In 2024, a diverse range of topics have been comprehensively explored, some focusing specifically on architectural details and construction systems. These articles provide valuable insights into architecture's often-overlooked technical and functional aspects. By shifting attention away from aesthetics, materials, and spatial massing, they reveal the importance of intricate details and the construction systems underpinning contemporary projects' larger architectural vision.
Executing these seemingly small elements is crucial in shaping how architecture is perceived and experienced. Specifying and drawing a thoughtfully designed detail is not dissimilar to determining the correct screw in building a car—its thread count, material, and length—can dramatically influence not only the success of an architectural design but also the quality of the human experience it fosters. Such details, while often dismissed as mundane and may not be the most recognizable features of stellar projects, profoundly impact the cohesiveness and functionality of architectural projects.
Art and architecture go through a series of interpretive processes before their creation that involve recognizing a capacity for wonder, experimentation, communication, and imagination. Sharing sensitivities and creative quests, they can transform the experience of the world by responding to a collective set of ideas that, at times, design, paint, and write about themes related to the connection with nature, the role of society in the built environment, the sensations conveyed by spaces, and more.
Faced with the aging of the global population, one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century is anticipated. The design of patios, gardens, terraces, and other green areas in facilities for the elderly presents an opportunity to foster interaction, participation in various collective activities, and the establishment of gathering spaces aimed at reducing loneliness among older adults while enhancing well-being and social interaction in connection with nature. How can built environments be created to adapt to the needs of older adults?
Spain, with its vast territory and notable diversity of landscapes, has been a reference point in the development of external infrastructures, both in urban and rural areas. Tourism has played a key role in this process, focusing on creating spaces that maximize the enjoyment of the natural environment and integrating local landscapes into urbanized areas. The construction of these infrastructures has had two main aspects: the adaptation of cities for both their residents and tourists and the development of rural or coastal areas, where nature is the main attraction. This has led to interventions ranging from creating waterfront promenades, viewpoints, and natural parks, to urbanization projects in previously untouched areas. Furthermore, urban growth has driven the creation of green infrastructures such as botanical gardens, ecological trails, and reserves that aim to protect the environment while being sustainably open to the public.
How is it possible to open educational spaces to the outdoors, and what are the appropriate conditions for their development? What bioclimatic strategies can be implemented to contribute to environmental comfort and the cultural preservation of communities? By conceiving outdoor learning spaces and blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, the educational infrastructures projected by the Semillas association in the Peruvian jungle invite reflection on the opportunities for gathering, meeting, and community participation among students, families, and local residents. Linked to the site's uses and customs, this conception of space represents a way of living where the implementation of bioclimatic strategies, along with the use of local materials and construction techniques, come together to create an architecture connected to its environment and history.
Architecture – once it moved out from under its cavernous beginnings – started off largely nomadic. For a long time, the shade of trees and moveable tents made from animal skin were utilized instead of more permanent dwellings to meet nomadic lifestyles and basic survival needs. These early portable structures were primarily supported by wooden frames and were used by various ancient civilizations, including the Bedouins in the Arabian Peninsula and the Native American tribes in North America. The advent of woven cloth some 40,000 years ago made the dwellings even lighter and easier to transport, a boon to nomadic cultures around the globe.
Though tents have remained popular since then in recreational contexts and as a staple of the architectural form, contemporary architecture has rediscovered the principle of draping fabric and taken its development further – not just for temporary structures, but for permanent buildings and installations, too. Advanced and durable materials have turned fabric into a facade and roof alternative that has sparked a highly specialized sector within the construction industry and created some of the most intriguing exteriors around the globe.
Trahan Architects has just unveiled the design of the USA Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai in Japan. During the six-month expo, the proposal aims to showcase American architecture, innovation, culture, and industry. The display will be focused on celebrating contemporary American achievements in various fields, featuring exhibitions focused on sustainability, space exploration, education, and entrepreneurship.
