What is the danger of making something pretty? Well, when it comes to homes it can be complicated. Curb appeal seems like an innocent concept, but architects have been quoted calling it “empty signifiers of good design” or even eerie or creepy. Curb appeal privileges superficial visual composition over deeper, more spatial considerations. Further, the overregulation of visual propriety easily strays into practices that are exclusionary and oppressive. This video takes a close look at the history, evolution, and consequences of curb appeal from an architect’s perspective using examples from popular culture, art, film, and architecture. Unexpected origins and peculiar turns through picturesque gardens, mirrors for viewing the landscape, and exhibitions like Venturi Scott Brown’s ‘Signs of Life’ serve as waypoints in our journey for understanding people’s views of what houses should look like.
Perception Cafe / Haejun Jung - Feelament. Image Courtesy of A' Design Awards
If you've been debating whether to submit your work to the 2021 A’ Design Award Competition, now is the time! This is your last chance to enter your design, because the final call for entries ends February 28th, 2021. The international A' Design Awards give designers an opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience, whether you're a designer, architect, or an innovator from any other design field. Among other design competitions and awards, the A' Design Award stands out for its exceptional scale with over 100 design categories.
How many changes have you done to your interior space during this past year? Whether it was a change of furniture layout, repainting the walls, adding more light fixtures or perhaps even removing them, after spending so much time in one place, the space you were once used to didn’t make sense anymore. We could blame the overall situation for how we’ve been feeling lately, but as a matter of fact, the interior environment plays a huge role in how we feel or behave as well. However, if you were wondering why some neighbors seem much more undisturbed and serene even in the midst of a pandemic, it could be because the interior is greener on the other side.
With LIGHTPAD, Swiss manufacturer Regent Lighting has created a modern lighting solution: formally minimalist, unobtrusive and timeless, it can be set up for single desks, two-person desks and even for four-person desks. Image Courtesy of Regent Lighting
Which kind of light is best for working? The one you have to think about least. With LIGHTPAD, Swiss manufacturer Regent Lighting has created a modular system that optimally lights the workspace – whatever the time of day.
https://www.archdaily.com/957115/minimalist-and-customizable-a-modular-lighting-system-that-adjusts-to-every-working-spaceArchDaily Team
We know that colors can influence our sensations and cause different perceptions of a space, which confirms the benefits of designing a consistent color palette and its importance in architectural projects. The impact of color on a space and on the people who use it becomes even more perceptible when the whole environment is covered with just one color. In these cases, the selected shade can be applied to countless architectural elements. Floors, ceilings, walls, furniture, or even pipes and electrical conduits can have a specific hue to match the monochromatic environment.
Videos
TECLA, 3D Printed Habitat by WASP and Mario Cucinella Architects. Image Cortesía de WASP
A recent collaboration between the team of Mario Cucinella Architects (MC A) and WASP, specialists in 3D Printing in Italy, has resulted in the first 3D-printed construction of a fully natural, recyclable, and carbon-neutral material: raw earth. The circular housing prototype is called TECLA and it was built in Massa Lombarda (Ravenna, Italy) using multiple 3D printers synchronized to work at the same time.
Please submit! The application deadline is 1 April 2021 and all information about the award, including this year's jury and the conditions of participation can be found on the Design Center Baden-Württemberg’s website. Image via Architonic
Want your design recognised with a Focus Open award? The Design Center BW is looking for new products or products so new they've not yet been launched.
SPACE10 and EFFEKT Architects . Image Courtesy of Space 10- The Ideal City
The world is constantly changing, and our built environment is continuously evolving and adapting. As we find ourselves immersed with challenges, experts and thinkers are re-examining the approaches humanity has adopted so far, in order to set new ideas for a better tomorrow.
“Cities are at the heart of the problem, and therefore also at the heart of the solution." Space 10, a research and design lab centered on people and the planet, has just released its latest publication, The Ideal City, in collaboration with gestalten. Gathering insights from around the globe, the book rethinks cities, investigating how to create spaces that support the well-being of the residents and contribute to a better world. Compiling projects and expert opinions, it highlights 5 main pillars that help in shaping the future of the urban realm.
