Inspiration

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…

The 20th century saw the birth of modern architecture, when ornate and robust houses were stripped d own to orthogonal lines and simple volumes. A pioneer of this new language was Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who leveraged his Five Points of Architecture to create a framework for modernism. One of the most iconic features of the…

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…

Typical to Gothic cathedrals and Byzantine basilicas, vaults provide an open space in the ceiling th at enlarges the volume of the interior while giving resistance and structural support to walls and ceilings. From barrel and groin vaults to rib and fan vaults, each unique structural form provides an interesting variation in building ceilings that is…

An owner and design principal of Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects, Tom Kundig quickly built a r eputation as an innovator in residential design in the 1990s, a reputation that continues well into today. He’s since diversified his body of work to include cultural, hospitality, and commercial projects, all of which share an industrial aesthetic and, a…

Within residential buildings, one typically moves through a space in a linear progression from the m ost public to the most private spaces. In other words, the scheme of a site is generally organized from front to back: entrance, public spaces, semi-public spaces, and finally, the most private areas. This sequential journey begins at the front…

Skyscraper aficionados Skidmore, Owings and Merrill have added another glittering high-rise to their burgeoning portfolio of works in China. Last week, construction was officially completed on the Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower, a hybrid office and hotel building that has already been voted “favorite completed high-rise building” by nationwide technical staff at the Greenland Group,…

When a space is in need of a pick-me-up, a little color or shimmer can go a long way. With regards t o the latter, a plethora of recent products offer metallic finishes on every level, from highly reflective and light-catching to subdued and subtle. Here’s a look at seven such products that can help reinvigorate…