Increasingly, the concept of social sustainability has become a central theme in contemporary architecture discussions as users' subjective and non-static needs become paramount in the design process. Social sustainability in architecture aims to design and construct buildings and urban spaces that promote well-being, inclusion, and community cohesion. It focuses on creating environments that enable positive human interactions, support diverse needs, and improve the overall quality of life for people who inhabit and use these spaces. Socially sustainable architecture considers the social, cultural, economic, and health aspects of a community to address societal challenges and provide long-term benefits to residents.
Landscape architecture is having a moment. The latest proof: last week, the US Department of Homeland Security decided to accredit the field with its prestigious STEM designation. As part of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational disciplines that fall under this category, landscape architecture students can now spend an additional 24 months seeking employment and training post-graduation in the United States after an initial period of a year granted to all graduates. The title also promises more prestige, higher entry salaries, and additional career flexibility. Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), calls the development a significant advancement for 'landscape architecture education and practice, and that is great for America and the global community.'
The news corresponds to a growing emphasis on landscape architecture as a pivotal practice around the globe in recent years – one that is closely connected to notions of public health, environmental design, biophilia, sustainability, and re-wilding. It also underlines the intimate relationship between technology and the discipline. Landscape proposals increasingly rely on advanced science and technology to predict how ecological interventions might alter an existing terrain and determine what measures will yield the highest benefit for both humans and nature. The contemporary ideal of wild meadows and biodiverse forests may exist free from external influence, but the path to get there requires assistance.
Following an international competition, Dorte Mandrup has been selected to design the new Inuit Heritage Centre in the territory of Nunavut in northern Canada. Designed together with Architect of Record Guy Architects, LEES+Associates, Adjeleian Allen Rubeli, EXP, Pageau Morel, Altus Group, and indigenous consultants Kirt Ejesiak and Alexander Flaherty, the new centre aims to become a sign of cultural conciliation and a symbol of the continuation of Inuit practices, traditions and values. By offering a place where Inuit can reconnect with their collective past through objects, stories, and activities, the centre will promote greater awareness of Inuit culture. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
Sauerbruch Hutton has won the competition for Headquarters 2 (HQ2) for the Haidenauplatz Quarter in Munich. This high-rise building will be the focal point of the newly developing Haidenauplatz district in Eastern Munich. Serving as HypoVereinsbank's second central location, it will stand alongside the iconic Hypo high-rise from the 1970s in the neighboring Bogenhausen district. The design by Sauerbruch Hutton and landscape architect MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste was chosen from a pool of nine other international participants.
Henning Larsen has just revealed the design for Smyril Line's new headquarters and ferry terminal in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. The building pays homage to traditional Faroese fishing boats and the historic Eastern harbor while embracing the picturesque backdrop of abundant landscapes and open seas. The new headquarters serves three functions: a ferry terminal, an office building, and a logistics center.
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 Anthony Laney, Founder of Laney LA joins David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design to discuss the iterative design process, leadership and teamwork, how Laney LA has evolved, designing different kinds of buildings, refining their design sensibilities, and more!
The Smithsonian Institution selected Perkins&Will to design the Bezos Learning Center at the National Air and Space Museum in located on the prominent National Mall in Washington D.C. Perkins&Will was one of the five shortlisted finalists for the competition. According to the Smithsonian, the selection was based on the architects’ ample experience in designing cultural and educational spaces, the reliability of their management team and the team’s aesthetic approach.
Pina Bausch Center in Wuppertal, Germany. Image Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro has won an international competition to design the new Pina Bausch Zentrum in Wuppertal, Germany. Pina Bausch’s legacy as a dancer and choreographer will be celebrated in the design and revitalization of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, as well as in the creation of a new production center. The building will emerge out of the ethos of Pina Bausch, setting an example for a new generation of leadership in the world of choreography.
Apart from the production stage centers, the design includes an archive of Pina Bausch's enormous artistic legacy, comprising a library, study, and research areas, and a public platform to promote community involvement with many creative and academic disciplines. Various contrasting and flexible spaces that encourage and foster conversation across the project's numerous program components are found throughout the proposed design.
In parallel to this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, The European Cultural Centre (ECC) presented the sixth edition of its extensive architecture exhibition titled Time Space Existence. The 2023 iteration of the group show draws attention to expressions of sustainability in its numerous forms, ranging from a focus on the environment and urban landscape to the unfolding conversations on innovation, reuse, community, and inclusion. A total of 217 projects by established participants like Snøhetta or MADWORKSHOP and emerging players such as Urban Radicals or ACTA are currently on show through the 26th of November, 2023, at Venice's Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and Marinaressa Gardens.
In response to climate change, the installations on show investigate new technologies and construction methods that reduce energy consumption through circular design and develop innovative, organic, and recycled building materials. Participants also address social justice by presenting living solutions envisioned for displaced communities and minorities, while others examine the tensions between the built urban environment and the nature surrounding it to identify opportunities for coexistence.
