Archinect - Features

Archinect's 2024 Mental Health Survey Results: 11 Key Takeaways

2024-11-21T12:01:00-05:00

On October 10th, we marked World Mental Health Day by launching Archinect's 2024 Mental Health Survey. Over 120 people participated, sharing their experiences of the past year, where mental health issues are arising from, and what steps they are taking to improve their own mental health.

This year’s survey results reveal both progress and persistent challenges. While 2023 highlighted an increasing awareness and openness about mental health, the 2024 findings emphasize a continued struggle with stressors such as workload, compensation, and burnout. Notably, the stigma around mental health discussions has further diminished, with many participants reporting improved comfort in seeking support. However, the data also underscores significant gaps in institutional resources and support systems.

Compared to last year, the community shows incremental improvements in mental health metrics, with a higher proportion of respondents ranking their mental health above average. Yet, the ongoing pr...

Organizing and Reforming Architectural Education: A Conversation With Tessa Forde

2024-11-06T11:49:00-05:00

In recent years, the word 'organizing' has taken on a heightened power in architectural discourse, most notably through grassroots efforts by architectural workers across the United States to organize for better workplace conditions.

For Tessa Forde, organizing centers on a vast network of relationships that transcends different scales, disciplines, and actors across and beyond the architectural profession. In particular, Forde sees architectural education as an arena in which organizing holds great potential, with positive benefits for educators, students, the profession, the public, and the planet.

In that spirit, Forde is one of seven co-authors of the new book The Organizer's Guide to Architecture Education, alongside Kirsten Day, Peggy Deamer, Andrea Dietz, Jessica Garcia Fritz, Palmyra Geraki, and Valérie Lechêne. In October 2024, Archinect's Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Forde about the book and its underlying message. The conversation, edited lightly for length and clarity...

At Tyler’s Urban Workshop, Architecture Students Build With, and For, Underserved Communities

2024-11-01T06:29:00-04:00

On November 8th, the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University will host the Urban Workshop Symposium, the latest iteration of the Urban Workshop's engagements in community-based design and education. The event brings to the fore questions, conversations, and exemplars in how architectural education can engage with real-world stakeholders to the benefit of students and communities alike.

10 Ghost Towns With Unique Architecture

2024-10-30T13:55:00-04:00

Cities are like living bodies, each one animated by the pulse of human life. People give a city purpose, identity, and movement. When a city is abandoned, its soul departs, leaving behind only the silent architecture, a skeletal remnant of what once was.

While such environments can be hauntingly beautiful in their own right, they nonetheless evoke a sense of unease in the returning visitor who, even subconsciously, will be aware that their surroundings are akin to an architectural 'out of body' experience. They may be aware, too, that the thriving modern city they live and work in may one day suffer the same fate.

To mark Halloween 2024, we explore ten such cities that, while once filled with the soul of human activity, have since been left to decay and gently return to nature.

10 Controversial Buildings That Became Iconic Landmarks

2024-10-07T06:48:00-04:00

Architectural landmarks often become beloved symbols of their cities, but many were not always welcomed with open arms. Throughout history, some of our most acclaimed structures have in fact provoked heated debates, divided public opinion, sparked fierce controversy, and in one case, caused the late great architect Richard Rogers to be attacked by an elderly Parisian with an umbrella.

To mark World Architecture Day 2024, we take a look back through the history of some of the architectural structures most beloved by the public today, and demonstrate how their status as landmarks was hard-won.

To see how a building initially deemed a monstrosity, an eyesore, or an insult to tradition can evolve into the defining element of a city’s character is an interesting exercise in itself. Beyond the novelty, however, these stories raise apt questions for architects today. To what extent do, or should, we design in response to present tastes? Do we too quickly abandon ideas today in response t...

How Architectural Licensure Helps and Hurts the Profession

2024-09-21T08:00:00-04:00

Our Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series concludes with a look back on a four-month journey through the U.S. architectural licensure system. Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities in the current system highlighted by readers and commentators, we offer final thoughts on how licensure helps and hurts the architectural profession.

What Europe Can (and Can’t) Tell the US About Architectural Licensure

2024-06-06T14:37:00-04:00

In the third part of Archinect In-Depth: Licensure, we reflect on what the United States can learn from the architecture licensure models of other nations. While doing so, we speak with Peggy Deamer, Professor Emerita of Yale University's School of Architecture, whose book Architecture and Labor includes an analysis on how the wider U.S. architecture profession compares to those of France, Germany, and Sweden.

