Paul Keskeys
Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron know only too well how challenging it can be conceiving high-r ise designs in low-rise cities. They faced a protracted battle to get their pyramidal tower in Paris accepted by locals and the planning authority in the French capital. However, last week they successfully realized a project of similar proportions…
Last month, we looked at some truly artful three-dimensional representations of architecture by Alli ed Works, showing how abstract compositions of forms and material juxtapositions can help inspire great buildings. However, there remains a valuable place for a more traditional form of model-making in the profession. A carefully crafted diorama can make for a powerful communicator…
Architects and design aficionados frequently get embroiled in heated debates over the value of rende rings when evaluating unbuilt projects, and rightly so — cleverly lit, artificially textured images can be misleading all too often. That’s why this Instagram photo — posted by New York-based developers JDS — constitutes the most satisfying preview of a building…
Blending the influences of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Meier an d Partners Architects could be considered the ultimate conduit of 20th-century modernism in contemporary practice. The American firm’s distinctive aesthetic is immediately recognizable and stands as a present-day ode to those modern masters in contrast with a plethora of…
Winning an international competition is a fantastic achievement for any architect, but it brings no guarantee of a smooth transition from concept to completion. Just ask Zaha Hadid, whose victory in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium competition has only led to trouble for her firm. David Chipperfield Architects has experienced similar travails with its design for…
Two innovative firms on each coast of the United States have been announced winners of the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Competition, marking another step forward in the development of high-rise structures using timber frames. From the Pacific Coast, Framework LLC — led by Oregon-based LEVER Architects and engineered by ARUP — has designed an…
Moshe Safdie is most famous for Habitat 67, the experimental housing complex that still stands as a bold and compelling vision of modular design. From those avant-garde beginnings, Safdie Architects has conceived a vast array of unorthodox forms for multiple typologies across the globe, but never within the architectural melting pot of Manhattan — until…
Drones are on the rise, as we’ve seen with Foster + Partners’ recent unveiling of the world’s first “droneport” for delivering aid to remote regions of Africa. Despite this remarkable development, most drones are still used for recreational purposes, and, in the architectural realm, that means making majestic movies like the one below, providing a…
From whimsical doodles to intricate illustrations, the only limit on the potential of pen and paper is an architect’s imagination.