Although they are not considered long-stay areas in a home, kitchens and bathrooms are spaces where functionality is essential for the daily lives of residents and visitors. Of all the elements in wet areas, the ones that need special attention are the worktops. In this text we will point out some tips for designing functional wet area countertops, easy to maintain and appropriate for their uses.
Although artificial intelligence is showing the potential to carry out successive iterations with good results, designing the layout of spaces takes up large portions of a designer's time. The organization of elements present within a space determines the flow of movement, the points of view and will largely dictate how it will be used. But the idea of stifling the use of the environment may not work for all cases. Due to space restrictions or supplementary uses that a room can have, some architects have developed dynamic layouts that have more than one possible use. Whether through dividing elements or special modules, these projects allow the space to change radically through movement.
As one of the most intimate spaces of a residence, dormitories have had their use adapted over the years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. A space for relaxation that also needs to fit furniture, decorations and harmonize with the architecture. Here's a selection of ideas to get inspired and redesign your bedroom.
Retail stores are places that need to transport us to another universe. We need to have our senses stimulated and our instincts fired for a truly convincing experience.
Architecture is a fundamental part of this seduction, being able to use artifacts such as colors, materials, lighting and volumes to awaken the most varied feelings in customers. Commercial architecture, in addition to all the technical elements, needs to reach the public from the facade to its interior, always remaining faithful to the brand's concepts and identities. In this article we have selected some examples of commerce facilities that stimulate customers in different ways.
The room for babies or children is a space designed not only for rest and sleep time, but also to encourage imagination, bring symbols that help build perception of the world and, without forgetting, provide fun to the little ones. In addition to sheltering childhood, bringing functionality to this environment and adapting so many functions in the same area often require huge creativity by mothers and fathers, so the search for an architecture professional can be more than welcome.
The word commensality refers to the act of eating together, sharing a meal. Much more than a mere function of essential human need, sitting at the table is a practice of communion and exchange. An article by Cody C. Delistraty compiles some studies on the importance of eating together: students who don't eat regularly with their parents miss school more; children who do not have daily dinner with their family tend to be more obese and young people in families without this tradition can have more problems with drugs and alcohol, in addition to poorer academic performance. Evidently, all these issues raised are complex and should not be reduced to just one factor. But having a suitable place to have meals, free from distractions, is a good starting point for at least one moment a day that is focused on conversation and food. This is where dinner tables come in. In this article, we review some projects to classify the most common ways to deploy these important pieces of furniture.
Circulation spaces are often challenging for designers as they are intended—as the name implies—for moving from one room to another. While many take advantage of these areas by using them as storage spaces, Mies van der Rohe at the Farnsworth house reduced circulation to a minimum, creating an open floor plan completely free of hallways. When faced with vertical circulation, the issue is similar. Stairs fulfill the purpose of overcoming the height between one floor and another, but rarely constitute indoor living spaces. Bleachers, in turn, play this role in several projects. Until recently, they were only found in sports spaces or amphitheaters; now the use of bleachers has become widespread and is seen in office spaces, public buildings, schools and even homes.
Architecture, to materialize as a constructed and functional building, requires the collaboration of a series of disciplines. During the design stages, these complementary areas are added to the architectural design, attaching systems that help in the construction's functionality, known as complementary projects.
As the restoration and rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral progress, heritage experts are faced with essential and sensible decisions regarding the future architectural expression of the elements that need replacing. The latest developments saw France’s National Heritage and Architecture Commission approving a contemporary take on the cathedral’s interior, involving a re-arrangement of the furniture items, as well as the inclusion of contemporary artworks and light projections. The proposal was put forward by the diocese of Paris as a way of creating a better visitor experience; however, critics of the decision argue that it would diminish the architectural value of the Gothic monument.
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.
HPL (High Pressure Laminate) panels are made of Kraft paper impregnated with phenolic resins, subjected to heat and pressure. A decorative layer with synthetic polymer allows the sheets to have numerous color and texture options, providing an extremely high strength and durability. This is why HPL is widely used in façades, but it is also increasingly being considered for interior wall cladding, for partitions and lockers, as well as for furniture. It is a material that can be used outdoors and indoors, and even on horizontal surfaces.
Architecture has been increasingly focusing on adaptive reuse, taking advantage of the opportunity to redesign existing spaces to provide new purposes while also reducing damage to the environment. In this context, recycling warehouses is quite usual and is becoming more popular every day because these spaces often have large open plans which allow many different layouts.
It is a common misconception that bunk beds - which are sleeping spaces elevated above floor-level - are used exclusively for the bedrooms of children and teens. While bunk beds are a great solution for younger kids and older kids alike, the practical aspect of bunk beds which gives ample sleeping space while saving on floor space, makes them great for a variety of purposes and applications. With a rise in density and the majority of people living in large urban centers making use of increasingly smaller living spaces, there has come a push towards modularity in interior architecture. For this reason, bunk beds and lofted sleeping areas have become a great solution to maximize square footage.
We are about to start living in a completely wireless world, but in the meantime, many people are looking for alternatives to hide wires creating a more organized and clean space. Therefore, we have provided some tips for those who want to disguise TV cables and cords from other devices to make the environment more comfortable.
As an architectural project comes to its last phases, it is time to put together the smaller details in bathrooms and kitchens, which means choosing finishes for the walls and floors, as well as the countertops, and picking the right fittings and fixtures. These elements are essential for a well-designed space, regardless of the style.
The ceiling is an important element in architecture and interior design, combining functionality with aesthetics through different materials that add layers of texture and color, providing quality and comfort in interior spaces as well as a protective surface for other building systems.
Last year, Archdaily inaugurated its first edition of Young Practices, an initiative meant to highlight emerging offices that pursue architectural innovation. Carl Gerges Architects is a Lebanese practice whose body of work is a careful consideration of culture, context, and heritage. Villa Nadia and Batroun Boutique Hotel are two of the studio’s unbuilt projects that showcase the assemblage of architectural tradition and contemporary design, informed by a poetic sensibility and a deep understating of the local social, environmental and historical landscape.
In this week's reprint from Metropolis, Amanda Schneider, president of ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW, explores how "designers can help create healthy, safe interiors with thoughtful surface and filtration selections". Asking how we can have sanitized surfaces, without having to deep clean them regularly, the author discusses the materiality of healthy safe interiors.