The Books You Should Read for Summer 2024, According to Leading Voices in Architecture

2024-05-29T16:41:00-04:00

Is your bookshelf ready for Summer? If not, we have you covered.

Continuing a recurring tradition, Archinect has reached out to notable figures across the architecture community who have been featured in our editorial over the past year, asking them what books they believe should be on your radar. The resulting list, in its own way, encapsulates the most important conversations taking place within architecture, design, and academia today, from inequality and conflict to labor and technology.

We hope you find some new inspiration in the titles below or, if you’ve exhausted our 2024 list, from our previous recommendations.

From the Editors: What We're Thankful for in 2023

2023-11-23T14:31:00-05:00

In a year marked with highs and lows, the Archinect editorial team has spent another year watching, listening, and reporting on the events of 2023. With the holidays drawing near and the year coming to a close, we pause to extend our gratitude to our dedicated readership and collaborators.

Join us as we reflect on the events of this year, from riveting breakthroughs in the industry to contemplative revelations in professional practice and academia and the moments that left us shaking our heads. For this special feature, we sharing our appreciation for the organizations, projects, events, and individuals that helped shape 2023.

'Architecture Education as an Active Project': A Conversation with Mariana Ibañez, Chair of UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design

2023-11-13T11:05:00-05:00

Academic leaders have the demanding task of steering and shaping a school's culture and pedagogy. Not only are they responsible for overseeing an institution's administrative affairs, but they are also charged with fostering environments for students and faculty to thrive.

Since 2013, Archinect's Deans List series has provided in-depth conversations with architecture and design leaders (Deans and Department Chairs), giving us invaluable perspective on their pedagogical stances, the institution’s curriculum, and academic environment. For this Deans List interview, I chatted with Mariana Ibañez, Associate Professor and Chair of UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design.

Storytelling, Bias, and Exploitation in Digital Realms; A Conversation with Miriam Hillawi Abraham

2023-10-24T12:01:00-04:00

For Miriam Hillawi Abraham, the digital realm is one fraught with both opportunities and dangers. The Ethiopian designer and researcher sees digital media as an impactful, playful, and unrestrained way of shaping immersive stories that challenge Western narratives and power dynamics imposed on the African continent, its histories, its built environment, and its people.

Meanwhile, Abraham sounds a timely note of caution on the potential for digital technologies and artificial intelligence to generate a single, incomplete visual language for the future, further propagating a Western-centric monoculture under a false guise of democratization, opportunity, and accessibility.

In July 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Abraham about her life, work, and reflections on the relationship between architecture, storytelling, digital realms, and power relations. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artifici...

AI Bias and Digital Colonialism; A Conversation with Morehshin Allahyari

2023-10-16T08:16:00-04:00

Whether through her art, writings, or lectures, Morehshin Allahyari's work evokes a range of emotions among its audience. There is wonder and intrigue at her reinterpretation of centuries-old Middle Eastern stories, images, and artifacts. There is introspection on our preconceived views on concepts from open-source data to digital archiving. Finally, there is a blend of frustration and motivation to act as Allahyari takes us on a journey through the exploitative history of colonial power relations between the West and the Middle East.

Using 3D simulation, video, sculpture, and digital fabrication, Allahyari warns us of a modern landscape in which power dynamics straddle both digital and physical worlds, articulating her theory of Digital Colonialism as a "framework for critically examining the tendency for information technologies to be deployed in ways that reproduce colonial power relations." In an age of artificial intelligence, the messages and critiques found within Allahyari's...

Archinect's 2023 Mental Health Survey Results

2023-10-10T15:45:00-04:00

To create a space that discusses and shares insights on mental health within the industry, Archinect recently conducted our latest Mental Health survey to better understand how our community has navigated the stressors inherent to the architecture industry. On this October 10th, World Mental Health Day, we share the results of this survey.

'What Is Truly Good About AI, Nobody Has Probably Thought of Yet'; A Conversation with Richard Saul Wurman

2023-07-25T08:00:00-04:00

To many, Richard Saul Wurman is inevitably introduced as "the man who created TED." Since Wurman organized the first TED conference in 1984, the organization's library has expanded to over 4,300 publicly available videos from some of the world's greatest minds about some of humanity's most curious and urgent subjects, not to mention the almost 50,000 independent TEDx talks which have been delivered since 2009.

