Archinect - Features

Happy National Volunteer Week! Here's a resource guide for architects and designers looking to lend a hand

2024-04-22T14:14:00-04:00

This week, from April 21–27, is officially National Volunteer Week in the United States. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Archinect has curated a handy guide of resources for architects looking to donate their time and skills to various causes that will ultimately lead to healthier communities, a cleaner planet, and a more just society.

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...

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...

2023 Summer Architecture Programs, Workshops, and Intensives for Adults and High School Graduates

2023-03-15T09:16:00-04:00

Archinect's featured list of summer architecture programs continues with Part II, where we focus on opportunities for recent high school graduates and adults.

Echoing a similar message as provided in Part I, these courses and workshops offer recent high school graduates and adults (at any age range), even without prior design experience, access to the fundamentals of an architectural education. Our list also includes programs for those with existing backgrounds adjacent to architecture looking to explore specific topics with a design emphasis.

2023 Summer Architecture Programs for Kids and High School Students

2023-03-08T15:04:00-05:00

Are you a parent looking for fun and stimulating spring and summer programs to keep your young ones busy? Or are you a high school student interested in exploring the world of architecture and getting college credit? As we enter the spring season and with summer just around the corner, there are plenty of architecture-focused programs young designers can explore in the coming months. For the 2023 summer season, Archinect highlights programs that could be the perfect fit for the budding architect or designer in your life.

Our two-part feature will highlight architecture programs for all ages ranging from young children to adults looking to explore the world of architecture. To kick things off, this first installment lists courses, programs, and workshops for young minds ready to discover architecture's basics. Explore over 30+ programs from across the United States and Canada. We've also included a few programs available for little ones to take during the spring months.

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.

Summer Architecture Programs, Workshops, and Design Intensives for High School Graduates and Adults

2022-05-09T12:28:00-04:00

Continuing with our list of architecture programs to explore during the summer, Part II focuses on opportunities for recent high school graduates and adults. Echoing a similar message as provided in Part I, these courses and workshops offer adults young and old, even without prior design experience, access to the fundamentals of an architecture education.

Our list also includes programs for those with existing backgrounds adjacent to architecture looking to explore specific topics with design emphasis.

Architecture Courses and Workshops for Kids and High School Students

2022-04-29T17:03:00-04:00

Are you a parent looking for fun and stimulating summer programs to keep your young ones busy? Are you a high school student excited to explore the world of architecture? With summer just around the corner, there are plenty of architecture-focused initiatives to explore in the coming months.

For the 2022 summer season, Archinect has created a special two-part feature highlighting architecture programs for all ages. Part I focuses on summer courses and workshops for young minds ready to discover architecture's basics.

NJIT's Upcoming eLCAd Symposium Builds Cross-Disciplinary Bridges in Design and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

2022-03-19T10:30:00-04:00

Sustainability is more than a buzzword for the team behind New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) upcoming Environmental Life Cycle Assessment in Design Symposium, better known as eLCAd. What began in 2020 as an idea to bring together the disciplines of architecture, design, and data-driven techniques for assessing environmental challenges has now become a book and industry-focused symposium for working professionals and students.

When it comes to sustainable design approaches and best practices, there are numerous conferences and symposiums to talk about and attend. But what makes eLCAd different? Why highlight this symposium in comparison to others? In a nutshell, eLCAd 2022 is a three-day, international event that "unites two professions engaged in parallel systems thinking [...] to define actionable, collaborative opportunities brought about through continuing advances in computational tools." For John Cays (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Interim Director of the Schoo...

Architecture as Caregiver: NYIT School of Architecture and Design Showcases Student and Faculty Work at the 2021 Venice Biennale

2021-12-16T10:49:00-05:00

Pavilions and exhibitions showcased at the 2021 Architecture Venice Biennale have grabbed news headlines for a good portion of the year. As the architecture and design world interrogates the works of numerous architects, curators, and professional design teams through the lens of the latest theme, How Will We Live Together, attention must also be paid to the participation of architecture students and faculty. Highly visible exhibitions have become outlets for educating the world about what architecture is today. Academic contributions add to architecture's growing discourse through research and investigations.

For this year's International Architecture Exhibition, architecture students and faculty from the New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design (SoAD) made an appearance in Venice. Through the leadership of SoAD Dean Maria Perbellini and fellow faculty members, the institution showcased two unique pavilions. Archinect connected with Dean Perbellini to lear...

Dystopia in the Desert: Expo 2020 Dubai Embodies Our Unsustainable Attitude Towards Urbanism

2021-11-12T12:05:00-05:00

In a confluence of events, the autumn of 2021 saw the opening of both the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and Expo 2020 in Dubai. While COP26 is billed as "the last chance saloon" to save the planet, Expo 2020 Dubai is described by its organizers as "the most sustainable expo in the history of expos." This opinion piece reflects on how beneath Expo 2020 Dubai's rhetorical and programmatic accolades, the event is in fact a symptom of a systemically unsustainable attitude towards the built environment and a warped exercise in utopian thinking.

