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Open More Doors: Supervoid

Open More Doors is a section by ArchDaily and the MINI Clubman that takes you behind the scenes of the world’s most innovative offices through exciting video interviews and an exclusive photo gallery featuring each studio’s workspace.

This month, we talked with Italian architecture firm Supervoid to discuss their design strategies and how they helped develop the office's interior space.

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New Book Tells the Forgotten Histories of Bauhaus Women

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This article was originally published on Metropolismag.com.

The Bauhaus was founded on the promise of gender equality, but women Bauhauslers had to fight for recognition. A new book recounts the achievements and talents of 45 Bauhaus women.

After the end of World War I, a spirit of optimism and a euphoric mood prevailed in Germany. Thanks to a new republican government and women’s suffrage, the war-torn nation was experiencing a radical new beginning.

As part of that convention-breaking wave, in 1919 German architect Walter Gropius assumed leadership of what would become the legendary Bauhaus. Initially, he declared that there would be “absolute equality” among male and female students.

What Would 6 Cities of the United States be like if Frank Lloyd Wright or Robert Moses had Designed Them?

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The United States of America has provided enormous opportunities to develop some of the most iconic buildings in the history of architecture, leaving the mark of important architects in urban, suburban, and rural areas around the country. However, ambitious ideas often come with a high price that cannot always be paid,  causing some of the most exciting building, bridge, and tower designs to never evolve past archived plans.

Kengo Kuma on Career Choices, Cross-cultural Education and His Proudest Moment in Architecture

Design:ED Podcast is an inside look into the field of architecture told from the perspective of individuals that are leading the industry. This motivational series grants unique insight into the making of a successful design career, from humble beginnings to worldwide recognition. Every week, featured guests share their personal highs and lows on their journey to success, that is sure to inspire audiences at all levels of the industry. Listening to their stories will provide a rare blueprint for anyone seeking to advance their career, and elevate their work to the next level.

In this episode of Design:ED Podcast, host Aaron Prinz speaks with Kengo Kuma about why he chose to be an architect, what difficulties architects face when starting their own office, and how has cross-cultural education influenced his work.

10 Technologies for Accessible, Affordable Cities

Major cities are facing major crises. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, almost one billion people with disabilities will live in cities, representing 15% of total city dwellers. With urban landscapes awash with inaccessible subways, shops, and bathrooms, the UN has declared that poor accessibility represents a major challenge for cities. At the same time, most cities around the world are struggling to provide safe, respectable, affordable housing for their citizens, with rent accounting for more than 50% of some incomes. The World Economic Forum recently warned that “a world in which only a few can afford housing is not sustainable.”

What Materials Keep Buildings Cool?

Air-conditioning isn’t just expensive; it’s also terrible for the environment. Accounting for 10% of global energy consumption today, space cooling in 2016 alone was responsible for 1045 metric tons of CO2 emissions. This number is only expected to increase, with the International Energy Agency estimating that cooling will reach 37% of the world’s total energy demand by 2050.

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Rebuilding Nigeria: When Architecture Is About Restoring Culture

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

For the past decade, Nigeria has lived under the crushing specter of attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram. From Maiduguri to Abuja, bombs have exploded intermittently, killing hundreds, destroying thousands of homes, and crippling public infrastructure. In recent years, the Nigerian military has liberated several captive communities and begun reconstruction work in a number of them. Sadly, the aftereffects of these violent convulsions have profoundly reshaped our cities. The attacks utterly upended lives: shattering basic civic amenities, disrupting livelihoods, and forcing residents to rebuild from scratch while still grieving for family and friends.

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Unique Silhouettes of the Berlin Philharmonic Through the Lens of Bahaa Ghoussainy

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The Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun is one of the most prominent mid-20th century structures in the German city. The expressionist-style building with its bright-colored facade is the first of its kind by the German architect, as well as his most famous project to date. Scharoun’s design interprets rhythm and music as architecture, both conceptually and physically.

Architectural photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy unfolds Scharoun’s unique architecture by highlighting the concert hall’s dramatic angular geometry, vibrant yellow-hued facade, and play of lines and forms.

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Concrete Architecture: 20 Outstanding Projects in Mexico

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Concrete, a material commonly used in the construction industry, is made of a binder combined with aggregates (or gravels), water, and certain additives. Its origins reach back as far as Ancient Egypt, when the construction of large structures created the need for a new kind of material: one which was liquid, featured properties of natural stones, could be molded, and communicated a sense of nobility and grandeur. 