The more one talks to or reads about Wurman, however, the smaller TED seems to shrink amidst a dizzying list of his pursuits into the world of the misunderstood, the unknown, and the unexplored. Born in 1935 in Philadelphia, an architectural alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, Wurman has counted Louis Kahn and Charles Eames among his mentors and Moshe Safdie and Frank Gehry among his great friends. He has published over 90 books on topics from architecture and graphic design to data and medicine, leaving a trail of influential projects such as TED and TEDMED, theories s...

Sound and Place: Archinect's Summer Music Playlist to Keep You Moving

2023-07-20T10:24:00-04:00

“The interference patterns of visual, sonic, and kinetic waveform transmissions that flooded the dance floor and enveloped me were deeply transformative. Along the perimeter, bass-bins sent out shock waves that rattled your ribcage and tweeter horns above them fired a percussive hailstorm into the twitching crowd.” – Merijn Royaards, one of three designers of The Shed’s new temporary Sonic Sphere performance space on his first experiences clubbing in Rotterdam in the early-90s.

'AI Could Be Seen as a Culture of Death in Its Darkest Sense'; A Conversation with Genevieve Goffman

2023-07-11T08:16:00-04:00

Genevieve Goffman does not create art about artificial intelligence; at least, not yet. The New York-based artist has instead grounded her acclaimed work in fantasy and narrative world-building, often through the medium of evocative and ornate 3D printed sculptures derived from digital modeling.

While not engaging directly with AI, Goffman’s work finds common ground with contemporary AI discourse through their mutual addressing of the human condition. Reflections on technological progress, failed human ambitions, and digital afterlives weave their way through Goffman’s work to create an indirect bind with AI-inspired reflections on humanity’s ability to define its present and chart its future. In this light, it is no surprise that Goffman’s latest piece The View, sits alongside a selection of architects and designers at the forefront of architecture’s AI discourse within the exhibition /imagine: A Journey into The New Virtual at the MAK in Vienna.

In June 2023, Archinect’s Niall Pat...

Archinect Celebrates 20 Must-Watch Emerging U.S.-Based Architecture Practices

2023-07-04T08:00:00-04:00

In celebration of July 4th, Archinect recognizes the work of U.S.-based architecture firms by bringing attention to a selection of emerging studios establishing themselves as changemakers and design leaders within the industry.

From coast to coast, we've explored several architecture practices that are making their mark in their respective cities. For this special feature, what better way to highlight the growing talent of U.S.-based practitioners than by celebrating their progress and expertise?

Archinect Celebrates Canada Day by Highlighting 15 Architecture Firms That Are Defining the Future of Canadian Architecture

2023-07-01T08:00:00-04:00

July 1, also known as Canada Day, is a time when Canadians come together to commemorate the union of what were once three separate colonies — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada (contemporary Ontario and Quebec).

Canada isn't just one of the largest countries in the world, but it's also one of the most urban. In a 2021 report, about 82% of the country's total population lives in cities. In honor of Canada Day, we take a moment to celebrate Canadian architecture by highlighting 15 firms working across the country.

Archinect's Tips for Recent Graduates Navigating Architectural Employment

2023-06-26T11:49:00-04:00

In 2023, navigating the job market for recent graduates can be daunting. Discussions surrounding portfolio advice, crafting an effective resume, and if one should follow their "dream job or a dream school" have been ongoing topics on Archinect and our forum. Within the last few years, expanded discussions over work conditions, ethical labor, and internship opportunities for graduates across our editorial have also been widely discussed. More recently, discussions of fair wages and unionization have propelled the launch of salary transparencies across several U.S. states and parts of the U.K.

For students who have recently graduated and preparing to enter the workforce this summer, Archinect aims to provide as many tips and resources for those preparing to step into professional practice.

'AI Is Built on Datasets That Are Already Biased'; A Conversation with Felecia Davis

2023-06-22T08:27:00-04:00

Ever since her childhood summers sewing patterns at the family dining table, Felecia Davis has understood the power of textiles to be a vehicle for communication, connection, and understanding. As her career in architecture unfolded in parallel with wider advances in computational capabilities, Davis dedicated her studies, and subsequent career, to the question of how computational textiles could intersect with and challenge social, cultural, and political constructions.

