Flamboyant postmodernist architect Helmut Jahn dies in a bycycle accident aged 81
Helmut Jahn, the Flash Gordon of architecture, brought a ‘glitzy’ and bombastic attitude to postmodernism, from Chicago to Berlin, Philadelphia, Bangkok and beyond.
TECLA by Mario Cucinella is the first eco-sustainable house 3D printed from raw earth
MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP, World’s Advanced Saving Project, teamed up to develop and create the TECLA eco-sustainable housing model.
Herzog & de Meuron completes the M+ Museum building in Hong Kong
Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, the M+ Museum building comprises a semi-transparent tower housing a research center, shops, and restaurants which intersects a horizontal slab filled with exhibition galleries. The museum is set to open at the end of 2021.
St. Patrick’s Day! 5 architectural whiskey distilleries making Ireland’s nectar flow
5 Irish whiskey architectures to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day: a former beer factory converted into a whiskey temple, a see-through garden pot still house and a medieval church turned into a distillery…
The first large-scale Memorial to the Pandemic invites to reflect on our relationship with Nature
Gomez Platero designed the World Memorial to the Pandemic in Uruguay to build a collective consciousness reminding us that humankind is not the center of the ecosystem.
International Women’s Day 2021: celebrating women in architecture
Good news celebrating women in architecture: Venice Biennale awards Lina Bo Bardi, Kate Macintosh wins the Jane Drew Prize 2021 and more.
Covid-19 has re-shaped iconic carnival capitals from Rio to Venice and New Orleans
Carnival 2021: Oscar Niemeyer’s Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro has been transformed into a Covid-Drome and works as a vaccine drive through, Venice empty streets offer locals a chance to reflect on ‘overtourism’ while New Orleans residents, orphan of the traditional Mardi Gras parade, have transformed their houses into floats.
Happy Chinese New Year! 4 cattle-friendly architectures to celebrate the Year of the Ox
From a ‘cowshed collective’ bringing sustainability to social farming to a translucent barn giving a better quality of life to animals. We celebrate the Year of the Ox with 4 brilliant architectural barns.
Wormhole Library by MAD Architects is nearing completion in China
The sensuously curved and multi-functional organic concrete structure of the Wormhole Library is punctured, creating voids of varying sizes that let the light into the interiors.
David Altrath portrays the ominous interiors of the Stasi Headquarters in Berlin
German photographer David Altrath has captured the perfectly preserved interiors of the Stasi Headquarters in Berlin, now a museum, memorial and research centre ‘against the sleep of reason’.
Zecc Architecten clads the Steel Craft House with a Corten steel façade
Hand-made for over ten years by Zecc Architercten, its residents and their befriended craftsmen, the Steel Craft House is a fine example of self-building.
House of Hungarian Music by Sou Fujimoto is nearing completion in Budapest
Inspired by sound waves, Sou Fujimoto’s ‘House of Hungarian Music’ is topped by a white roof, punctuated with almost 100 holes for trees to grow through.
Abin Design Studio’s Gallery House in Bansberia is cladded with ceramic and terracotta bricks
Inspired by terracotta temples found in the Indian state of West Bengal, the Gallery House community centre “is a humane gesture of giving back to the local community, without disrupting the privacy and security of inner functions.”
Jean Nouvel unveils the sustainable ‘Aquarela’ residential complex in Ecuador
Verdant balconies and green canyons define Jean Nouvel’s biophilic high-rise AQUARELA apartment complex near Quito, aiming to combine sustainability with social justice.
The Line: Saudi Arabia unveils the masterplan for a 170km long smart city without cars
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced THE LINE, a 170km urban belt of hyper-connected future communities, without cars and roads and built around nature. Breaking ground in the first half of 2021, the smart city is a direct response to some of the most pressing challenges such as legacy infrastructure, pollution, traffic, and human congestion.
