The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina address the question, "What Does an Architect Do?". The two cover the responsibilities and tasks an architect undertakes during a typical building process from research to the initial design phases, design development, construction documentation, contractor selection, and construction. Enjoy!
https://www.archdaily.com/960633/the-second-studio-podcast-on-what-architects-doThe Second Studio Podcast
Glenn Howells Architects have won planning permission for a lakeside climbing center in Peterborough, England. The new Olympic standard climbing center aims to be a sustainable landmark for the 1,700-acre Ferry Meadows Park site. The center is made to be a central element of Nene Park Trust’s 2050 vision and 10-year masterplan. The indoor facilities are designed to complement the outdoor activities available across the Park.
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Flooded Modernity. Courtesy of Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen
There is a saying that ‘all good architecture leaks’. While likely not intended as an endorsement for water damage, this video takes the phrase seriously by playfully sorting through some of architecture’s greatest leaks. Frank Lloyd Wright was famously dismissive of the many unintentional leaks in his buildings, once telling Mr. Johnson to move his table if he didn’t like it getting rained on. However, there are a number of great intentional leaks throughout architecture as well, such as the entry hall of Peter Zumthor’s Therme Baths in Vals. The walls allow groundwater to seep in from the surrounding mountain while forming beautiful murals out of mineral deposits the water picked up while on its journey through the earth. Whether leaks are intentional or unintentional, they are an inevitable and important reality for architects. There should always be plans for the water that will get into our buildings and this video offers five humorous strategies for making those plans.
You might not think of McDonald’s as the pinnacle of architectural style, but even the world’s largest fast-food franchise has taken some bold design risks. While the literal “secret sauce” has largely remained the same since the inception of the iconic golden arches, McDonald’s has had its fair share of experimentation and has even hired some of the profession’s most prominent names to put their own spin on the design of these restaurants- turning the repetitive and mundane into one of a kind experiences.
Barcode Architects and Tchoban Voss Architekten have landed the win of the Dresden City Public Administration Headquarters design competition. The proposed building will have a dynamic, three-layered façade that compliments Dresden's architecture and carefully embeds it with its surroundings. The 34,000m2 'Verwaltungszentrum' will be part of a larger urban transformation of the Ferdinandplatz, and is expected to be complete in 2025.
Designed by 3LHD Architects, the new campus for the Croatian electric hypercar manufacturer Rimac brings together a wide array of programs and spaces, from production plant and offices to kindergarten, dormitory and even a sheep meadow. Located in the outskirts of Zagreb, within a natural landscape, the Rimac Campus is organized around two main volumes that follow the site’s natural topography, with several accompanying facilities tucked underneath a green roof that stretches out, meeting the surrounding landscape.
Concéntrico, Logroño's International Architecture and Design Festival, has announced the winning proposals for their three open competitions in three locations in the historic center of Logroño, in Spain.
This edition of the competitions sought to create a Pavilion in the Plaza de Escuelas Trevijano and two interventions, one in the River Ebro walk and the other in Viña Lanciano by Bodegas LAN.
In this episode of “Behind the Scenes”, where we showcase the work of visionary artists and ask about their experiences beyond what is seen by the public, we are presenting Nicolás Castagnola: an illustrator, animator, and architect born in Buenos Aires and based in Berlin. Through his illustrations and animations, he brings different meanings to architecture by opening an imaginative field about the infinite possibilities that the built environment can provide.
Corviale is one of Italy’s biggest postwar public housing projects and, arguably, one of the most controversial. Both revered and abhorred, the complex remains a pilgrimage site for architectural schools from around the world. Il Serpentone (The Big Snake), as it is affectionately called, stretches nearly a kilometer in a straight line, a monolithic, brutalist building that hovers over the countryside on the outskirts of Rome. But there is nothing sinuous about a construction made up of 750,000 square meters of reinforced concrete condensed into 60 hectares. This hulking horizontal skyscraper is formed by twin structures, each 30 meters high, connected through labyrinths of elongated hallways, external corridors, and inner courtyards. Divided into five housing units, each with its own entrance and staircase, it contains 1,200 apartments and houses up to 6,000 people.
https://www.archdaily.com/960563/chilometro-verde-five-women-architects-revitalizing-the-corviale-a-giant-public-housing-project-in-romeMarina Engel
Durable, hygienic and easy to install, 3M Glass Finishes can bring creativity to glass in architecture and design. Image Courtesy of 3M
For total creative freedom in designing with glass, 3M has developed a diverse range of solutions for facades and interiors that change depending on the incidence of light.
The winners of the competition for the reform of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) have just been announced.HARQUITECTES with Christ & Gantenbein have been selected to rethink and expand the exhibition areas of the original museum, designed by American architect Richard Meier in the 90s.
Designers have created civic institutions, governmental centers, public plazas, and many other spaces as testaments to individual and shared values. As spaces for gathering and exchange are necessary elements to urban life, architecture can also act as a vehicle to encourage understanding. Advocating knowledge while empowering the public, libraries celebrate ideas, curiosity and empathy.
