Curated lists of the best new building-products, materials and design solutions to inspire your next project.
Whether a museum is pursuing an acquisitions policy to expand its collections or simply to bring eme rgency exits up to code, extensions provide a unique opportunity for architects to create meaningful structures that are not secondary. For those who enjoy an afternoon at a museum, these projects show how expansions can offer more than mere…
While the vast majority of Iowa is devoted to agriculture, you can still find great works of archite cture quietly hidden between the fields and tractors. The state’s architecture is unique, both formally and spatially, but also in terms of the context and communities that these buildings emerge from. At once pragmatic and contemporary, the architecture…
Whether it graces cathedrals or offers panoramic views to the sea, glass has been used throughout hi story to redefine architecture. As glass has shaped architecture, so, too, has it constantly evolved into endless material variations, shapes, and sizes. Fritted glass is one such variety, often a ceramic frit silkscreened on the material, which allows for…
A long, narrow strip between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, Chile is a country with an emerging de sign culture as dynamic and remarkable as its landscape. Chilean architects are increasingly gaining recognition: Pedro Alonso and Hugo Palmarola won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, Alejandro Aravena served on the Pritzker jury, and Smiljan…
Through a process akin to sorcery or alchemy, writers take the various structures, ideas, and peculi arities of language and translate them into fantastic stories and unique experiences we come to love and, more importantly, learn from. Crafting a great story parallels architecture because both endeavors operate under certain guidelines (like grammar or zoning) and they…
When Le Corbusier proposed his five points and lifted Villa Savoye off the ground, he carefully arti culated a critical method to approach architecture and design. His pilotis, or columns, carried the load of the structure and simultaneously grounded his new aesthetic. Essentially a series of reinforced stilts, pilotis literally and figuratively supported Corbusier’s desire for…
There is an axiom in the world of building design that states a project should be visually arresting at a distance of 100 meters, again at 10 meters, and, yes, even from only one meter away. The latter category is particularly interesting because it goes beyond ‘design’ as an aggregation of materials in a specific…
Earlier this week, we took a look at contemporary architecture schools, but of course all academic b uildings are designed, and many of them are opportunities for schools to celebrate their outlook through design. Schools of economics, in particular, seem to lend themselves to statement architecture, where spreadsheets meet space and finances meet form. Rich examples…
Norwegian design is having a moment. The national government invested in several new projects, inclu ding new passports and banknotes, meant to celebrate the Nordic country’s unique visual identity and commitment to progressive design. The winning passport design, from the drawing tables of Oslo-based studio Neue, features sleek, minimalist images of the mountainous Nordic landscape; a…