The 7th Annual A+Awards is accepting entries until midnight on March 29th — Click here to submit your best works for more than 140 award categories.

The times, they are a-changin’.

Bob Dylan’s classic line has never been more relevant to architects than it is today. There was a time not long ago when, unless your name began with “Zaha” or ended in “Gehry,” any chance of the media recognizing you or your work seemed slim to none. Furthermore, to be considered noteworthy, buildings had to possess just as big a personality as their authors. Catalyzed by the Guggenheim Bilbao, instant icons by Hadid, Libeskind, Calatrava and more proliferated in urban centers across the globe.

The birth of “Starchitecture” has been well documented, but reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated — until now.

A “changing of the order” within both architecture and media was highlighted by Chris Precht of penda, the A+Awards Emerging Firm of the Year in 2016. “When I still was a student, it seemed that there was this distance between us and the star architects that was really, really huge,” said Precht. “They were very difficult to reach; they were very difficult to get in touch with. I think that, for our generation, the age at which you can be a known architect is getting much younger, thanks to new technology and through media publications. Young offices now have a chance to somehow catch up to the elite in architecture.”

The Smile by Alison Brooks Architects, London, United Kingdom — shortlisted in multiple categories including the Cultural-Pavilions category

Parish Church in Pueblo Serena by Moneo Brock Studio, Monterrey, Mexico — shortlisted in the Cultural-Religious Buildings & Memorials category

With these words, Precht highlighted the beauty of Architizer’s A+Awards, now in its seventh year and open for entries until March 29th this year. The A+Awards program has fueled a fundamental shift in emphasis away from individual architects to the work of talented design teams, awarding firms based on their brilliant buildings rather than their brand. This year’s shortlist is further evidence that great architecture rises to the top, regardless of where it is located, who designed it and how big their marketing budget is.

Make no mistake — many of these projects are just as iconic as their starchitect-designed predecessors. Alison Brooks Architects’ pop-up pavilion “The Smile” is an instantly recognizable piece of architectural exuberance, a celebration of modern timber construction complete with a great sense of humor. Meanwhile, Moneo Brock Studio’s gleaming Parish Church in Pueblo Serena cuts an instantly recognizable silhouette against the blue skies of Monterrey, Mexico. On the residential front, SV60’s vibrant social housing project in Ceuta, Spain, exhibits a truly remarkable — and memorable — building envelope.

Ribbon Chapel by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP, Hiroshima, Japan — shortlisted in the Cultural-Religious Buildings & Memorials category; image © Koji Fujii / Nacasa & Partners

Tangential Dreams pavilion by Mamou-Mani, Pershing County, Nev. — shortlisted in the Commercial-Pop-Ups & Temporary category

The list of localized landmarks goes on. Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP’s extraordinary Ribbon Chapel is a formal manifestation of joyful emotions, while Christ & Gantenbein’s addition to the Swiss National Museum in Zürich is a master class in combining the contrasting qualities of old and new. At a smaller scale, the spiraling wings of Mamou-Mani’s temporary Tangential Dreams pavilion formed a perfect centerpiece for the 2016 Burning Man festival. Indeed, the burning of this stunning structure could be the perfect metaphor for the triumph of humble, fleeting beauty over Starchitecture’s constant search for architectural immortality.

These structures constitute landmark projects for their respective firms and lent a new sense of place to their localities, just as Gehry’s Guggenheim did in Bilbao. However, their success is attributed not just to a sole author and a signature style — each is the product of a hardworking team of architects, all of whom now have a chance to be rewarded on a global stage for their playful approach to context and a deep understanding of their chosen materials. The usual battle of household names makes way for pure, unadulterated design in this competition.

Rendering of Serpentine Pavilion 2016 by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, London, United Kingdom — shortlisted in the Cultural-Pavilions category

Salerno Maritime Terminal by Zaha Hadid Architects, Salerno, Italy — shortlisted in the Transportation-Transportation Infrastructure category

This is not to say that those considered “star architects” don’t get a look in, of course. Bjarke Ingels’ BIG is in the running for its stunning Serpentine Pavilion in London, while Zaha Hadid Architects made the shortlist in the Transportation Infrastructure category for its striking Salerno Maritime Terminal in Italy. These spectacular projects are just as worthy of the spotlight as any other, but that is precisely the point — they have an equal chance of winning an A+Award, along with every other firm. Architizer’s “great leveler” — a fully democratic online voting system — will ensure that the best buildings will come out victorious.

Is the death of Starchitecture really upon us? The debate will undoubtedly rage on, but as you consider this question and its consequences, make sure to put your projects in the running for this year’s awards.

Click here to submit your projects and products in the 2019 A+Awards now.

All images courtesy of the architects unless otherwise stated.

The post Step Aside, Starchitects. The Unsung Heroes Are Taking Center Stage appeared first on Journal.

The A+Awards is the world’s largest awards program celebrating architecture and building-products. Enter your project or product before the final entry deadline on March 29th!

Julia Gamolina is on a mission.

The founder and editor of Madame Architect is determined to increase the visibility of women in architecture, and is getting pretty fed up with major media outlets missing the point when it comes to this issue. As Gamolina rightly pointed out in a recent article, there is a tendency in the media to speak about the absence of women at the top of the architectural field, rather than speaking to the many who are already there.

As well as founding Madame Architect, Julia Gamolina is business developer at FXCollaborative

Gamolina — who is also business developer at FXCollaborative — expressed frustration at the New York Times’ recent article “Where Are All the Female Architects?”, which reflected at length on the symptoms of workplace inequality but not much on those breaking the status quo. Architects like Amale Andraos and Jeanne Gang get brief mentions, but for Gamolina, it’s still not enough. “I no longer want to hear people asking, ‘Where are all the women architects?’” she argues. “Instead of asking ‘Where are these women?’, start writing about them and telling their unique stories.”

Gamolina is looking for constructive narratives and real advocacy for women in the profession. It is well known that discrimination exists in architecture and the wider construction industry — this is a longstanding problem that needs to be addressed. But media publications should stop treating workplace inequality as if it is some kind of unending mystery, and begin throwing a spotlight on the women who have succeeded in spite of the fact. This will do more to advocate for women in architecture than any speculative op-ed.

The A+Awards gala, from left to right: Juliet Gore and Nupur Chaudhury; Rita Rawashdeh, Meisa Batayneh and Lama Maani; Jennifer Lewin and Emily Tuteur; images courtesy Samantha Nandez/BFA.com

This is why Architizer’s A+Awards — the world’s largest awards program for architecture and building-products — aims to celebrate the work of talented architects, no matter the size or location of firm, nor the age, gender or race of their designers. By using a truly democratic selection process — the public is encouraged to vote online, for free — those that bring the best buildings to reality are guaranteed the spotlight.

Among the architects that have scooped A+Awards over the past 5 years, there are dozens of women, each of whom has brought unique qualities to the built environment. The following women have proven that, while often faced with marginalization, it is possible to rise to the top and get extraordinary things built. As you decide which project to submit for this year’s A+Awards, take an ample dose of inspiration from some of architecture’s most talented women:

Left: Gabriela Carillo, image via spabusiness; right: Iturbide Studio

Gabriela Carillo

Gabriela Carillo is the co-principal of TALLER Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, a Mexico based firm committed to the expressive use of simple materials. In 2017, she was named Architect of the Year in the Women in Architecture Awards, a joint venture between The Architectural Review and The Architects’ Journal. Readers of Architizer have recently celebrated Carillo’s work as well, selecting her 2016 project Iturbide Studio as a Popular Winner in the 2018 A+Awards.

Iturbide Studio is the kind of project architects dream about. Built on a site that is just 7×14 meters in Mexico City, the clay tower showcases Carillo’s dynamic handling of shadow, which the judges for the Women in Architecture Award mentioned as a key reason for her 2017 award. The best part of the project might be the small back garden, enclosed with a wall of latticed brick, that both retains privacy and lets in the Mexican sunlight. The building is used as a workplace by a renowned photographer, and though small in size it retains many spaces that are ideal for contemplation.

Left: Willem II Passage; right: Ingrid van der Heijden, image via Architizer

Ingrid van der Heijden

In 2018, Ingrid van der Heijden’s firm CIVIC Architects was shortlisted for an A+Award in the Transportation-Infrastructure category. The project, Willem II Passage, is a great example of how architects can use ingenuity to revitalize aspects of the urban environment that too often appear dull and uninspiring. The sequence of spaces, which include several covered passageways, connects the old and new sections of Tilburg, Netherlands for pedestrians and cyclists.The colored, glazed bricks tie into surrounding architecture while remaining contemporary.

Left: Ana Gatoo, image via ResearchGate; right:

Ana Gatóo

Ana Gatóo is a partner in Light Earth Designs LLP, a British firm that gained international attention last year with the construction of the Rwanda Cricket Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, a 2018 A+Awards Popular Winner in the Stadium category. The charming, minimal stadium was constructed by local builders using local materials. The core of the project is just three simple parabolic vaults that protect onlookers from the sunlight, yet the form of these vaults is sculptural and expressive, reflecting the path of the bouncing ball. The cement tiles were built from locally excavated soil — perhaps the most sustainable material imaginable.

Left: Square House; right: Stella Betts; images courtesy LEVENBETTS

Stella Betts

We love a good portmanteau. David Leven and Stella Betts, the partners of the Manhattan based firm LEVENBETTS, seem to feel the same way judging by their playfully constructed name. This willingness to put things together in an unorthodox way is reflected in the firm’s 2017 project Square House, a 2018 Jury Winner in the A+Awards in the Private House Category.

Square House is best described as subtly deconstructive. From the outside, the elegant New York Home seems clean and modernist, with glazed walls that seem to nod to iconic 20th century buildings like the Farnsworth House. Yet the layout of Square House is completely new, designed purposefully without a front door, a detail that completely re-configures the hierarchy of the spaces. “The house is conceived as a series of rooms that can be accessed directly from outside creating a fluid relationship between interior and exterior,” the firm explains.

Left: Jeanne Gang, image via CLAD Global; right: Writers Theatre

Jeanne Gang

Jeanne Gang’s firm, Studio Gang, has produced some of the most striking architecture in America over the past decade, included Chicago’s Aqua Tower — a wonderful addition to a skyline that already includes many important skyscrapers. When it comes to innovative textural façades that add movement — even rhythm —to the urban environment, Gang truly is a leader in the field.

In 2017, Gang picked up both a Popular and Jury A+Award for her Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois. This elegant complex includes rehearsal spaces and public zones in addition to a central performance area, celebrating the sense in which theatre is a community.

Left: Farm to Table; Kate Stickley and Gretchen Whittier, images via Arterra Landscape Architecture

Kate Stickley and Gretchen Whittier

Kate Stickley is a founder of Arterra Landscape Architects, a landscape architecture firm that places sustainability at the very core of their practice. Stickley and partner Gretchen Whittier aim to create landscapes that work with built spaces in visual harmony, echoing the pair’s ethical commitment to a lifestyle that causes minimal disruption to the environment. In Farm to Table, a 2018 A+Awards Jury Winner in Landscape Design, Arterra conceived a private estate as a series of “outdoor rooms” that integrate living and lounging areas with agriculture. “Edible plantings” can be encountered throughout the complex.

Left: Kazuyo Sejima, image via Phaidon; right: Grace Farms

Kazuyo Sejima

Pritzker Prize Winner Kazuyo Sejima, founding partner of the Tokyo based firm SANAA, is an architect with a clear vision, favoring smooth and modern surfaces. This can be seen in projects such as New York’s New Museum, a series of stacked metallic boxes that presides over the Bowery as if from a future century. SANAA’s greatest project in recent years, however, might just be Grace Farms, a 2015 A+Award Jury Winner for Architecture +Engineering. The stunning cultural complex follows a snaking path that corresponds to the rolling hills on the grounds, which had previously been used as farmland.

Left: Zaryadye Park; right: Liz Diller, image via TIME/Getty

Elizabeth Diller

Few living architects have had as large of an impact on the field as Liz Diller, a founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the firm that — in collaboration with others — created New York City’s High Line among many other iconic projects. In 2018, Diller was the only architect named on Time Magazine’s Most Influential List.

The A+Awards has also recognized the achievements of DS+R, giving a Jury Prize to the High Line in 2014 and shortlisting Zaryadye Park in Moscow in 2018. The latter project is just as dramatic addition to Moscow as the High Line was to New York: at 35 acres, it is the first large scale park to be built in the Russian capital in 50 years. Like the High Line, the park includes an elevated pedestrian walkway that helps give city dwellers reprieve from the crowded streets.

Left: Elisabeth Lee; right: Dabao Primary School and Community Cultural Centre

Elisabeth Lee

Dabao Primary School and Community Center is a project designed by architect Elisabeth Lee in collaboration with Project Minde, an initiative of the University of Hong Kong. It made a massive impact at the 2018 A+Awards, becoming a popular winner in the competitive Architecture+Humanitarianism category. The school was built in a remote and impoverished mountainous region in the Guangxi Province of China and was created through an active dialogue with the Dabao villagers. More than anything, the project illustrates the versatility of bamboo tubes, which were used to create an outer wall that protects the school while allowing for the circulation of light and air.

Left: The Smile; right: Alison Brooks, image via Azure

Alison Brooks

Alison Brooks’ The Smile — a 2017 A+Award Jury Winner in the Pavilions category — is one of those projects that seems to be everywhere, its image proliferating in both print and social media years after its construction. Conceived as a “habitable arc poised on the horizon,” the engineered wood structure was created as a pavilion for the 2016 London Design Festival. The building quickly garnered international attention, and has been viewed online — by one estimate — over 290 million times, a testament to the fact that great design still has the power to make an impact.

Left: Tatiana Bilbao at the A+Awards Gala, image by Sam Deitch/BFA.com; right: sustainable housing prototype

Tatiana Bilbao

Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao was a special honoree at the 2017 A+Awards, winning the Impact Award for her work designing affordable and sustainable housing. Indeed, in the field of social housing, Bilbao is creating new paradigms. Her Sustainable Housing Model would allow people to construct a highly modifiable house for as little as $8,000. And these buildings are not only efficient and affordable, they are quite beautiful, retaining the clean lines and dramatic angles that characterize her work for wealthy clients.