This dedication to mobilizing design and creativity in the name of confronting societal biases permeates Davis' many leadership positions, whether as the founder of Felecia Davis Studio, a co-founder of the Black Reconstruction Collective, or as an associate professor at Penn State University, where she directs SOFTLAB; a research group dedicated to tools, methods, and design solutions associated with computational textiles. Davis’ leadership in the field has been recognized through many honors, including the Archit...

Archinect's Guide to the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale: Part I — The National Pavilions

2023-06-06T14:17:00-04:00

With the opening week of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale now passed, there has been much discussion and media coverage of the anticipated international exhibition. It's safe to imply that the high-profile event aims to highlight, unveil, celebrate, and at times, provoke new and further existing discourse surrounding architecture. It can, however, be daunting to navigate the scene as a whole, especially for those who are learning about the pavilions, installations, participants, and overall event programming from afar.

To help Archinect readers who can only experience this year's Biennale virtually, we've created a handy reference guide to provide visuals and added context. In this two-part mini-feature series, we provide a summary and context for this year's exhibition theme, The Laboratory of the Future. Our guide offers a breakdown of important figures that make up the event, a list of participants, pavilions and installations, and upcoming events, as well as critical takes...

'The Notion of AI as a Form of Augmentation or Enhancement Is Fascinating to Me'; A Conversation with Behnaz Farahi

2023-06-05T07:31:00-04:00

Behnaz Farahi stands at an eclectic intersection between culture and technology. Trained as an architect, with specializations in computational design, interactive technologies, additive manufacturing, and digital fabrication, Farahi asks how emerging technologies can allow us to creatively explore the most pressing social and cultural issues of our time, from hierarchies and biases to objectification and bodily perception.

Among these many explorations, Farahi has won particular acclaim for her use of fashion to interrogate and subvert the subject of the male gaze on female bodies. In addition to honors and awards from the Cooper Hewitt, Fast Company, and beyond, Farahi's work has been the subject of several exhibitions, including Returning the Gaze at Milan Fashion Week (2022), Caress of the Gaze at the A+D Museum (2016), and most recently, in the immersive experiences Oneness and Blindness at the CSULB Innovation Space on June 10th, 2023.

In May 2023, Archinect's Niall Patrick W...

Exhibit Columbus’ University Design Research Fellows Showcase Proposals That Activate the 'Invisible Spaces' of Columbus, Indiana

2023-04-07T12:16:00-04:00

How do you activate invisible spaces, and what does it mean to design for the public? These were the themes that sparked important conversations at Exhibit Columbus’ 2023 Design Presentations organized by the Landmark Columbus Foundation. Each Exhibit Columbus cycle focuses on a new theme along with a hand-selected team of curatorial partners, community advisors, and participating designers. Selected designers are chosen by the curatorial team and are recognized as J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize winners, University Design Research Fellows, and High School Design Team winners. As media partners, Archinect visited the city of Columbus and listened in as architects, designers, artists, urban planners, and academic researchers pitched their design presentations to guests and the local community of Columbus.

During our coverage, we focused on seven projects presented by the 2023 University Design Research Fellows. Each year, the Foundation releases an open call to university profess...

'Leadership Is Not Linear': A Conversation with Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, the New Dean of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design

2023-03-27T10:00:00-04:00

The fabric of architectural academia is changing. As leadership turnover is more apparent than ever before, I wondered if the demands of an academic leader have outgrown the stereotypical "profile" of what qualifies a dean or department chair. Is there room for deans to lead and make changes beyond their bureaucratic administrative duties? How much experience is enough experience to be "qualified to lead?"

I discussed these questions when I got the opportunity to connect with Cal Poly Pomona's new dean for their College of Environmental Design, Mary Anne Alabanza Akers. She joins the institution after heading Morgan State University's School of Architecture + Planning as its dean for 14 years. Not only has Akers served at a prominent HBCU — she was also its founding dean.

During our conversation, for our latest Deans List series, we unpacked her childhood in the Philippines, her journey to attending school and working in the United States, her commitment to academia, and what it m...

'As a Black Architecture Firm, We Cannot Ignore the Fact That We Are Rare': A Conversation with Think Wilder Architecture

2023-02-24T08:15:00-05:00

Architecture licensure and running a practice are topics widely discussed on Archinect. While everyone's path is different the experiences of firm leaders, regardless of their firm size, offer a look into the realities of being an architect, leader, and entrepreneur.