Business as Usual or Build Back Better? Architectural Leaders Share Their Thoughts on This Weekend’s COP26 Opening

2021-10-29T15:19:00-04:00

With the opening of the UN COP26 climate summit this weekend, the eyes of the architectural world will be upon Glasgow to see what, if any, effective measures of memoranda will come out of the two-week conference. Past COP summits have resulted in monumental policy measures like the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol. Recent conferences have been seen as less successful. The most recent meeting was dubbed “a major disappointment” after failing to produce a consensus on a number of different key climate issues.

This year’s event is perhaps the most anticipated in the organization’s history. The Queen of England will not be attending. Other prominent figures will skip the conference as well. The architectural community will be well-represented, with contingents from the AIA, RIBA, and other institutions and practitioners who all have stakes in climate change policies and the built environment.

Global voices, from Greta Thunberg to Prince Charles, have derided world leaders for their...

Exhibit Columbus' 2021 University Design Fellows Bring Architecture Research to Life in the Midwest

2021-09-30T15:35:00-04:00

For the past several months, a small, Midwestern city located "in the middle" of the country has taken the architecture world by storm. Since the opening of Exhibit Columbus this past March, the exhibition team, designers, and curatorial duo Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil have created an immersive, in-person experience teeming with work that embodies the past, present, and future of Midwestern architecture, research, and discourse.

As media partners, Archinect has conducted several interviews where we dive into the minds of the Exhibition's talented designers. We've learned how they've pushed the boundaries of site-specific architectural exhibitions and how they evoke moments of reflection and pride for cities in the Midwest.

In preparation for Exhibit Columbus' upcoming event, Mapping the Middle: Design Research Conversations, we were given access to dive into the projects of this year's seven University Design Research Fellows. The Exhibit Columbus team shared that this new colloquium i...

‘What Is the Future of the Middle City?’ — Larger-Than-Life Exhibit Columbus Installations Activate the City of Columbus, Indiana

2021-08-25T14:37:00-04:00

On Saturday, August 21, the city of Columbus, Indiana welcomed thirteen larger-than-life installations displayed throughout the area as part of Exhibit Columbus' 2021 Exhibition. The program explores art, architecture, design, and community in Columbus. While the city itself has garnered a reputation for being the home of notable modernist architecture, landscapes, and art, this year's curators and exhibition team unpack the meaning of civic life by showcasing a series of design projects aiming to identify and question: "What is the future of the middle city?"

The theme, New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What is the Future of the Middle City?, raises an important question about cities located within the center of the U.S., their ties to the past, present, and future through site-specific and site-responsive installations. According to the Exhibition's curators, Iker Gil and Mimi Zeiger, the design programming this year asks to "re-evaluate, refresh, and reframe" the city...

The Venice Biennale Pressed Pause, While Everyone Else Changed the Game

2021-06-29T08:42:00-04:00

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we live, work, and interact has transformed. The architecture world has been forced to adapt in tandem, with our means of design, communication, and education all undergoing rapid changes. Though set against a tragic backdrop, this forced evolution of the industry has opened new avenues for the future of work and education which were either unproven or unconsidered before the pandemic. However, while the rest of the industry evolved, the 2020 Venice Biennale chose to delay its opening date in order to proceed with its traditional format. This opinion piece reflects on how the Biennale may have missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to radically reform how it promotes contemporary architectural trends, and in doing so, address long-held concerns over its relevance, accessibility, and environmental impact.

Syracuse University School of Architecture Students Uncover the Forgotten Histories of Systemic Racism With “Hidden Histories” Exhibit

2021-04-08T08:19:00-04:00

The built environment isn’t static. Everyday, structures are created, destroyed, and repurposed. Some are preserved while others are left to slowly decay. As time passes and the world changes, new meanings can become attributed to these spaces. Their pasts and histories become vulnerable and new realities may take shape. For better or for worse, the functions spaces once had, the people they once served, and the circumstances that led to their erasure fade and become forgotten.

There are a myriad of forces that drive this ever-occurring phenomenon, ranging from natural to deliberate actions. And, this is where difficult questions arise. What is the history of this place? Why has it been forgotten? Was this nullification intentional? Who and what were the agents that drove these actions? While these are complex questions, in taking a step back and observing broader historical contexts, explanations for these occurrences can be revealed. And, Syracuse Architecture’s National Organiza...

