Creating a model for rendering does have its own set of rules. To get you up and rendering as quickly as possible, here are SketchUp's top five tips for prepping your SketchUp model for rendering.

Awards and prizes are vital to professional ecosystems in supporting talent and new ideas; for the design industry, competitions encourage creative minds to leap beyond the bounds of practicality to imagine the future, solve problems and build new communities. Expanding impact with international breadth and egalitarian opportunities, competitions often provide space for emerging talents and students, providing support, mentorship and experience to develop their careers and process.

For Polish ceramics manufacturer Ceramika Paradyż, hosting the Paradyż Designers Competition brings together all of these values, alongside an innovative way to challenge how its products can function. This year, the third edition challenged architects and designers to craft imaginative digital designs using a new series of sintered stones, TRI-D. The natural product, a baked composite of quartz, feldspars, clays or kaolins, performs as an alternative to natural stone; extraordinarily durable, tiles retain their aesthetic from the surface to the cross section, making them ideal for worktops, windowsills and fireplaces, yet in fact, the possibilities are endless.

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The Living Places - Simon Architecture Prize is an initiative of Simon—curated by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe since the prize’s inception—which aims to distinguish those architectural projects (including interiors, public, domestic, and landscape spaces) whose excellence provide comfort to their inhabitants and improve people’s quality of life on a daily basis; while working, learning, sharing, enjoying...in short, architecture to be lived!

Inside is the sister festival of the World Architecture Festival (WAF), the world’s biggest live architectural awards programme, celebrating the very best in interior design. Both Inside and WAF finalists will present their projects to a panel of judges live at the international festival in Singapore.

The 2024 Inside Shortlist represents over 80 interior projects from across the globe, in cities including: New York City, Dubai, Beijing, Osaka, São Paolo, Phuket, Delhi, Auckland, Mexico City, Lisbon, and London. Leading design firms to feature in this year’s shortlist include Foster + Partners, Broadway Malyan, Nikken Sekkei and Office AIO. Many emerging design firms will also be on stage, live pitching against the big names.

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World War II was pivotal in human history, leaving a profound political and social impact. Its conclusion marked a significant turning point, leading to post-war suburbanization and the baby boom. These phenomena resulted in rapid urban growth and a surge in housing construction, which peaked in the 1960s and continued to flourish throughout the following decades, gradually slowing down until the present day. Currently, we are facing a very different scenario in which a backlog of affordable housing, combined with a challenging economic outlook and a climate agenda, have led to the need for a transformation of the built environment into a cleaner and more resource-efficient one, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Thus, with the ever-increasing demand for housing, combined with policy initiatives such as the European Green Deal, the post-war model of hyper-production is becoming unsustainable. Consequently, refurbishing derelict or redundant buildings has emerged as a viable alternative. Unlike the scheme of demolition and new construction, this approach offers opportunities for energetic retrofitting, which helps mitigate environmental obsolescence, extend the lifespan of buildings, and revitalize the existing and dilapidated stock—including postwar housing—while improving people's quality of life.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The format for Blair Kamin’ latest book, Who Is the City For? is slightly different from typical compilations. Kamin groups his columns thematically (all 55 appeared in the Chicago Tribune, when he served as architecture critic), and then, more often than not, adds a postscript updating or reframing the story for our fraught new normal. One of the recurring themes, both in the stories and in the postscripts, is the issue of design equity. As income inequality, systemic racism, and climate change became central to the cultural and political debates, equity became the critical lens for much design criticism. In our recent conversation, Kamin advocated for a broader definition of the term.

The Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is on the brink of a technological transformation, largely driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Looking forward, there are two significant ways that AI will influence outcomes for industry professionals: as a driver of creativity and a productivity booster.

Professionals who adopt AI technology for either of these outcomes may have an advantage over those who do not, enabling them to outpace competitors with more innovative thinking and quicker project delivery. Let's explore how to stay ahead in this changing technological landscape. 

The adoption of advanced access control solutions is essential to maintaining security and safety in various contexts, from businesses and institutions to residences and public spaces. Their main objective is to regulate who can access or use a specific resource, location, or system, ensuring that only authorized individuals have access. In an increasingly interconnected and digital world, the implementation of access control systems has become essential to protect confidential information, ensure the integrity of physical and virtual environments, and prevent unauthorized access that can result in theft, data breaches, or other security incidents. These systems can encompass a variety of methods, including passwords, key cards, biometric scans, and security personnel, all working together to verify and allow entry only to those with permission.

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A pivot door is a swinging door that rotates on a vertical axis; a spindle. It is different from regular hinged doors, where the hinges are attached to the side of the door and the adjacent wall. Even though the pivot door is as old as centuries are long, it is still unknown to many people. However, a recent resurgence in its use has put it front and center as an attractive option for architects, designers and homeowners.

The term "holistic" refers to an approach that considers a system as a whole, rather than focusing on individual components. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of various elements and aims to create something balanced and harmonious that supports overall comfort. The approach is particularly valuable at a time when personal well-being and sustainability are at the forefront of design. This includes the integration of natural elements, such as light and water, to create calm, rejuvenating environments where balance and harmony ensure that all design elements work cohesively to form a unified space. Holistic bathroom spaces go beyond mere functionality by engaging the senses, promoting relaxation, and using resources responsibly, a comprehensive approach embraced by premium bathroom solutions brands like hansgrohe.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

What makes something sacred? When does a building mean more to us than nearly all other places, spaces, objects, or activities in our lives? Architects strive to achieve the sacred in buildings, but it’s the rest of us who either sense it or not, whatever the aesthetics may be. I think the meaning of what is sacred to us can be most profoundly seen and felt when things change.

Through the analysis of an innovative bamboo grid structure created using augmented reality by architects Kristof Crolla and Garvin Goepel in August 2023, we delve into the intricate world of bamboo architecture, focusing on its application in dome structures through a series of detailed illustrations that uncover the depth of this sustainable material's capabilities.

Companies, designers, architects and agencies worldwide are invited to submit their products and projects for the German Design Awards 2025. Organized by the German Design Council, the Awards set international standards for original design developments and competitiveness on the global market, whether through digitalization or AI. The platform honors only projects that are pioneering in the German and international design landscape with positive developments in circular design, making success visible, while also opening up a valuable network, international reach and additional market opportunities for the award winners.

This article is the tenth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints. In this feature, architect John Marx questions the limits and capabilities of AI in architecture and in creating buildings that resonate deeply with people and communities.

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