Left: Heartland 66; right: Christine Lam, image via Aedas

Christine Lam

Christine Lam is a global design principal at Aedas, a firm known for its global reach. Lam was leading designer for Center 66 in Wuxi, China, a mixed use development that ties together a contemporary shopping plaza with a historic, Ming Dynasty era building. She is also one of the directors for the under-construction Heartland 66, a Chinese knot tie-inspired mixed-use development with a super high-rise tower in Wuhan, China.

While Lam was not on the design team for Aedas’s A+Award-winning building Lè Architecture, the project deserves a mention for a unique form that is symptomatic of Aedas’ willingness to break with convention. The new office building in Taipei completely upends the rectangular orientation of the surrounding skyline, with coiling bands running vertically across the curved structure. The architects note the building was inspired by the “shape of river pebbles.”

Left: Corie Sharples, image courtesy SHoP Architects; right: Uber Headquarters (rendering)

Corie Sharples

For years, SHoP Architects has been a major force in the world of architecture, and especially in their home city in New York, due to their willingness to approach projects from an unconventional perspective. One only needs to look at 325 Kent, the new square apartment tower on the Williamsburg waterfront, or the unbuilt Uber Headquarters to see how willing SHoP is to break with expectations. This latter project was the 2016 A+Awards Jury winner for an unbuilt commercial space. Corie Sharples founded the firm along with her husband, Bill, and three others in 1996.

Hamedan Chamber of Commerce

Raha Ashrafi 

One could spend hours thumbing through the renderings of United Design Architects, or UDA, the Tehran and Portland based architecture firm co-founded by Iranian architect Raha Ashrafi. The firm’s designs for the Hamedan Chamber of Commerce, slated to be built in 2027, took home both a Popular and a Jury A+Award in the category for unbuilt structures. It’s not hard to see why: with a design built on mathematical principles inspired by the legacy of Persian geometric theory, this complex exudes rationality and order.

Left: Rosanna Hu, image via San Pellegrino; right: Sulwhasoo Flagship Store

Rossana Hu

Rossana Hu is one half of Neri & Hu, the firm behind a number of amazing recently constructed commercial spaces that seems to continually win A+ awards. The Sulwhasoo Flagship Store, the 2017 A+Awards Jury Winner for Showrooms, is a truly inspired design, featuring a brass, three-dimensional grid that spans both the interior and entranceway and defines the visitors experience of the space. Despite its contemporary appearance, this sculptural feature is deeply tied to Asian history and the notion of a space that is constructed as a journey, with each section meaningfully connected to the next.

Left: Palace of Justice, Córdoba; right: Francine Houbin, image via Dezeen

Francine Houben

Francine Houben is the creative director and founding partner of Mecanoo, a Dutch firm founded in 1984 that takes a playful approach both to their own projects and to architectural history. The firm’s unusual name is actually a combination of three different words: the British model construction kit Meccano, Modernist theorist Theo van Doesburg’s former magazine Mécano, and the motto “Ozoo,” which Houben and some associates adopted before entering a design competition in the early 80s.

The firm’s ouevre is quite vast and their buildings have had a transformative impact on a number of cities. In 2018, the firm won an A+Award for their Palace of Justice in Córdoba Spain, which contains gorgeous patterning on the facade that nods to the city’s rich medieval architecture.

Left: Binke Lenhardt, image via BAU 2019; right: Chaoyang Future School

Binke Lenhardt

Binke Lenhardt is a partner at Crossboundaries, an innovative firm based in Frankfurt and Beijing that believes in process oriented design, aiming ultimately for buildings that operate in a functional manner. This doesn’t, however, mean their buildings aren’t fun or inspired! Chaoyang Future School won the A+Award jury vote in 2018 in the Architecture +Color category — the building’s bold combination of reds, yellows and whites is stimulating to the eye. Inside, the layout is quite innovative too, reflecting the school’s liberal pedagogy which eschews “teacher-centric” features like podiums and blackboards.

Left: Women’s Opportunity Center, Rwanda; right: Sharon Davis, image via Curbed

Sharon Davis

Sharon Davis’s Women’s Opportunity Center in Rwanda won both the Popular and Jury A+Award for Architecture +Community in 2015 and it isn’t hard to see why: the complex is one of the most inspiring community-oriented projects in recent memory. This was Davis’s first major project and it was a challenging undertaking.

As Architizer reporter Emily Nonko explained, this women’s center “had to address more than the lack of a safe gathering place for Rwandan women — it also had to create economic opportunity and a solid social infrastructure.” To ensure the building met the needs of the community, David worked closely alongside local women, in the end developing a center that includes numerous gathering spaces along with tiered gardens, guest residences and more.

Now it’s your turn: Be the next A+Award winner, get published internationally and gain global recognition for your work! Submit your project before the final entry deadline on March 29th.

Enter the 2019 A+Awards

Introduction by Paul Keskeys; main article by Pat Finn.

The post 19 Women Architects to Watch in 2019 appeared first on Journal.

The 7th Annual A+Awards is accepting entries until midnight on March 29th — Click here to submit your best works for more than 140 award categories.

Suburbia has long been the target of design critics’ arguments against the negative effects of unregulated metropolitan dispersal. A reliance on personal modes of transportation such as the automobile and the resulting withdrawal from vibrant city centers have made the suburbs a poster child for unsustainable development — a cautionary tale for future planning. For those in need of evidence, just watch American author, social critic and public speaker James Kunstler’s brutal — and hilarious — take on “how bad architecture wrecked cities”:

Yet, as the urban metropolitan areas of the globe continue to expand outwards, the suburban enclaves that make up a city’s periphery remain a vital component of the spatial and economic makeup of these regions. The question is this: How can architects design for this inevitable suburban sprawl, while creating more sustainable and cohesive spaces for those that live within it?

Finding an answer to this question is more critical than ever, and the most innovative architecture firms working in this area will be recognized with a coveted 2019 A+Award in the Multi Unit Housing Categories. The following collection of housing projects show some examples of “reformed” housing solutions for the suburbs that forgo the low-density individualized dwellings found in previous iterations. Instead, they opt for multi unit structures that increase density for outlying localities without destroying the existing character of the neighborhood context.

These projects demonstrate the potential of connecting communities on the edge of cities through innovative dwellings that maintain open space, but also encourage social interaction — a hallmark of urban living. As you consider which of your projects to submit for this year’s A+Awards, take inspiration from these inventive developments:

Striped Living by group8, Crans-pres-Céligny, Switzerland

Located in a suburban village between the cities of Geneva and Lausanne, this housing development was built to encourage urban density in the region and feature low-slung volumes with flat roofs. The interstitial floor slabs of the structures allow for individualized terraces that seem to be carved from the volume. The skin is composed of travertine slab marble fins that shield light and weather and evoke the region’s materiality.

Black & White Twins by Casanova + Hernandez architecten, Blaricum, Netherlands

Two differential formal concepts motivated the design of this affordable housing project, which features a black skin perforated by windows and balconies colored in white. The window treatments of varying size and placement refer back to traditional housing typologies, but their seemingly random placement emphasizes the unique organization of each dwelling, while also reducing the volume’s mass.

Square Court — Social housing units by Atelier du Pont, Bondy, France

This social housing project in a suburb of Paris took advantage of its tree-lined site by conserving a collective green courtyard and staggering its individual balconies to offer uninterrupted sight lines. The pitched roof with a flat top maintains the suburban character with added density.

240 studend dwelling by ecdm, Épinay-sur-Seine, France

Combining student housing, affordable residences, space for visiting professors and a battered women’s home, this project created four distinct but related buildings arranged north to south that are connected by a desire for social coeducation. The quilted metal façade and staggered windows shield living spaces and courtyards from surrounding noise.

SOCIAL HOUSING RESIDENCE by PETITDIDIERPRIOUX, Vaulx-en-Velin, France

This French social housing development is another project meant to link outlying areas to one another. A staggered grid formation with banded silver and gold rows breaks up the monotony inherent in the program, while the garden-facing side features generous open balconies overlooking a public courtyard.

The Mountain by JDS/JULIEN DE SMEDT ARCHITECTS and BIG, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Mountain is an idiosyncratic project that is one-third affordable housing and two-thirds parking units. The architect layered a cascade of terraced housing over the concrete “hillside” of the parking structure, with each apartment featuring its own private garden. The project combines urban density with suburban garden living with direct sunlit views and parking directly accessible to the apartments.

Block 0704 by Simpraxis Architects, Nicosia, Greece

Conceived as an urban interpretation of the suburban residence, this award-winning Grecian apartment block is set in an area with large homes and a few apartment structures. Foregrounding a flexible relationship between interior and exterior, the outdoor verandas usually found in slab-block housing are inserted into the main volume of the structure.

Romainville Housing by GAETAN LE PENHUEL ARCHITECTES, Romainville, France

Individual two-story homes are arranged diagonally along the sidewalk so that they do not perfectly align with the street, while a three-story apartment building punctuates the end of the street. Rear gardens and a courtyard were placed throughout.

Now it’s your turn: Click here to submit your best Multi Unit Housing projects (or any other project type) in the 2019 A+Awards now.

The post Dear Architects: Please Save Us From Suburban Sprawl appeared first on Journal.

Arata Isozaki has won the 2019 Pritzker Prize. The eighth Japanese architect to be awarded the honor, Isozaki was commended by the jury as “one of the most influential figures in contemporary world architecture on a constant search, not afraid to change and try new ideas.”

Isozaki worked under Kenzo Tange before establishing his own firm in 1963. His early projects were influenced by European experiences as well as the Brutalist and Metabolist movements. Notable buildings completed early in his career include Oita Medical Hall (1959-1960), the Fujimi Country Club (1973–74) and Kitakyushu Central Library (1973–74). Later he developed a more modernistic style, with buildings such as the Art Tower of Mito (1986–90) and Domus-Casa del Hombre (1991-1995) in Galicia, Spain.

Arata Isozaki; image via ThoughtCo.

In 2005, Arata Isozaki founded the Italian branch of his office, Arata Isozaki & Andrea Maffei Associates. Major projects from this office include the Allianz Tower CityLife office tower, a redevelopment project in the former trade fair area in Milan, and the new Town Library in Maranello, Italy. Designing a wide array of buildings both inside and outside Japan, Isozaki has been described as an architect who refuses to be stuck in one architectural style, highlighting “how each of his designs is a specific solution born out of the project’s context.”

“His architecture rests on profound understanding, not only of architecture but also of philosophy, history, theory and culture,” stated the jury. “He has brought together East and West, not through mimicry or as a collage, but through the forging of new paths. He has set an example of generosity as he supports other architects and encourages them in competitions or through collaborative works.”

Top image: Qatar National Convention Center; image via Gulf News Journal

The post Arata Isozaki Named 2019 Pritzker Prize Laureate appeared first on Journal.

We at Architizer have had our share of problems with the Pritzker, which is partly why we created our own awards program. Our goal is to bring architecture out of the echo chamber, and the Pritzker — as its handling of the Denise Scott Brown debacle clearly demonstrates — helps keep it in the hands of an elite, rarefied few.

Six years on from the Scott Brown controversy, the Pritzker Foundation has handed another award to a well-known male architect. It means that, of the 42 Pritzker Laureates to have been named to date, just one of them has been an individual woman.

In light of this news, we have decided to republish Kazys Varnelis’ op-ed entitled “It’s time to shut the Pritzker down.” The director of the Network Architecture Lab at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation railed against what must be the least democratic, most politicized prize in architecture. This article originally appeared on his blog in 2013, and is republished here with permission from the author:

Scott Brown in Las Vegas, 1966. Photo: Robert Venturi via Architects Newspaper

“The Pritzker jury has decided to do away with any good that the prize has ever done. Refusing to retroactively acknowledge Denise Scott Brown’s contribution in the work of the firm that she shares with Robert Venturi, the jury voted instead to affirm its patriarchal authority.

Curiously, the Pritzker has previously been awarded to Ryue Nishizawa alongside Kazuyo Sejima, of SANAA. Not to denigrate Nishizawa’s contribution, but I have heard SANAA referred to as “Sejima” as often, if not more, than I have heard VSBA referred to as “Venturi.” Why the double standard?

The sort of patronizing language used in the letter by Lord Palumbo is all too familiar. It is the voice of money and authority, the same sort of voice that spoke out against the rights of the women, the poor, and minorities. It is, alas, the voice of what Brown describes as the “sad old men’s award.”

Dartmouth College, Rauner Special Collections Library, designed by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Courtesy of VSBA

I see no way in which we can, in good conscience, think of the Pritzker as being anything but a detriment to the profession. Indeed, the entire notion of the Pritzker Prize is testament to the misguided fallacy of architecture as the work of solitary geniuses, usually ignoring that it is almost inevitably a team product. Now, we may give awards to individuals at school (although at Columbia we have also split those awards among partners), that is a special case in which students work, in most cases, individually. Practice, particularly at the large scale that the Pritzker typically lauds, is another.

After three decades of affirming much that is wrong about our profession, the Pritzker has run its course. If, collectively, we decide that it is invalid and pay it no heed, it will die. And die it must. There should be no second chances for an institution as bankrupt as this one.

$100,000 a year is a lot of prize money. It’s time to shut the Pritzker down and give that to people who need it, not to a bunch of already famous, well-off old men. Why not take the list of countries ranked worldwide by GDP and distribute the money to needy students in countries in the bottom half? Jay Pritzker’s money would be doing much more for the profession. At least it wouldn’t be perpetuating misogyny.

Kazys Varnelis is the director of the Network Architecture Lab at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. With Robert Sumrell, he runs the non-profit architectural collective AUDC.

Make your voice heard! What do you think about the Pritzker? Have opinions you want to share on Architizer? Submit your own op-ed to editorial@architizer.com.

The post It’s Time To Shut The Pritzker Down! appeared first on Journal.

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The world of building materials is complex, especially for architects just starting out in their careers. If you’re trying to get a handle on some new products, you might be running up against some terms and properties that you haven’t dealt with before.

This list of material properties, building off one compiled by The Constructor, is a cheat sheet for many physical concepts that you might not be used to thinking about. As you search for materials on Architizer, you may run into these terms when talking to manufacturers, and it’ll make your life a lot easier if you’re comfortable with what they’re talking about. When you hear mentions of “creep,” “specific heat” or even “hygroscopicity”(!) in relation to building materials, referencing this list will help you make well-informed decisions for your projects.