Exhibit Columbus: Meet the Presenters at the March 26th Design Presentations

2021-03-24T16:01:00-04:00

Exploring the theme New Middles: From Main Street To Megalopolis, What Is The Future of The Middle City?, the 2020-21 cycle of Exhibit Columbus has launched the latest Design Presentations in an accessible four-session virtual format. While the presentations during the initial two sessions on March 19th focused on the topics Ecologies and Geographies, the next event, taking place this Friday, March 26th, will present two sessions with featured designers and architects covering Visibilities and Possibilities.

As the official media sponsor for Exhibit Columbus' Design Presentations, Archinect is delighted to highlight each session and introduce the featured designers and their work.

If you missed Part 1 of Archinect's coverage of the event, click here to learn more about the presenters of the March 19th sessions.

Get to Know the Presenters at Exhibit Columbus’ March 19th Design Presentations

2021-03-18T09:00:00-04:00

On March 19th and 26th, Exhibit Columbus invites the public to experience its annual exhibition in a new virtual format. A program led by the Landmark Columbus Foundation, this year's theme New Middles: From Main Street To Megalopolis, What Is The Future of The Middle City? allows visitors to "preview design concepts of thirteen site-specific, future-oriented public installations and experience the design process first-hand."

Taking place this Friday, March 19th, and next Friday, March 26th, the exhibition event is broken into four, two-hour sessions. Each featured designer will discuss their work and site installation during virtual sessions across the four themes Ecologies, Geographies, Visibilities, and Possibilities. As the official media sponsors for Exhibit Columbus' Design Presentations, Archinect explores each session to learn more about the designers and their work.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Archinect's coverage of the event, where we dive into the two remaining sessions ta...

Discussing Technology and 'Architecture as Transient Media' With Güvenç Özel and Benjamin Ennemoser of UCLA's IDEAS Technology Studio

2021-02-19T13:39:00-05:00

Architecture is currently at the cusp of a paradigm shift, where the environments we occupy are becoming increasingly virtual and mobile. Considered as an ecosystem of technologies rather than a tectonic assemblage of materials, architecture is shifting toward a non-static and non-physical form of experience. This opens up the potential for it to be considered as a transdisciplinary medium that merges the worlds of fabrication, gaming, and media design.

The IDEAS Technology Studio, one of four studios offered as part of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design’s Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (M.S.AUD) program, investigates the design of new media in digital and physical forms and its potential to radically transform the human experience. Recognized as a leading research institution UCLA Architecture and Urban Design is also a part of the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture. This unique blend and integration of departments allow both students and faculty "to connect ...

From the Editors: What We're Thankful For in 2020

2020-11-26T16:21:00-05:00

2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year. Covid-19 forced us to isolate from family, friends and colleagues, and work from home as the industry struggled to keep up with the changes the pandemic brought. Many firms experienced drastic reductions in work, as industries such as hospitality and retail faced incredible hardship and an uncertain future. As a result, many individuals in our industry faced layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts. Political tensions, cultural divisions and a heightened push for social justice further defined this historic year. During this hardship, however, there remains much to be thankful for. We'd like to take this opportunity, as Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, to share a few those things that our team is grateful for in 2020.

The 2020 2x8 Exhibition Celebrates the Work of California's Architecture Students

2020-11-02T12:22:00-05:00

Since the launch of the first-ever 2x8 Exhibition in 2002, AIA Los Angeles and the 2x8 exhibition team have dedicated their time and effort to curate an eclectic mix of student work showcasing the very best California architecture schools have to offer.

What makes the 2x8 Exhibition so unique is its focus on providing a unique experience for students across as many as 20 schools to showcase their studio work. In addition to a detailed curation of student projects, the 2x8 also highlights faculty work thanks to its open call for site installations. Before the event, faculty are invited to submit their plans for a site-specific installation that will accompany the selected student works.

Although 2020 was filled with much adversity, architecture students across the country adapted to the challenges. They transitioned to remote learning as they strived to stay motivated and dedicated to their architectural education. This year, since in-person events have been put on hold, AIA Los Ang...

Kimberly Dowdell and Jason Pugh Discuss NOMA's Core Values, Mentorship, and the Upcoming 2020 NOMA Conference

2020-10-10T09:00:00-04:00

National architecture organizations have expressed their efforts towards inclusivity, equity, and diversity. One organization, however, continues to embody those values by leading from example and creating moments for individuals to be involved and amongst people whose multifaceted backgrounds add to the strength of the future architectural academia and professional practice. The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has continued to push through and establish themselves as a group that reflects a different leadership type towards efforts of advocacy, diversity, and inclusivity within the profession.

"I think that everyone approaches the "doing" of architecture in their own way," explains current NOMA President Kimberly Dowdell. "NOMA celebrates the various ways in which our members contribute to our collective built environment. At the end of the day, architects are called upon to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Our members do this in nearly ev...

SCI-Arc's 2020 Digital Spring Show: The Future of Showcasing Student Work Online?