"Having my own practice has allowed me to use the business as a platform to create more than just architecture. I think architects have skill sets that transcend architecture." These are the words of Stephen Wilder, Principal of Think Wilder Architecture. The Howard University and Carnegie Mellon University graduate runs a New Jersey/New York-based architecture practice that's keen on balancing work expectations while showcasing the value architects provide to their communities.

For our latest installment of Archinect's Studio Snapshots, we chat with Wilder on his path to architecture, the obstacles of licensure, challenging the industry's work culture, and how he defines the role of an architect.

Gehry Prize Winner Sophie Akoury Retells Histories of the LA River Through an Architectural and Archival Lens

2023-01-06T14:12:00-05:00

During SCI-Arc's 2022 M.Arch graduation, three students were awarded the Gehry Prize for the Best Graduate Thesis. In December, we highlighted prize winners Ian Wong and Sue Choi for their project, Earthly Passage. Continuing with our Thesis Review series, we connected with the third Gehry Prize winner, M.Arch graduate Sophie Akoury, to discuss her project, 51mi + 25km = 13ft.

Akoury shares her motivation behind exploring the city's infamous LA River and how its physical and historical existence parallels Lebanon's Beirut River. "Few places can be as contradicting as the Los Angeles River. Without it, LA would not exist (which sounds quite surprising since its existence is often neglected, and calling it a 'river' is sometimes questionable)," she explained. "When I moved to Downtown Los Angeles from Lebanon, I noticed the Los Angeles River's uncanny resemblance to the Beirut River. That intrigued me since the two cities are so different yet share almost the same urban entity as a pa...

Architecture’s 'State of the Union': Reflections on the 2022 World Architecture Festival

2023-01-05T06:00:00-05:00

From November 30th through December 2nd, 2022, the World Architecture Festival (WAF) held its first physical event in three years. The annual festival, adapting to an online format during the COVID-19 pandemic, is regarded as one of the most critical events in the global architectural calendar, from identifying award-winning projects from over 700 candidates around the world to facilitating debates, discussions, and critiques on the built environment, and the forces entwined within it. Below, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh reflects back on his visit to the 2022 edition of the festival, held in Lisbon, Portugal.

UCLA AUD's M.Arch Research Studio Explores Speculative 'Future Histories' of Los Angeles

2022-12-15T13:57:00-05:00

The latest installment in Archinect's Studio Pin-Ups series presents graduate student work from one of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design (AUD)'s Research Studio Seminars. The studio, titled "Future [Hi]Stories of the City," is led by Kutan Ayata, AUD's Vice Chair, Associate Professor, and co-founder of Brooklyn-based architecture practice Young & Ayata.

This research-based studio encouraged M.Arch students to explore and document "speculative future histories of Los Angeles through the design of episodic instances. In pairs, students choose an issue that currently pressures and influences the development of LA; the task is to document the state and impact of these issues towards the Year 2062."

Gehry Prize Winners Reimagine Funerary Architecture

2022-12-12T18:12:00-05:00

Thesis projects aim to push students outside of their comfort zones and foster new versions of architectural thinking. For our latest installment of Archinect's Thesis Review series, SCI-Arc M.Arch graduates Ian Wong and Sue Choi discuss the architectural tones and typologies of cemeteries and funerary customs in their project, Earthly Passage.

Winners of the 2022 Gehry Prize for best thesis project, Wong and Choi explained, "Earthly Passage is a new model of funerary architecture." While their topic may seem unconventional, the duo explains the importance of exploring and respecting these spaces for the deceased. Their project exhibits a place for "funerals to take place, as well as subsequent visits," highlighting improved experiences for mourners to pay their respects. They continue by adding, "culturally, our thesis highlights a program or function of space/architecture that is often uncomfortable, or taboo, to talk about."

During this interview, they discuss their motivation to...

From the Editors: What We're Thankful For in 2022

2022-11-24T08:34:00-05:00

As the year comes to a close, there are many things to reflect upon. After navigating 2022, filled with ups, downs, and everything else in between, the industry as a whole continued to endure. From architects and designers to students and faculty, it's an important time to reflect on what we've learned, overcome, let go of, and challenged.

The Archinect editorial team has spent another year watching, listening, and reporting on the events of 2022. With the holidays approaching and the year slowly coming to a close, we want to express our gratitude and appreciation by sharing the things we're thankful for this past year.