Inspiration: Collections

Architizer's top indoor pools, just in time to escape the summer heat.

In a recent interview with the Japan Times, Japanese architect Jun Igarashi cites a specific example of traditional Japanese interiors, the engawa, as spaces between being outdoors and indoors. Traditionally in old-style Japanese buildings, this engawa manifested as a seating area that acted as a buffer between the garden and the interior. The engawa plays…

Architects: Showcase your next project through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newslett er. After yet another apocalyptic winter in much of the Northern hemisphere, things are finally heating up for summer — and what better way to cool off than with a dip in your local swimming hole? Right on cue, Rotterdam-based Ooze Architects…

Marble has long been a staple of art and architecture alike, and its popularity has scarcely waned d espite the availability of alternatives and approximations. David Chipperfield, for one, is known for his masterful use of the material, which is at once luxurious and understated, not to mention classical and beautiful. Meanwhile the Taj Mahal is…

In 2010, the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology (NTI) conducted a three-part study [PDF] on the health benefits of wooden interiors in healthcare facilities. Taking a very IDEO, human-centered design-based approach, NTI uncovered new ways to serve and support recovering patients by uncovering latent needs, behaviors, and desires. Beyond the comparisons between Scandinavians and non-Scandinavians,…

As notable alumni go, Gammel Hellerup High School in Denmark has one who has made a pretty “big” nam e for himself. Bjarke Ingels was a student there before embarking on his architectural odyssey at the Royal Academy, and now his academic and professional path has come full circle — the Danish architect has designed a…

In his book Architecture Depends, Jeremy Till argues that “all architecture is building waste in transit.” He believes that architecture’s contingency is an opportunity rather than a weakness, encouraging architects to consider the element of time in the production, inhabitation, and reuse of buildings. One example might be inflatable architecture, popularized in the 1960s and…

A collection of law enforcement facilities from around the world.

In most contexts, a cage represents imprisonment or an otherwise undesirable restriction of one&#821 7;s freedom. However, within the realm of architectural design, cages themselves can be freed from the negative connotation of containment: well-designed instances can dramatically enhance the structure or space they contain, framing views, creating visual dynamism, and filtering light to fantastic effect…