Over the past years, collective living has become a solution many city dwellers turn to. It is usually a stand-alone structure or a group of buildings that include both individual, private dwellings and common areas. Their main use is residential and they are often located in the center of the city, giving residents full access to a wide range of services. In today’s economy, many people prefer living in collective housing schemes where maintenance of the common areas is taken care of, while also having their individual spaces. 

This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights visionary collective housing schemes submitted by the ArchDaily community. From a housing complex in Zurich that explores the boundaries of privacy, a pre-sale property development situated in the “Garden City of Buenos Aires,” and a suburban residence in Athens, this round-up of unbuilt projects highlights how architects are moving forward from conventional residential architecture, pushing the boundary of community, collaboration, and participation.

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The first image that comes to mind when we think of an office is a place with a table and chair. But it was not always the case. In the Middle Ages, monasteries were the main places for study and knowledge, with private rooms designed to help monks concentrate when researching. However, records state that such spaces were uncomfortable since scholars remained standing most of the time.

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Subscriptions are quickly becoming an integral part of everyday life. For example, streaming platforms have completely replaced the need to own video cassettes, while ride-sharing services partially cover the need to own a private car. Subscriptions have been largely understood as digital services, but a new trend suggests that the same concept could be transferred to physical objects in the near future. Instead of owning a fridge, a washing machine, or even light bulbs, one could acquire a subscription to ensure the freshness of produce, clean clothes, and a well-lit home.

The concept is known as the “subscription-based economy,” a variant of the “circular economy” notion. It postulates that instead of owning some of the objects used every day, one could subscribe to a service to gain access to the same benefits, but without the need to own, maintain or dispose of the object in question. Consumers no longer buy products; they buy access to services. Sometimes, it would mean simply leasing the object instead of purchasing it, but the model goes one step further. It inscribes a shift of responsibility and mentality. Because consumers no longer own the objects, the responsibility to reuse and recycle falls to the producers, who are now in charge of the entire life cycle of the objects they create.

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Architects have always considered the positive influence of natural light on the health and mood of a building's occupants, but measuring its actual benefits was a challenge for a long time. However, the past few decades have seen significant progress in this area, with research such as the comprehensive study conducted by the Heschong Mahone Group, which analyzed more than 21,000 student tests in three school districts in California, Washington, and Colorado. The results showed that students in classrooms with more natural light had a 20% faster learning progress in math tests and 26% on reading tests, compared to students in classrooms with less natural light. Many other studies reinforce that including natural light in spaces has immense long-term benefits for societies, especially during a child's valuable formative years, who spend about 90% of their time indoors and about 200 days a year in classrooms.

Cemeteries are among the architectural programs with the greatest symbolic value. They suggest rituals, rigor and solemnity while offering some comfort or hospitality, if not for those who bid farewell to their loved ones, at least to "guarantee" a dignified afterlife for those who have passed away. The San Cataldo Cemetery, designed by Aldo Rossi and Gianni Braghieri, fulfills the first part of the previous statement. Partly because the project was not entirely built, austerity and empty spaces predominate. But when considering the proposed project, perhaps the aridity would remain, and the harshness would be felt more forcefully. Composed of buildings with almost abstract, pure shapes, without noble details or cladding, the cemetery project is a good example of Aldo Rossi's production at the time of its conception, around 1970.

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Richard Kelly illuminated some of the twentieth century’s most iconic buildings: the Glass House, Seagram Building and Kimbell Art Museum, to name a few. His design strategy was surprisingly simple but extremely successful.

Lighting for architecture has been and still often is dominated by an engineering viewpoint, resigned to determining sufficient illuminance levels for a safe and efficient working environment. With a background in stage lighting, Kelly introduced a scenographic perspective for architectural lighting. His point of view might look self-evident to today’s architectural community, but it was revolutionary for his time and has strongly influenced modern architecture.

Studies reveal that we spend roughly 90% of our time indoors, and even when we do venture outside, we often remain tethered to technology, with a speaker in our ear, smartphone in our hand, or both. To address this, architects and designers have been pursuing innovative methods for incorporating nature into our living spaces. After already embracing green walls, seamless indoor-outdoor living areas, and strategic natural lighting, it looks like exploring the world of sound is next.

Enter plant music, the latest trend propelled by a device called PlantWave, that’s taking social media by storm. This unique device, developed by Data Garden, invites us to experience nature in a whole new way, with just a single tap.

