Videos

The Midnight Charette is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by architectural designers David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features a variety of creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions. A wide array of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes provide useful tips for designers, while others are project reviews, interviews, or explorations of everyday life and design. The Midnight Charette is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.

This week David and Marina are joined by Michael Pyatok, FAIA Architect, Educator, and Principal of Pyatok Architecture and Urban Design, to discuss his proposal for density in cities, growing up in Brooklyn, low-income housing design, working with communities, and more. This episode is part of a series produced with the support of the SF Urban Program, Architecture Department, Cal Poly. In 2012 Michael was inducted into the Marvin Design Hall of Fame and in 2013 the AIA awarded him its annual Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture in recognition of his contribution to the design of affordable housing.

The work presented in this article is the outcome of drawings done by the students of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in their second-semester studio, conducted by Alfredo Thiermann (ThiermannCruz). The work was produced during a 6-week long period of distance-learning after the school was shut down at the beginning of March.

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Production designer Annie Beauchamp contacted me shortly after reading an article about Black Mirror series and what it can teach us about the future of architecture —something exciting for me since she was in charge of the visual look in Striking Vipers, the first episode of the dystopian series' fifth season. Beauchamp who has extensive experience working on major productions such as Sleeping Beauty, The Yellow Birds, Adoration, Top of the Lake China Girl, LEGO's Ninjago Movie, also served as an art director in nothing less than Moulin Rouge.

We've talked with Beauchamp to get to know her thoughts on the connection between films and architecture. The following conversation explores her beginnings and inspirations, her work process, as well as her views on the era of computer visualizations. In addition, we concluded the conversation with a couple of recommendations for a new generation interested in production design.

OUALALOU + CHOI has designed the Morocco Pavilion at the 2020 Expo in Dubai, showcasing traditional Moroccan design and construction techniques. The pavilion brings “rammed earth construction to new heights”.

NBBJ has imagined a two million square meter “Net City” master plan in Shenzhen for Tencent, one of the largest internet companies in China and the owner of messaging app WeChat.The size of Midtown Manhattan, the new project will be among China’s first interconnected districts with office buildings, residential areas, public entertainment venues, parks, and a waterfront.

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OMA / Jason Long and Y.A. Studio have been selected to design an 150 unit affordable housing project in San Francisco's historic Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Dubbed 730 Stanyan, the project aims to provide a high-quality living environment for families and seniors. The housing will be situated at the entry to Golden Gate Park and aspires to address the city’s desperate need for permanent housing options.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen an explosion of internet speculation about the “future of cities.” Apparently, they are either doomed—or destined to prevail. The office is dead (obviously), the office tower (especially tall ones) clearly a building type in need of a proper funeral. All kinds of chatter have subsequently ensued (we have time on our hands) about the dire outlook for public space, the impending collapse of public transportation, the inevitable return to the suburbs, even the (gasp!) demise of the luxury cruise ship. We’ll see; we’re still wandering around in the dark here and might be for some time. With that somber thought in mind, I reached out to Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic and urbanist, for what I felt certain would be a nuanced and measured take on our presently fraught moment. (A note: we spoke prior to the protests, which have erupted in American cities in response to the murder of George Floyd.) For the most part, we resisted the urge to make sweeping and almost certainly premature predictions about our urban future.

In the 1920s, work was completed on the Cité Frugès housing complex in Pessac, France. The project, meant to house Pessac's industrial workers, would be one of seventeen Le Corbusier works on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released 3D models for retail stores and office spaces to help reopen safely during the pandemic. The Design strategies use an architectural, engineering and administrative framework based upon recent public health information. They also provide cost effective options that can be implemented immediately.

The spirit of the women who participate in the movements fighting for housing in Brazil is as hard as lime and wood. As a majority in land occupations, they vigorously coordinate organizational and political practices of settlement and popular housing construction. It is no wonder that many of the occupations of the MST (Landless Rural Workers' Movement) or the MTST (Homeless Workers' Movement) carry the names of women such as Dandara, a quilombo leader from the colonial period.

