Global management consultancy McKinsey & Company in 2016 noted that the construction industry was ripe for disruption. Considered one of the world’s largest sectors, the forced advancement and adoption of innovative technologies have allowed the engineering and construction (E&C) industry to persevere in the last two years. In fact, a more recent report, also from McKinsey, noted that the construction industry is more likely to emerge from the pandemic leaner, more digitised, and with a greater eye toward sustainability.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Was there ever a time when architects felt properly valued? Probably not. Certainly not since the profession became dependent on the business of America, which is business. With economic growth as the country’s prime directive through the 20th century, architects—as members of the construction industry—played their part. How? By designing buildings of all kinds that were lighter, cheaper, and quicker to erect. Architects’ values might have been social, artistic, even cosmic, but their value to society has been primarily economic.

Concrete can be found in almost any type of construction around the world. But how is it made? 

During manufacturing, once in contact with water, concrete’s main ingredient, cement, binds to any aggregates present and goes through a number of complex chemical reactions. That eventually turns it into concrete, a material that is very durable and easy to work with. Despite this reliable durability, concrete can go through a number of internal processes that can lead to serious structural concerns. One of these is alkali-silica reaction (ASR), which can cause cracks in concrete and even put structures in danger of collapse over time.

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As part of an initiative for Tequila José Cuervo, Rojkind Arquitectos presents its new and first project of the metaverse under the name "Metadestilería" (Metadistillery) which is based on a design exercise that responds to the function of objects with respect to human needs within specific contexts with the challenge of creating unique experiences through objects and architecture.

Detroit is different.

We say that with confidence knowing the city’s demographics (nearly 80 percent African-American and with one of the highest poverty rates in the United States) present unique challenges to providing economic opportunity. And we say that with certainty knowing that a pernicious history of redlining, loan discrimination, and other inequities has denied Detroit’s Black majority the kind of power and say-so in design and economic development that would produce more favorable outcomes.

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Biophilic design is capable of improving the well-being of those who use a space through reconnection with nature. When this practice is implemented in offices and workshops, this property translates into many benefits. After all, in addition to the emotional qualities that vegetation can bring, it has the ability to filter noise, lighting and allow for a milder climate, with results in team productivity and more optimized services.

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In 1969, ‘The Architects' Resistance’, a collective of students from Yale University, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published a manifesto titled ‘Architecture: whom does it serve?’

With this manifesto, the group sought to place the practice of architecture in a broader economic, social and environmental context than the one taught in their university lecture rooms. In just two and a half pages, we find a powerful call to reclaim a more social and ecologically conscious architecture. It unambiguously denounces the role architecture played during those years as a practice in service to those in power while adding that “the architect's submission to the system begins with the belief that they possess special skills and knowledge that are inaccessible to the general public.”

Considered the second most requested skill (behind field experience) in the industry and used by a growing number of design professionals, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has proved to be the present of architecture. But with constant new features and exciting improvements, it is also very much the future. For decades, the revolutionary software has established itself as a powerful tool with a long list of invaluable capabilities: detecting errors, reducing costs and material waste, mitigating risks, optimizing workflows and, above all, allowing for seamless, multi-disciplinary collaboration.

The total energy demand from buildings has risen dramatically in recent years. Driven by improved access in developing countries, greater ownership of energy-consuming devices and increasing urban densities, today it accounts for over one-third of global energy consumption and nearly 15% of direct CO2 emissions. As the climate crisis aggravates and its consequences are more visible than ever, the architecture and construction industry must respond accordingly. It must take responsibility for its environmental impact and give priority to reducing energy consumption, whether through design decisions, construction techniques or innovative products. The key lies, however, in not sacrificing aesthetics and comfort in the process.

June is the month in which the day of Japanese immigration is celebrated in Brazil, a country that has the largest Japanese colony outside Japan, with more than 2 million people, Japanese or descendants. Since the 20th century, Japanese families immigrated to Brazilian rural regions, forming a solid colony in the interior of states like São Paulo, influencing many aspects of the local culture.

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Architecture and cuisine build different relationships, depending on the local culture. When this combination results in stores, it usually enhances the experience of restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and bars.

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Beyond the traditional boundaries of Scandinavian minimalism and Japanese wabi-sabi, the aesthetics from the far north and the far east have more parallels than one might think at first glance –it is not for nothing, after all, that they are so popularly combined with each other, creating the term Japandi.

Far from the US state of Tennessee, the Memphis movement emerged in Milan in the 1980s and revolutionized design. Its gaudy colors, exaggerated patterns and conflicting prints were intended to overturn the minimalism status quo of the time, also contradicting the functionalist design postulated by the Bauhaus with its purely aesthetic and ornamental forms.

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In the 1960s, Jane Jacobs criticized modernist urban planning from the perspective of the integrated city. She believes that the purpose of urban renovation is to establish a better-integrated relationship between urban space and urban function by repairing the gap between them. Rather than "beautify" the urban environment.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

There are few more powerful questions than “Where are you from?” People feel intensely connected to cities as places and to other people who feel that same kind of connection. In other words, we tend to understand and experience places in a very personal way.

Yet to understand place—indeed, to understand human settlements in general—it’s important to recognize that places are not created by accident. They are created on purpose to further a political or economic agenda. Better cities emerge when the people who shape them think more broadly and consciously about the places they are creating. 

According to a recent survey by spirits industry market analysis firm IWSR, 54% of online buyers of alcohol in the U.S. made their first purchase during the pandemic. Most consumers decided to ‘treat themselves’ to more expensive spirit brands than usual, many opting for the higher shelf bottles in order to finally master the art of home-made cocktails – elaborate, to-be-sipped drinks worthy of the bigger investment. IWSR says that those habits are sticking. Along with them comes the need for an aesthetic plan of attack concerning the display of said pricey bottles: home bar architecture.