As you make your way through the symphony of wooden colonnades, leafy screen walls, and unfurled roofing, towards the converging veins of flooring and ceiling ribs leading to the light, it feels like a space that was always meant to be there. Part of the park, the pavilion complements the nature around it, reflecting its patterns, and illuminates a main interior feature: a concentric set of tables and stools that inspire people to sit at the moment, hold conversations, and connect with each other. This narrative tells the tale of this year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh.
Titled, À table, It draws inspiration from the designer’s connection with nature growing up and is reminiscent of the French call to sit together at a table, share a meal and enter a dialogue. It foregrounds the table as a laboratory of ideas, concerns, joys, connections, and essentially brings people together. It further reflects on the architectural ideals that can provoke and welcome moments of collective conversations.
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, Partners at FAME Architecture & Design discuss the livability of designer homes. The two cover designing for function and aesthetics, material resilience, lifestyle changes, space efficiency, designing based on reference images, and the benefits of adapting to design-forward living environments.
https://www.archdaily.com/1001273/the-second-studio-podcast-the-livability-of-designer-homesThe Second Studio Podcast
The Graham Foundation has announced the award of 64 new grants to individuals exploring innovative and interdisciplinary ideas that contribute critical perspectives on architecture and design in 2023.
The weather across the northern hemisphere is getting warmer, and with rising temperatures comes the urgent need for many of us to spend as much time outside as possible. While a variety of outdoor activities bring with them their own sense of accomplishment and relaxation, one in particular combines feelings of leisure, indulgence and community: outdoor cooking. But how did this tradition start? And what has it evolved into?
Total view of the AXOR bathroom concept by Barber Osgerby. Image Courtesy of AXOR
When designing bathrooms, maximizing space is key for creating functional layouts that meet user needs and enhance their well-being, while also being aesthetically pleasing. In addition providing guidance on where to best place each element, AXOR’s bathroom collection elevates these spaces through an array of features, including mixers, showers, wash basins, bath tubs and accessories. These elements seamlessly blend with carefully chosen color schemes, materials and finishes to build the space.
Being one of the most intimate spaces in our homes, the creation of personalized bathrooms has a direct impact on our daily lives. With Make it yours!, AXOR dives into customized luxury and how to apply it in bathroom design. Exploring diverse styles, powerful colors, and individualized detailing, their collections are able to reflect multiple personalities by designing unique spaces through the inspiration of unique bathroom concepts from leading designers. In collaboration with London-based Barber Osgerby, AXOR developed the ‘Skyline’ concept, a customizable project designed with individual distinction.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has revealed the design of its tenth MPavilion, designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Tadao Ando, set to open during Australian summer, on November 16, 2023. Reflecting the architect’s architectural approach, the design unveiled the “use of striking geometric interventions in nature and […] concrete.” Once ready, the intervention will become the architect’s first commission in Australia. Created as a new gathering place situated within Melbourne's cultural and botanical garden precinct, MPavilion 10 responds directly to the park's surroundings by emphasizing spatial purity and utilizing the geometric shapes of circles and squares.
Minimaforms Presents The Order of Time at the Architectural Association School of Architecture Gallery. It is an immersive installation aimed to connect the preoccupations of physics, art, and architecture by revealing the ordering of spaces and constructed relationships through direct experience.
Three Sculptural installations are the highlight of the exhibition. Spherical organizations deployed through mathematical logic and designed to extend space within reflective light boxes, gifting its viewer a new immersive moment at every turn. ArchDaily had the chance to engage in a conversation with Theodore Spyropoulos; Artist & Architect at Minimaforms and Director of the Architectural Association’s Design Research Lab, on issues that tackled the interdisciplinary nature of architecture, the creative process of the installation, and how it influences the creation of spaces, buildings & cities.
Architect Tadao Ando has been commissioned to design this year’s Costume Institute exhibition highlighting the work of Karl Lagerfeld. The opening of the exhibition titled “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” was marked by the world-renown Met Gala, a fundraising event attended by celebrities and personalities perceived to be culturally relevant in the fashion scene. Perceived as a thematic and conceptual essay on Lagerfeld’s work, rather than a traditional retrospective, the exhibition aims to illustrate the designer’s method of creative expression and its significance in the industry.
Following findings from a study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal this April, it has become public knowledge that the phenomenon dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (an area of 620,000 square miles between California and Hawaii) is serving as host to an entire coastal ecosystem. Marine wildlife is using the massive area compiled of human plastic waste as a floating habitat, and scientists are shocked at the number of species that have managed to establish life in this otherwise hostile environment.
The news once again brings into sharp focus not only pressing issues of climate change and ocean pollution but also the question of environmentally-induced migration, even at a microbial level. Architecture is moving into more and more experimental realms when it comes to considering locations for the communities of our future – and rising sea levels have promoted water to the top of the list. But these deliberations are not as recent as one might think: floating cities have been around for centuries and individual homes on water are common in areas of Benin, Peru or Iraq, among others.
