In a world where autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI,) Internet of Things (IoT,) virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are becoming commonplace terms across the globe, the average AEC client will soon expect consistently high-quality presentations and renderings throughout the design process.
Many people are already anticipating future demand for these technologies, but few are prepared to integrate them with each other. Enscape has developed a system combining several of these features to create lively, immersive, and unforgettable experiences for clients.
In late January I attended a moving memorial service at Yale’s Battell Chapel for Vincent Scully, the man who led me to architecture as a career, and who continues to inspire me as a writer and historian. While there I took the opportunity to tour Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray Colleges, Yale’s first new residential colleges in half a century. I came away marveling at the quality of the architecture, and thanking my alma mater for its vision and commitment to enhancing the city and the campus.
https://www.archdaily.com/902651/forget-the-critics-traditional-architecture-can-still-make-a-contemporary-placeMark Alan Hewitt
It's no secret that post-modernism has, in recent years, experienced something of a revival. The much-maligned movement's exhuberant and joyful take on architecture is perhaps a solace in difficult moments. Or, for the more jaded among us, perhaps it simply lends itself to Instagram.
That said, it's not quite the postmodernism that took off in the 60s. Post postmodernism is also concerned with history and context, but with contemporary spins made possible by new technologies. Installations and other temporary typologies also bring with them a fresh perspective, preserved forever on the internet for our vicarious enjoyment. But perhaps most crucially, it is no longer so wholly a reaction against the hegemony of modernism; something that the original postmodernists were fixated with. Today's postmodernism can be at once joyful and reserved, vernacular and high-tech.
Researchers, academics and those with tireless curiosity will know the thrill of chasing down the details of something mysterious or unexplained. In this tweet thread from 2017, Paul Cooper noticed a difference in a nearly 100-year-old photo that led him to uncover the real story behind a strange "appendage" on the top of the Temple of Athenian Zeus. What follows is the Twitter equivalent of an architectural thriller. What is it? Why were depictions of the temple altered? Mr. Cooper takes us on a rollercoaster 18-tweet journey that uncovers the mystery.
Uruguay's architecture scene has long taken the backseat to those of its more popular neighbours. Brazil, to the north, has a modernist history that rivals (if not shades) that of its European peers; Chile, to the west, boasts an innovative climate for architecture unparalleled in the world today.
Recently, a new trend in architecture has emerged: Several of the latest projects highlighted by ArchDaily, including some winners in the Building of the Year Awards, are using permeable facades as an attractive option for their exterior finishes.
Designing a home is no mean feat. It is a project of intimate importance to the client, and one small enough in which each seemingly minor decision can have a significant experiential impact. But when clients are willing to take part in a collaborative process, it is possible to create magic. Architect and author Duo Dickinson describes in this op-ed his experience with such a project, looking back at the work with clear eyes and a vision to the future. This article was originally published by Dickinson on his blog Saved by Design.
The entertainment industry frequently captures unusual architecture from theme parks that explore bygone eras to remote locales in the hills of Las Vegas that often go unseen.
A two-hour drive from Rio de Janeiro's renowned beaches you can find a 20th century French Normandy building in the state's sierra region: The Palácio Quitandinha.
Robert Venturi - and the postmodernist movement he helped to form - was occasionally a divisive figure. For hardcore modernists, the referencing of prior styles was an affront to the future-facing architecture they had tried to promote. For traditionalists, the ebullient and kitschy take on classicism was an insult to the elegance of the past.
https://www.archdaily.com/902446/this-week-in-architecture-complexity-and-contradictionKatherine Allen
In 2001, the Mexican Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) created an initiative called "Pueblo Mágico/Magical Town." This program seeks to highlight towns around the country that offer a unique and "magical experience – by reason of their natural beauty, cultural richness, traditions, folklore, historical relevance, cuisine, arts & crafts, and hospitality."
You can find SECTUR's "Magical Town" definition here.
A town that through time and before modernity, was conserved, valued and defended for its historical, cultural and natural heritage; and manifests in it various expressions through its tangible and intangible heritage. A "Magical Town" is a locality that has unique, symbolic attributes, authentic stories, transcendent facts, daily life, which means a great opportunity for tourism, taking into account the motivations and needs of travelers.
Every city has a story. Throughout history, many natural and man-made changes have altered the way cities were originally laid out. For some, the urban form developed as a result of political disputes, religious separations, or class divides. For others, a more mixed approach has allowed for uniquely mixed cultural atmospheres. And while development of cities is typically slow, occasionally cities experience dramatic and immediate changes to the urban fabric - the results of natural disaster, military conflict, or industrial catastrophe.
What happens next - if anything - can reveal a great deal about not just the city itself, but the local culture. Do cities rebuild exactly as they were? Or do they use disaster as an opportunity to reinvent themselves? The following is a roundup of cities that have moved past catastrophe to be reborn from the ashes.
Lanmar Services’ CTO Larry Kleinkemper, AIA, creates 3D laser scans and BIM project files for some of the world’s leading architecture firms and their high-profile projects. Because of these massive data sets, Lanmar demands the best CAD computer workstations available. In this must-see video, Kleinkemper compares two workstations recommended by their respective manufacturers as optimal Autodesk Revit solutions.
