Architectural case studies and material exemplars to spark your creativity and inspire your next project.
Programming lies at the heart of architecture. While modernity brought new definitions to the famili ar term — from computer coding to radio broadcasts — programming as a spatial practice remains essential to design. Explored by Praxis almost a decade ago, programming is more than a list of spaces organized by ambiguous bubble diagrams. Approached as…
In the critical dialogue about architecture, the designer’s solutions to optimize natural light are nearly always part of the conversation. Carefully engineered to admit and deflect just the right amount of light, windows and transparent surfaces illuminate interiors, let in warmth and offer views of the outdoors. As designers, we can better understand the logic…
The emptiness and muted lighting of each scene creates a wistful atmosphere.
Like offices, education projects have been getting another look: it’s no longer the case that any at tempt to beautify these spaces is purely about aesthetics. Some studies point to pleasant and comfortable built environments as positively impacting students’ retention, attention, engagement and motivation — all factors in the learning process. To accommodate the new theories…
Materials hold cultural weight. Historically tied to a specific context, architecture emerged from p rovincial or regionally sourced materials. Trade, migration and transculturation would begin to disconnect materials from their locale, and yet, many parts of the world still hold cultural connections between place and the physical makeup of their buildings. This holds especially true in…
“We always want to conquer space.” Wolf Prix was in a robust mood as he took architectural filmmaker s Spirit of Space on a tour of the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France. Reflecting on the success of a building that has welcomed an estimated one million visitors since it opened a year ago, the founder…
Laminate can be so much more than a surfacing material for furniture or countertops, some aspiring d esigners have discovered during Formica Corporation’s inaugural SurfaceSet 2016 Student Innovation Competition. The competition challenged students to conceptualize a commercial space using a minimum of three products from the manufacturer’s SurfaceSet 2016 laminate collection. In the end, a jury…
These architects explored the power of contrast by placing minimalist concrete projects within the w ilderness.
Today, huts continue to take on many forms and functions, from the ultimate artist studio to mobile micro-living quarters that can be transported on site.