Sackville St. Image Courtesy of Idle Architecture Studio and Biwyan Studios
Vectorworks Architect is well-known for its BIM capabilities, allowing firms around the world to maintain the integrity of their internal design and documentation strategies with an all-in-one solution. The ability to collaborate between firms and share files with ease lets users shift their focus to their designs and all but forget the stress of document sharing. This was the case for Idle Architecture, a Melbourne-based firm that got into Big BIM completely by accident.
The Corviale housing complex, located in the south-western periphery of Rome, was designed in the 1970s as a solution to the growing number of dormitory districts in the Roman suburbs, caused by the significant population increase between the 1950s and 1970s - when the population grew from approximately 1.6 million to 2.7 million inhabitants - followed by suburban sprawl.
The project, also known as Serpentone because of its huge proportions, was developed by a team of architects under the leadership of Mario Fiorentino between 1972 and 1974. Construction took place between 1973 and 1982, but the original plan to use the fourth floor of the main building for commercial uses, services, and common areas, was dropped because the contractor went bankrupt. The floor was eventually taken over by informal settlements, and this event is considered to be the root of the problems with this emblematic project in the history of housing in Italy.
Paul Carneau, Design by Data alumni working with the 3d printing facilities at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Photo by Stefano Borghi
The Advanced Master[1] “Design by Data” in Computation Design & Robotics for Architecture and Construction was launched in 2016 and is one of the latest programs in innovative professional education at l'École des Ponts ParisTech. The program was designed to meet the increasing need of the professional sectors of architecture and engineering for combining architectural awareness and skills in creative engineering. Design by Data trains professionals to master advanced design tools (coding, generative design, machine learning) as well as digital manufacturing and design processes (robotics, 3D printing, and mechatronics) applied to architectural and construction projects.
The building rises from a rock face jutting up from the ocean at Skutvik in Nordland, Norway. Steni Vision façade panels give the Arctic Salmon Center a unique and notable appearance. “It has been unbelievably exciting to work with such a special building in such a special place. This is a quite extraordinary building, that has been greeted with astonishment by my colleagues,” comments architect Peter W. Söderman at Norconsult AS. “We chose Vision panels from Steni due to the printing possibilities – we could project an exciting and quite subtle print onto a large surface." The client wanted to have an expressive building that reflected their purpose as an experience center for the fishing industry.
Around the world, a new generation of architects are challenging “business-as-usual” and bringing change to populations who had formerly no access to their professional services. This article is the first in a series to introduce this new practice that brings transactional client relations into more profound, trust-based collaborations. We call it Do-It-Together architecture.
https://www.archdaily.com/957060/why-the-new-do-it-together-architecture-has-radical-potentialArchitecture in Development
Home automation has long been associated with high costs, a burdening assembly time, and a cumbersome process that impelled us to discard the idea of automating projects. However, these days are long gone.
With lower costs and easier assembly, today, developing a new project without home automation seems somewhat absurd. Below, with the help of AVE Chile, we've compiled a series of tips to help you incorporate domotics into your next project.
Antofagasta, Chile. Created by @overview. Source imagery: @maxartechnologies
“There seems to be a public image of any given city which is the overlap of many individual images," American urban planner Kevin Lynch once said. "Or perhaps there is a series of public images, each held by some significant number of citizens,” he added.
Following this remark, in his book "The Image of the City" (1960), Lynch begins an analysis around the elements that constitute what he considers to be the image of the city. While introducing, describing, and illustrating these elements as physical, perceptible objects, Lynch considers that other non-physical factors such as history, function, or even the name of the city also play a significant role in the construction of this imageability.
“Change drives innovation. We must continually evolve into what a successful workplace looks like,” said Nicole Senior, director of workplace experience, Tinder. Change, innovation and human connection were topics of prominence in a December 17 Think Tank, hosted by Rapt Studio, and titled “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Workforce Lessons for 2021.”