Claesson Koivisto Rune completes the beach ‘House of Many Courtyards’
The Swedish Studio has sliced and dislocated the building to ’double’ its volume. The ‘House of Many Courtyards’ has the appearance of a series of individual boxes; in reality, it is one interior connected via a 40-metre-long, end-to-end, central corridor overlooking multiple courtyards.
Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter designs 48°Nord landscape-hotel in France
Plunged in the northeastern French countryside, 48°Nord sustainable village hotel combines Scandinavian countryside cottages architecture with local traditions.
Opposite Office envisions a Capitol Castle to raise awareness on democracy
As a reaction to the storm on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters, Opposite Office designed a dystopian Capitol Castle architecture to convert the US presidential building to a fortress to protect democracy.
Goodbye Donald! A Trumpian architecture and design round-up
As Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States, we look into Trump’s controversial legacy. Goodbye Donald!
24 architectural museums and cultural venues to look forward in 2021: from Tutankhamen to Aviici!
Discover 24 architectural museums opening in 2021: from Kengo Kuma’s Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Denmark to Jean Nouvel’s Pudong Museum of Art in Shanghai, the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza and the Aviici Experience in Stockholm.
Best of 2020: 8 urban stories from China to the Italian Alps
Top 8 urban stories of 2020: Stockholm’s underground art trail, transparent Tokyo public toilets and a sport campus hidden under a green hilly landscape in China.
2020 Best Architecture: 12 great stories from Dubai to the Arctic
2020 Best Architecture: an Arctic whale watching facility, a pitched-roof garden house in Beverly Hills and a sustainable micro-library in Indonesia are among our favourite architectures of the year.
2020 round up: best 10 COVID-19 related architecture and design stories
From shipping containers turned into ICUs to to ‘silent’ architectural photo-essays, functional & safe furnitures and iconic techno clubs reopening as art spaces. We rounded up 10 Covid-19 related architecture and design stories of 2020.
Benidorm Empty Hotels: Manuel Alvarez Diestro captures the impact of Covid-19 on the tourism industry
With the BENIDORM EMPTY HOTELS photo essay, Manuel Alvarez Diestro “provides a reflection on the devastating effects of the pandemic on the built environment”.
‘Related Stories’ architectural film series by JPAG Atelier narrates lockdown self-discovery as apartments became micro-cities
The pandemic has forced us to think hard and get creative to convert our homes from anti-pandemic prisons to friendlier, even productive living spaces. For the RELATED STORIES project, JPAG studio has created colorful billboards placed outside of Beirut apartments and short videos narrating the physical and emotional change each home has undergone.
Mad Architects’ Fenix Museum of Migration breaks ground in Rotterdam
An eye-catching whirlpool of panoramic stairs snakes through and tops the Fenix Museum of Migration, MAD Architects’ first cultural project in Europe, due to be completed in 2024.
‘Fata Morgana’ pavilion by Hozan Zangana: Middle Eastern heritage meets social distancing in Dubai
Seven pillars and safely distanced public seatings compose Hozan Zangana’s ‘Fata Morgana’ centripetal installation in the heart of Dubai where people can safely cross each other’s paths according to Middle Eastern construction techniques.
Trumpitecture: US elections engage with architecture
From archi-bullying to flamboyant ego-towers. We look into US elections with a Trumpitecture architectural perspective.
Farewell Cini Boeri. Dame of Italian architecture and design dies, aged 96
Functionality and playfulness, sober minimalism and a distinct ‘pop’ attitude. Cini Boeri – one of the few female voices and minds defining Italy’s post war architecture and design – has passed away in her beloved city, Milan. In her carrier she pioneered engineering, industrial design and architecture putting people’s intimate joy at the center.
Venice Biennale 2020: THE DISQUIETED MUSES exhibition brings contemporary arts together
THE DISQUIETED MUSES exhibition showcases documents sourced from La Biennale’s archives cross-pollinating art, architecture, cinema, dance, theatre and music. The displays by Formafantasma combines unpainted frames and tables in plywood, colored textiles and black and white blown up pictures.