The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has named James Stewart Polshek, FAIA, as the recipient of the 2018 AIA Gold Medal. Lauded by the AIA for his “unparalleled vision and leadership,” Polshek has enjoyed fruitful professional and academic careers as a founding partner of James Stewart Polshek Architect (later Polshek Partnership and currently Ennead Architects) and a former dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Honoring “an individual or pair of architects whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture,” the AIA Gold Medal is often considered the highest honor awarded in the United States for architecture.
The temporary pavilion will cover Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House for preservation work. Image Courtesy of Carmody Groarke
London-based firm Carmody Groarke and the National Trust for Scotland have announced plans for a major project to conserve one of Scotland’s most important buildings: the Hill House in Helensburgh, designed by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
British firm Allies and Morrison has been selected as the winners of an international competition to “restore, reimagine and rebuild” the historic Clandon Park mansion in Surrey, England, bringing the the National Park property back to life after it was badly damaged from a fire in 2015.
Selected from a star-studded shortlist, Allies and Morrison’s proposal was lauded by the jury for its bold yet balanced approach and ability to “respect the quality and character of the mansion house in its historic setting.” The jury found the proposal to be clear and thoughtful, while providing an appropriate level of drama and excitement.
While many architects have long clung to the old “form follows function” adage, form follows brain function might be the motto of today’s advertisers and automakers, who increasingly use high-tech tools to understand hidden human behaviors, and then design their products to meet them (without ever asking our permission!)
Biometric tools like an EEG (electroencephalogram) which measures brain waves; facial expression analysis software that follows our changing expressions; and eye-tracking, which allows us to record “unconscious” eye movements, are ubiquitous in all kinds of advertising and product development today—beyond the psychology or medical departments where you might expect to see them. These days you’ll also find them installed at the behavioral research and user experience labs in business schools such as American University in DC and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts.
What happens when you apply a biometric measure like eye-tracking to architecture? More than we expected...
https://www.archdaily.com/884945/heres-what-you-can-learn-about-architecture-from-tracking-peoples-eye-movementsAnn Sussman & Janice M. Ward
Over the last 5 years, the Fairy Talescompetition has captured the imagination of thousands of participants from around the world - from students and aspiring architects, to multi-national firms and Pritzker prize winners.
Here is why, if you enjoy design and storytelling, you should give it a shot this year.
https://www.archdaily.com/884948/five-reasons-why-you-should-enter-the-fairy-tales-competitionBlank Space Project
Videos
Silver Medal: ‘Cycles of Toolmaking: An Optic, Tactile, Haptic, Material, Scalar and Pedagogic Study’ / Daniel Hall. Image Courtesy of RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of their 2017 President’s Medals honoring the world’s best student projects. The awards, recognized as the world’s most prestigious in architectural education, were established in 1836 (the institute's oldest award) to “promote excellence in the study of architecture [and] to reward talent and to encourage architectural debate worldwide.”
Medals are awarded in three categories: the Bronze for a Part I student (Bachelor level), the Silver for a Part II student (Masters level), and the Dissertation Medal. In addition to these, the winners of the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing and the SOM Foundation Fellowships have been announced.
In a previous article, 5 Reasons Why You Need Multiple Architecture Portfolios, I discussed the importance of creating a targeted employment application. This process begins with selecting the office(s) where you would like to work.
So with the thousands of architecture firms out there, how do you know where to apply? I am sure you can come up with a few companies off the top of your head or perhaps you have a specific firm in mind.
Regardless if you are targeting one employer or are simply looking for a “new job” these strategies will help you create your ideal architecture firm list.
South Australian artist, Joshua Smith has created yet another true-to-life miniature, a locksmith shop in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The miniature was created for an exhibition at the Arcade Art Gallery in Kaohsiung called, ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ as part of the Streets of Taiwan festival. Miniaturist Joshua Smith selected the shop by using google maps, with supplemental reference photos taken by the gallery -- Joshua has not been to Taiwan, let alone the shop itself.
