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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The problem with being a deliberative writer is that pretty much everything has already been penned by the time you’re ready to write about something. Such is the case with the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB): The Available City. There have been several well-written, insightful essays about the CAB by Zach Mortice, Anjulie Rao, Marianela D’Aprile, and others, so it would be foolish to travel the landscape they have so expertly traversed. Instead, I’m offering a trip through this edition of the CAB, which concluded a successful and significant run on Saturday, down a road less traveled.

How to spark productivity through technology in the digital age? Recently, XKool Technology, a leader in AI applications for the architecture industry, held a new product launch of "Plan Deep" to kick off a new round of evolution in architecture technology capabilities.

Information about XKool's newly released intelligent design products is included in this article, as well as the upcoming DigitalFUTURES Tutorial Session to be presented by XKool on January 8, 2022, where you're invited to experience the collaboration between architecture and technology up close.

After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, Architectural photographer Marc Goodwin has resumed work on the Atlas of Architectural Atmospheres, Archmospheres, starting with the city of Berlin. This project that seeks to capture architecture offices from around the world has already gathered images from Madrid, Brazil, Panama City, the Netherlands, Dubai, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, the Nordic countries, Barcelona, Los Angeles, and Istanbul.

Documenting diverse architecture and design studios, Goodwin captured 13 different office spaces in Berlin, including Hesse, LAVA, JWA, Tchoban Voss, Richter Musikowski, Barkow Leibinger, FAR frohn&rojas, studio Karhard, Jasper, Kleihues + Kleihues, Graft, Bundschuh Architekten and Sauerbruch Hutton.

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Architecture grows from context. In campus planning, an institution or organization outlines a strategy for longer term land use and the immediate context. As SCUP outlines, campus design can be nurturing, inviting and stimulating. "It can be the physical manifestation of an institution’s mission, a reminder of the promise and potential waiting to be unleashed." Today, campus design encompasses integrated approaches bringing open space, buildings, circulation and utility together.

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Ferdinand Heide Architekt have been selected to develop a high-rise complex in Frankfurt, Germany, following an international design competition. Titled “Millennium Areal”, the winning proposal features two twisted glass towers with a large public space at the ground level, responding to the particularities of the dense site, which include maximization of green areas and unobstructed views for apartments and offices. The project is expected to be complete in 2030 and upon completion, will be Frankfurt's tallest structure.

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Intense integration between the built environment and its natural context: this is the premise that surrounds the projects of Jacobsen Arquitetura, from Rio de Janeiro. Founded 45 years ago, the office emerged from the union between architects Paulo Jacobsen and Cláudio Bernardes, who worked together until Bernardes' death in 2001. After that, Paulo joined forces with Thiago, Cláudio's son, starting a new office. The partnership with Thiago Bernardes fell apart in 2012, giving rise to the formation of Jacobsen Arquitetura, whose partners are Paulo and Bernardo Jacobsen (Paulo’s son) and Edgar Murata.

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With the aim of generating a significant impact on the responsible and sustainable consumption of resources and energy in the construction industry, ETH Zürich in collaboration with FenX AG is using foam 3D printing (F3DP) to manufacture geometrically complex formwork for the construction of special elements in concrete.

The diversity of civic spaces in cities and rural areas have continuously showcased how strongly they explore human connections regardless of program, construction technique, scale, and geography. Ranging from educational facilities and museums, to art centers, libraries, religious halls, and memorials, these projects have enriched urban fabrics with cultural programs that have provided members of the community with places to learn, entertain, create, and unwind.

This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights cultural projects submitted by the ArchDaily community from across the world. From a water management system that targets the natural crises in Egypt to a structurally intertwined memorial in the United States, this round up of unbuilt projects showcases how architects responded to the contextual and spatial needs of their projects through innovative and local solutions. The article also includes projects from Italy, China, Uruguay, Poland, Iran, Hungary, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

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Among the many factors that can impact the character, style, and functionality of a living space, doors are certainly important in setting the tone. Besides their decorative function, they protect rooms from weather and noise, delimit spaces, define circulations, and provide privacy. As recent design trends continue to move towards clean, modern lines, the pivot door has never been more in style – being applied not only in main entrances, but also appearing more frequently in interior design. Apart from being bigger, heavier, and offering a dramatic contemporary look, pivot doors allow for a beautiful, elegant movement with nearly invisible hardware that rotates on a vertical axis, setting them apart from regular hinged doors.

The Çanakkale Antenna Tower designed by IND [Inter.National.Design] and Powerhouse Company is nearing completion. Located on a forested hill in the aforementioned city, the weathering steel structure envelops the landscape before growing into a 100-meter tall tower that offers a panoramic view of the historic Turkish city. The single design gesture simultaneously crafts an intimate experience of nature through the creation of an inner garden, immersing visitors into the surrounding forest while creating a new visual identity for the city.

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Retail stores are places that need to transport us to another universe. We need to have our senses stimulated and our instincts fired for a truly convincing experience.

Architecture is a fundamental part of this seduction, being able to use artifacts such as colors, materials, lighting and volumes to awaken the most varied feelings in customers. Commercial architecture, in addition to all the technical elements, needs to reach the public from the facade to its interior, always remaining faithful to the brand's concepts and identities. In this article we have selected some examples of commerce facilities that stimulate customers in different ways.