At ThinkLab, our passion lies at the intersection of specification and design, where we use research to improve communications between designers and manufacturers. Today, that research is helping companies within the interiors industry make critical business decisions as we face economic uncertainty. Here, we share some recent data and insights from our Industry Impact Survey—an ongoing research initiative that we invite you to participate in.

GIS analyst and Hungarian cartographer Robert Szucs has shared an impressive collection of maps that bring together all the drainage basins of the world in vibrant colors. Titled Grasshopper Geography, the maps showcase the rivers and watercourses of the world, featuring the basins of selected regions, countries and continents.

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Following up on their series of urban block flashcards, Spanish publisher a+t architecture publishers launched in 2018 a new deck of cards featuring collective living floor plans as part of one of their series of cards about urban density, Density. As a courtesy to ArchDaily, the publishing house shared some of these expanded cards, both typical floor plans, and each unit, where you can see the designs and privacy parameters and openings to the outside of each project.

ODA released images of its 1,185’ mixed-use tower in downtown Seattle. Showcasing a novelty in high-rise design, the project underlines the value and importance of outdoor space. Carving out a void in the middle of the tower, the design creates a shared outdoor amenity space with impressive views to Mt. Rainier.

The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum have announced the winners of the "Europe 40 Under 40" for 2019. The annual program is initiated by The European Centre to spotlight and distinguish the next generation of architects and designers who will impact future living and working environments, cities, and rural areas.

New Generations is a European platform that analyses the most innovative emerging practices at the European level, providing a new space for the exchange of knowledge and confrontation, theory, and production. Since 2013, New Generations has involved more than 300 practices in a diverse program of cultural activities, such as festivals, exhibitions, open calls, video-interviews, workshops, and experimental formats.

New Generations has launched a fresh new media platform, offering a unique space where emerging architects can meet, exchange ideas, get inspired, and collaborate. Recent projects, job opportunities, insights, news, and profiles will be published every day. The section ‘profiles’ provides a space to those who would like to join the network of emerging practices, and present themselves to the wide community of studios involved in the cultural agenda developed by New Generations.

Archdaily and New Generations join forces! Every two weeks Archdaily publishes a selection of studio profiles chosen from the platform of New Generations.

Nearly four months after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, the number of coronavirus cases in the world continues to grow. Although some countries, where the virus transmission rate has declined, are reopening businesses and returning to normal, the impacts of the pandemic are continuing to influence people's daily lives, affecting not only the population's health but also their jobs, habits and the economy. Such changes may still endure and may have an impact on the future of architecture and construction, given the prospect of a crisis in the sector.

It is difficult to find someone who has never dreamed of building or having a tree house to call their own. The idea of a refuge, a space fully integrated with nature and with a privileged view, pleases almost all ages. There are examples of tree houses of all scales and complexities, from small elevated platforms to highly complex structures, including electrical and hydraulic installations. Some sites specializing in the topic (yes, that exists!), offer valuable tips for building these dreams. In general, they subscribe to the motto: "Choose your tree, make your project, but be ready to adapt it!"

Grimshaw has just revealed initial concepts of the new 21,000 square-foot arts complex for Santa Monica College (SMC) in Santa Monica, California. Scheduled for completion in 2024, the building is planned as a “factory of creativity”, replacing an existing surface car park and serving as a new western gateway for the college.

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Videos

The parking house, entitled Parking House + Konditaget Lüders, has just won the international design award Danish Design Award 2020 in the category of “Liveable Cities”. Designed by JAJA Architects, the intervention refurbished the roof of a parking house into living urban space with sports and play equipment.

Dutch design practice Mecanoo has unveiled a proposal for a new wing of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Taking aim at the structure's back of house and organization, the project is made to create clear circulation and connections throughout. In addition, the project is part of a larger renovation of the existing Museum Garden as it bring together the wings of the architects Van der Steur and Bodon as part of the collection.

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