Progress with Female Ambassadors in Lighting Design

Light Collective, founders of the project "Women in Lighting", conclude that although female designers seem to make up possibly half of the lighting design profession, their profile appears much lower than men when looking at judges in awards and speakers at major conferences. Sharon Stammers and Martin Lupton started a project with interviews of female lighting designers and contacted conference organizers to enhance their visibility. 

The Best Architecture Projects of 2019 According to Time Magazine

The World's Greatest Places of 2019 list by Time magazine celebrates 100 destinations in the world to visit, stay, eat and drink. Selected by the global team of editors of the publication, the places have been evaluated based on quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and social impact.

We have shortened this list and selected the architectural projects that have previously appeared on ArchDaily. Read on for more details.

Invisible Architecture: the Necessity of Surprise - Eyes and Ears of the City / Ole Bouman for the Shenzhen Biennale (UABB) 2019

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What happens when the sensor-imbued city acquires the ability to see – almost as if it had eyes? Ahead of the 2019 Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB), titled "Urban Interactions," ArchDaily is working with the curators of the "Eyes of the City" section at the Biennial to stimulate a discussion on how new technologies – and Artificial Intelligence in particular – might impact architecture and urban life. Here you can read the “Eyes of the City” curatorial statement by Carlo Ratti, the Politecnico di Torino and SCUT.

Socially-Organized Housing: Biophilia, Connectivity, and Spirituality

The series of articles developed by Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy and Ernesto Philibert-Petit researches the peculiarities of social housing in Latin America. 

This time, the proposal focuses on how human health and well-being depend on the geometry of the environment. Check the previously published pieces and the new article, below.

4. Biophilia, Connectivity, and Spirituality.

ArchDaily's Ultimate List of Advice for Incoming Architecture Students

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Architecture school. You’ve heard the myths - the legends of all-nighters and innovation, of unmatched workaholism and love for the profession. Perhaps you know what you want – to solve the great urbanization problem, to create the next sustainable wonder-gadget, or maybe just to start your own firm and show the architectural world how it’s done. Maybe you have no idea what you want to do, drawn to architecture by the romance, the larger-than-life scale. Maybe you’re an artist who wants a job when they graduate. A hometown hero, you’re about to be thrown into a classroom of the best, possibly for the first time in your life. You’ll be surrounded by the brightest in engineering, problem solving, writing, drawing and a host of other skills. Anxious and excited, you stand ready at the doors of architectural education, hungry for innovation and ready to share and learn from others. Stepping inside that first day, you prepare yourself for the best - and most difficult times of your life so far.

To prepare you for the strange beast that is architecture school, shed light on what is fact and fiction, and give you some peace of mind, we at ArchDaily have prepared a list of advice for all incoming architecture students. There is no other education in the world quite like an architectural one, and we hope that this list can help prepare you for its unique wonders and challenges. The advice below is meant to ease the transition into school as much as possible – but be warned, nothing can compare to experiencing the real deal. Read them all after the break.

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What Do The Cracks in Concrete Structures Mean?

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Cracks, which could be classified according to their thickness as fissures or fractures, are serious problems in the construction industry that can negatively affect aesthetics, durability and, most importantly, the structural characteristics of a project. They can happen anywhere, but occur especially in walls, beams, columns, and slabs, and usually, are caused by strains not considered in the design.

Is Integrating Building Performance Difficult at Your Firm?

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In a study recently published by AIA, less than 13% of architectural firms have incorporated building performance as part of their practice. With buildings contributing 40% of total carbon emissions leading to climate change, just 25 projects are roughly equivalent to planting 1 million trees each year. In addition to that, teams that are able to showcase data-driven and performance-driven decision-making and feature an energy analysis in every pursuit are able to increase fees and generate more revenue. Although integrating building performance sounds like a no-brainer, it proves to be difficult at many firms, because in addition to the practical changes, it requires a culture shift. That culture shift can only happen if the tools are easy to use, accurate, and mesh well with current workflows. Right now is the perfect time to tackle these culture changes due to a few reasons:

Basic (And Necessary) Recommendations for Designing Accessible Homes

Basic (And Necessary) Recommendations for Designing Accessible Homes - Sustainability
Schematic diagram with recommended measures. Local regulations should be reviewed before designing. Image © José Tomás Franco

A good architecture project must be accessible to all, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. To raise awareness about these issues, and help you in the design process, we have compiled some basic actions that must be carried out for people to inhabit residential spaces comfortably and without obstacles.