Nowadays, many architects have been looking for inspiration in traditional techniques, adapting them to more contemporary designs. In this sense, floors with rustic stone such as quartzite and sandstone are becoming more and more popular in residential architecture. Although this material was usually used for external areas, to build traditional stepping stone garden paths, for example, today it is also used in interiors, as an element that disrupts the hardness of rectilinear layouts and, in some cases, creates a connection between interior and exterior, which is something many professionals seek to achieve.
https://www.archdaily.com/972637/brazilian-houses-10-designs-with-rustic-stone-flooringEquipe ArchDaily Brasil
Invited to participate in the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) exhibits Life Beyond Earth, a vision for a Moon Village. Developed together with the European Space Agency (ESA), the installation presents a proposal for a sustainable ecosystem that would support human presence on the Moon, exploring the opportunity of expanding the scope of architecture. The project reaffirms the importance of space exploration while also highlighting its potential to advance knowledge that would help address issues on Earth.
The first ever commercial space hotel, Voyager Station, aims to open by 2027. Accommodating 280 guests and 112 crew members, the project is being planned by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a construction company run by John Blincow. The station will be OAC's first major project, and the first commercial space station with artificial gravity.
Blank Space has announced the winners of the second annual Outer Space competition. The competition asked architects and designers to leverage real scientific advances in robotics, AI, rocketry and autonomous spacecraft to create visions for the near future in outer space.The competition attracted thousands of participants, with winning entries showcasing narratives and images of architecture beyond the planet Earth.
We are on the cusp of the second great age of space exploration.
Outer space has always captured the imaginations of the public. New advances in technology (including comet landings, the Orion Spacecraft, and large scale social experiments leading to exploration of Mars) mean that outer space is no longer a place only astronauts will get to experience – but something you and I can experience within our lifetimes
For a long time, the fantastical visions of space exploration have been rooted in the scifi proposals of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Ring worlds, death stars and space colonies conjure vibrant, psychedelic
Blank Space has announced the winners of the first ‘Outer Space’ competition. With submissions from over 40 countries, the entries explore future possibilities and technical breakthroughs through detailed stories and artwork.
The winners were chosen by a jury of 15 leading architects, designers, and technologists, including Chris Hadfield, Eduardo Tresoldi, David Benjamin, Chris Precht, and Sabrina Thompson.
Keep reading to learn more about the three winning projects and 12 honorable mentions.
Skidmore Owings and Merrill have unveiled their vision for the "Moon Village", the first permanent human settlement on the Lunar surface. Developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the multidisciplinary project will be masterplanned, designed, and engineered by SOM.
https://www.archdaily.com/914813/som-unveils-vision-for-first-human-settlement-on-the-moonNiall Patrick Walsh
There are few things that fascinate us more than the sea. Its contemplation arouses a sense of peace, while its colors, textures, movements and amplitude provide a scientifically proven effect of relaxation in our nervous system. Above all, it makes us realize how small we are in the universe. It is not by chance that a house facing the sea is a dream of consumption for many, let alone with a pool right in front of it. Infinity pools play with this feeling of infinite sea and sky. Through a well-elaborated set of levels and plans, they create an optical illusion that leaves everyone speechless, making pool water appear as if merged with the horizon, overflowing at one or more edges. But before you plan your photo on Instagram with a glass of sparkling wine in your hand, let's take a look at how these pools are built.
The European Space Agency has teamed up with a group of architecture students to speculate on the future design of sustainable lunar habitats. From the ESA’s astronaut center in Cologne, Germany, the organization challenged the students to draw on extreme environments in remote places, and speculate on sourcing and producing materials on the Moon to build a sustainable habitat.
Giving consideration to sunlight, temperature, and terrain, the design team developed a system of inflatable modules that can land at the base of a small crater on the South Polar Region of the Moon, where they will gradually fill the cavity with lunar soil until the modules are effectively buried.
https://www.archdaily.com/911182/architecture-students-imagine-a-moon-base-with-the-european-space-agencyNiall Patrick Walsh
Foster + Partners will detail its vision of life on Mars and the Moon at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018. Forming part of the festival's Future Lab event, the vision will be presented through a range of models, robotics, and futuristic designs exploring the future of life in space.
The firm's showcase will include a virtual reality experience, allowing visitors to explore the inside of a proposed state-of-the-art habitation pod.
https://www.archdaily.com/897677/foster-plus-partners-to-present-vision-of-life-on-mars-at-uks-goodwood-festivalNiall Patrick Walsh
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