Mechanical Properties

Mechanical properties describe how a material reacts to an applied force. These properties change depending on temperature, the form a material is taking and how the force is applied. For example, wood has higher impact strength when the impact is applied parallel to the grain. Many of these properties are most significant in structural members.

Strength

The strength of a material essentially is its ability to not break under stress. Breaking, or ‘failure,’ can be sudden and catastrophic, like glass shattering, or it can be gradual like a wooden roof beam sagging under snow. Loads may be compressive like the pressure pushing down on a column; they may be tensile like the weight of a hanging lamp on a wire; or they may be bending like the weight of a cantilever on a beam. This might be Structures 101, but a material may be very strong in one aspect and very weak in another. Spider silk has incredible tensile strength but virtually no compressive or bending strength.

Hardness

Hardness is determined by how easily a material can be scratched. Harder materials will scratch a softer material without being damaged; this is essentially why we can drive hard nails through soft wood but not metal. Hardness can be important in choosing between different varieties of concrete or other aggregates. Hardness is measured according to the Mohs scale.

Mohs scale; image via the National Park Service

Elasticity

Elasticity generally is the ability of a material to regain its shape after a stress has been applied to it, but it’s also a measurement of how much a material will temporarily deform relative to how much stress is applied. Concrete doesn’t change much, and it’s inelastic. Steel, relatively, changes a lot and is more elastic.

Plasticity

Plasticity is elasticity’s cousin. Whereas elasticity measures how much a material will temporarily deform, plasticity measures how much force it takes to make a material permanently deform without breaking. A plastic material will bend and stay in that shape, whereas an elastic material will bend and go back to its original shape. Again, something to pay attention to in structural members.

Brittleness

Brittle materials will not bend at all and will just break when a force is applied. Glass is very brittle, and different cladding materials, like ceramic tile or fiber cement, may be brittle. More brittle materials aren’t necessarily worse than less brittle materials as long as the material is strong enough to withstand typical forces.

Bike handlebar fatigue testing, via MaterialsScience2000

Fatigue

Fatigue is the feeling you get while studying for your AREs. Just kidding! Architecture humor … A material that fails after repeated loads gets fatigue. A column that can withstand 100 earthquakes but will snap on the 101st is showing fatigue.

Impact Strength

How much a material can withstand an impact. Important for anything that needs to withstand a blast or may have significant environmental threats like broken tree limbs falling.

Abrasion Resistance

Abrasion is caused by two materials rubbing up against each other. This is important on pavers and anything that will see heavy traffic.

Creep

Creep is more or less what it sounds like. It’s the slow movement of a material over time. Foundations can creep if they are in an unstable place. TLC can creep, given the opportunity.

Physical Properties

Bulk Density

Mass per volume of the material in its natural state including any pores or voids. If you think of terra-cotta brick, which naturally has air pockets, the bulk density tells you how much a stack of bricks will weigh, as opposed to how much a mound of solid terra-cotta with no bubbles would weigh.

Density

Pure density is a measure of the mass of a solid block of a material as though it included no air pockets. For nonporous materials, the bulk density and pure density are the same.

Specific Gravity

This is more of a physics term, but if you see it somewhere, it’s a way to measure density. A higher number means a denser material (steel’s specific gravity is 7.82, and aluminum’s is 2.72). It’s technically measured by comparing the density of the substance to the density of water at 4 degrees Celsius.

Porosity

Porosity is a measurement of the ratio of the volume of the pores to the volume of the solids in a material. A brick with a lot of holes will have a higher porosity, as will coarse sand that doesn’t tightly pack.

Water Absorption

Water absorption is the ability of a material to absorb and retain water, as opposed to …

Water Permeability

… Water permeability, which is the ability for water to pass through a material, which is different than …

Hygroscopicity

… Hygroscopicity is the ability of a material to absorb water from the air.

Coefficient of Softening

Continuing the water theme, the coefficient of softening is “the ratio of compressive strength of a saturated material to its compressive strength in dry state.” This is particularly important for foundations or any material with a high water-absorption potential.

Fire resistance testing; image via ACImalta

Fire Resistance

In order to be fire-resistant, materials have to be able to keep their strength and shape in flames and also water so they won’t collapse when they get sprayed with a fire hose.

Frost Resistance

Freezing can tear apart boulders, to say nothing of vulnerable building components. Frost-resistant materials are dry and dense.

Weathering Resistance

Exterior materials have to be able to resist the corrosive effects of wind, rain and whatever other environmental force may wear at a building’s outside.

Spalling Resistance

Spalling is, according to The Constructor, “the ability of a material to undergo a certain number of cycles of sharp temperature variations without failing.”

Refractoriness

Unlike spalling resistance, which is the ability to withstand repeated temperature fluctuations, refractoriness is the ability to withstand prolonged exposure to temperatures over 1,580 degrees Celsius.

Chemical and Thermal Properties

Salt corrosion on aluminum structural elements; image via ATMG

Chemical and Corrosion Resistance

Rust is the most common kind of corrosion, but structures near the ocean are also subject to corrosion from salt spray that can blow relatively far inland.

Specific Heat

Specific heat is how much energy it takes to raise a specific mass of a substance (1 Newton, if you’re into the physics) 1 degree Celsius. This sounds similar to …

Thermal Capacity

… Thermal capacity, which is how much energy it takes to change the temperature of a variable amount of a substance. So, to clarify, all brick has the same specific heat, but 1 ton of brick has a higher thermal capacity than one pound of brick. The thermal capacity of a product is important in determining how much the temperature of a building will fluctuate.

Thermal Conductivity and Resistivity

These two properties are the opposite of each other. Highly conductive materials have low resistance and vice versa. Conductivity is represented by the letter U and resistance by the letter R. These properties are important for windows, insulation and anything else that could potentially transmit heat between inside and out.

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The post Young Architect Guide: 26 Things to Consider When Selecting Architectural Materials appeared first on Journal.

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Against the backdrop of an increasingly eco-conscious population — not to mention media-fueled paranoia over global warming — there is a general consensus within the architectural profession that the astronomic rise in the use of the word “sustainability” is … well, unsustainable.

Via xkcd.

There was a time when this word was valuable and in vogue, but it has fast evolved into an overused buzzword, an all-encompassing term associated with so many aspects of architecture — environmental, social, and economic — that its impact has been diluted beyond recognition. The opening quote in the preface of Phaidon’s in-depth compilation Vitamin Green succinctly sums up the issue:

“What is sustainable design? It’s a notion that is everywhere, but no one seems to know exactly what it means.”

Aiming to put an end to this lack of clarity, the book comprises a list of 100 cutting-edge projects — chosen from a huge pool of work by leading architects, designers, curators, critics, writers, and theorists — which are considered truly sustainable works of architecture. A close examination of these projects dispels skepticism over the use of the word “sustainability” by reexamining its meaning in relation to problems pertaining to climate change, resource consumption, and waste.

Vitamin Green’s exemplars span an extraordinary range of scales, typologies, climatic conditions and geographic locations. At the smaller end of the spectrum is “A Forest for a Moon Dazzler,” a poetic title for a beautifully pragmatic structure designed by Benjamin Garcia Saxe in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The architect’s sketches reveal a thoroughly considered approach to passive solar shading and water management, and, while the material palette (primarily bamboo) and construction method is low-tech, the resulting residence is rich with sustainable details.

While these ideas have been explored by many architects across Central and South America — as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines — the Moon Dazzler home illustrates how stylish aesthetics need not be surrendered despite sustainable requirements and a limited budget.

While Saxe’s project taps into many of our preconceptions about sustainability — designing shading and ventilation for a tropical climate, utilizing vernacular materials, and so on — other selected projects better illustrate how advanced technologies can offer their own environmental advantages.

The aptly named Green Lighthouse is Denmark’s first CO2-neutral building and is home to the University of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Science, achieved with a holistic design approach that optimized energy efficiency. Christensen and Co Arkitekter incorporated a combination of technological features such as photovoltaic panels and adjustable louvers but also employed passive techniques — recessed doors and windows and a cylindrical form in response to the Sun’s path — to achieve net carbon emissions of zero.

In case there was any suspicion that these kinds of results are only possible within well-funded institutions, Brooks + Scarpa Architects’ private residential project in Los Angeles provides proof of the contrary. Taking inspiration from Paul Rudolph’s 1953 Umbrella House, the Solar Umbrella is also carbon-neutral thanks to a wealth of clever details that harness passive solar energy.

The structure’s low embodied energy is achieved with the help of some unusual building specifications. Homosote — an acoustic panel made from recycled newspaper — was used for cabinetry, while recycled steel panels, OSB (oriented strand board), high-efficiency appliances and fixtures, and low-VOC paint replaces less-efficient materials.

Sometimes, though, these conventional approaches — while rigorous and effective in response to their brief— are still not enough for particular unique contexts. Enter Ensamble Studio, an avant-garde firm possessing a willingness to experiment with increasingly unlikely processes in order to achieve a truly sustainable architectural paradigm.

Part architecture, part performance art, The Truffle takes the idea of sustainable design a step further, employing an outlandish, organic method of “construction”: a calf was brought in to eat away at the hay bales that had acted as formwork for a concrete dwelling. As the animal worked its way through 540 square feet (50 square meters) of food, a cave-like space emerged, which was soon transformed into a contemporary retreat with the help of a few simple fixtures and a large glass picture window facing the ocean.

While Ensamble’s quirky construction process unlikely is to be adopted worldwide in the near future, it illustrates an important point: that architects are not sitting on their laurels when it comes to preconceptions pertaining to sustainability. Such radical experiments lead to unexpected discoveries and force us to ask questions about environmental design, eco-consciousness, and “green” architecture — words and phrases we so often take for granted in contemporary design.

After years of proliferation to the point of utter linguistic futility, Vitamin Green brings a sharp new relevance to the perennial buzzword of our profession. At last, it offers hope that the use of the word “sustainability” might be sustainable once more.

Want to see more eco-conscious design? Check out Phaidon’s book Vitamin Green.

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The post Dear Architects: Stop Using the Word “Sustainability” Until You Know What it Means appeared first on Journal.

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Few places in North America are experiencing rapid growth and a dynamic, emerging design culture like the Pacific Northwest. This region is a hotbed for low-impact, pedestrian-friendly design, with projects that emerge from a common appreciation of craft, materials and natural systems. Situated in a variety of different landscapes including islands, fields and mountains, the best Pacific Northwest architecture engages with the unique challenges and opportunities of its site. As such, these buildings initiate and articulate newfound dialogs between place, space and people.

The first part of this collection showcases eight dynamic residential projects by a variety of different firms across the region. Whether designed as passive structures, powerful datums or playful abodes, each project shows an approach to local architecture and design that’s simultaneously critical and creatively reinterpreted. Context heavily influences each project, carefully exploring the intricate layers of view, access and scale.

The second part of the collection examines landmark designs across various typologies in the public realm. Whether commercial, religious, or educational in nature, each project embodies the dynamic emerging design culture found in this region. Cities like Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver have made great strides in advocating for sustainable and innovative practices, each location promoting new planning and policies to address civic and cultural demands.

Sit back, relax and take in a healthy dose of design inspiration from across the Pacific Northwest:

Private Residential Projects

The Pierre by Olson Kundig Architects, San Juan Island, Wash.

Olson Kundig’s Pierre house was designed as an unexpected retreat securely nestled into a rock. Depending on the angle, the house can seemingly disappear into nature. The rock itself also extends into the house and was used as a concrete aggregate where it was excavated.

San Juan Island Passive by Artisans Group, Shaw Island, Wash.

From its pinwheel design to its floor-to-ceiling glass, the San Juan Island Passive house embodies a sustainable, sleek and energy-efficient architecture. Pre-manufactured walls and a mechanical core combine to create a solid, innovative building. A refuge that’s simultaneously flowing and adaptable, the house was carefully designed to allow long sight-lines and celebrate its unique island site.

Port Ludlow Residence by FINNE Architects, Hood Canal, Wash.

This house on the Hood Canal was created as a simple glazed living space that becomes a front porch to the surrounding wooded waterfront. The main living volume is completely glazed, while the other exterior materials are maintenance-free. Large overhangs, natural lighting and ventilation, as well as two-by-eight wall construction make up some of the sustainable building features in the design.

Rolling Huts by Olson Kundig Architects, Okanogan County, Wash.

Rolling Huts was created as a response to the client’s need to host visiting guests. Deferring to its natural surroundings, each hut is lifted above the meadow on wheels. The low-tech, low-impact designs enjoy views of the mountains while being united by their proximity to one another.

Linear House by Patkau Architects, Salt Spring Island, Canada

One of the primary site features of the Linear House is that it is bisected from east to west by a long row of mature Douglas fir trees. Other sides of the house include a hay field and orchard. The house helps to reinforce the cultural landscape to the south and the natural landscape to the north as well as being able to transform into an open-air pavilion.

Cortes by Balance Associates, Cortes Island, Canada

Located on a site formed of natural granite bedrock, the Cortes was designed as an elevated living space overlooking the sea. Steel columns, exposed wood floor beams, and cantilevered decks combine in the raised space, while concrete visually anchors the house to the bedrock.

Lake Union Float Home by Designs Northwest Architects, Seattle

This house is located on Lake Union in Seattle. The structure was created for a retired couple that collects art and enjoys being on the water. The floating house was designed to fit into the wharf buildings along the waterfront.

Olympia by Coates Design Architects, Yelm, Wash.

Olympia house is an L-shaped structure on a 10-acre parcel of land. Following the main concept of simplicity, the design addresses both aesthetic and budgetary concerns. Sleek, cost-effective materials combined with modest clean lines and minimal color to complete this “livable modern” house.

Public Projects

Seattle Central Library by REX/OMA, Seattle, WA, photographed by James Ewing

Widely recognized as one of the greatest projects in North America, the Seattle Central Library is a celebrated library and civic space. Programming was at the project’s heart, materializing directly into the building form we see today. Robust in both logic and elegance, the library is arranged across five platforms and four flowing planes, each space an information store where all media is presented “equally and legibly.”

Nike “Camp Victory” by Skylab Architecture and HUSH, Eugene, OR

Located at the Olympic Running Trials in Eugene, OR, Nike’s “Camp Victory” was designed as a physical/digital experience focusing on playful competition. Visual design, information display, and sensory experiences combine to create three unique zones in the project. The immersive areas include a Nike+ HeatMap data visualization space, head-to-head Treadmill Running Game, and an XL Speed Tunnel.

