This guide explains how to structure multi-image prompts in the RunDifussion platform. Explore RunDifussion's product catalog.

The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.

A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.

This week David and Marina answer the question, “Should I go to architecture school?” The two cover the relevancy of college/university, the architecture school experience, if studying architecture is needed to practice architecture, if having a degree helps with getting a job, preparing for architecture school, choosing the right degree, the cost of architecture school, and more.

This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights designs submitted by established architecture practices, featuring conceptual works, competition entries and projects in different stages of development. From the transformation of a former mall into a healthcare facility in the United States, a masterplan for the redevelopment of a zoo in Canada to a brewery regeneration in China, the following explores a variety of designs by global architecture offices.

Featuring firms like Perkins +Will, Henning Larsen Architects, URBANUS or Mandaworks, this week's selection of unbuilt projects highlights worldwide interventions that illustrate a variety of ideas, from adaptive-reuse strategies, interventions in heritage sites and new models for public buildings.

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Pricing architectural project work is a complex issue that is not usually addressed during one's formative school years, and it usually takes time for professionals to develop a good system that works for them and their clients. Issues such as scope of work, hours worked, project area and project complexity will influence the final cost of a job. In addition, another thing that can keep project professionals awake at night is how to charge clients in a way that is sustainable for the business and comfortable for future users of the designed space.

PLP Architecture has unveiled plans for Tokyo Cross Park, an upcoming redevelopment of an entire district set to become the largest development site in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. The new 230-hectare "green heart of the city" will include four towers, two of which to be designed by PLP, a 31-metre-tall podium with an elevated green public realm, and a 2-hectare public plaza.

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New images have been released by Studio Gang showcasing the construction progress of the firm's American Museum of Natural History Expansion in New York. Dubbed as the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, the project will link together 10 museum buildings, improving circulation and creating one monumental campus of exhibition galleries, state-of-the-art classrooms, an immersive digital theater, and a redesigned library.

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One of the first elements used by humans to build shelters, wood is a versatile material that, along with technological advances, remains a protagonist in the construction industry, being used in different ways and moments in a work.

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The immensity of China leads to the diversity of customs and climatic conditions. Each area has its own unique materials, construction methods, and climate adaptation measures. The regional characteristics of Chinese architecture are generally preserved in rural buildings. But we cannot overlook how contemporary technology may considerably improve the living and use conditions of rural buildings. What is the best way to create a balance between classic or inherent technology and new ones? How would the construction of rural architecture provide inspiration for the development of Chinese architectural cultural symbols?

2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Diébédo Francis Kéré reported the great solutions of Burkina Faso. Kéré insists to build comfortable buildings at a reasonable price; to make users happy and inspire them to dream of a better life. The pride of the local culture is reinforced by the use of local materials and traditional techniques. And then Kéré‘s works in other countries show cultural emblems of Burkina Faso, which are the consequence of his own cultural accumulation.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Compared to that of the West and East, awareness and knowledge of the architecture of sub-Saharan Africa—Africa south of the Sahara Desert—is scant. A new book intends to mitigate this oversight, and it’s a significant accomplishment. Architectural Guide Sub-Saharan Africa (DOM publishers, 2021), edited by Philipp Meuser, Adil Dalbai, and Livingstone Mukasa, was more than six years in the making. The seven-volume guide presents architecture in the continent’s 49 sub-Saharan nation-states, includes contributions by nearly 340 authors, 5,000 photos, more than 850 buildings, and 49 articles expressly devoted to theorizing African architecture in its social, economic, historical, and cultural context. I interviewed two of the editors—Adil Dalbai, an architectural researcher and practitioner specializing in sub-Saharan Africa, and Livingstone Mukasa, a native Ugandan architect interested in the intersections of architectural history and cultural anthropology—about the challenges of creating the guide, some of its revelations about the architecture of Africa, and its potential impact.

As the hospitality sector begins to reemerge after the global pandemic, fresh thinking, new strategies and innovation will be key – and all on show at HD Expo + Conference in Las Vegas, 26 to 28 April.

The Transamerica Pyramid, a landmark in the skyline of San Francisco, is undergoing a revitalization project led by Foster + Partners and luxury real estate developers SHVO. Built in 1972, the 48-story Brutalist-style project was designed by American architect William Pereira, and was the tallest building in San Francisco for nearly half a century. The renovation will be the largest in the building’s 50-year history, will also see the expansion and upgrade of the adjacent Three Transamerica (545 Sansome).

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During the past two years spent photographing Expo 2020 Dubai, I was often asked by friends what exactly it was. To align with its closure on the 31st of March, I would like to address that question from two angles. Most readers will be aware that the expo is part of a tradition dating back to the 19th century - a Showcase for companies and countries, a tourist attraction, a testing ground for technical innovation. But it is also a collection of paradigm studies on opportunity, sustainability, and mobility, as well as a lucrative building project creating a new neighbourhood in the Emirates and a future means of dwelling. Perhaps this last frame of reference is the most interesting for it is what most distinguishes this expo from others.

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To honor the losses caused by the pandemic over the past two years, a temporary national memorial will be built in Bedworth’s Miners' Welfare Park in England on May 21st until May 28th. Designed by artist David Best, Sanctuary will serve as a powerful symbol of catharsis and rebirth for the whole community, giving them the chance to grieve the losses caused by the pandemic by writing messages or leaving mementos on the walls of the installation, which will then be burned on its last day.

