As Syria is emerging from over a decade of conflict at the time of writing, it is an opportunity to rediscover its architectural gems. Just to the north of the country's principal port city of Latakia is a Modernist creation that is the Center for Marine Research. Its pyramidal structure is situated on a prominent headland surrounded by sea on three sides. To the east is a bay with hotels and beaches while to the north and west is the open Mediterranean Sea reaching Turkey and Cyprus beyond. Despite its importance both as a research institution and as a piece of architecture, it lies abandoned and isolated today.
The decision to lift a building off the ground is a technical maneuver that requires substantial planning, expertise, and careful consideration. It is a deliberate architectural response to the site's forces and fragilities. Floodplains, wetlands, and thawing tundra share a common thread: Architects reconcile risk and vulnerability through elevated structures. In this sense, it is a spatial response and a structural necessity.
Creating an atmosphere that enhances exhibitions and enriches the visitor and user experience requires a thoughtful balance between preserving a space's unique character and adapting it to meet the needs of artistic and cultural production. The challenge lies in maintaining a building's industrial atmosphere while accommodating the specific requirements of exhibition design or the various uses the new building will require. This delicate task involves careful consideration of spatial layout, material choices, and lighting solutions, all of which play a significant role in shaping the new environment.
In 2024, a diverse range of topics have been comprehensively explored, some focusing specifically on architectural details and construction systems. These articles provide valuable insights into architecture's often-overlooked technical and functional aspects. By shifting attention away from aesthetics, materials, and spatial massing, they reveal the importance of intricate details and the construction systems underpinning contemporary projects' larger architectural vision.
Executing these seemingly small elements is crucial in shaping how architecture is perceived and experienced. Specifying and drawing a thoughtfully designed detail is not dissimilar to determining the correct screw in building a car—its thread count, material, and length—can dramatically influence not only the success of an architectural design but also the quality of the human experience it fosters. Such details, while often dismissed as mundane and may not be the most recognizable features of stellar projects, profoundly impact the cohesiveness and functionality of architectural projects.
Sir John Soane's Museum has announced Hanif Kara, a celebrated structural engineer and co-founder of AKT II, as the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Soane Medal. This marks a historic moment as Kara becomes the first engineer to receive the accolade, traditionally awarded to architects and theorists. The recognition highlights his profound impact on the built environment, particularly through his pioneering approach to interdisciplinary collaboration. Kara will deliver the Soane Medal Lecture at the Royal Academy on November 26.
Over-providing traditionally implies offering more than is necessary, often carrying a negative connotation due to the potential for excess and waste. However, could there be scenarios within the built environment where over-providing proves advantageous? The question critically examines how overprovisioning might enhance a building's flexibility and adaptability to diverse and evolving conditions.
The underlying assumption of accurately providing what is needed for a building is that stakeholders—including owners, architects, and designers—can accurately predict and cater to a structure's current and future needs. This assumption, however, is challenging to realize, as societal, economic, and cultural shifts frequently occur in unpredictable ways. In this context, over-providing emerges as a counterintuitive yet potentially beneficial strategy. As buildings and structures inevitably transform, those designed with inherent adaptability reduce the need for costly renovations or complete rebuilds.
The terms resiliency and sustainability, although similar in meaning, refer to different design approaches in the context of architecture and cities. Sustainability involves the preservation of natural resources to uphold ecological equilibrium, while resiliency entails the ability to rebound, adapt, and persist in moments of adversity. These concepts greatly influence and complement each other, especially in cases of designing disaster-resilient buildings. Conventional design processes relating to resilient infrastructure have been based on principles of structural robustness and integrity as a measure against anticipated natural disasters. However, sustainable resiliency points at the opportunity of reinforcing buildings by embedding them in biological and ecological systems.
Drawing plays a pivotal role in architectural design as it is the primary means for transforming ideas into tangible spaces. Within wooden architecture, numerous techniques exist for creating joints, and connections, and seamlessly incorporating the material into other structural components. Beyond merely conveying precise details, drawing can also produce instructional guides for construction, simplifying comprehension for the workforce and facilitating project execution. This is why we've curated a collection of diverse projects that exemplify various approaches to depicting the use of wood and its myriad possibilities.
A mud mosque in Mali, West Africa. Image Courtesy of Emilio Labrador
Earth architecture is built on a far-reaching history. Its story continues to be told through aged structures that have stood the test of time. Across the world, indigenous earth construction techniques have been pioneered by many ancient civilizations. Communities originally built shelters from earth - the most readily available material to them - and have passed on their construction techniques through generations. Earth architecture evolved with a careful understanding of land and location. With practices perfected decades ago, it is fascinating to see earth architecture remaining resilient through adversities
As researcher, designer and MIT professor Caitlin Mueller once said, “The greatest value you can give to a material is to give it a load-bearing role in a structure.” Load-bearing components – foundations, beams, columns, walls, etc. – are designed to resist permanent or variable forces and movements. Similar to the bones of a human body, these support, protect and hold everything together. To fulfill that indispensable function, they must be made from materials with outstanding mechanical properties, which explains the prominence of cement and steel in structures. However, their high performance comes at a high cost: together, they account for 15% of global CO2 emissions. This makes us wonder, is it possible for structural materials to be truly sustainable? We know solutions like greener versions of concrete already exist, but there are many other alternatives to explore. And sometimes, the answer is closer than we expect; in the earth beneath us and the nature that surrounds us.
Stilt houses are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Dating back to the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages, a wide variety of raised dwellings have been identified in a variety of forms worldwide, designed with several diverse and innovative methodologies. Stilt houses are well suited to coastal regions and subtropical climates. More than just a distinctive structural design resolution, they also protect against floods, maximize views and allow homeowners to build on rocky, steep, or unstable land. They also serve to keep out animals and vermin, provide ventilation from underneath, and minimize a house’s ecological footprint.
Videos
Mola Structural Kit 3. Image Courtesy of Mola Model
Following the popularity of their first two structural modeling kits, today Mola Model launches their Kickstarter campaign for Mola Structural Kit 3. Mola3 introduces cable structures to the system of hands-on structural learning, integrating seamlessly with the previous two kits. Because the Mola kits are designed as a single modular system, the new kit can be combined with the previous two, all connected via magnets, to model iconic structures like the Sydney Harbor Bridge or London’s Stansted Airport with the help of the bilingual instruction booklet.
Sydney Harbour Bridge made using Mola kit. Image Courtesy of Mola
It is often difficult to detect structures' potential deformations and behaviors with the naked eye, which is why interactive education and model-making have proved to be some of the most beneficial methods of learning about structural design.
To help with the learning of structures in a more playful and intuitive way, Brazilian brand Mola, have developed Mola Structural Kits, a selection of interactive physical models that simulate the behavior of architectural structures and create countless design combinations.
Following the success of the Structural Kits 1 and 2, Mola will be launching the Mola Structural Kit 3 in a Kickstarter campaign in a couple of weeks, and to celebrate, the innovative company has once again teamed up with ArchDaily for another exclusive giveaway, offering 10 of our readers the chance to win a complete structural kit, along with additional accessories.
