‘Building Tomorrow’ presents the contemporary trends in building design and the global forces driving them forward, using Architizer’s annual A+Awards submissions as the benchmark. The data is creatively visualized to provide valuable insights for designers, retailers, and any industry working to create experiential designs. Download the full report for free at www.psfk.com/report/building-tomorrow.
In the internet age, the way we live, work, and play is changing almost beyond recognition. As the lines between office, home, and leisure activities blur, both private and public spaces must now fulfill multiple purposes in a defined amount of space. New research encompassing thousands of award-winning projects by architects around the globe — now available to everyone as a free-to-download report — has revealed the extent to which clients are now seeking more fluid forms of architecture, incorporating adaptable or mixed-use spaces that reflect the increasingly dynamic needs of inhabitants.
“We are heading towards cities of radical mixed use, in which building programs are not predetermined, but remain flexible throughout the lifecycle of a building,” asserts Vishaan Chakrabarti, Principal at SHoP Architects.
Griss Equine Veterinary Practice + Doctor’s Apartment by Marte.Marte Architects, Rankweil, Austria
A particularly stylish illustration of this phenomenon can be found in the heart of the Austrian Alps. The Griss Equine Veterinary Practice and Doctor’s Apartments by Marte.Marte Architects combines agricultural and medical functions under one roof, as the report outlines: “Griss Equine Center combines apartments for veterinarians and the in-house equine pharmacy, treatment rooms, lab, and stables under one roof. In this set-up, private and public areas are able to coexist and function independently.”
© Jeremy Bittermann
Airbnb Portland Office by Aaron Taylor Harvey and Rachael Yu, Portland, Ore.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Aaron Taylor Harvey and Rachael Yu reimagined the traditional workspace for a contemporary company in Oregon: “Airbnb’s Portland office revolutionizes work by creating a space that invites employees to ‘Belong Anywhere.’ The design dissolves the idea of a desk as an individual’s address at work. Instead, the design replaces the desk with the spatially efficient ‘landing spot’ — a veritable Swiss Army knife of storage, workspace, and team identity.”
© Mikkel Frost
The Children’s Home of the Future by CEBRA, Kerteminde, Denmark
Finally, Danish firm CEBRA devised the Children’s Home of the Future, a project that upends so many programmatic conventions that it verges on a brand new typology: “The vision for the new institution is to establish a care center that encourages social relations and a sense of community while at the same time accommodating the children’s individual needs. The overall organization provides each age group with a self-contained, varied unit or its own ‘house’ in connection with a central unit for flexible use. The layout aims at providing the residents with a sense of belonging to their unit — a homely base where they can retreat alone or in smaller groups, thus establishing a care center which is more home and less institution.”
These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Architects around the world are ridding themselves of the conventional limitations pertaining to defined functions and the traditional compartmentalization of space. Greg Lindsay of the New Cities Foundation speaks of an emerging trend for unexpected examples of cross-programming: “We’re about to enter a new era of ‘mixed-up-use’ — strange new combinations of living working and lifestyle amenities.” In a world of emerging technology and unforeseen programmatic needs, it is a strange time to design buildings, perhaps — but also a very exciting one, indeed.