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.

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Think your decked-out bachelor pad is the slickest on the block? Think again. That reputation now resides in the carefully constructed abode of the bowerbird, which transforms the art of building into the art of seduction. Native to Australia and New Guinea, the bowerbird dedicates months to construct elaborate woven nests, known as bowers, as a means of attracting mates in one of nature’s most unique courting rituals.

The Parthenon, unquestionably the most iconic of the Ancient Greeks' Doric temples, was built between 447 and 432 BC. Located on the Acropolis in Athens, for many architects, it is one of the first buildings we analyzed when beginning our studies. Designed by Ictino and Calícrates, it displays a unique repertoire of architectural elements that can be fully appreciated individually, or for the role they play in forming a complete and magnificent whole.

Simply described, the 69.5 x 30.9-meter building is erected on a stylobate of three steps, with a gabled roof raised upon a post and lintel structure formed by Doric columns—17 on its sides and 8 on each end—which support an entablature composed of an architrave, a frieze, and a cornice. On each gable were triangular pediments with sculptures that represent the "Birth of Athena" on the East and the "Contest Between Athena and Poseidon" on the West.

Take a look at some of these elements in detail, through this set of high-resolution images.

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Want a new home project to obsess over? We’ve got you covered. Stove, check. Fridge, check. Work surface, 3-4 inches below elbows - depending on what standards you use. The kitchen stands as one of the oldest typologies in mankind. From primitive fire pit to the sleek minimal surfaces we see cropping up online, it has gone through several overhauls in its long life. Nowadays its elements are consistent on an international level – so we can assemble them as quickly as possible, and even build them ourselves. In the search to rethink the kitchen space, sustainable wood manufacturer Arauco partnered up with Chilean architect Felipe Arriagada to create a simple and low-cost DIY proposal. The project is a series of a partnership between Arauco and leading designers to remodel and share ideas about relatable, down-to-earth design at home.

Check out the drawings and steps below:

We have listed all the materials you need for this easy DIY. 

Prefabrication is not a new idea for architects, but its usage is arguably on the rise. Using prefabricated materials can keep your costs down, as well as make your project more sustainable and efficient. But for this to happen, there must be a defined process of construction, which respects the architectural intent and integrates the entire structure with the building's facilities. This way, the work can be carried out in the shortest time possible, and the cost of labor and maintenance is reduced, as is the waste of materials.

The five designs selected below adopt prefabricated materials and demonstrate the benefits that it brings to the creative design strategy. Read on to see what each of their architects said about their prefabrication strategy.

Moleskine notebooks, sketching, architecture photography, imagination, and Instagram—these are all curiosities that arouse the interest of a stereotypical architecture lover. So it's hard to believe that Pietro Cataudella, author of the CityLiveSketch project, is neither a trained artist or architect, but a student of geophysics.

In the summer of 2014, the Italian began a project to "describe the land in an alternative way by the combined use of photographs and drawings that represent the landmarks of splendid Italian towns (and beyond)." He has traveled from Pisa to Rome, London to Barcelona, and sketched famous buildings that include Stefano Boeri's Bosco Verticale and the Eiffel Tower.

Set in a valley located 45 minutes west of Santiago de Chile, an elementary timber shed by Josep Ferrando and Diego Baloian seeks to unhinge the division between vertical and horizontal architectural elements. The scheme is the result of a private commission to build a wooden shed on a family-owned plot in the town of Curacaví, halfway between the Chilean capital and the coastal town of Valparaíso.

Drawing heavy inspiration from vernacular canopies which historically dotted the landscape of rural Chile, the scheme seeks to create a central family meeting point amongst a vast 2 hectare plot.

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The object of this architectural restoration is the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Vistabella, the work of Catalan architect Josep Maria Jujol (16 September 1879 – 1 May 1949). The original design dates from 1917 with the construction completed in 1923. The building is a magnificent and personal work of Catalan architecture.

The simplicity of the materials used—basically brick, mortar, and stone—contrasts with the spectacular formal richness of the structural solutions: columns, arches, and vaults that generate a complex, rich, and surreal interior space typical of the mysticism of Jujol.

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The geometric design from Lab for Planning and Architecture for the Municipality of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain is a morphological response that conditions Julio Navarro's and Roque Díaz's swimming pools allowing adequate movement of people with reduced mobility.