Federal Center South Building 1202 by ZGF Architects LLP, Seattle, WA

Combining a stainless steel façade and salvaged lumber, the new Federal Center South Building 1202 was designed in the shape of an oxbow. A diagrid structure provides flexible workspaces, while the building form provides energy-performance benefits. The building was created to foster community while meeting the US General Services Administration’s (GSA) security requirements.

Wood Innovation and Design Centre by MGA | Michael Green Architecture, Prince George, Canada

A gathering place for design professionals, academics, and researchers, this center helps foster ideas for innovative uses of wood. Programmatically, the building includes educational space and offices for government and wood industry-related organizations. No concrete was used above the ground floor slab, showcasing a simple “dry” timber and glulam structure.

VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visitor Centre by Fast + Epp, Vancouver, Canada

This visitor center in Vancouver was created as a welcome portal and interactive education center with a dramatic free-form roof flowing into the surrounding landscape. The design aimed to revitalize public interest in the botanical gardens while including space for exhibitions, lectures, guest services, and a café. The building was designed to target LEED Platinum status and the Living Building Challenge.

King Street Station by ZGF Architects LLP, Seattle, WA

First opened in 1906, King Street Station underwent a new rehabilitation under ZGF Architects to restore and preserve the station’s original character. The project aimed to strengthen King Street Station’s role as an important civic landmark and modern transportation hub. Becoming a catalyst for neighborhood redevelopment, the project improved multi-model connections, enhanced public space, and achieved LEED Platinum certification.

Columbia Building by Skylab Architecture, Portland, OR

Portland’s new Wastewater Treatment Plant Engineering Building was created to foster collaboration, achieve LEED Gold, and return storm water to the Columbia Slough. A folded saw-tooth roof drains roof runoff into a berm and bioswale. The building’s entrance was modified to provide an adaptive and native environment, while a public space was also created with views to a nearby pond.

Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park by WEISS / MANFREDI, Seattle, WA

Located on the water’s edge, this Seattle park was designed as a new model for urban sculpture parks. A continuous constructed landscape was created, one that descends 40 feet from the city streets to the waterfront. An uninterrupted z-shaped “green” was formed that rises above existing infrastructure below.

Chapel of St. Ignatius by Steven Holl Architects, Seattle, WA

The Chapel of St. Ignatius was created as a Jesuit worship space at Seattle University. Conceptually, seven bottles of light are held together within a stone box, each containing a colored lens and a unique reflected color. The volumes correspond to the different parts of Jesuit Catholic worship.

Bullitt Center by The Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle, WA

The Bullitt Center is the first leasable market rate commercial structure to target requirements for the Living Building Challenge. A landmark building in Seattle, the design was created to inform future high-performance urban buildings. Designed to achieve net-zero energy use with 100% on-site renewable energy, the center gained attention for its potentially illegal systems. As mentioned in one of our previous articles, in Washington, it’s illegal to take rain water and filter it for drinking. The Bullitt Center was designed to use its treated rainwater for graywater until future changes to the law.

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The post 18 Reasons Why the Pacific Northwest Is a Mecca for Architects appeared first on Journal.

The value of new design is especially apparent in a place like the bathroom. While many people may be used to prevailing norms when it comes to plumbing fixtures, the sheer amount of time people spend in bathrooms means new designs for such products can realize incredible gains in efficiency, sustainability and accessibility. That’s why Roca and the Barcelona Design Center created jumpthegap®, an international design contest for young professionals and students to rethink what a bathroom could be through the lens of conceptual architectural products. The competition is open for registration until March 27th, while the submission deadline is on April 25th.

jumpthegap® awards two prizes of €10,000 each to winners in professional and student categories, while an additional €6,000 prize from the We Are Water Foundation is awarded to a project that represents advancement in equitable and sustainable uses of water. All three winners will receive travel and accommodation expenses to an awards ceremony at the Barcelona Design Center on October 10th this year, where they will present their winning designs and participate in focused talks with industry experts.

Judged by industry experts from around the world, the jury evaluating projects for this edition of jumpthegap® includes:

• Ruy Ohtake, Architect, Brasil
• Emilio Cabrero, General Director, Design Week Mexico, Mexico
• Josep Congost, Roca Design and Innovation Director, Spain
• Dorota Koziara, Designer, Poland
• Carlo Ratti, Director MIT Senseable City Lab Founding & Partner Carlo Ratti Associati, Italy
• Isabel Roig, Executive Director, BCD Barcelona Design Center, Spain
• Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Architect, Founder of Tabanlioğlu Architects, Turkey
• Boris Voskoboynikov, Architect, leader of VOX ARCHITECTS, Russia

The We Are Water Foundation prize jury is as follows:

• Xavier Torras, Director of the We Are Water Foundation, Spain
• Deborah Seward, Director of the United Nations Information Center, Belgium
• Low Cheaw Hwei, Head of Design for Philips in Asia and Head of Government and Public Affairs for Philips in Singapore, Singapore

The most recent winner in the professional category was “Panacea,” a flexible bathtub that can be molded to a user’s specifications. Designed to solve multiple problems simultaneously, “Panacea” addresses three important issues: economy of space, an unnecessary overuse of water in standard-size tubs and the accidental drowning of unattended children in bathtubs, which constitute a significant percentage drowning deaths in the home.

Comprised of a flexible shell material, “Panacea” is anchored by elastic bands at its top and bottom which allow the shell to be molded to any desired shape or size. A pneumatic motor on the end of the structure is engaged to keep the chosen shape molded in place while a faucet above the motor fills the tub with water. After taking a bath, the water is discarded and the pneumatic motor is turned off, allowing the shell of the tub to collapse into a thin, suitcase-like configuration, saving space when it’s not in use.

The innovative aspect of “Panacea” lies in its ability to take a shape and size set by its user. Since the shape and size of people’s bodies varies greatly, setting a custom shape for one’s bathtub means using only the amount of water their body needs and not a drop more, which is essentially impossible using today’s standard, one-size-fits-all bathtubs. It can also be adjusted to form a small, shallow pool for infants, reducing the risk of drowning.

This multi-faceted design represents both the innovative spirit and the progressive atmosphere of the design competition.

Winners Onstage at the 7th Edition of the “Jump the Gap” Design Competition

Further indicative of the competition’s global reach is the impressive variety of entries received in the past. Since its inception as a biennial design competition in 2004, “Jump the Gap” has judged over 2,900 project submissions from more than 20,000 participants representing 134 different countries. Entries also frequently have a lifespan after prizes are awarded, as some participants have gone on to collaborate with Roca as thought leaders, delivering lectures on water-related issues in their area of practice.

Entering jumpthegap® is easy. Participants can enter the design competition individually or in teams of two, either as students or young professionals. The entry process is completely digital and limited to two A3-sized PDF pages. The first page should introduce the project, and — in less than 600 words that accompany the design’s graphics — explain WHAT the project is, WHO it’s designed for, HOW the product works and WHY it will be relevant in the future. The second page is reserved for additional, supporting graphics and text that explain details of the project not covered on the first page.

As the use of water becomes increasingly important on a global level, architects and manufacturers are constantly in search of bold new designs for the bathroom. Whether you’re a student eager to showcase your ideas or a young professional looking to experiment, jumpthegap® wants to see your design for the bathroom of the future.

Register for the Contest

The submission deadline for jumpthegap® is April 25th, 2019, although participants must register for the competition by March 27th. Visit the competition’s website to register, view past winners and read the competition rules.

The post International Call for Entries: Design the Bathroom of the Future and Win €10,000 appeared first on Journal.

The A+Awards is the world’s largest awards program celebrating architecture and building-products. Enter your project or product before the final entry deadline on March 29th!

Last week’s critical take on the Pritzker Laureate selection process polarized opinions across social media, but its core point remains a pertinent one: The Pritzker Prize celebrates the architecture of the past, rather than embracing the designers of the future. The honor is not accessible for any architect under the age of 40, and does not reveal anything new about the state of contemporary design. Its relevancy is therefore limited — but there are now plenty of other ways for trailblazing architects to get the recognition they deserve.

Now in its seventh year, Architizer’s A+Awards has become the premier competition for emerging architectural talent for one powerful reason — its democratic nature means that winners are selected on the merits of their work, regardless of age, location or firm status. A public voting process ensures the best new projects are rewarded — and many of those are masterminded by surprisingly young architects and designers.

In celebration of this fact, Architizer has selected 25 top young architects to watch in the coming year. Each of these talented individuals have already scooped awards (or been part of winning teams) for everything from design and innovation to advocacy and leadership — and they’re only just getting started. As you consider which of your projects to submit for this year’s A+Awards competition, take inspiration from our definite collection of emerging talents in architecture:

Left: Chris and Fei Precht at the 2016 A+Awards Gala; right: Tel Aviv apartment building, rendering courtesy Studio Precht

Chris and Fei Precht

penda took home Architizer’s Emerging Firm of the Year Award at the A+Awards Gala in 2016, thanks to a unique design language that can be seen across the world — both online and in reality. Chris and Fei Precht have now cofounded a new eponymous firm, signaling an exciting new chapter for the pair. As well as pioneering new construction techniques using vernacular materials, Chris Precht is a well-known thought leader for young architects, communicating with thousands via Instagram and multiple speaking events around the world.

Left: Young Architect Guides to the ARE; right: Michael Riscica, via Young Architect

Mike Riscica

Michael Riscica is an architect, and so much more besides — he is the founder of award-winning website YoungArchitect.com, which offers advice to aspiring architects looking to pass the Architect Registration Exam and succeed in practice. He also runs the ARE Facebook Group, advocating for greater support to students and young architects that want to be conscientious, hardworking professionals. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s now plotting the inaugural Young Architect Conference, launching in August this year!

Left: Pascal Sablan, image via AIA; left: Museum of the Built Environment by FXCollaborative Architects, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; image courtesy FXCollaborative Architects.

Pascale Sablan

Now a senior associate at S9 Architecture, Pascale Sablan was previously an associate at FXFOWLE Architects (recently rebranded as FXCollaborative Architects). She played a crucial role in the realization of 888 Boylston Street, a LEED Platinum office building that is an exemplar for sustainable design. Sablan has won multiple awards for her work, including being named National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) member of the year in 2015. Indeed, Sablan is a leading voice for architects of color, curating the Center for Architecture exhibit “Say It Loud: Distinguished Black Designers of NYCOBA|NOMA.”

Left: Las Vegas Medical District, image via SmithGroup; right: Michelle Acosta, image via AIA

Michelle Acosta

Michelle Acosta is a showcase for the value of specializing in architecture. She currently works as a healthcare project manager for SmithGroup in Phoenix, Arizona, providing unique expertise that help create better environments for large medical complexes. Acosta was a 2018 Young Architects Award recipient, having played a key role in nurturing multiple local AIA chapters and offering a fresh perspective as a young female architect in a highly technical sector.

Left: Raffaello Rosselli, image via Sustainable Building Awards; right: The Beehive by Luigi Rosselli + Raffaello Rosselli, Surry Hills, Australia

Raffaello Rosselli

Raffaello Rosselli creates architecture through a process that redefines and reimagines neglected and waste materials. A collaborator with Luigi Rosselli Architects, Raffaello runs his own eponymous practice and was lead architect for the The Beehive, a triple A+Award-winning office with a stunning, perforated façade of salvaged terracotta roof tiles. Raffaello worked previously at Vo Trong Nghia Architects in Hanoi, Vietnam where he helped deliver the Vietnam Pavilion at the Milan World Expo.

Left: Terra Cotta Studio by TROPICAL SPACE; right: Trần Thị Ngụ Ngôn and Nguyễn Hải Long, image via

Trần Thị Ngụ Ngôn and Nguyễn Hải Long

Trần Thị Ngụ Ngôn and Nguyễn Hải Long are the founders of TROPICAL SPACE, a Vietnamese firm that has won dozens of awards in just a few short years for its incredible use of bricks. Its design for Terra Cotta Studio scooped a double 2017 A+Award in the Architecture +Workspace category, its perforated brickwork skin following in the footsteps of inventive, vernacular projects like the stunning Termitary House.

Koray Duman

Büro Koray Duman was named the Emerging Firm of the Year at the 2017 A+Awards for its forward-thinking vision for the role of the architect, coupled with a desire to disrupt stigmas surrounding the profession. Duman possesses a diverse perspective on architecture and urban design, having earned degrees in both Turkey and the United States. The architect constantly challenges social and political convention with creations such as the highly transparent Islamic Cultural Center in New York, intended to promote inter-religious coexistence and cultural exchange.

Left: Capela de Nossa Senhora de Fátima; right: Helena Lucas Vieira and Pedro Miguel Ferreira, images via Plano Humano Arquitectos

Helena Lucas Vieira and Pedro Miguel Ferreira

Helena Lucas Vieira and Pedro Miguel Ferreira head Plano Humano Arquitectos, a creative Lisbon-based architecture firm that envisioned Capela de Nossa Senhora de Fátima. This striking chapel won a grand total of three 2018 A+Awards in the Architecture +Wood and Religious Buildings and Monuments categories, its elegant pitched roof canopy captivating the jury and the public alike.

Left: Satoshi Teshima, image via AIA; right: LA Harbor College, Long Beach, California
Architects by HGA, image via Architect Magazine

Satoshi Teshima

An associate vice president at HGA Architects and Engineers in Los Angeles, Satoshi Teshima is another pioneer in sustainable design. His work on the LEED Platinum Los Angeles Harbor College Science Complex in Wilmington, California, led to a USGBC|LA Project of the Year Award. Despite his young years, Teshima is already mentoring others to help them follow in his footsteps — he is a regular guest critic and lecturer at East Los Angeles College, Pasadena Arts Center, and Santa Monica College.

Left: ARE Sketches Volume I; right: Lora Teagarden, image via AIA

Lora Teagarden

Lora Teagarden was a 2017 Young Architects Award recipient for her significant contributions to the profession. A LEED certified project architect at RATIO Architects and the Founder of L² Design, Teagarden has also been published — her ARE Sketches series forms an insightful visual guide to the Architect Registration Exams.  Teagarden was recently elected Chair of the AIA National Young Architects Forum, reflecting her growing influence in the industry — both in terms of design and thought leadership.

