Summer at SCI-Arc is synonymous with Graduate Thesis. The culminating moment of both the M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 programs, Graduate Thesis asks students to come up with an original creative conjecture that proposes and defends a belief or position about architecture and articulate it through an architectural project. A few weeks ago, the school held its Miniatures exhibition at Hauser and Wirth Gallery and midterm reviews for Grad Thesis 2018.
A healthy downtown is both a symbol of community pride, history, and a civic and social center for positive interaction.
At Pratt’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS), we have developed a Downtown Revitalization Certificate Program, to empower those who seek to turn Downtown and Main Street challenges into economic development and public space design opportunities. This program is of particular value to architects, urban designers, and planners (both private-sector and public-sector/ municipalities), Main Street Managers, Business Improvement District Directors (B.I.D.’s) and their staffs, Chambers of Commerce and community planning groups, historic preservationists, graduate – level students, and many more. Participants gain introductory knowledge and skills required to meet the needs of government, business and non-profits to plan, design, and implement efforts for the Downtown Revitalization of their communities, and their Main Streets / Commercial Corridor Districts, etc., and to help meet the goals of federal, state and local programs such as the NYS Office of Community Renewal’s New York Main Street Program, NYC-Small Business Service’s Storefront Improvement Program, and many others, etc.
The A’ Design Award is an international award whose aim is to provide designers, architects, and innovators from all architecture and design fields with a competitive platform to showcase their work and products to a global audience. Among the design world's many awards, the A' Design Award stands out for its exceptional scale and breadth; in 2015, over 1,000 different designs received awards, with all fields of design recognized by the award's 100 different categories. This year's edition is now open for entries; designers can register their submissions here.
The architecture of the future mosque was the subject of a special seminar organized by the “Abdullatif Al Fozan Award for Mosque Architecture” (AFAMA) and the “Library of Alexandria” last Wednesday, July 25th, 2018 in Alexandria, Egypt.
In addition to announcing the ongoing mosque nomination process for the AFAMA that will end in September 2018, the general secretariat presented the objectives of the award, and the three principal scientific projects of AFAMA: “the “Mosqupedia,” “AFAMA portal and database,” and “the award.” The seminar tackled different architectural issues about mosques of the future, from the architectural concept to architectural styles and typologies, and architectural decorations to techniques.
Tamayouz Excellence Award launched the “Baghdad Design Centre,” an international architectural competition to transform the current unused site of the Old Governorate Building into the Baghdad Design Centre in the city's Cultural District; Al-Rusafa. This year’s competition has been under the spotlight as stakeholders and the architectural community in the country urged the local authorities to halt implementation of their own scheme for the site and wait for the results and recommendations of the competition.
The digital platform rocagallery.com, a project from Roca, aims to be a reference point for design and architecture to news and thought, with more than 30 international writers and content updated every week.
Ever enjoy swimming in fresh or salty blue water? Most people find much solace and self-renewal in immersing themselves in the natural world.
As the pioneering oceanographer, Sylvia Earle has said, “Without the blue, there could be no green.” The natural world can no longer be taken for granted as if there were no tomorrow. All relationships best blossom thanks to genuine giving and receiving of the best in life. This is how we ultimately find our true place in the world. Our planet is alive, intelligent, supportive, unconditionally and generously providing abundant life energy, resources, and beauty. We, humans, are being called to align our actions with life-giving choices.
Author Rev. Michael Beckwith stated that “a challenge offers the opportunity of becoming.” Mary Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, said: “In life, there are happiness chasers and happiness creators. Who do you choose to be?”
Gorky street (Tverskaya st.), Moscow, 1978. Image Courtesy of Vasily Egorov, TASS
Russia’s history of mass housing development can be divided into several distinct periods, each manifested by its own specific type of residential building. These houses reveal what lifestyle, comfort level, construction cost and distinctive traits were considered preferable in any given decade. Every new stage saw its own experiments and had its achievements, which together can be regarded as a line of lessons, discoveries, and experiences, helping to understand a specific character of Russian standard housing.