Do you feel vulnerable as you walk through public spaces? If you are a woman, the odds of answering yes to this question are certainly greater since men are less likely to choose a longer route only to avoid a dark section of the street, or to ponder on what clothes to wear so that they do not feel exposed in public. In this sense, it seems almost obvious that cities designed by men should be perceived as threatening environments, rather than a place where women feel welcome. So, to imagine egalitarian cities, should we persist in a reflection of a gender-oriented approach?
https://www.archdaily.com/956585/how-can-gender-impact-the-future-of-urban-lifeCamilla Ghisleni e Victor Delaqua
Geometry is a language and a portal that allows objects to pass between the physical world and the world of drawing, abstraction, and language. How does stepping through this portal leave an imprint on the buildings we design and build? Architects and theorists like Vitruvius, Alberti, and Le Corbusier all believed that geometry was an important key to architecture’s understanding and design. Is that as true today as it was then? The tools of the architect have changed, has their relationship to geometry changed as well? In this video, we explore why and how geometry is so important to architecture as well as some different approaches to the use and expression of its most indelible principles.
You might be surprised by this, but the days of shopping in stores are long from over-, in fact, they’re experiencing a renaissance, and are creating a whole new type of design and experience to bring consumers back through the doors. The rise of e-commerce and the pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have served as a perfect catalyst for creating a whole new type of experience through unique design features, technological advancements, and customization that will revitalize physical stores in the future.
From the hills behind the City Hall in my adopted hometown of Ventura, California, it’s less than 1,000 yards southward to the Pacific Ocean. This constrained piece of topography creates a small urban gem of a downtown: streetscapes, restaurants, stores, offices, residences, parking garages, and a beachfront promenade, all within eight or so square blocks, creating a lively streetlife that connects a historic downtown to the beach.
Ascent’s three-dimensional slats rise and fall, and curve and straighten, with an artistic randomness rarely seen outside nature. Like a snake hypnotising its prey, these seamless and sinuous lines offer a mesmerising encounter. Image Courtesy of Green Furniture Concept
Placemaking practitioners Green Furniture Concept enrich hectic public spaces with harmony and wellbeing. Their latest modular, sustainable seating system, Ascent, combines nature and geometry – resulting in truly enhanced sitting.
When looking at the population of the world's metropolises, in this case Mexico City, the reality is that the majority of the people living there have migrated from other regions of the country and, sometimes, from other countries as well. Of course, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, companies and schools have gone virtual, and, with their work and studies no longer tied to urban centers, people have left in masse for the coast and other less populated areas in search of space and lower living costs.
FOUN’TA’SY. Image Courtesy of Public Housing Enterprise J.S.C
Looking at the urban environment, this week’s curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights interventions in public spaces, submitted by the ArchDaily Community. Suitable for this monthly topic, the article underlines worldwide approaches that tackle the challenges of these areas through the introduction of innovative solutions.
Exploring a multitude of methods fitting for different contexts, this feature presents a tactical urban strategy implemented in a neighborhood in Kosovo and micro-mobility measures in Italy. Other projects evoke public approaches in private developments and enhanced historical and cultural connections between parks, buildings, and cities. In addition, this roundup showcases conceptual interventions that tackle social distancing and the challenges of the pandemic, in order to allow people to move freely and safely across space.
In Her, a 2013 film directed by Spike Jonze, a lonely writer develops a love affair with the virtual assistant of an operating system. Brave New World, a book written in 1932 by the English author Aldous Huxley, fabricates a dystopian society whose cult of efficiency and rationality creates a humanity that ignores hardship and pain but also represses love and freedom. In Mary Shelley's 1818 book Frankenstein, considered the first science fiction novel, a life is artificially created, producing a monster with human characteristics: wills, wishes, and fears. Whether describing the fear of artificial intelligence, the uncertainty produced by industrialization, or the limits of science, science fiction works reveal less about the future and much more about the moment in which they were created; they speak of the fears and hopes of their own time.
When we explore urban visions of the past anticipating the future, it is common to find exaggerated and even funny predictions. As for the promises of architecture and, consequently, of our cities, it is not an easy task to predict future developments clearly either. By looking at industry trends and using all of our imaginations, could we tell what cities will be like in tens or hundreds of years? Their materials, their appearance, their way of building and thinking? Will it be a more pristine and minimalist future or a more organic and complex future? How will new technologies and building materials affect the shape, aesthetics, and prosperity of the cities of tomorrow?
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.jpg?1611548432 "Santa Fe, Mexico City. Image © Johny Miller")
_22.43.53_(1).jpg?1611548822 "Mexico City During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Image © Santiago Arau")
(%C2%A9minorormajor).jpg?1612954566 "Oasis-Playground. Image Courtesy of Studio Minorormajor")