Left: Wang Shuo and Zhang Jing; right: Stage of Forest pavilion

Wang Shuo and Zhang Jing

Wang Shuo and Zhang Jing are the founders of META-Project, the firm behind the A+Award-winning Stage of Forest pavilion in Jilin, China. This breathtaking observation platform came out on top of the competition thanks to its rich materiality, contrasting the warmth of red cedar planks on the interior with an external cladding of charred cedar shingles.

Left: Juxtaposition Arts – New Art Center, Minneapolis; right: James Garrett Jr., images via AIA

James Garrett Jr.

James Garrett Jr. was awarded 2019 Young Architects Award by the AIA for succeeding against the odds; as the AIA states: “Garrett’s journey to becoming an architect was not easy, but he was unfazed by critics — including a high school instructor and graduate school professor who told him he was unlikely to become one.” Undeterred, Garrett graduated and founded his own firm, 4RM+ULA Architecture, in 2002. He is also an advocate for a more diverse profession, and a mentor for aspiring design professionals as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture.

Left: Sanne van der Burgh and Gijs Rikken, image via MVRDV; right: Crystal Houses by MVRDV

Sanne van der Burgh and Gijs Rikken

Sanne van der Burgh and Gijs Rikken are Associates at MVRDV, Architizer’s A+Awards Firm of the Year in 2018. They are just two of many rising stars at one of architecture’s boldest studios, with Rikken leading the design team that brought the A+Award-winning Crystal House to reality. Van der Burgh, meanwhile, has played a key role in numerous landmark projects, including The Couch, which upended convention in sports and leisure design.

Oswaldo Ortega; images via AIA

Oswaldo Ortega

Oswaldo Ortega is an associate in Gensler’s Chicago office, where he leads master planning studies, and architectural and interiors projects. Some of his most important work, though, is in empowering young people from diverse backgrounds to achieve success in architecture. In 2003, he founded of the Society of Multicultural Architects & Designers while a student at Syracuse University, and has continued to develop initiatives that serve communities and diversify the profession. He scooped a 2019 AIA Young Architects Award for his combination of community leadership and design acumen.

Left: Chris-Annmarie Spencer, image via AIA; right: Inspiration Kitchens adaptive reuse project, image via Rudy Bruner Award

Chris-Annmarie Spencer

A project architect at Wheeler Kearns Architects, Chris-Annmarie Spencer is a talented Chicago designer with a keen interest in public interest design. Her collaboration with nonprofit Inspiration Kitchens is particularly notable — the architect transformed a 1906 building in Chicago to create a 7,800-square-foot, 80-seat restaurant serving both affordable and market-rate meals for working-poor families and the general public respectively. That project netted nine design awards, and Spencer’s incredible social impact work was recognized with a AIA Young Architects Award in 2017.

Left: Choy House; right: Devin O’Neill and Faith Rose. image via o’neill rose architects

Devin O’Neill and Faith Rose

Devin O’Neill and Faith Rose are the Partners at O’Neill Rose Architects, a Brooklyn-based architecture firm that designs highly contextual buildings across the United States. The pair scooped a 2016 A+Award for Choy House, a beautifully proportioned residence in Queens, New York that cleverly combines three separate dwellings under one roof.

Left: Reza Najafian, image via ReNa Design; right: Afsharian’s House

Reza Najafian

Iranian architect Reza Najafian is principal of ReNa Design, recipient of a 2016 A+Award in the Low Rise Multi-Unit Housing category for the splendidly sculptural Afsharian’s House. The wood-fronted apartment building is just one of a long line of eye-catching designs coming from Najafian’s studio, and the designer’s skills extend beyond architecture — he has also completed branding projects for more than 70 offices and organizations.

Left: Treehouse; right: Haifei Dai and Yanping Zhang, image via ArchMarathon

Haifei Dai and Yanping Zhang

Haifei Dai and Yanping Zhang are the founding partners of Wee Studio, a young firm specializing in micro-architecture. One of their very first projects was the crowdfunded Treehouse, a tiny A+Award-winning retreat in a forest at the foot of Mount Wuling in Miun, Beijing. The architects’ website states their simple but noble mission: “We want buildings to intervene in the environment with a humble attitude, and think about how the buildings blend with the environment.”

Get yourself on next year’s list — enter the 2019 A+Awards today, and do it quickly — the final entry deadline is March 29th!

Enter the 2019 A+Awards

The post 25 Young Architects to Watch in 2019 appeared first on Journal.

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No man-made material on Earth is more widely used in construction than concrete. As mentioned in a recent article covering concrete façades in Japan, this durable material can be found everywhere, no matter the climate, vernacular traditions or geographic context. With countless designs in any shape, size and color, how do we begin to understand concrete and its application as we create new cities and respond to historic conditions? Building upon that Japanese feature, this collection examines concrete’s role in Portugal, showcasing how context, design culture and innovative processes allow new concepts and spaces to emerge.

The following group of projects exemplifies new concrete structures being built across the country, incorporating diverse programs, scales and environmental conditions. Utilizing various combinations of aggregates, textures and reinforcing materials, the designs all explore how we experience envelopes and the liminal condition between interior and exterior space.

Centre for Interpretation of the Battle of Atoleiros by Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos, Fronteira, Portugal

Designed to communicate the story of the Portuguese civil war, the Centre for Interpretation was created with a vibrant red concrete façade. The coarse concrete was used to recall textures made by the human hand and the uneven construction of medieval buildings. A slotted void cuts across the building, opening up to glazing, galleries and a long bench that looks onto the nearby park.

Social Centre by Imago, Brufe, Portugal

This social center was designed as a carved block form in Brufe, Portugal. The program includes a day care, rest home, offices and service areas. The concrete façade was imagined as an opaque, dense surface with minimal perforations.

Braga Municipal Stadium by Eduardo Souto de Moura, Braga, Portugal

Arguably Souto de Moura’s most famous work, the Braga Stadium was created with many subtle and powerful design moves; for example, the stadium’s careful positioning allowing people outside the arena to also watch the match. The building is carved out of the adjacent quarry, and steel cables combine with a canopy roof to connect both sides of the field. Concrete stands were carefully slotted and aligned with existing landscape conditions.

Braamcamp Freire Secondary School by CVDB arquitectos, Pontinha, Portugal

A secondary school located in Pontinha’s urban fabric, Braamcamp Freire is a rehabilitation project of an existing school built in 1986. The new design was created to reorganize spaces, articulate different functional areas and open the school up to the community. A combination of in situ and prefabricated concrete elements make up the façade and respond to solar orientation.

Vodafone Headquarters Building by Barbosa & Guimarães Architects, Porto, Portugal

Vodafone’s Headquarters in Porto was conceived around the companies slogan “Life in Motion.” The dynamic, flowing façade uses irregular and free-form concrete to express plasticity and fluidity. The concrete shell reduced internal structural support while allowing greater versatility throughout the interior spaces.

Monção Houses by JPLoureiro, Arquitecto, Lda, Monção, Portugal

These two houses by the bank of the River Minho were created for a father and son. They are joined together by a large, pre-stressed concrete flagstone. The strong horizontal gesture begins to frame different landscape conditions and shape both the circulation and views on site.

Elderly Persons Residence – Social Complex by Guedes Cruz Architects, Alcabideche, Portugal

A social housing complex for the elderly, these buildings were created as an investigation into different life styles and the relationship between privacy and community. Streets, plazas and gardens were imagined as outdoor extensions of the houses themselves. Exposed concrete and plexiglass were the primary materials used for the project, where the concrete grounds the structures and supports the functions above.

Melgaço Sports School by Pedro Reis Arquitecto, Melgaço, Portugal

The Melgaço Sports School was designed as a serene, integrated learning atmosphere combined with a sports campus. The program serves as a central hub for administrative, social and educational activities. An anchored concrete volume helps articulate the social and administrative functions of the program, while a lighter white volume houses the educational areas above.

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The post Concrete Façades: 8 Bold Designs in Portugal appeared first on Journal.

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It all started with the humble hut.

From the moment that people ventured out of caves and across the land to explore the wider environment, manmade shelters became vital for survival. Using whatever local materials were available, nomadic groups began constructing primitive structures capable of withstanding the elements, providing warm and dry conditions crucial for their long-term survival. What may have seemed like a simple, unassuming task of necessity at the time belied a moment of great significance for design: in that instant, architecture was born.

Dani Huts, Papua. Via Trek Papua.

The hut typology encompasses a wide variety of vernacular buildings types. From igloos to yurts, teepees to cabanas, structures have been created in a multitude of different forms to suit the climate and cultural peculiarities of the people who build them. These traditional modes of shelter typically incorporate simple but ingenious design details, each utilizing local materials to their full potential.

Today, these key principles remain — but the word “hut” is often used to describe structures that are notably more complex than those primitive shelters that marked the very beginnings of architectural design. Here are seven of the best contemporary huts from the 21st century — crawl inside, take refuge, and click the links for more images and information on each project.

Swamp Hut by Moskow Linn Architects, Newton, Mass.

Four simple timber-framed huts are situated around a central deck in the heart of this densely forested swamp habitat in Massachusetts, perfectly situated to observe local wildlife. Sleeping compartments face east and west, each clad with translucent fiberglass panels that allow for diffuse views of the surrounding landscape. After sundown, the tent-like structures are illuminated from within like lanterns in the twilight.

Hut on Sleds by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects, Whangapoua, New Zealand

This crate-like holiday home sits on the picturesque coastline of New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, containing everything needed for a family weekend away from the city. Sections of the contemporary timber structure can unfold and swing back to reveal idyllic views across the bay, while spaces for sleeping, cooking, eating, and washing are cleverly integrated into the interior.

Rolling Huts by Olson Kundig Architects, Mazama, Wash.

Situated in a clearing at the edge of the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Olson Kundig’s Rolling Hut accommodation is full of textured patinas. The exposed I-beams and cantilevered roofs of each wheeled structure is distinctively modern, but a material palette of Cor-Ten steel and warm timber means they sit in harmony with this spectacular landscape.

YETA (in)visible Hut by Lab Zero, Trentino Alto Adige, Italy

A humorous exemplar of architectural camouflage in the Alps, this stack of logs hides a deceptively modern interior. The mini-lodge is a prototype designed for a multitude of remote locations and includes a basic kitchen, shower unit, efficient insulation, and even an array of solar panels.

Nueva Esperanza School by Al Borde Arquitectos, Manabi, Ecuador

Similar in style to traditional ‘cabana’ huts built in tropical climates, this thatched timber structure in Ecuador houses an educational space with open ends for natural light and ventilation. Bamboo and local timber were utilized for the frame, protected with a “knitted scarf” of straw.

Hut with the Arc Wall by Tato Architects / You Shimada, Shodoshima Island, Japan

Sure, it functions as a humble public toilet, but this isn’t just any WC: it was designed by You Shimada as part of the Setouchi Art Festival, a renowned exhibition of art and architecture in Japan with buildings by SANAA and Tadao Ando in the vicinity. The toilets themselves are contained within white barrel-shaped structures and covered by a roof that includes a mixture of smoked and transparent tiles, producing a beautiful illuminated effect at night.

Hut-to-Hut Concept by Rintala Eggerston Architects, KA, India

Designed and built in collaboration with students from the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, these huts were made as environmentally friendly as possible, using local materials and renewable energy sources. The timber and glass modules are based on traditional vernacular forms, but their material palette and sustainable attributes lend this ancient typology a highly contemporary edge.

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The post Blast from the Past: 7 Contemporary Huts Inspired by Ancient Architecture appeared first on Journal.

Submit your best renderings for the Unbuilt Categories at the 7th Annual A+Awards for a chance at global recognition and international publication! Click here to prepare your entry before the final entry deadline on March 29th.

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut’s futuristic urban landscapes are not to everyone’s liking, but one thing is for sure: They always get the internet talking. Some of his most provocative renderings portray Paris as an über green metropolis, populated with vertical farms, towers powered by photosynthesis and apartments made up of tessellating honeycomb modules, fused with traditional residential blocks.

Inhabitable bridges soar across the Seine, whilst tree-like structures entwined with mangrove plants spiral overhead. Weaving between the luscious high-rises, a spiderweb of monorails completes Callebaut’s outrageously utopian vision of sustainable architecture and infrastructure.

© Vincent Callebaut Architectures. Via designboom

Callebaut’s fantastical work is intended to get people talking about environmental issues within the built environment, and on this point alone, his renderings must be considered a huge success. His work follows in the footsteps of many architects who delight in the creation of playfully absurd worlds, intended not as feasible proposals but rather to provoke debate and encourage us to ask: “What if?”

This is the beauty of conceptual architecture — and why the Architecture + Models & Rendering and Unbuilt Categories are among the mostly hotly contested in Architizer’s A+Awards, the world’s largest awards program for architecture and building-products. As you consider which of your renderings to submit for one of architecture’s most prestigious honors, take inspiration from the following “dreamscapes”, each of which push through the boundaries of reality and explore the potential of architecture to transform the future …

Enter the 2019 A+Awards

Via Archipress and Atkinson and Co

Walking City by Archigram

In an article for Archigram, the trailblazer of conceptual architecture, British architect Ron Herron proposed gargantuan, nomadic cities that could relocate as needed to access vital resources and provide infrastructure for manufacturing around the world, wherever demand arose. Drawn in 1964, it caused quite a stir in the world of architectural criticism and urban theory.

These robotic structures could link together to form an enormous metropolis when necessary, or break down into individual, free-moving buildings, bridges, and road segments. Outlandish though it may be, the project harnessed the same principles of versatility and dynamism present in metabolic architecture, which was to become a reality in Japan during the same period.

Via Fineart

Discopter City by Alexander Weygers

A Dutch-American polymath with experience in aerospace engineering, Weygers received his patent in 1945 for a disc-shaped craft, two years before the term “flying saucer” was ever used. The Discopter was born.

The visionary artist and painter put together a compelling image of a future San Francisco, with the city’s infrastructure redefined by this new mode of transport. Although the Discopter still looks like something out of The Fifth Element, Weyger’s illustration provides an intriguing glimpse of just how a future metropolis could be shaped by advances in technology.

Via Diesel Punks and Graphicine

Manhattan by Hugh Ferriss

Perhaps the most famous architectural concept artist of them all, Hugh Ferriss illustrated the consequences of zoning laws in New York City to show professionals the exact setbacks necessary to maximize floor space during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s. His drawings pre-empted the iconic silhouettes of Manhattan classics, the Empire State and the Chrysler Building.