Tower Studio by Pawel Mielnik, rendered in real time with Unreal Engine
Design visualization just keeps reaching new heights. While renderings remain a common part of design presentation, advances in technology have made new types of media not only possible but within the reach of even small teams and firms. These newer types of media require a change in workflow. Is it worth it?
The A’ Design Award was "born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well-designed products." It is an international award whose aim is to provide designers, architects, and innovators from all design fields with a platform to showcase their work and products to a global audience. This year's edition is now open for entries; designers can register their submissions here.
Artfully dancing together to the beat of their own drum, the familiar look of the New York skyline has now been broken up by an eye-catching pair of skyscrapers on the banks of the East River. The dual copper-clad residential towers are reminiscent of a couple dancing, leaning back slightly and linked together by a bridge with a metallic reflecting finish half-way up the tower. The glass for the 100-meter-high skybridge for this extraordinary project was created by the Swiss specialists Glas Trösch which developed a complex, double-insulating glass with an internally laminated, metallic web to give a glossy finish.
Architects are always trying to be more efficient and adding more value for clients. But with most software, rendering is very time-consuming, impairing efficiency significantly. It is exhausting for designers when the process of visual processing uses energy that would be better invested in design and architecture itself.
With the Enscape plugin, real-time rendering and virtual reality can help to remedy this situation. The plugin integrates as a toolbar in the popular design platforms Rhino, Revit and SketchUp, with a version for Archicad also currently in development. Because the software is a plugin for these popular programs, architects do not need to learn to use new software, but work in their familiar system with some additional features. And since the software runs on the local graphics card, projects do not have to be uploaded to the cloud.
Getting around a city of millions is a miracle of design, engineering and cooperation. In conversation, on foot, by bus, train, bike and ferry, Van Alen’s weeklong Spring Festival this June invites participants to experience and consider the present and future of urban mobility.
Architects from all over the world showcase their modern, innovative concepts with ceramic materials: nearly 600 projects from 44 countries had been submitted. The winners of the Wienerberger Brick Award 2018 impressed with bold and creative architectural concepts for sustainable and forward-looking living spaces.
The Wienerberger Brick Award provides architects from all over the world with an opportunity to showcase modern, innovative architecture with ceramic materials. It aims to inspire architects and people alike, to share design concepts and explore new ways of fulfilling built ideas. 2018 marks the eighth time that Wienerberger is presenting this internationally established award. Nearly 600 projects from 44 countries were submitted, this year with a particularly strong European focus.
108 hours of lessons, a 60-hour workshop and internships/lectures held by internationally-renowned architectural firms like Foster+Partners (London), Studio Libeskind (New York) Partisans (Toronto) Emmanuelle Moureaux Architecture+Design (Tokyo) Dejaco+Partner (Bolzano) Alberto Apostoli (Verona) Veneziano+Team (Milan) Matteo Thun & Partners (Milan).
Solar Egg Public Sauna by Futurniture and Bigert & Bergström - Golden A' Design Award Winner for Architecture, Building and Structure Design Category in 2018. Image Courtesy of A' Design Award & Competition
A’ Design Award & Competition, the world’s largest and most diffuse international design awards, has announced results of their 2017–2018 design awards, featuring 1,962 Winners from 100 countries in 99 different design disciplines. Entries were evaluated by an internationally influential jury panel composed of established scholars, prominent press members, creative design professionals and experienced entrepreneurs who carefully analyzed each entry.
Architecture for Landscape: YACademy’s high-level training course offers 8 scholarships, and internships in internationally-renowned architectural firms. 110 hours of lessons, a 60-hour workshop and internships/lectures in internationally-renowned architectural firms like Eduardo Souto de Moura, Jean Nouvel Design, Snøhetta, HHF, Duque Motta & AA, Stefano Boeri Architetti.
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.jpg?1536597723 "Pipilotti Rist (b. 1962) Hiplights (or Enlighted Hips) 2011 Installation with used and washed underpants, steel cables and custom-made LED lamps Dimensions variable © Pipilotti Rist. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring Augustine. Image Courtesy of SCI-Arc")
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