Practice

Take a peek inside some of the new and renovated spaces — from showrooms and a flagship store to des ign studios and event venues — opened by five manufacturers this past season. Artemide, ChicagoThe Italian lighting brand just opened a new Chicago flagship store designed by architecture firm Studio de Bevilacqua. Situated only steps away…

Sinks, soap dispensers, and hand dryers in public spaces are so commonplace that washing your hands typically goes by without a second thought. But, for anyone tracking resources, the germ-conscious, and detail-oriented designers, these mundane systems can pose huge problems. Protruding dispensers make it difficult to get the most use out of a space, and…

Since completing the striking Walker Art Center in Minneapolis 10 years ago, Swiss firm Herzog and d e Meuron has conquered every cultural corner of the United States with its distinctive designs for galleries, situated everywhere from the streets of New York City to the beaches of Miami. Now, the avant-garde duo is traveling north of…

Some of the greatest cultural buildings in modern history have been defined by stone, from the trave rtine tiles of Richard Meier’s Getty Museum to the great carved walls of Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The material is loved by architects the world over for its contrasting qualities of solidity and flexibility: its innate permanence is countered by…

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…

Kicking off today, London’s 100% Design promises as always to be a feast for the eyes. If you’re in town for the show, but have a very limited window of time, consider checking these finds — as well as London Design Festival installations — off your list. BUILDING PRODUCTS Alusid ALUSID, Stand EB769100% Design marks…

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…

“Funnily enough, I think Sir John Soane might have liked the Digital Age,” says Robert Stern, Founde r and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, referring to the neoclassicist architect as perhaps the “first modern architect,” one who had both “a firm grasp of history, especially of Classical Rome” and “a sense of his own…

From whimsical doodles to intricate illustrations, the only limit on the potential of pen and paper is an architect’s imagination.