At the end of his book “The Metropolis of Tomorrow,” he included a series of hypothetical views, presenting Manhattan as a manmade mountain range: The forest of towers has inspired countless modernists and futurists, and gave a glimpse of an urban landscape that is still emerging today.

Via André Rocha

Transparent City by André Rocha

Portuguese illustrator André Rocha uses fine pen work to create whimsical urban environments with incredible density — and an extraordinary level of detail. The artist’s scenes “vacillate between the real and the surreal,” playing with texture, light, and shade to create riotous cityscapes that sit precariously on the page.

Rocha enjoys contrasting traditional architectural styles with modernist concepts of openness and minimalism, and “Transparent City” sees that contrast displayed in all its glory. Perhaps it represents a metaphor for ancient cities that are beginning to be punctuated by bold, contemporary interventions.

Via Artstation

Futuristic Slums by Jean-Guilhem Bargues

Whilst this dystopian environment was produced by Bargues for purely artistic purposes, it is eerily reminiscent of certain real-life urban conditions — namely Venezuela’s Torre David, which was the world’s largest vertical slum until a mass eviction on New Year’s Eve 2014.

Bargues’ rendering is strangely beautiful nonetheless, and the inclusion of two figures in the foreground gives an indicator of this makeshift city’s epic scale. There is also a nod towards Orwellian concepts of surveillance and the nanny state: who is piloting those aircraft, their spotlights beaming down through the smog-filled sky?

Via Atelier Olschinsky

Cities by Atelier Olschinsky

Peter Olschinsky and Verena Weiss met whilst working on a project for a mutual client in 2002, and instantly realized that they must work with each other on a more permanent basis. Atelier Olschinsky was born, and with it has come an extraordinary array of intense graphic artworks with a mind-boggling level of spatial intricacy.

Hi Fructose arts writer James Scarborough sums up the chaos beautifully:

“Each piece offers panoplies of virtuosity. Each bristles with complexity and detail. The series resembles Russian Constructivism on steroids. It’s rife with formal movement. Line and pattern crisscross and overlay. It’s more a Platonic idea of a major metropolis, what sleepy villages dream of becoming when they grow up.”

Via The Architectural Review

City of the Future by Kempster and Evans

Illustrators Kempster and Evans created this highly graphic vision of the future in 1954, which appears to have been heavily influenced by the modernist principles of Le Corbusier. The illustration appeared in James Fisher’s book “The Wonderful World,” and envisioned cities linked together with an extensive network of public transport, much like Vincent Callebaut’s plan for Paris.

The prediction of a transport-dominated urban condition is a common vision within utopian proposals, and the image produced by Kempster and Evans echoes another ‘City of the Future’ put forward by W.H. Corbett (his incredible drawing can be found right here).

Now it’s your turn: Submit your visualizations in the Models & Rendering and Unbuilt Categories for the 7th Annual A+Awards, and do it today — the final entry deadline on March 29th!

Enter the 2019 A+Awards

Top image: City of the Future by Tim Van T’ Hof

The post The Great Tomorrow: 8 Architectural Visions for the Future of Cities appeared first on Journal.

Architects: Showcase your work and find the perfect materials for your next project through Architizer. Manufacturers: To connect with the world’s largest architecture firms, sign up now.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 34 million Americans live alone, a number that has radical implications for the way we conceive of dwellings and the layout of domestic spaces. Given increasing living costs and the trend towards mobile and transactional accommodation, the near future may see drastic social and cultural changes in how and why we settle down.

Three Spanish architecture practices have developed flexible models to organize and redesign existing apartments, converting them to respond to contemporary needs. The interiors become a contemporary “machine for living,” optimizing the space and reducing costs by using sliding walls, plywood panels, and a playful approach to personalized interiors. The following three proposals carefully investigate modern domestic functions, maximizing the utility of each space.

Didomestic by Elii:oficina de arquitectura

“Every house is a theatre,” notes Elii:oficina de arquitectura, the Madrid-based studio behind Didomestic, the refurbishment of a 60-sq.m. attic. The domestic stage is organized around two elements: the staircase to the mezzanine bisects the space, while rooms on either side hold functional elements like the kitchen and bathroom.

Movable plexiglass/wood panels run along guide rails to define the space and allow natural lighting to come through the façades and the roof. Everything you need is stored in the ceiling. Tables, benches, and shelves — as well as a hammock and a swing — are integrated within the floor and the ceiling, accessible at the user’s whim.

All I Own House by PKMN

Internet and technology have transformed the bedroom into an office and the living room into a meeting space. PKMN fulfilled the request of graphic designer Yolanda R. Pila to create a space that could accommodate her home place and office in just 50 sq.m. in the 40’s former house of her grandparents. According to Enrique Espinosa, co-founder of the practice, “All I Own House deals with two of the major issues in contemporary living: change and identity.”

“The space allows continuous change, and so adaptation to new needs, to new familiar and social structures, to new jobs, to new domestic spaces where living, resting, working, meeting, partying, sharing continuously mixes in time and space. All I Own House allows the user to define this boundaries in a customizable system able to hold new uses and technologies. On the other hand, the space should have the capacity to integrate user memories and objects, but also to represent his or her style.”

The space is divided in two parts: one side is empty while the other comprises the bathroom, the kitchen and three wooden, suspended, mobile, and transformable containers that hold a bed, a table, and a wardrobe. The three sliding modules create different configurations according to the needs of the dweller.

The POP-UP House by TallerDe2 Architects

In a mid-century residential building, studio TallerDe2 designed the POP-UP House by removing partitions to create a “domestic infrastructure” inside a 750-square-foot space. The room doesn’t contain furniture or appliances, but these ultimately define and delineate the space. Arantza Ozaeta Cortázar and Álvaro Martín Fidalgo, founders of the practice, have worked in the concept of mobility like social and cultural change, as well as driving force to conceive domestic space. “Our lifestyles definitely assume mobility, due to our work and also leisure,” said the Spanish architects.

“The displacement sensation is reflected in the condition that we must leave our main-houses and stay in foreign living spaces. The scale of the space is not the issue any more, but those other elements such as the furniture and certain leisure characteristics that make possible to live the space in an hedonistic way, an easy, fun, and helpful design concept for the sake of user as opposed to the designer. We can track more valuable clues about what is essential in contemporary living spaces in which the stay, as a kind of consumption, is quicker and intense, as in some hotels, hostels, or apartments that are temporary rentals.”

The system affords an increase of available free space: from 50% of a traditional apartment to 77% in the new configuration. As in the previous projects, the main home furnishings are folded inside the infrastructure modules. The structure is mostly made of plywood panels to uniform the exterior and covered internally with 1970s graphic tiles and wallpapers.

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All images and videos courtesy of the architects.

The post Hate the Micro Living Trend? These 3 Plans Might Change Your Mind appeared first on Journal.

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Details define architecture. How a building comes together shapes the way we experience space, and in turn, the quality of a structure. Architecture begins at a material level, and from there we combine materials through detailing to control temperature and humidity, to create structural stability, or to simply shape an aesthetic. A project can be formally or spatially inspiring, but if it isn’t detailed properly it can literally fall apart at the seams.

Drawing from the Architizer database, we’ve rounded up a collection of pristine, minimalist details that show off thoughtful and sometimes intricate assemblies. From curtain walls and sun screens to windows and roofs, each of the details reveal how architects think across scales. These details are drawn from every kind of project, from residential housing to commercial and educational spaces. Collectively, they show some of the most clever moments within design and construction through the lens of drawing.

Dyson Building: Department of Fine and Applied Arts by Haworth Tompkins, London, United Kingdom

The Dyson building was designed a major new development to the Royal College of Art after it moved to Kensington Gore in 1962. It forms the centerpiece of the RCA’s Battersea Campus, and the development sits alongside the RCA’s existing Painting and Sculpture Programs on the site. A large top-lit ‘machine hall’ links the two blocks and forms the heart of the building, designed to house the large presses used by printmakers. A more public zone of retail and business space is arranged along the street frontage.

As well as containing the Printmaking and Photography programs, the building is also home to a 220-seat lecture theatre, a public gallery and the College’s business incubator. The building is conceived as a creative ‘factory’ both in the industrial sense (as a place of industry), and through the reference to Andy Warhol’s Factory as a place of art production. The building’s aesthetic is functional and derives from the way it made with an in-situ concrete structure exposed throughout and used expressively to form a series of dramatic interlocking spaces.

Seattle Central Library Detail Courtesy OMA and REX

Seattle Central Library by OMA and REX, Seattle, WA, United States

Façade by Dewhurst Macfarlane & Partners and LMN

One of OMA’s most well-known buildings, the Seattle Central Library has become a celebrated civic and cultural project. Programming was at the project’s heart from the outset, directly shaping the building’s form while combining diverse functions. Built for the circulation of knowledge across different forms of media, the library was designed to present information equally and legibly. It is composed of five platforms and four flowing planes wrapped in a steel diagrid façade.

The building’s glass and metal skin began with the simple concept of wrapping the entire building in a continuous layer of transparency. Made to unify shifting planes of glass, a diamond module system was used for the mullion framing throughout the envelope. The curtain wall glazing system was built with numerous components, from I-beam latticed steel and aluminum splice plates to threaded rod attachments. The façade panels were fabricated entirely in Germany and then shipped to Seattle for installation.

Chicken Point Cabin Detail Courtesy Olson Kundig

Chicken Point Cabin by Olson Kundig, ID, United States

The owners of Chicken Point Cabin and their two young children bought the waterfront property—located half an hour from their house in northern Idaho—in order to build a lakeside cabin. Their intent was to be able to use the house year-round, but especially during the summer, when the local weather can get oppressively hot. Their only directive was to make the house as open to the water as possible. The result is a large pivoting picture window on the waterside that literally opens up to the landscape.

The cabin’s big window wall (30 feet by 20 feet) opens the entire living space to the forest and lake. The final solution is a hand-cranked mechanical contraption employing a counterbalance principle through a set of gears, like that of a bicycle, that allow minimal input of force to pivot the six-ton steel and glass window. Although the gizmo employs sophisticated mechanical engineering, the result is not unlike the opening of a tent flap, allowing fresh air and unimpeded views.

Country Garden Studios by Ashworth Parkes Architects, Warmington, United Kingdom

This project is a collection of new agricultural style buildings at the threshold between the formal garden of the main house and meadow beyond in a small Northamptonshire village. The brief asked for the demolition of an existing garage, a garden store and the remains of an old piggery. In their was designed a Studio building with catering facilities and a bathroom, a garden storage building with room for an office at one end, a carport and a greenhouse.

APA selected sawn larch timber as vertical cladding for the main studio’s façade. They asked the contractors to split 200-millimeter boards into four differently sized strips in order to generate ‘random’ widths for the exterior. This detail resulted in a more disheveled look, according to the architects — one that’s representational of the type of timber the farmer may have found around the site. APA chose the sawn larch over cedar because of its timeless appearance.

Balancing Barn by MVRDV, Thorington, UK

Aluminum Manufactured by Reynaers Aluminum

Balancing Barn is situated on a beautiful site by a small lake in the English countryside near Thorington in Suffolk. The Barn responds through its architecture and engineering to the site condition and natural setting. The traditional barn shape and reflective metal sheeting take their references from the local building vernacular. In this sense the Balancing Barn aims to live up to its educational goal in re-evaluating the countryside and making modern architecture accessible.

At the midpoint the Barn starts to cantilever over the descending slope, while the structure balances on a central concrete core, with the section that sits on the ground constructed from heavier materials than the cantilevered section. The long sides of the structure are well concealed by trees, offering privacy inside and around the Barn. The exterior is covered in reflective metal sheeting, which, like the pitched roof, takes its references from the local building vernacular and reflects the surrounding nature and changing seasons.

Facade Detail Courtesy OMA

De Rotterdam by OMA, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Façades by Permasteelisa and TGM

Standing as the largest building in the Netherlands, OMA’s De Rotterdam project explored urban diversity and density through three monumental towers joined by a shared plinth. Made with subtly irregular stacks, the design organizes program into distinct blocks that embrace a wide variety of uses. Formed around the idea of a vertical city, the project has 1.7 million square feet of utilizable floor space along the port area district.

The building envelope was designed with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the River Maas. De Rotterdam’s external façades have been clad with an aluminum post-and-beam construction, making for a filigree appearance which changes depending on the viewer’s position. This provides the complex with a unifying compact shell.

Exterior Shade Drawing Courtesy ZGF

The University of Arizona Cancer Center by ZGF Architects Phoenix, AZ, United States

Sun Screens Manufactured by Kovach Building Enclosure

Built as the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, the project is sited in Arizona around patient-centered care. The Comprehensive Cancer Center on the Phoenix Biomedical campus includes the new 220,000 SF building includes spaces for radiation oncology, a retail / clinical pharmacy, a boutique, a support and wellness center, infusion, a clinical laboratory with a research component, diagnostic imaging, endoscopy and interventional radiology, exam and procedure rooms, and conference rooms throughout, as well as one floor of shell space to accommodate future growth.

By creating a layered envelope of glass and copper-colored metal, the design creates a landmark identity on campus while reflecting the patient experience: their comfort, privacy, and warmth. ZGF partnered with Hensel Phelps as part of a design-build and worked with material manufacturers Kovach Building Enclosure, Viracon, KT Fabrication and Sun Valley Masonry.

Wall Section Courtesy SANAA

Grace Farms by SANAA, New Canaan, Conn.

Aluminum Rainscreen Roof manufactured by Zahner

Located in New Canaan, Connecticut, the multipurpose building and landscape project was made with Handel Architects to embrace open space for people to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community and explore faith. SANAA was inspired by the idea of making the architecture a river that’s part of the landscape, an element that doesn’t draw attention to itself. The result is a simple, elegant building that rethinks the relationship between architecture and landscape.

The Grace Farm’s River project floats as a ribbon of glass and steel above the hilly landscape. Working with Zahner, SANAA wanted to give life to the idea of a building that’s part of nature. The structure combines a sanctuary, library, court, commons, and pavilion under an aluminum roof. Featuring a dual curvature panel system, the roof design consists of standard-sized sheets of exterior anodized aluminum. The project uses a light-weight system to achieve the shape with several custom aluminum extrusions that form a channel between the aluminum skins. Here, a floating aluminum plate provides a visual transition between panels.

