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A Visual History of New York Told Through Its Diagrams, Maps and Graphics

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Martin Pederson interviewed this week Antonis Antoniou and Steven Heller, author of Decoding Manhattan, a new book that compiles over 250 architectural maps, diagrams, and graphics of the island of Manhattan in New York City, talking about the origin story of the book, the process of research, and the collaboration.

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Not Experienced with Rendering? 4 Techniques you Can Use Instead

If there is any word that describes what architectural renders look like nowadays, it would be: impressive. The immense world of rendering has allowed people to engage in virtually-built environments, exploring each space and experiencing what they might hear or feel as they walk by one room to another without being physically present in the project.

The main purpose of a render is to help viewers visualize what the final result of the project will look like. Whether it is for presentation or construction purposes, architects need to translate their visions in a way that helps people who were not involved in the ideation process understand the space and the experiences that come with it. However, not all architects have the proper skills or the time to create such hyper-realistic environments, but with the exceptional quality of visuals being produced nowadays and the rising demand, it has become somewhat mandatory for every project to be presented as a realistic 3D render. So if you are one of those architects who don't have the skills nor time, here are ways you can present your project as an immersive visual experience that translates its identity without resorting to 3D software. 

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From Backdrop to Spotlight: The Significance of Architecture in Video Game Design

We’ve asked our ArchDaily readers about which video game has impressed them most in terms of architectural visualization, and why. Hundreds of various answers later, it became evident that there isn’t one element that makes a video game stand out, but the virtually-built environment is almost always a key factor in how the game is experienced.

In video games, architecture plays a much bigger role than just being a backdrop of a virtual city or an authentic render of an existing one, it is, in fact, a fundamental component of transcending gamers into a virtual world that feels just as authentic as the real world does, but with extra adrenaline.

(WARNING: the videos and images featured in this article may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy)

PlayHouse Competition - Call for Entries

Hacking the home to make play part of everyday


(a) Competition Overview

Play is an essential part of all our lives, whether child or adult. Be it playing sports, a board game or simply sharing jokes with friends, play is just as important to adults as building a den or playing dress-up is to a child.
The Coronavirus outbreak has left many of us having to spend extended periods of time at home in lockdown, restricting the opportunity to socialise and play in ways that we are used to.

How can we use creativity to encourage play at these unique

Photographer Manipulates Architecture to Create an Imaginary World

Regardless of what field designers specialize in, they are capable of translating their ideas and fantasies into visible and tangible material. After all, a designer's principle is quite simple: If it doesn't exist, create it.

For his final photography exam, Szabó Viktor took photos of existing buildings and manipulated them into structures that only exist in his imagination.

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An (ab)Normal Take on Architectural Representations

Contemporary visualization tools have rendered exceptional illustrations, proving to be crucial in architectural representations today. However, some choose to explore objects in unprecedented manners instead of diving into "digital post-collage", unleashing different realms of design.

Created as an experimentation of visual narratives, (ab)Normal is a graphic patchwork that expresses design, scenography, illustration, architectures, and social utopias of a culture that revolves heavily around Internet, gaming, and religion. The iconographic images, which particularly focus on architectural representation, explore all the potentials of rendering, deconstructing, and reassembling photo-realism with a different hierarchies.

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Easter Egg Hunt: Architecture Edition

Now that it's time for the Easter Holidays, kids (and young-at-heart adults) will be busy searching for colorful eggs hidden here and there. As for you architecture lovers, illustrator Chanel Dehond took egg hunts to the next level and found a way to make the activity a bit more relatable.

Take a look at Dehond's eggceptional collection of illustrations, inspired by some of your favorite structures from all over the world.

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Award-Winning Sketching App 'Concepts' Releases New Update Including Customized Brushes

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Courtesy of David Clynk

Being a 21st-century designer is not always a walk in the park, but it certainly has its perks. Fortunately, innovative product and software designers have created numerous programs that transform our ideas and visions into visual and tangible reality.

Concepts, the “next-generation design platform” is an iOS application, suitable for all design and engineering fields. Accommodating almost 80% of all design tasks, product designers, fashion designers, game designers, and industrial engineers can benefit from what the application has to offer. The TopHatch creation - which is trusted by leading designers at Disney, Apple, Nike, PlayStation, Unity, and several other leading corporations - was initiated as a simple prototype, and gradually built on feedback and innovative updates.

Following our Top Apps for Architects article, the award-winning vector-based app, is launching a brand new update, with exclusive features that enable a limitless, customized, and more precise creative experience, exclusively shared with ArchDaily readers.

What’s New?

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