Real Estate: The Latest Architecture and News

Co-living in East Asia has been rising since 2020, rapidly expanding while remaining in its early stages. At the same time, it continues to fulfill a significant demand from young professionals working in major cities. A 2020 study by real estate services firm JLL highlighted the growing demand for co-living in China and Singapore, citing key advantages such as affordability compared to private studio apartments and a contemporary urban lifestyle that fosters openness and shared experiences. Much like other industries where ownership is becoming less relevant—such as streaming services for music, films, and television, or mobility solutions like car- and bike-sharing—co-living appeals to a similar demographic that values flexibility and access over long-term commitments.

Unlike co-living initiatives in Spain, which often focus on multigenerational shared spaces, East Asian co-living primarily targets young professionals with dynamic career paths. Often required to relocate every few years, these individuals prioritize convenience and adaptability over investing in a permanent home. For them, committing to a long-term residence may not be practical, making fully furnished, professionally managed co-living spaces with built-in amenities and hygiene services an attractive option. These environments cater to fast-paced urban lifestyles, where networking at professional events often precedes solitary downtime at home.

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Rising populations and soaring real estate prices pose significant challenged to urban housing. In a desperate hunt for affordable living options, communal co-living spaces have emerged as a creative solution, offering quality living conditions through clever space optimization strategies. By implementing innovative design techniques, these shared living communities maximize every square foot to create functional spaces within compact footprints.

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Air rights transactions have become essential in urban development, allowing cities to grow vertically while preserving limited land resources. Typically defined as the right to use or sell the space above a property, air rights enable property owners to transfer unused floor area ratio (FAR) to neighboring parcels, creating increased density and financial gain opportunities. However, the definition can vary based on locality and region, as each country interprets air rights and the ability to build or transfer them differently. As urban centers face mounting pressures from limited land supply and population growth, air rights continue to offer a creative solution that fosters architectural innovation and economic efficiency.

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Prioritizing people and the planet, when it comes to building construction and real estate development, is being seen as more than an ethical mandate - it is a highly profitable approach. Changing market demands, city ordinances, and regulations, and an emphasis on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors are all influencing what successful development in the 21st century stands for.

In Toronto, Canada, the ongoing Downsview Airport redevelopment project showcases this mindset in practice. While traditional development has generally focused on maximizing short-term returns, the Downsview project offers a holistic alternative that can invite significant long-term profits, all while addressing broader societal and environmental concerns.

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Metropolitan cityscapes come with the appeal of sophistication, luxury, and exclusivity. Their glittering skylines and vibrant energy attract thousands of tourists and residents seeking luxurious experiences every year. Catering to this market, several renowned brands and real estate firms have teamed up to offer "branded residences" – a modern typology that elevates hotel-like living into a daily delight.

The concept of branded residences can be traced back nearly a century to 1927 when New York City's Sherry-Netherland Hotel and Apartments joined forces with the famous Sherry's restaurant. Over the past decade, the trend has witnessed a 230% growth with over 580 developments from 133 brands equating to nearly 100,000 residential units established worldwide. The drive for this demand goes beyond aesthetics and architectural grandeur. World-class services and amenities such as spas, fitness centers, private cinemas, and concierge services offered by luxury housing developments build on a sense of indulgence.

A ground scraper is essentially the opposite of a skyscraper - a large building that sprawls outward horizontally instead of soaring vertically into the sky. Though no strict definition exists, groundscrapers are generally described as extremely long but low-rise buildings with over 1 million square feet of space, sometimes called sidescrapers or landscrapers. The term came into the spotlight with Google's plans for their massive $1.3 billion London headquarters. Designed to be only 11 stories tall but over 1,000 feet long, this vast office block epitomizes using horizontal expansion to create immense space for thousands of employees.

Architecture praxis has traditionally focused on customized, project-based services – a well-established model continually favored by industry professionals. While this approach yields remarkable built environments, it struggles to achieve scalability and longevity. The architectural industry has shown little interest in exploring alternative practices, processes and business models, considering that the traditional mode is equally vulnerable to market cycles as other industries are. Bespoke design solutions, the cornerstone of conventional practice, make standardizing processes and scaling services challenging. This focus also leads to fragmented workflows among firms and stakeholders. The stability and establishment of traditional practices can breed a risk-averse culture, hampering disruptive innovations within the industry.

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Every year, Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, presents us with an opportunity to contemplate the conditions of our planet and our impact upon it. Generating around 37% of global carbon emissions, the construction industry has an important, often detrimental, role to play, thus placing an increasingly urgent responsibility on architects and builders to devise strategies for reducing this number. Still, the built environment represents the habitat for most of humanity, and so it has the potential to protect and shelter people from the risks posed by the changing climate. Read on to discover a collection of articles delving into the strategies available at urban and architectural scales for mitigating the effects of climate change and minimizing the industry’s impact upon it.

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Airbnb has undoubtedly disrupted the hospitality industry, inspiring an ecosystem of companies leveraging the sharing economy such as co-living startups. While these companies have achieved impressive financial success, they have been purported to produce problematic effects at the scale of the city. Airbnb, in particular, is alleged to have driven an increase in rental prices in cities already grappling with housing affordability challenges. Much like the case of Uber's impact on urban mobility, Airbnb's rapid growth has caused significant challenges for local governments, demanding comprehensive regulation and a re-evaluation of its functioning at the city scale.