It’s fair to say Eileen Gray’s E-1027 French villa hasn’t lived a charmed life: It has survived desecration by Le Corbusier, target practice by the Nazis, a stint as drug den and orgy destination, and near dereliction. However, of late, the infamous house’s future is looking more optimistic: Cap Moderne, a non-profit dedicated to rehabbing and opening the building as a cultural destination, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to continue the building’s restoration. Over the last few years, the conservationists’ work had focused on the recreation of the building’s Eileen Gray–designed furniture. The latest efforts focus on a particular dining alcove. How that alcove—and the entire house—lost its furniture and fell into disrepair is a long story, with many twists and turns.
Architecture is all about context, either as a way to find harmony with it's surroundings or as a reaction against them. But what happens when you take context out of the picture entirely?
Designer Anton Reponnen, in his Misplaced photo series, has taken 11 of New York's most iconic landmarks, ranging from the Empire State Building to Renzo Piano's Whitney, and transplanted them in deserts, tundras, and plains. With the buildings placed in a "wrong" condition, viewers are challenged to evaluate the architecture in a different way. In Reponnen's eyes (and in the stories that accompany the images), each structure is as alive as we are, and their new location is mystery with motives to uncover.
Wine production is an industry that combines robust economic activity with an extensive cultural legacy. Although there are several programs related to the wine sector, we commonly find spaces dedicated to the process of fermenting grapes into wine. However, there are a variety of duties grouped around wine production that play an important role in boosting the industry, such as tasting rooms, education centers, sales rooms, or broadcast. Below, a selection of 27 inspiring projects of wine architecture.
‘Hololightkeeper,’ a conceptual model that is distinct in its use of holographic technologies, pays homage to an architectural structure that has quickly been transformed into a historic relic. The lighthouse, once a navigational aid to guide sailors towards land and warn traveling ships of dangerous conditions, has been replaced in its function by modern technologies. In this respect, Studio NAB’s ‘Hololightkeeper’ attempts to resurrect a building typology by dematerializing the lighthouse structure-type, while maintaining its historic symbolism.
Neelam Cinema is one of three theaters built in Chandigarh, a modernist city master-planned by Le Corbusier. Built shortly after India gained independence in the early 1950s, the cinema is located in the bustling industrial area of Sector 17. Designed by architect Aditya Prakash under the guidance of Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, the modernist structure stands to this day in its original form and continues to screen Bollywood films. However, without UNESCO World Heritage protection, the future of the cinema remains uncertain. Below, British photographer Edmund Sumner discusses his experience of shooting the 960-seat cinema, the heart of the city, and an icon of Chandigarh.
Try as we might to inure ourselves to the opinions of others, recognition is a powerful thing. It brings with it a captive (and expectant) audience, not just of admirers but of kingmakers - or, cynically, those who see an opportunity to capitalize. For architects, this can be both a blessing and a curse. Many practices start with the motivation to pursue an idea or concept; as recognition becomes diluted to labels it becomes harder to understand what was distinguishing in the first place. This week saw the announcements of a numerous significant awards - and an interview with a practice determined to shake off the labels that come with recognition. Read on for this week’s review.
https://www.archdaily.com/902136/this-week-in-architecture-being-recognizedKatherine Allen
Architecture, Form, and Energy is a documentary series featuring 6 interviews with architects and intellectuals from the United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia, and Mexico. The series seeks to disseminate information that inspires contemporary architectural evolution, from the impact of climate on a place, finding inspiration in nature, the relationship between form and energy, selecting the right materials, and appropriate technological application.
One of the most important factors to consider when designing is the climate of the site. This can create difficulties when it comes to extreme climates and it is necessary to use insulation materials that adapt to changing conditions. However, when discussing Mexico and its specific climate, this can be an opportunity for architects to create microclimates and spaces that blur the transition of interiors and exteriors.
Patios have become a traditional element of design. They create interesting psychological effects that fuse the conception of the interior and exterior, the common and private. It is a way to bring sunlight and rain into the house, to open up paths and coexistences that do not occur in interiors. Below, a selection of projects in Mexico that use the patio as the main design resource.
If a work can be photographed, drawn, or expressed in words, it can also be the star of a film. This can be seen in Arquitectura en Corto, a Spanish cycle of short films about innovation and trends in contemporary architecture.
"The eruption and widespread availability of social media/mobile videos coupled with the need to illustrate and present innovative projects drives the union between architecture and these mediums," explains Roca Gallery and Technal, the organizers behind Arquitectura en Corto.
Last week I wrote about the anti-urban legacy of architect and developer John Portman. I think it’s worth going into a bit more detail about these projects, since we seem to have learned so little from their failures.
Let’s start with Detroit. The Renaissance Center was one of his largest and most celebrated projects. But this sprawling complex of seven-interconnected skyscrapers poses some difficult questions for urban planners today: can downtown Detroit ever fully recover from this mammoth and ill considered development? And, more importantly, why haven’t other cities learned from its clear and stark lessons?
Within the architecture field, the relationship between design and education has gained prominence, especially when it comes to children’s education. The relationship between architecture, philosophy, and sociology is well known. Frequently, when designing, issues introduced by these fields work as tools to reflect upon the relationship between the space and the user. When we consider children’s education, we must go beyond ergonomics and think of architecture as an educational tool.
It is 2018, and it should be clear to everyone in the AEC industry that BIM is the future of building, infrastructure design, construction, and maintenance. There are millions of marketing dollars spent by BIM software companies each year trying to convince you that Building Information Modeling can’t happen without their product. They will try to convince you that their product is the “real BIM.” Of course, we live in an open, capitalist society where this behavior is expected. However, if you and your firm are making the move to BIM, this background noise may be concerning... and if it’s not, it should be.