The project is a path of stairs and ramps with a triangular design that integrates with the surrounding landscape; the materiality and the constructive details are adapted to the different needs and natural conditions of the land. 

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The church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande will be the first church built in France’s Brittany region in the 21st-century. The project has been contracted to the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. Siza’s use of light and white concrete provide a unique ceremonial space that gently folds into the neighborhood south of Rennes, a residential area with five-story housing blocks. The Porto-based Italian photographer, Nicolò Galeazzi, visited the site and shared with us his perspective of Siza’s work in progress.

In 2016, Arauco launched a call to rethink the space of the kitchen with the objective of finding simple and attractive solutions for the houses of the Worker's Housing Plan (PVT), located in Constitución, Maule Region, Chile.

The competition developed within the framework of the II Encuentro Espacios Vesto, and it forced participants to consider a simple, low-cost assembly that could be self-constructed and expanded according to the needs of the users. In addition, each project had to consider self-supporting furniture that didn't require support holes on the walls to preserve the acoustic insulation of the dwellings.

We present below the kitchen designed by Jhan Arancibia, plus a list of all the necessary materials so you can build it yourself.

With the aim of raising awareness and expanding knowledge about the advantages of wood in the built environment, reThink Wood has created an online library that collects a series of articles, reports, studies and videos that can be freely accessed right now.

Here we have 5 outstanding resources related to fire safety, which can help you solve this issue on your next project.

You may know about Lynda.com, the online education platform that hosts thousands of video courses for learning how to use software. But did you know that Lynda also has some great drawing, animation, and design courses? The best part (if you're a current student or local library card owner)? Lynda can be accessed for free from many universities, colleges, and libraries! If your backpack-toting, library-visiting days are behind you, the platform offers a free 10-day trial. 

If you're looking to perfect your ability to capture or project building interiors and exteriors, Amy Wynne's hour-long course "Drawing 2-Point Perspective" is a solid option.

Through his illustrations, architect Fernando Neyra tackles issues common to the discipline, for example, the need for a means of graphic style that can create a clear, visually-enticing representation of an architectural idea.

The following series of explorative illustrations shows how digital sketching becomes a powerful communication tool when paired with traditional systems of representation, such as the axonometric perspective.

The result provides us with an understanding of core architectural concepts, while allowing us to reflect on the role of the sketch in contemporary architecture.

We all know that the skyscraper was born between Chicago and New York (depending on who you ask or what you consider a skyscraper, but that's for another discussion). But what about the rest of the US? How does each state stack up in the race towards the sky? This infographic by highrises.com gives us a scaled approximation of the "height" of each state--with New York coming out on top and Vermont, well... Vermont's tallest building is an 11-story public housing project built in the 70s.

The infographic also breaks down the purposes of the surveyed buildings, revealing that nearly 2% of the tallest buildings in each state are churches! Another interesting factoid? Nearly 1/3 of these highrises are named after banks.  

In 2015, after the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal, Maria da Paz invited Joao Boto Caeiro from RootStudio to design and build a model house in Nepal. Using local and accessible materials, they built two prototype houses out of bamboo and partitions, via a collaboration between locals and volunteers that came to the region.

The prototypes respond to the need for housing that is able to be built quickly with the goal of providing independence and immediate shelter, while at the same time introducing basic building techniques using bamboo and bricks. In doing so, they're able to create a set of tools that allow for future construction that the community can make themselves.

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How much do you know about different kinds of wood that might be used in your architectural projects?  

A multidisciplinary design study by J.Roc Design, based in Boston, has developed a proposal using wood to restore value to an underused rooftop at the southern end of the city.

In order to accommodate a series of different activities, which required a wide variety of furniture, and therefore a considerable reduction of space, a subtle treatment was made to the flat surface of the roof creating distinct spaces that could be used for sitting, resting and entertaining. 

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Chilean architect and illustrator Francisca Álvarez Ainzúa created "Architecture of the Portrait": a series of illustrations of renowned architects drawn with the precision and accuracy of a fineliner. In order to choose the protagonists of her geometrical analyses, the architect states a preference for strong character and the presence of imperfections, which imparts a certain richness to the representation.

The architectural construction of the face is done using lines to create a hatch effect. Next, she adds color that pays tribute to the traditional default CAD shades: yellow, cyan and magenta.

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