Restoration and extension of a house in Rubalcaba by riaño + arquitectos, El Astillero, Spain

This project is located in the Rubalcaba district of Liérganes and faces what was once the ancient “Camino Real” that ran parallel to what is now San Roque de Riomiera road. One of the façades overlooks an open space which, by all appearances, was probably a square before the aforementioned road detached and sunk the chapel of Santa María La Blanca. Within a short distance of the town was this casona or large house, which belonged to the Rubalcabas in ancient times, and which is in the same district as the famous cross, chapel, mill and bridge over the River Miera. According to historical records and the foundations of at least two casonas that have been discovered, the district appears to have been more densely populated between the 17th and 19th centuries.

A pavilion was built on either side of the main building: one, with a square plan and two floors, to house the garage and a library, and another, with a rectangular plan and two storys, to accommodate the utilities, a wine cellar and the guestrooms. The slope of the terrain half buries these volumes which are arranged like natural platforms and open directly onto the back garden – via the guest pavilion in the first case – and via the sun terrace/bridge in the case of the main building.

Facade Diagram Courtesy John Ronan Architects

IIT Innovation Center by John Ronan Architects, Chicago, IL, United States

Exterior Glazing Manufactured by Oldcastle Building Envelope and Guardian Glass

The Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship at the Illinois Institute of Technology is devoted to fostering collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship between IIT’s students, faculty, alumni and partners. The building hosts a variety of collaboration spaces for IIT’s project-based experiences, including state-of-the art prototyping and fabrication facilities, and it serves as the Mies campus home for the Institute of Design.

The horizontal, open and light-filled building is designed to encourage encounters between students and faculty across disciplines. The Center is wrapped in white ETFE on its upper levels, which cantilever over the main floor, creating a certain sense of lift to the building. Despite this structural contrast, the use of exterior glazing, which encloses the Innovation Center’s ground floor, plays a critical role in tying Ronan’s new structure into its historic surroundings.

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All drawings and photographs courtesy of the architects.

The post Architectural Drawings: 10 Pristine Design Details appeared first on Journal.

Final call for entries: Enter the 2019 A+Product Awards before the final entry deadline on Friday, March 29th.

A central pillar of Architizer’s A+Awards, the A+Product Awards represents the cutting edge of contemporary building-product design. This global awards program, the largest of its kind, is a barometer for innovation within the industry — and it carries a huge weight given the demographic that decides the winners.

There are two A+Product Awards up for grabs for each category — one voted for by Architizer’s community via a free online vote, and one selected by a jury of more than 200 active specifiers and design thinkers. Both of these groups include a large number of architects and designers — professionals who specify tens of millions of dollars each year in building products and materials. Just for starters, the A+Product Awards jury includes:

• Annabelle Selldorf, Principal, Selldorf Architects
• David Rockwell, Founder and President, Rockwell Group
• Neri Oxman, Designer and Professor, MIT Media Lab
• Joan Blumenfeld, Design Principal and Interior Design Director, Perkins+Will
• Peter Gluck, Founder and Principal, GLUCK+
• Cheryl Durst, Vice President and CEO, IIDA
• Carol Ross Barney, Founder, Ross Barney Architects
• Gary Handel, Founding Partner, Handel Architects

These decision makers have a key say in which designers rise to the top and grab the spotlight. Last year, 28 brands came out victorious, with a range of designers, fabricators and collaborators grabbing prestigious accolades in a wide variety of categories. The 2019 A+Product Awards is dedicated to the next great wave of building-product manufacturers, those that will take architecture into 2020 with cutting-edge creative ideas. This year, the prizes are even bigger — including the opportunity to be published in “The World’s Best Building-Products“, a digital publication that will be distributed to thousands of member architecture firms.

To put themselves in the running, brand representatives should follow this link and register for submission this week — the final entry deadline is midnight on Friday, March 29th. As we built up to this year’s climax, take ample inspiration from the A+Product Awards class of 2018:

Chameleon Collection by Pure+Freeform and Marcel Wanders

Pure+FreeForm

Winning Product: Chameleon Collection
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Building Envelopes and Cladding

The Chameleon Collection, a collaboration between Pure+FreeForm and Marcel Wanders, features eight metal skins that impart optical pearl textures and iridescent effects. The collaboration’s goal was to present a new semiotic future in expressing identity and beauty in architectural metals. Changes in time, light source, angle of interaction, and panel type transform each skin, shaping ever-new perceptions of color, dimension, texture, scale, reflection and material synergy.

Alucoil’s Metallic Blue Compositie Panels at Form4 Architecture’s Innovation Curve

Alucoil

Winning Product: Composite Panel, Blue Metallic
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Building Envelopes and Cladding

Alucoil’s acumen was exhibited perfectly in Form4 Architecture’s Innovation Curve, a LEED Platinum campus on the edge of the Stanford Research Park, that uses the manufacturer’s unique colored metal to celebrate Silicon Valley. A mid-level blue metal horizontal ribbon shading element follows the shape of the classic R&D timeline; from creative spark, through trial and tribulation, to welcome success.

Vitrocsa Turnable Corner by Vitrocsa

Vitrocsa

Winning Product: Vitrocsa Turnable Corner
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Glazing Systems & Facades

The multi-A+Award-winning Vitrocsa has led the way in minimalist glazing products for a long time, and the company’s Turnable Corner system may be one of its sleekest yet. This beautiful sliding door has been developed to optimize space by using a roller principle which completely frees up the glazed components from the passageway. Because they are able to turn at the corners, the glazed panels can be hidden away, allowing breathtaking views to be revealed.

YKK AP America Curtain wall on Gates Hall by Morphosis, Ithaca, NY

YKK AP America Inc.

Winning Product: YHC 300 SSG Cassette Curtain Wall System
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Glazing Systems & Facades

YKK continues to push the boundaries of materials to provide architects with optimal curtain wall solutions. The YHC 300 SSG (Structural Silicone Glazed) Cassette is one of the industry’s strongest, most versatile curtain wall systems built to protect against blasts and strong environmental conditions. Its capabilities go beyond that of traditional curtain wall systems, with a four-sided SSG design providing architects with a modern, clean aesthetic and virtually no sightline from the building’s exterior.

Solar Canopy by Brooklyn Solar Canopy Company

Brooklyn Solar Canopy Company

Winning Product: Solar Canopy
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Roofs

Brooklyn Solar Canopy is always looking for the next big idea in photovoltaic design, and last year the company’s ingenuity was rewarded with a coveted A+Award. The patent-pending and UL Listed Solar Canopy not only meets code requirements particular to flat roof urban properties, but the structure’s minimal design relays both elegance and strength. The new space created by the canopy inspires and encourages canopy owners to utilize their roof as a new amenity.

The Verdanta Collection by Sagegreenlife

Sagegreenlife

Winning Product: The Verdanta Collection
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Roofs

Sagegreenlife, a design and manufacturing company specializing in living garden walls, collaborated with Gensler to bring one of their most innovative systems yet to fruition. The irrigation system implemented by the living design company makes watering a streamlined process, and specialized LED growth lights ensure the plants get the nutrients they need to grow.

Portapivot 6530 by Portapivot

Portapivot

Winning Product: Portapivot 6530
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Windows & Doors

Portapivot makes arguably the most attractive pivoting doors on the market, as evidenced by the company’s double A+Award in 2018. Portapivot offers its pivoting room dividers in a made-to-measure kit, designed for interior professionals and craftsmen. Its minimal, anodized aluminum pivot door is equipped with invisible “Stealth Pivot” pivoting hinges, designed to be mounted on top of a finished floor & solid or reinforced ceiling surface, without the need for any built-in fixtures.

Finishes

Functional Partition Wall by Henrybuilt

Henrybuilt

Winning Product: Functional Partition Wall
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Cabinetry

Henrybuilt was founded in 2001 with the primary goal of producing the best kitchen and whole house furniture and storage systems in the world. The company’s Functional Partition Wall was developed to provide elegant spatial screening within a kitchen area. It is designed as a refined architectural element that allows users to dramatically shape interior space, crafted from solid wood, Paperstone and opaque white glass.

C2 Console by WETSTYLE

WETSTYLE

Winning Product: C2
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Cabinetry

WETSTYLE took home a 2018 A+Award for C2, a storage and accessories collection for the modern bathroom that channels industrial style through strong, minimalist lines and black stainless steel construction. Sleek and thoughtful in its design, the collection presents a fresh twist on a timeless aesthetic, offering a vanity console, optional storage drawer, and coordinating decorative mirror and towel holder.

ARCHI FOLDS by Studio Samira Boon

Studio Samira Boon

Winning Product: ARCHI FOLDS
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Fabric & Textiles

Studio Samira Boon is a textile architecture studio based in Amsterdam and Tokyo with a strong focus on creating dynamic environments. The studio’s double-A+Award-winning ARCHI FOLDS introduce Japanese origami techniques in architecture as a solution for flexible spatial usage. They enable spaces to stay functional for longer and fulfill their potential when owners and requirements change.

Justime Lucky 7 Two-way Shower Set by Shengtai Brassware Co.

Shengtai Brassware Co.

Winning Product: Justime Lucky 7 Two-way Shower Set
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Fixtures & Fittings

Shengtai Brassware has a history of creating effortlessly elegant fixtures for the bathroom. The original Lucky 7 basin faucet’s spout takes the shape of a growing stalk and resembles the form of the number 7. The two-way shower set, an extension of this collection, continues the Lucky 7 design concept. With clean lines and a minimalist aesthetic, the organic hand shower and sleek rain shower is designed to enhance the user’s daily life.

Modulo Stone Easy Drain by Easy Drain Solutions

Easy Sanitary Solutions

Winning Product: Modulo Stone Easy Drain
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Fixtures & Fittings

True to its name, Dutch brand Easy Sanitary Solutions aims to provide simple, practical and advantageous for installation specialists and end-users. One such example is the Modulo Stone Easy Drain, a unique frameless shower drain with tileable grate that is developed for natural stone floors of any thickness. The frameless design makes it completely invisible and fits harmoniously into any bathroom floor.

Dekton Industrial Collection by Cosentino

Cosentino

Winning Product: Dekton Industrial Collection
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Interior Materials & Surfaces

Renowned Spanish manufacturer Cosentino is a specialist in the production ultracompact materials, and one of its most popular lines — Dekton — helped it to global recognition in the 2018 A+Awards. The Dekton Industrial collection was crafted with four colors that capture the essence of beautifully aging minerals, including mottled concrete and metal.

Paper Terrazzo Laminate by Formica Group

Formica Group

Winning Product: Paper Terrazzo Laminate
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Interior Materials & Surfaces

With future generations in mind, the Formica Group design team identified a movement to repurpose materials and reuse them in new ways by asking the printers to utilize remnants from manufacturing. The leftover scraps of solid color paper were once reprocessed into pulp to be used in creating another solid. Now, the remnants are celebrated, chopped up into tiny fragments and directly placed on top of a solid to create a terrazzo-look laminate.

Voronoi Tile by TURF Design

TURF Design

Winning Product: Voronoi Tile
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Wall Coverings & Ceilings

TURF Design’s sustainable design principles are showcased through the Voronoi Tile, a compression molded acoustical ceiling tile made from 99% recycled PET plastic felt. The single tile system can be installed in any sequence for unlimited customization. Attached with magnetic clips, each tile snaps onto the surface of an magnetic t-grid ceiling, obscuring that unsightly thing in the process. According to TURF, “the acoustical quality is through the roof. Pun intended.”

Lichen by Mohawk Group

Mohawk Group

Winning Product: Lichen
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Carpeting

Mohawk Group pioneers new, sustainable carpeting designs for modern architectural spaces. The company’s A+Award-winning Lichen Collection is a modular plank carpet system resulting from innovations that merge leading concepts in biophilic design and sustainability. The first flooring product to achieve the International Living Future Institute’s Living Product Challenge Petal Certification, the product actually gives more resources back to the environment than it uses during its entire life cycle.

Martyn Thompson collection for Perennials Rugs

Perennials

Winning Product: Martyn Thompson collection for Perennials Rugs
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Carpeting

Perennials’ 100% solution-dyed acrylic fibers allow for the best color stability and performance properties in the performance textiles industry. Martyn Thompson’s collection of luxury Tibetan Knot rugs includes four vivid designs that emphasize the artist’s impressionist influences while maintaining all of the benefits of using Perennials’ high-quality solution-dyed acrylic yarns.

Subtractive Layers by Patcraft

Patcraft

Winning Product: Subtractive Layers
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Flooring

Patcraft continues to prove that aesthetic appeal need not be compromised for high performance commercial flooring. Subtractive Layers uses foundational methods of art to explore new ground. Inspired by a subtractive process that adds dimension by removing material, the patterns of this unique and artful LVT collection give life to a layered, modern texture, and striations of contrast come from removing paint intentionally to create color shifts in individual tiles. This resilient tile flooring is engineered for performance, and is well suited for heavy commercial installations.

Furniture

LG Styler by LG Electronics

LG Electronics

Winning Product: LG Styler
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Appliances and Accessories

In a crowded market, LG has a knack for creating unusual electronic appliances to catch the eye of interior designers. A one-of-a-kind clothing care system, the A+Award-winning LG Styler refreshes clothes, bedding, pillows and more in minutes with the power of pure steam. LG Styler’s deep-penetrating steam and gently moving hangers reduce wrinkles in clothes and eliminate odors left behind by smoke.

Peony Matte Stone Vessel Sink Set with Niko Vessel Faucet by VIGO Industries

VIGO Industries

Winning Product: Peony Matte Stone Vessel Sink Set with Niko Vessel Faucet
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Appliances and Accessories

When VIGO designs a new product, form is as vital as function. “If a product does not look as appealing in its lines as in its purpose, then it is not worthy of your home or of our name,” states the company. True to form, the Matte Stone™ sink set is an ultra-durable acrylic composite designed to look and feel like carved, polished stone — molded as a seamless piece.

Nora by Davis Furniture

Davis Furniture

Winning Product: Nora
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Commercial Furniture

Davis Furniture is a leader in the contract furniture industry, known for its refined designs that blend modern aesthetics with great functionality. The A+Award-winning Nora is a contemporary collection that blurs the lines between contract and residential design. This lounge, bench and table series blends the comforts of home with commercial durability and versatility, while its minimalistic design allows for a range of material combinations.

