Archinect - Features

Surveying the U.S. World's Fair Pavilions

2019-07-04T10:06:00-04:00

As the United States of America once again celebrates the anniversary of its declaration of independence, we're surveying some of the patriotic displays of architecture from World's Fair expositions throughout the decades. From aspirational beginnings as a young nation at London's Great Exhibition in 1851 to the iconic, Modernist structures of an emboldening superpower, all the way to the thematic, multimedia mega-pavilions of the contemporary age, US Pavilions across time reflect and have helped shape perceptions of America to itself and the world.

We have selected ten pavilions from various historical epochs to offer a passing glance at some of the more noteworthy American pavilions.

(Un)believable Utopias: 6 Forgotten Projects and their Provocative Stories

2017-06-16T10:06:00-04:00

Consciously or otherwise, social context determines design. Architecture, in turn, is capable of not only representing political ideals but also of reinforcing or shaping them—for example, through fostering forms of collective living or through breaking down gendered behavioral norms. The following projects may not be well-remembered, but they represent ambitious attempts to address or challenge the status quo through the built environment.

7 famous architectural dropouts and autodidacts

2016-09-09T11:11:00-04:00

Don’t tell the architectural students with six figures of debt, but that education of theirs might not be entirely necessary—especially when one looks at the ranks of famous architectural dropouts and autodidacts. These accomplished designers either didn’t complete their formal education or simply forged their own path by virtue of teaching themselves how to design. No matter how they dodged formal education, all of these figures pursued a passionate love of their field.