You may have heard an architect colleague say that he chose to study architecture because of the numerous possibilities of action that this degree allows. The field of architecture is, in fact, very extensive, through which it is possible to embark not only on the most “traditional” attributions, but also to venture into various specificities that comprehend the role of the architect and urban planner.

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The 8th March is a date set by the UN in 1975 to remember the struggle for equal rights and universal suffrage. This commemoration brings together the efforts of women who demanded their right to vote, work, professional training, hold public office, and fight discrimination in the workplace. This struggle is the fruit of the work of women who sacrificed themselves for the cause. Various events that we experience on a daily basis show that the social situation has changed. However, it is essential that both men and women commit themselves to progress and justice in order to make things happen.

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Videos

After water, concrete is the second most-consumed material on the planet and its production is substantially growing, expected to increase from 4.4 billion tons, reaching production up to 5.5 billion tons by 2050. Unfortunately, this comes at a huge environmental cost, accounting for almost eight percent of the global carbon emissions. With this estimated expected growth, stakeholders in the construction industry must work on integrating sustainable building materials and innovative processes. 

Global Finance's ranking of the world's best cities to live in, during 2022 has just been released. Centered on 8 different parameters that calculate and compare the quality of life of people living in urban areas such as economy, culture, population, environment, etc., this year’s edition also took into consideration Covid-19 deaths per thousand for each country, to reflect the new reality we live in. With data from the Global City Power index, Johns Hopkins University, Statista, and Macrotrends, the list seeks to have a complete vision, putting together traditional metrics with new factors.

Claiming the first position is London, U.K, a city that although didn’t get high rankings in its Covid-19 metrics, still topped the list, mainly due to its scores in culture, accessibility, and population growth. Tokyo was selected for the second position, showing weakness in one parameter, population, as its numbers have been declining for the past 10 years. Shanghai followed next, in the third position, because of relatively low Covid-19 death figures and strong population growth. Singapore and Melbourne came in 4th and 5th positions.

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The NextGen International Taskforce is a collaboration between IE School of Architecture & Design and CPA NextGen, bringing together international talent to exchange ideas on the real-estate industry and built environment. This group of NextGen professionals typically gathers on a bi-monthly basis to address topics such as sustainability, inclusivity, technology, cities and wellbeing.

These conversations look at the future of cities and how to build a better future for people and businesses. In this edition, held on January 25th, 2022, a group of 12 professionals came together to discuss the topic of sustainable mobility, also touching on the future of remote work and its impact on housing.

The Design Educates Awards, the awards that annually recognize the best projects that respond to complex social and environmental contexts and carry educational value, have just announced the results of the 2022 edition. The awards look for what will have a lasting impact on users and the environment and showcase the world's best ideas and realizations that can educate.

Grimshaw, in collaboration with Nautes Architects, WSP, Vogt and Turner & Townsend, have been awarded first place in an anonymous competition for the renewal of Budapest Nyugati Railway Station. Selected from a shortlist of 12 international design firms, the winning design creates a "permeable station campus" with a series of car-free streets, walkways, public squares and a park, which open up the station complex to the city and restores its significance as one of the most vibrant and historic cities in Europe.

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The Zero Carbon policy is intended to create a kind of ecological balance to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions. Several studies report that the construction sector is one of the main responsible for the unbalance in which we find ourselves today, after all, it consumes natural resources on a gigantic scale and still builds buildings that do not collaborate with the maintenance of the environment. Therefore, searching for paths towards a carbon neutral architecture has become fundamental and one of them is learning from past masters, such as the Brazilian architect João Filgueiras Lima, known as Lelé.

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Videos

Coastal cities have always been a point of attraction for residents, tourists, and businesses. Alongside the aesthetic features, their proximity to the sea has made these cities a focal point for maritime transportation with the construction of ports, as well as hotspots for recreational and aquacultural activities. However, the past decades saw these particular regions threatened with a shortened lifespan; rising water levels, floods, and recurring cyclones, along with other natural disasters, have endangered coastal communities, putting their population, ecosystem, and built environment at risk. 

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Pritzker Prize 2022 Laureate Francis Kéré is known for “empowering and transforming communities through the process of architecture”, as the jury stated in its citation. In this recently published video, Martha Thorne, Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design and former executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, shares some of the reasons why Francis Kéré has won the Pritzker Prize 2022.

In times of an ongoing global pandemic and constant video meetings, more and more people are leveraging their bookshelves at home to not only create appropriately stylish screen backdrops but also communicate credibility. There’s even a Twitter account on the subject. That being said, not everyone has a library-worthy collection to display or the space to store heavy art volumes. But whatever your personal shelf dream – even if it involves cats – here are five design elements that will help you make the most out of a tool you didn’t know you had, plus real examples of how they are being used to enhance bookshelves in projects around the globe. Head to the bookshelf section on Architonic for further inspiration and concrete product examples.

Ensuring that a project's construction team is working with the most up-to-date information is critical to its success; but this is not an easy task. Document management workflows are often disconnected or disjointed due to manual administrative processes and disparate systems. As a result, poor document management can result in schedule delays, quality issues, expensive rework, budget overruns, and litigation.