China’s first dedicated cultural design center, Design Society, has opened to the public in Shenzhen. Designed by legendary Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the center’s brand new building on the harborfront of Shekou will serve as a platform for the museum’s innovative program highlighting all realms of design while creating a “thought-provoking experience” for visitors.
The Japanese/Belgian team of Sou Fujimoto Architects and AWAA has been selected as the winners of an international competition for the design of a new tower to be located at a significant crossroads in the outer Brussels municipality of Auderghem.
Led by developer Unibra and construction company Thomas & Piron, the competition asked architects to propose a new mixed-use urban development of between 25,000 and 50,000 square meters that would activate the the prominent triangular site at the corner of the Herrmann-Debroux viaduct and the Boulevard du Triomphe.
Early renderings for the project show a series of sloping residential highrises growing out of a mixed-use podium, including one taller tower and a longer building featuring a concave roof. The various structures appear to be connected at key points via lightweight terraces housing plantings.
One of the rising conversations in the architecture world in recent years has been the issue of architects' salaries. But how much are you worth? When is it time to ask for that much-needed raise? Two key elements to successful salary negotiation are timing and asking for the right reasons.
First, what do you deserve? Raises are earned, but there is a certain amount of money you deserve. For US salary data, check the AIA Compensation Report, which is updated annually. If you live internationally, see if you can find a similar resource for your country or city. Unless you are performing below average (coming in late, not being productive, or worse, setting back the office’s productivity), you shouldn’t be making a below-average salary.
Once you have an equitable starting salary, how can you tell if you’ve earned a raise from there? You may have earned a raise if...
We have all seen a floor plan before. They are typically black-and-white, and maybe some room labels, and an occasional furniture piece or two. This has been the norm for just about as long as anyone can remember, perhaps it's time to switch things up.
Filled with color, style, and spunk, Instagram account, floorplan_man isn’t your average architecture account—his feed highlights the architecture world’s most unique and creative approaches to floor plan drawings. Scrolling through his feed is like scrolling through the Pinterest page of the artsy-ist person you knew back in architecture school—it is flooded with inspiration to upgrade your generic, boring black-and-white floor plan.
CODE – Competitions for Designers- launches “Logo Against Alzheimer’s”, a design competition aiming to create a logo for the Italian Association “Affetti da” that is going to support the families of people suffering from Alzheimer’s. The initiative offers a cash prize of € 10.000 to winner projects that will be selected by a renowned jury made of Milo Manara, Milton Glaser, Federico Babina, Margherita Urbani, Pietro Corraini, Mario Trimarchi (AIAP), Roberta Pantieri (Affetti da).
University of Miami School of Architecture faculty, students, and leadership enjoyed an unforgettable night at AIA Miami’s Design Awards Gala, taking home nine awards.
What happens when an architect is inspired by both the pyramids of Mesoamerica and the modernity of Oscar Niemeyer... and said architect has been tasked to create a master plan for a utopic seaside resort? You get La Grande-Motte, a commune in Southern France. Below, photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Peregoshare a selection of images from their pilgrimage to this unique site.
https://www.archdaily.com/884670/photos-that-capture-the-hypnotic-geometries-of-la-grande-motteAD Editorial Team
The VELUX Group has announced the esteemed architects that will make up the jury for the 2018 VELUX Award for Students of Architecture. The award, given every two years, challenges students of architecture all over the world to explore the theme of daylight and consider its role in our lives as an ever-relevant source of light, life and energy in buildings. The four internationally acclaimed jury members will elect the winners among the hundreds of daylight-focused project entries from all over the world.
"We are thrilled and proud to present this esteemed jury to the works of engaged students from all over the world and we truly hope that all efforts will be made to showcase explorations and excitement in the two award categories 'daylight in buildings' and 'daylight investigations'," says program manager of the award Per Arnold Andersen, from the VELUX Group.
