stage.
A sneak peak of Uncertainty, the highlight of the Spanish Pavilion at the 2021 Biennale of Venice taking place from May 22 to November 21 of this year.
Designed by the Danish architecture office BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, The Smile made of black blasted stainless steel extends along 126th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan. Inspired by the surface of the moon and the cultural influences of the city district, the T-shaped building fits seamlessly into the surrounding red and brown brick buildings. The interlocking chessboard-like facade panels were manufactured in Cologne, Germany by POHL Facade Division. Flanked by room-high windows, The Smile aims to reflect sunlight and amplitude into the daily lives of its residents.
Urban design is increasingly striving for more inclusive, sustainable environments, bringing together various groups and activities, and fostering social interaction. This week's curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture focuses on urban designs, large-scale urban development projects and masterplans submitted by the ArchDaily Community, showcasing how architects around the world work with and shape the urban fabric of highly diverse environments.
From the transformation of a brownfield into a lively neighbourhood in the Czech Republic to the redevelopment of Bergamo's city centre around new spatial and collective values, the following projects showcase the ideas shaping urban design, from functional diversity and notions of proximity to a focus on outdoor spaces. The common denominators of the following projects are their collective focus and the strong connection with the existing urban fabric.
"Is a museum defined by its collection? Or by its architecture? In The Art Museum in Modern Times, Charles Saumarez Smith suggests it is both and still something more". Lauren McQuistion, an architectural designer and Ph.D. Candidate in the Constructed Environment at the University of Virginia School of Architecture discusses in her Architect's Newspaper piece, Saumarez's book, exploring the notion of a modern museum.
“Playground, Artifacts for Interaction” by Felipe Ferrer will be featured in the Peru Pavilion in the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture. The project was the winner of the Curatorial Competition held by The Cultural Patronage of Peru that aimed to highlight how fences and gates shape our understanding of public spaces.
South Africa is an ever-evolving, dynamic country – which over the recent years has seen the emergence of landmarks that have achieved global recognition. In Cape Town, there’s the distinctive elevation of Heatherwick Studio’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. In South Africa’s Western Cape, there’s the free-flowing concrete roof of the Bosjes Chapel, designed by Steyn Studio. And, in a design only unveiled last year, there’s the granary-inspired Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in Johannesburg, designed by 2021 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner Sir David Adjaye.
Titled "Mapping Festivities", the Pakistan Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, explores the national wedding hall as an architectural typology of post-colonial Pakistan. Curated by Sara M. Anwar, the pavilion will be on display on the second floor of the Palazzo Mora from May 22nd until November 21st.