Tanya by Visionnaire

Visionnaire

Winning Product: The Tanya chair
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Commercial Furniture

Italian furniture designer Visionnaire crafts increasingly ergonomic forms through new material innovations. Smart, sleek, and decidedly contemporary, the technically complex Tanya chair — manufactured using injection molding — appears, at first blush, to share a distant ancestor with Italy’s high-end automotive upholstery. Designed by architect Roberto Lazzeroni for Visionnaire, the Tanya features a free-standing, saucer-like seat sheathed in fabric or leather, echoing a seamlessly leathered back.

Pong in the Park by the Urban Conga

The Urban Conga

Winning Product: Pong in the Park
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Outdoor Furniture

The Urban Conga is perhaps the most vibrant company in this collection, as evidenced by its latest A+Award winner Pong in the park, a resilient yet striking public ping pong table. Its unique design makes it appear as if it is emerging from the ground. The full-sized, powder coated steel tables can be customized in color and branding, adding a bold focal point to public spaces as well as forming a magnet for social engagement.

Cove kitchen by Boffi / Zaha Hadid Design

Boffi / Zaha Hadid Design

Winning Product: Cove Kitchen
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Residential Furniture

Zaha Hadid Design continues the legacy of its late founder with achingly cool design collaborations and A+Award-winning products. The Cove Kitchen was created in partnership with Italian manufacturer Boffi and marries exceptional detailing with functionality, carefully chosen materials and traditional craftsmanship. The statement piece possesses the characteristic curves of Zaha Hadid Architects, with exceptional resilience to boot.

Lighting

Acoustic Lighting by Luxxbox

Luxxbox

Winning Product: Acoustic Lighting
2018 A+Awards Popular and Jury Vote Winner for Architectural Lighting

Founded in 2006, Luxxbox now supplies the largest range of acoustic pendant lights to North America. The company’s latest LED pendant lights are constructed from acoustically-rated PET to improve the acoustic quality of open spaces by reducing reverberated noise. The acoustic lights make full use of the void between the ceiling and the furniture below by introducing acoustic material into an under-utilized space in commercial environment design.

Arrangements by FLOS

FLOS

Winning Product: Arrangements
2018 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner for Decorative Lighting

FLOS is renowned among architects for creating light fixtures that work as artworks in their own right — a fact illuminated by the A+Award-winning Arrangements. Inspired by the parallel between lighting & jewelry, this modular collection allows for customization by combining different geometric light elements. Each unit attaches to another as if resting, balancing perfectly as a part of a glowing chain.

Algorithm by Vibia

Vibia

Winning Product: Algorithm
2018 A+Awards Popular Vote Winner for Decorative Lighting

Vibia’s glowing creations are breathtaking, none more so than Algorithm. Created by designer Toan Nguyen, the A+Award winning lighting collection inspires an architect’s creativity in order to achieve the desired project configuration in any space. Like a constellation or raindrops falling from the clouds, Alogrithm magically brings together geometry and beauty within a single lighting system.

BE PART OF NEXT YEAR’S LIST: Click here to register and prepare your entry for the 2019 A+Product Awards, and be quick — the final entry period ends at midnight on Friday, March 29th.

Enter the 2019 A+Product Awards

The post 28 Game-Changing Product Designers, as Chosen by Architects appeared first on Journal.

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Photorealistic renderings are increasingly the norm in architecture, but it’s almost heartbreaking how much work they take. Modeling alone takes hours, and that’s only one step of a very intense process. And for really great renderings, it’s not enough to just model the architecture. You have to populate it with bits of ephemera: a coat thrown over a couch, a cup of coffee on the counter and, at the very least, a nice plant in the corner. These things can make or break the image, but they are probably lethal to model. Fortunately, there are free models online to help you out.

The site Archive 3D features a database of thousands of 3D objects available for free download. Most of the objects are meshes in 3DS format and include texture maps, so they are ready to use in 3ds Max and are easily translatable to other programs. Not everything is modeled at the same quality, so it might take a little digging to find something that will work, but among the thousands of options on the site, there’s probably something that fits.

Everything from Barcelona chairs to yachts to lilies to demonic robots are up there, so before you spend any more time modeling a pale imitation of some piece of lighting or furniture, check the site and save yourself some major headaches.

If you have anything to add to the database, it’s very easy to upload your own work. The internet is great for sharing. Why are you still reading this? Just go to archive3d.net and download everything you need now!

For more on architectural visualizations, explore our continuing “Art of Rendering” series, including interviews with the experts from Methanoia, CGArchitect and MIR. For more personal stories from the world of ArchViz, enjoy these interviews with visualization maestros Victor Enrich and Alex Hogrefe — creator of the extraordinary Cliff Retreat.

Furthermore, treat yourself to some more free downloads for all your rendering needs!:

5 Places to Download 2-D People for Your Architectural Visualizations

200 High-Resolution 2-D People

10 HDRi Spherical Skies

More Than 4,000 High-Resolution Material Textures

18 Highly Detailed 3-D Trees

12 Common Construction Details Fully Modeled in SketchUp

Architizer is harnessing the latest technology to create a new platform for researching architecture and building-products. Sign up today and find everything you need to create amazing architecture.

Top image: Cliff Retreat Interior by Alex Hogrefe

The post Free: Thousands of 3D Objects for Use in Architectural Renderings appeared first on Journal.

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In the last decade, the micro living trend has become well established. As the cost of living and rents in cities across the world continue to rise, residents have been seeking alternative, lower cost types of residences that defy our expectations. One residential trend that continues to rise forgoes the traditional permanent structure in favor of compact mobile spaces. Unlike conventional mobile homes — those with a design and specification to make architects wince — Andrew and Gabriella Morrison’s innovative hOMe features an interior that looks more like a Manhattan loft than a house on wheels.

At a mere 221-square-feet, the mobile residence comfortably crams a fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom and bedroom loft, as well as a staircase that doubles as a storage space. Clean aesthetics, bold black lines and modern amenities make hOMe an attractive alternative to permanent structures, as you have the option to take the plywood-clad structure on the road. The Morrison’s transportable house inspired us to take a look at other architects who are rethinking mobile structures with bold designs that won’t keep you tied down. Read through to see them all:

XBO Mobile Unit by 70°N Arkitektur, Norway

Blurring the boundaries between temporary and mobile architecture, the XBO prototype focuses on keeping resources to a minimum, trying to maximize the qualities of active living, light, and openness, while at the same creating a simple but welcoming habitation. The structure can be easily transported by truck, includes large glass windows, and an interior palette of birch veneer, providing a modern, comfortable feel.

HomeBox by Slawik Architekten, Germany

In the size of an internationally standardized freight container, this experimental transportable wooden structure was developed with different variants for residential uses. Wood cladding was selected because of the material’s low costs, and easy maintenance and repair. HomeBox designs come in two different heights, depending on the spatial needs of residents.

Blob vB3 by dmvA Architecten, Belgium

With an extremely suitable name, the Blob vB3 is a globular mobile structure that looks like an egg sitting in the landscape. The Blob was originally developed as a portable office space, but redesigned to include a bathroom, kitchen, bed, and several niches for storage. The design consists of a timber frame, covered with a stretching material, and plastered with polyester to give it its distinctive eggshell appearance.

The D.O.G. House by Norwich University Design / Build, Northfield, VT

A multidisciplinary group of students from Norwich University designed this mobile, solar powered, environmental field laboratory that can support conservation-based environmental studies through hands-on learning. Beginning with a decommissioned 20-foot intermodal shipping container, the team clad the structure in repurposed wooden materials providing a rustic appearance, while two large solar panels generate electricity for the educational activities housed within.

eco-PERCH by Blue Forest, Great Britain

Developed to meet the demands of the eco-tourism sector for an attractive, affordable, and sustainable high quality accommodation, the eco-PERCH can be delivered, assembled, and commissioned in a matter of days. The cozy design is flexible and can be adapted to a variety of sites where existing infrastructure is in place. The simple, orbital building can be situated on land or perched above the ground like a livable treehouse.

LoftCube by Aisslinger + Bracht, Milan

Designed as an exclusive mobile loft, the LoftCube is an attractive and convenient living space for temporary or everyday lifestyles. The project combines futuristic architecture, 360-degree views, ample daylighting and ventilation, and customizable high-quality materials. The LoftCube is lightweight and easy to install, providing you with an efficient, yet striking contemporary residence in any context.

Absolute Box by altro_studio, Italy

The Absolute Box is a simple mobile construction that lives up to its name: an elongated white box. Made up of a plaster cardboard volume suspended over the ground by two steel trestles, the box is a flexible and malleable space that was purposefully designed without distinguishing features — other than its shape. Emphasizing sustainability, the box features an array of solar panels to allow it to function off the power grid.

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The post 8 Architects Aiming to Banish Ugly Mobile Homes Forever appeared first on Journal.

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Today marks the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere! In honor of the occasion, check out this colorful bloom of architecture inspired by all manner of flora and fauna, and delve Architizer’s project database by clicking on the links as you go.

Orquideorama by plan:b and JPRCR Arquitectos, Medellin, Colombia

Native flowers and the canopies of trees inspired the biomorphic towers of this botanical garden in Colombia. The hexagonal form of each panel increases the collective stability of the structure influenced by the natural tessellations of wild honeycomb.

Wujin Lotus Conference Center by Studio505, Wujin, China

The opalescent Lotus building takes inspiration from the lotus in its three states, from “the new young bud, to the full ripe flower, through to the opened bloom with a seed pod within.” This flamboyant architectural spectacle is only emphasized by night, when a complex lighting system turns the building fuchsia, then golden yellow, then aquamarine.

Falling Lotus Blossoms EON IT Park by Form4 Architecture, Pune, India

The curving forms of this commercial complex are inspired by the petals of India’s national flower, the Lotus Blossom. The four glass-and-steel buildings emanate out from a central plaza, which contains an outdoor amphitheater for music performances.

WARDE by HQ Architects, Jerusalem, Israel

This urban installation in Jerusalem can’t be classed as architecture per se, but it provides ample shade and shelter from the rain along one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The inflatable flowers are 30 feet high and 30 feet wide and their fiery red petals slowly open whenever a pedestrian lingers beneath them.

Ceramic Museum and Mosaic Park by Casanova Hernandez Architects, Jinzhou, China

Built in 2013 in time for the World Landscape Art Exposition in China, the mosaicked walls of this pavilion are covered in a riotous display of color, their fragmented tiles echoing the multi-chromatic blooms of the surrounding flower borders.

Taipei Flower Wholesale Market by H.P. Chueh Architects & Planners, Taipei, Taiwan

This A+Award-winning commercial and retail marketplace was redesigned from the ground up with an eye-catching façade system (to stand out amid its industrial context) and functional design elements throughout. In addition to the shops, offices, and storage and distribution areas, it even holds a greenhouse.

Find all your architectural inspiration through Architizer: Click here to sign up now. Are you a manufacturer looking to connect with architects? Click here.

The post The First Day of Spring: 6 Radiant Buildings Inspired by Flowers appeared first on Journal.

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Nostalgia is a topic that emerges time and again within the architectural profession, often loaded with negativity. Many argue that the profession should occupy itself imagining what could be, not reminiscing about times and techniques long past. For those architects, rose-tinted memories of a bygone era are simply unacceptable: The romanticism it inspires equates to delusion.

On the other hand, perhaps some aspects of our historic profession are worth treasuring. Before the disposable age of technology — complete with planned obsolescence and an unending requirement to update everything we own — the tools of the trade were designed and built to last. Details were prized for their longevity rather than their cool factor. Materials were raw and honest.

Via Kitchen Decor

For these reasons, architectural furnishings and equipment that possess those old-fashioned qualities — loosely defined as ‘vintage’ goods — are still incredibly popular today. If the aesthetics displayed in the image above inspires a pang of nostalgic joy within you, the following collection of gear is for you. These artifacts are all you need to be a truly vintage architect:

Drafting Table

It is common knowledge by now: The days of creating working drawings by hand are virtually extinct thanks to technology. However, there is still a place for pencil and paper when it comes to sketching ideas, and what better way to do it than upon a sumptuous wooden drafting table like the master architects of old? This particular version is crafted from oak with metal detailing, and would make for a rather nice work surface even if you’re now permanently attached to the CAD packages on your laptop.

Via 1stdibs

Lamp

Lighting is an obsession for most architects, and rightly so, given its significance both in the studio — they are essential in providing optimal working conditions — and in the projects themselves, dictating the character and atmosphere of a space. For the vintage architect inside you, a classic industrial aesthetic would work beautifully in sync with that timber drafting desk, and this metal lamp with a beautiful, mottled finish taps into the romantic ideal. If its price is a little eye-watering, there are cheaper options available.

Via Factory 20

Flat File Cabinet

The advent of computer-generated drawings and renderings has not ended the need for large-format prints, particularly when it comes to creating presentational material for public consultations and exhibitions. Once those events are over, you will want to preserve your graphics for future use, and it is vital to keep them protected in a dedicated storage space. Produced in the 1930s, Hamilton flat file cabinets like the one above possess a stunning, muted patina and are highly versatile, offering a great deal of room for archiving surveys, maps, presentation boards and as many napkin sketches as you can muster.

Drawing Tube

Even if all your drawings are now produced digitally, chances are you still need to print them out to scale to present your details to clients and contractors alike. Walnut Studiolo’s leather drawing tube is a high-end, handcrafted container for your prints, and it promises to protect the goods as well as looking good — according to the makers, it is finished with their “secret homemade weatherproofing, making sure it can handle the elements from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine.”

Messenger Bag

Despite its low-tech origins, the classic messenger bag is actually an ideal shape for most contemporary laptops, and typically possesses robust details that can handle the rigors of daily use in the studio and on site. There are countless options available at different price levels, but Komal’s Passion Leather 18 Inch Messenger Bag combines hardwearing materials with simple aesthetics in a way that will appeal to many modern architects.

Via Etsy (MagyarBeader)

Drafting Tools

You may not feel you have any need for a compass anymore, but admit it — this 1930s vintage drawing set still makes you go a little misty eyed. Original Lotter was once a treasured manufacturer of drafting implements for architects, and its sets are now highly collectible — they even feature in Lou Brooks’ legendary Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies. Even if you have no practical use for them, these tools could be framed and hung upon your studio wall as a splendid homage to the profession. The set above sold already, but there are others floating around the internet at a reasonable price.

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The post 6 Beautiful Vintage Objects for Nostalgic Architects appeared first on Journal.