The members of the jury are:
https://www.archdaily.com/884624/exceptional-and-noteworthy-jury-to-select-winners-of-the-international-velux-award-2018AD Editorial Team
Taking photographs in fog can be an experience as chaotic as it is enchanting. Although working with this phenomenon can be risky, since fog dramatically modifies the available light and the atmosphere of a scene, if you know how to take advantage of it, the result can lead to perfect photographs. Below is a selection of 10 images from prominent photographers such as Kevin Scott, Richard Barnes, and Koichi Torimura.
In their video series for the November 2017 World Architecture Festival, PLANE—SITE delves into contemporary concert hall design. The five films highlight major themes in today’s musical architecture through an interactive, multimedia panel. Using Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Wroclaw’s National Forum of Music, and the Philharmonie de Paris as examples, the videos show how contemporary concert halls are more technological and multi-functional than ever before, demonstrating how architecture redefines the modern-day musical performance experience.
The series acted as a starting point for a conversation between the WAF audience and panelists, moderated by PLANE—SITE’s Andres Ramirez. Panelists included Michel Cova of dUCKS scéno, Tateo Nakajima of Arup, and Jacob Kurek of Henning Larsen.
French photographer Laurent Kronental’s latest photo series, “Les Yeux des Tours” views of Paris, are framed by the quirky windows of the Tours Aillaud, and by the subtle differences in which the spaces around them are inhabited. Kronental considers the towers as some of the most spectacular of the Grands Ensembles built in the post-war economic boom in France. For him, photographing these buildings was a form of nostalgia, a way of satisfying a deep sense of childhood wonder and curiosity that fostered in him as a young boy perceiving them from the nearby business and shopping center "La Défense," questioning the lives of the people who live there.
Founded by collectors Yan Shijie and Cao Mei, the Red Brick Art Museum opened in May 2014 in the Chaoyang District to showcase Chinese and world art, since then, it has become a haven for photographers. In this photo series, He Lian focuses his lens on the museum and captures the sculptural beauty of the punctured brick walls.
Architect Dong Yugen has created a structure that is a piece of art in itself; the perforations, skylights and narrow windows manipulate light into the spaces, casting dramatic shadows and offering short glimpses outside. The grey tones implemented in the entrance to greet visitors softens the transition between the inside and outside, whilst guiding you through the building into the main hall featuring a sunken circle that can also be used as an auditorium.
From Portuguesearchitectural photographerFernando Guerra comes imagery of MAD's Huangshan Mountain Village in China. This residential design, comprising ten housing blocks that mimic the mountain range they are embedded in, is just one piece of the Taiping Lake tourism master plan; architecture and nature blend together to create modern apartments with differing panoramic views.
At the end of September, we invited our Spanish-speaking readers to send us their social housing proposals completed at a university level. Social housing is still a challenge for much of Latin America and although every year hundreds of architecture students work on projects that reflect their concerns in the social housing field, its visibility is very low and its materialization is null. At a time when the Global South has pursued its own responses to its own problems, the university response on social housing should be taken into account by the State, both of whom are interested in the common good.
Out of 116 proposals received from Spain and 11 Latin American countries, this selection of 20 ideas represents the different challenges and state of the problems in social housing. While some approach Colombia's post-conflict scenario for rural inhabitants, some propose answers to the insertion of social housing in already densified areas, to which the beneficiaries tend to be relegated by the value of land and housing. Other ideas point to the reconversion of infrastructure, modulation, the integration of indigenous peoples and natural disasters.
We believe that the selection not only highlights the efforts of students and academics to address contingent problems but will also open up the discussion about social housing, often relegated only as a one-dimensional problem when in reality, poverty is multidimensional.
https://www.archdaily.com/883952/the-best-university-proposals-for-social-housing-in-latin-america-and-spain-in-2017ArchDaily Team
Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter’s proposal embraces the waterfront nature of the site by introducing a stepped, sawtoothed building that interacts with the water in a way similar to the old brick factories of East London and the palaces of the upper Thames. Reflections from the water could pass through the high-transparency glass walls of the library, connecting visitors with the Southmere Lake even when indoors
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