For the 17th international architecture exhibition – la biennale di Venezia 2021, Denmark is creating a water cyclic system that connects people with each other and with nature. The national pavilion, titled “Con-nect-ed-ness”, is curated by Marianne Krogh and Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects, and will be on display from May 22nd to November 21st, 2021.
Ateliers Jean Nouvel's new mixed-use development in the Greater Paris area defines a complex vertical neighbourhood that caters to the latest changes in living, working and leisure. Located in the Gennevilliers Neighbourhood, on the banks of the river Seine, Jeuneville aims to create a sustainable and inspiring living environment, a place of synergy designed for a new generation of city dwellers and a new economy.
Renders are representations that can convey the three-dimensional aspect of a design through two-dimensional media, i.e., an image, providing a preview of how the project will look in the future. However, unlike what people often imagine, rendering is not always a realistic visualization of architecture.
Since it is a tool for visual communication, renderings can have different styles depending not only on the project itself but also on the specific targeted audience and, above all, on the identity of the architect or architectural firm responsible for the design.
The roof of Euston Station in London is the large-scale architectural setting for the virtual application of the comprehensive Metaplas system, created by students from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. As part of an investigation carried out in Research Cluster 8 (RC8) of the Master's program in Architectural Design, students developed a 3D printed multimaterial system from biodegradable and recyclable thermoplastics. Transforming a series of flat panels into complex three-dimensional forms, students created a structural system with geometric folds that allows for passive control of the lighting of interior spaces.
According to the United Nations’ latest report on populations in cities, by 2030, “urban areas are projected to house 60 percent of people globally and one in every three people will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants”. Growing in both size and number, cities are hubs of government, commerce, and transportation, and in 2021, the world’s 20 largest cities are home to half a billion people. In fact, one in five people worldwide lives in a city with more than 1 million inhabitants.
Below, we have rounded up the top 20 megacities in the world of 2021, according to the number of people that live in their metropolitan area. While Tokyo is the largest city on a global level, with a total of more than 37 million residents, the majority of the most populous cities in the world are in the two most populated countries, China and India. Among these, we have 5 metropolises in China, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Guangzhou, and 3 in India, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The largest city in the American continent is Sao Paulo in Brazil with 22 million people, followed by Mexico City and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Istanbul takes the 13th position with one part of the city lying in Europe and the other part in Asia.
Designed by SPF:architects, the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Center in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, celebrates the center’s rich history and community commitment in an eco-friendly, prefabricated facility. Formerly known as the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex, the center will expand the pre-existing structure and provide additional recreational facilities but in a cost-effective way. Construction has been ongoing since 2018 and is set to be complete mid-summer of 2021.
Liam Young, The Zero Waste Weavers of Planet City, 2021. Photo by Driely S
This year's Shanghai Biennale, themed Bodies of Water, examines the interconnectivity and interdependency of people, climates, ecosystems and technologies, exploring the idea of collectivity in the light of accelerating climate change and the current global pandemic. The 13th edition of the oldest biennial in China features works by 64 participating artists exploring the intricate web of interferences and connections in the contemporary world.
In a 2016 survey of 400 employees in the U.S., Saint-Gobain found that office building occupants commonly complained about poor lighting, temperature, noise, and air quality, leading the company to deduce a need for improved lighting and thermal comfort in buildings while also maintaining low energy consumption and freedom of design for architects and clients. Their solution was SageGlass, an innovative glass created first in 1989 and developed over the course of the past three decades. The glass, which features dynamic glazing protecting from solar heat and glare, simultaneously optimizes natural light intake. A sustainable and aesthetic solution, SageGlass’ adaptability to external conditions dispels the need for shutters or blinds.
https://www.archdaily.com/957605/more-daylight-but-less-glare-and-heat-how-does-automatically-tintable-glass-workLilly Cao
Working remotely throughout the past year has accelerated the introduction of new approaches to real-time rendering, and with it, a new necessity was born: how can a person feel physically present inside a space, without actually being there? Ultimately, designers resorted to the virtual world, a vast realm of interactive built environments that can be accessed from the comfort of one's home. Even the tools utilized, such as headsets and goggles, have become more accessible to the vast majority of the public and are being sold at a lower price than they initially were. We have become accustomed to build, modify, and navigate between different environments, going back and forth between what is real and what isn't. Truth is, virtual has become the new normal.
In a time when the world is facing major social and environmental challenges, Oslo Architecture Triennale 2022 spotlights the neighborhood as a place and horizon for rethinking our cities. With the working title Mission Neighborhood – (Re)forming communities, the Triennale will explore how we form the places we share.
Warm wood look – but more robust: All Amtico product families are designed to give the impression of natural colours, surfaces and grains so they feel deceptively real – in the best sense of the word. Image Courtesy of Amtico
Amtico’s flooring products not only look like the real thing, they’re also more robust than the natural materials which they imitate, offering architects versatile surface solutions and greater planning freedom.
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