It's important to remember that each country has its own regulations in relation to accessibility, so the specific dimensions presented below – based on the 'Universal Accessibility Guide' by Ciudad Accesible – are conceptual and may vary for each project. Before designing an accessible home, review local guidelines and adhere to, if not exceed, listed needs and requirements, thus ensuring a good quality of life for users in the long term.

Is Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) the Concrete of the Future?

Concrete, an essential building material, has for decades offered us the possibility of shaping our cities quickly and effectively, allowing them to rapidly expand into urban peripheries and reach heights previously unimagined by mankind. Today, new timber technologies are beginning to deliver similar opportunities – and even superior ones – through materials like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT).

To better understand the properties and benefits of CLT, we talked with Jorge Calderón, Industrial Designer and CRULAMM Manager. He discusses some of the promising opportunities that CLT could provide architecture in the future.

World Photography Day: 15 Architectural Photographers to Follow on Instagram

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Photography is still one of the most widely used means of representation and communication in architecture. Although it does not incorporate the temporal dimension, the level of fidelity with which photography represents the other three dimensions of the built world makes it one of architect's favorite tools to convey their buildings.

To celebrate World Photography Day, we've gathered 15 photographers from around the world who are worth knowing - and following on Instagram.

The Paris Researcher Pioneering a New Way to Recycle Building Materials

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The Paris-based designer and researcher Anna Saint Pierre is rethinking architectural preservation through her Granito project, which was awarded the Best Conscious Design prize at this year’s WantedDesign Brooklyn.. Image © Anna Saint Pierre/Rimasùu

Anna Saint Pierre's Granito project is harvesting the ingredients for new architectural building blocks from demolished structures.

Rapid urban change comes and goes without many even noticing it. Entire slices of a city’s history disappear overnight: What was once a wall of hewn stone is now fritted glass and buffed metal. The building site is always, first, a demolition site.

This is the thread that runs through Granito, a project by the young French designer and doctoral researcher Anna Saint Pierre. Developed in response to a late-20th-century Paris office block due for a major retrofit, one involving disassembly, it hinges on a method of material preservation Saint Pierre calls “in situ recycling.” Her proposal posits that harvesting the individual granite panels of the building’s somber gray facade could form the basis of a circular economy. “No longer in fashion,” this glum stone—all 182 tons of it—would be dislodged, pulverized, and sorted on-site, then incorporated into terrazzo flooring in the building update.

How to Make a Portfolio That Will Get You Hired

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The Midnight Charette is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by architectural designers David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features a variety of creative professionals in unscripted and long-format conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and more personal discussions. Honesty and humor are used to cover a wide array of subjects: some episodes provide useful tips for designers, while others are project reviews, interviews, or simply explorations of everyday life and design. The Midnight Charette is available for free on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, and all other podcast directories.

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On this episode of The Midnight Charette podcast, hosts David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet discuss how to create a design portfolio that will get you interviewed and hired. The two cover everything from the critical points most designers overlook and what employers look for in a portfolio to format, binding, book sizes, graphics, what projects to include and exclude, cover design, layout, ordering work, digital submissions, and more. If you have any questions or advice about portfolios or any other design-related topics, leave a voicemail at The Midnight Charette hotline: 213-222-6950.

The Top 10 Design Cities of 2019

Design trends are often the result of foreign cultural influences, avant-garde creations, and innovative solutions for people's ever-evolving needs. Although the design world seems like one big mood board, some cities have managed to outshine the rest with their recent projects.

As part of their annual Design Cities Listing, Metropolis Magazine has highlighted 10 cities across 5 continents with intriguing projects that have harmonized contemporary urbanism with traditional and faraway influences.

Is Feminism Compatible With Architecture and Urban Planning?

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The feminine experience and its contributions in different fields of knowledge have experienced increasing acceptance, being mostly praised. The voice of architects, academics, designers, urban planners and activists has gained strength in view of the relevant reception of issues such as inclusion and gender perspective, in the face of challenges that test the great cities of the world and their inhabitants. Every March 8th – the day women take to the streets as an act of resistance and the exercise of citizenship – there are some brief reflections that highlight the link between the cities and their political-social events, as well as in related disciplines to architecture and urbanism.

How Renderings Can Contribute to Architectural Projects: The Lumion Example

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Over the past two decades, the role of representation and rendering has changed dramatically in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. New rendering technologies, techniques, and programs, such as Lumion, have been contributing to this change. By including 3D rendering tools, architects and designers can take advantage of easy-to-use, multifunctional visualization technology that serves to strengthen creativity rather than stifle it.

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