Some authors claim that the term kitsch has German origins and arose in artistic vocabulary around 1860 from the verb kitschen/verkitschen (to cheat, to sell something instead of something else). Others, such as Guimaraens & Cavalcanti (1979), affirm that the term comes from the English language, from the word sketch. In the second half of the 19th century, when American tourists wanted to buy a work of art at a cheap price, they asked for a sketch.

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Since Yuri Gagarin's iconic pioneering flight in 1961, only 565 human beings have had the privilege of traveling into space. This extreme venture requires a high degree of devotion, extraordinary physical and intellectual preparation, and huge investments. Space exploration has the potential to benefit humanity in many ways, especially regarding the development of new technologies and the generation of scientific knowledge. Many of these technologies are already available to the public, such as GPS, water filters, or highly resistant fabrics. But while we often imagine astronauts floating in space and observing the Earth from a unique vantage point, many of them face the difficulty of sleeping and resting in space due to the lack of natural light. It is this issue that motivated a group of young Danish architects to develop a solution to improve the daily lives of astronauts in space, but also of many people on planet Earth who suffer from the same problem.

Fueled by pressing issues such as the climate crisis, population density and rapid urbanization, the built environment has become increasingly complex. Architecture and design professionals are faced with a challenging, yet fundamental task: to translate society’s ever-evolving needs into tangible and future-oriented solutions. In pursuit of this goal, they must embrace the countless tools, materials and technologies emerging every day in the construction field –from AI to virtual reality software and smart home systems. After all, to remain at the forefront in an industry where change is the norm, the ability to adapt and evolve is crucial for success.

Guatemala is a country located in Central America that is organized into 22 departments, its capital and most populated city is Guatemala City. Mexico forms the geographic borders that contain this territory to the north and west, Belize and Honduras to the east, and El Salvador to the south. In addition, it faces the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Honduras. It is located in Mesoamerica, home to the Mayan culture, which extended to what we know today as Mexican territory. It is for this reason and for some other reasons related to migration issues that these two countries share similar traits in terms of climate and culture, which is highly enriching when we explore the development of the territory.

Another year, another successful ArchDaily China Building of the Year Awards! With more than 80,000 votes gathered over the past week, the results of the 2023 edition are in! Once more, the award has proved to be the largest architecture prize centered around people’s opinion. Crowdsourced, the most relevant projects of the year were nominated and selected by our readers.

The 2023 China Building of the Year Awards is brought to you thanks to Dornbracht, renowned for leading designs for architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens.

Branding for architects isn’t just about having a beautifully designed logo. In fact, when it comes to promoting your architecture firm, a distinctive brand is fundamental to communicating what makes your firm unique and different.

In our experience at Archmark branding and rebranding architecture firms, construction companies, and home service providers over the past ten years, we have developed a strategic process that makes branding easier than expected and reveals surprising results. In this article, we share the same steps we take with our clients so you apply them to your own branding efforts.

To live in a world surrounded by the constant rise of new challenges calls for adaptability, resilience and continuous learning. As a response, design competitions encourage architects to think outside the box to create innovative solutions. Both for theoretical and practical projects, these competitions provide a collaborative platform to promote innovation and creativity to solve contemporary challenges. Such is the case of Buildner, which develops a space for showcasing open architecture competitions to discover new architectural possibilities.

A tool for driving progress by fostering groundbreaking ideas that promote the discussion of critical topics such as affordable housing, sustainability and small-scale architecture, Buildner architecture competitions are key for addressing global challenges. These competitions aim to inspire the next generation of designers to challenge the status quo.

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No matter how long, how far, or how restful a trip away is, one of the most relaxing moments of any vacation is when you get home. When every muscle in the body relaxes as you collapse into your own chair, greeted by the comforting features of a home you didn’t previously realize you missed.

After the rise of Airbnb and other likeminded travel accommodation sites and services, providing real homes –or at least characterful spaces dressed up as them– to travelers searching for more familial home comforts, hoteliers, designers, and architects are taking note, and implementing features that turn the hotel room into a home away from home.

Cities that rely on the use of private cars experience a variety of problems- long commutes to and from work, endless traffic jams, and an increase in pollution. While it seems like cars are the most reliable option to take us from place to place, city planners are frequently promoting the benefits of public transit, and the development of communities that are centered around many forms of public transportation. Many cities are growing faster than they were initially planned. As a result, roadways have expanded, land is being transformed into massive parking lots, and connections between communities are growing farther apart.