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Nike recently acquired RTFKT, a design studio that was founded in Jan 2020, and is known for its virtual “metaverse-ready sneakers and collectibles”. Metaverse land purchases are making headlines with multi-million dollar price tags. We’ve also seen mainstream adoption for NFT art this year and the sales are expected to surge to $17.7 billion by the end of 2021.

Beneath the hype and frenzy, we can spot a fundamental shift that unlocks a new creator economy. It provides the creators with direct access to the market, builds ongoing relationships with fans, and unites strangers in self-governed communities. In this article, we will discuss why every 3D designer/architect should embrace the Web 3.0 movement to adopt a new business logic and benefit from the creator economy in the metaverse?

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ODA New York has revealed the design of "300 West Broward Blvd", its new residential tower in Fort Lauderdale, South of Florida. The 38-storey tower, which marks the firm's first project in that region, will serve as an urban gateway in the heart of the city, bringing together a diverse mixed-use program across 10 floors, topped by an all-inclusive residential program that will become an new landmark to the area's growing skyline.

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The city of Venice has decided to replace the glass on Santiago Calatrava’s Ponte della Costituzione with stone, as the slick surface was the cause of numerous incidents. The decision comes after several attempts to limit slips using resin and non-slip stickers, even placing keep-off signs on the glass surface when the winter weather rendered the floor increasingly dangerous. Inaugurated in 2008, the bridge has been the subject of controversy and protest from the onset, as the building costs and timeframe surpassed initial estimates and complaints about falls began early on.

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Architecture in Mexico has a vast history that is made up of various aspects that touch astrological, political, spiritual and economic issues. Although today there are only ruins of some of the most important pre-Hispanic complexes, thanks to the in-depth research that has been carried out, we can have some representations of what those buildings that laid the foundations of what makes us today were like. In these representations, it is possible to notice the presence of natural materials that were a response to their environment such as basalt stone, stucco and some vegetable paintings whose remains persist to this day.

Climbers embrace their own type of architecture. Between barn doors, mantels and multi-pitch routes, rock climbing and bouldering take on a range of surfaces, materials and structures, whether outside or indoors. Today, more recreational centers and sports facilities are including climbing walls as the sport grows in popularity. As spaces to build strength and unwind, climbing gyms are built as their own interior worlds to explore. 

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Around the world, zoos draw in hundreds of millions of visitors each year. For some cities, they’re major tourist attractions and economic hubs that generate taxpayer dollars and create long-term employment for thousands of people. But beyond these statistics, people have been criticizing the role that zoos play in our society and the way in which we design them that holds the potential a more positive and natural environment for animals.

Which country is the best in industrial design? Which country is the best in interior design? These and more questions seek to be answered thanks to the World Design Rankings (WDR), sponsored by the A' Design Award and Competition.

With the aim of contributing to the global design culture –highlighting good design around the world– the WDRs provide relevant and specific data to the leading economists and journalists of the design industry. WDR ranks all countries based on the number of designers who have received the A' Design Award between the years 2010 and 2021, thus recognizing the best of them.

Following an international design competition win in 2018, Snøhetta and ECADI have been commissioned to design a new sub-center library in Beijing, offering visitors a contemporary space for learning and sharing knowledge while celebrating the rich cultural China and its capital. The library sets new standards for traditional library designs, featuring technology-driven designs and locally-sourced materials, as well as a glass enclosure of up to 16 meters, which will be China’s first self-supporting glass facade project.

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MVRDV revealed its plans to redevelop a challenging site surrounded by roads in the south of Munich through a design that combines the renovation of an existing building complex with the addition of two-stepping towers. Retaining six of the nine existing blocks, the project expands the current programme and creates a new landmark for the neighbourhood while placing a green plaza at the heart of the development.

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The room for babies or children is a space designed not only for rest and sleep time, but also to encourage imagination, bring symbols that help build perception of the world and, without forgetting, provide fun to the little ones. In addition to sheltering childhood, bringing functionality to this environment and adapting so many functions in the same area often require huge creativity by mothers and fathers, so the search for an architecture professional can be more than welcome.

After a 2020 that will be remembered as a point of inflection for our global society, 2021 only reminded us that the fast phase of change was here to stay, and that a new attitude towards the way we see and embrace the world was needed. A challenge that we took with optimism. 

During this year we continued with our mission to connect our global community through inspiration and knowledge, taking you on an endless journey around the world, through which we saw how architecture, often slow to react, was up to the challenge and architect embraced a new attitude, becoming aware of the new scenario, bringing adaptable, hybrid, scalable, reusable solutions.

The year 2021 has been a turbulent one –coronavirus rages on, and the design and construction industries have been forced to keep adapting two years into a global pandemic. As virtual methods of working and communicating continue to be tweaked and honed, a plethora of virtual events has meant that architectural discourse outside the western canon and Eurocentric gaze, in a small way, has been able to claim space front and center in the global architectural conversation.

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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 a pollinator park designed for an EU initiative to a greenhouse residential project in Germany, to a museum in the Arctics or an innovative proposal for harvesting renewable energy in the Netherlands, the following showcases a variety of design approaches, programs and scales.

Featuring firms like Vincent Callebaut Architectures, 10 Design, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, or Sweco, this week's selection of unbuilt projects highlights worldwide interventions that illustrate a variety of ideas, from new models for collective housing and community-living, to design for ecology and sustainability, to community-oriented cultural architecture.

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