2020-06-04T13:48:00-04:00

With COVID-19 challenging the nature of in-person events, architecture groups and schools have been forced to think outside the box with how they conduct these gatherings by pivoting to virtual events for online audiences.

Specifically within the academic context, online video platforms and community streaming services have aided in adjusting to this new focus on virtual interactions and gatherings. However, when it comes to highly anticipated school events like thesis exhibitions, spring shows, and graduation, is it possible to replicate the excitement of the IRL experience?

Unpacking The Spatial Implications Of Architecture's Accessibility Failures

2020-01-14T13:19:00-05:00

There is a particular type of obliviousness to the built environment that most of us have the privilege of experiencing day-to-day. This obliviousness relates not to architecture’s aesthetic values, but rather to architecture’s accessibility out in the world. Built to Scale, an exhibition by artist Emily Barker currently on view at Murmurs Gallery in Los Angeles, is designed to knock you right out of it. And for designers and architects, it's a must-see. On view in a young gallery tucked between the nondescript buildings of LA's Manufacturing District, Barker's new solo show delves deep into the fundamental misunderstandings of architectural accessibility and its spatial implications, particularly in the realm of the home.

Baseball's Rightful Place in Architecture History: A Review of Goldberger's New Book "Ballpark"

2019-05-22T12:04:00-04:00

The ballpark building type has been overlooked from accounts of modern architecture history by its most prolific writers. With Ballpark, Paul Goldberger's treatise on the architectural history of ballpark design, he succeeds in assuring his reader that the building type is as worthy of design scholarship as any other.

Join us in celebrating Ballpark, the latest book by Paul Goldberger at Archinect Outpost on Saturday, June 1st, 5-8pm.

The doors will open at 5 and will close promptly after 6 as the conversation begins between Paul Goldberger and Paul Petrunia, the founder and director of Archinect, on the content on his newest book.

Ballpark can be preordered here for pickup at the event, or shipping immediately after the event. Please go here to RSVP for the event.

Behind the Scenes of Coachella's Colossal Cacti with Andrew Kovacs

2019-04-19T16:18:00-04:00

As long as it has been known as a world-class music festival, Coachella has also been dedicated to the installation of artwork at the scale of architecture. This year, artists and architects including Francis Kéré, Peggy Noland and Dedo Vabo boasted impressive works during the festival. But it was Colossal Cacti, the project by Office Kovacs, that most skillfully referenced both the desert landscape of Indio Valley and the postmodern tradition of the architect's Los Angeles home base.

We interviewed Andrew Kovacs, the UCLA professor that leads Office Kovacs, about the fabrication process (beautifully photographed by Phil Donahue) and public reception of Colossal Cacti, while also discovering that the film's intention is always to bring architecture to the people.

Extra Extra: A Sprinkle of Defense of the Museum of Ice Cream

2019-03-29T14:35:00-04:00

The Museum of Ice Cream kicked our ass. It beat architecture to a project for a contemporary image-conscious culture in an era of social media. This is a shame considering architecture has a long history of staging the image of social life. From the success of the grand escalier at l’Opera Garnier de Paris and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim to the new and problematic Vessel at Hudson Yards, the faith in architecture to frame and showcase experience itself is unquestioned. An image-based culture has clearly developed and seeks to define its subsequent social media marketing as a major participant in the design process.

Finding the Artful in Artless Spaces: A Review of Thomas Demand's 'The Complete Papers'

2019-03-26T20:02:00-04:00

Weighing in at over 6 pounds, the breadth of work and reference material makes The Complete Papers, the newest and most comprehensive book from the artist Thomas Demand, an indispensable resource for anyone invested in art, architecture or media theory. The catalogue raisonné compiles all of Demand's individual works, selections from larger series works and the most critical texts from art and architecture historians over a 28 year span.

Join us at Archinect Outpost on March 29th, from 7-9pm to host artist Thomas Demand and The Complete Papers, the comprehensive survey of the artist's photographs to date.

The Technological Sublime of Non-Human Spaces: A Review of Liam Young's "Machines Landscapes"

2019-03-20T12:00:00-04:00

A significant number of buildings around the world are deliberately uninhabitable by humans. They are, however, designed absolutely towards the service of human needs. The unusual conditions of these buildings, including those of telecommunications networks, automated agriculture and data centers are explored in Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post-Anthropocene, a timely publication by Liam Young, the Australian-born architect operating in the spaces between design, fiction and futures, currently teaching at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

Liam Young and Geoff Manaugh will present their thoughts on the book at Architect Outpost March 23rd at 7pm, followed by a book signing. Machine Landscapes can be preordered from Archinect Outpost here.

You can RSVP here to reserve your spot at the event.

Playing in the World, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Fetish with Jon Yoder

2019-03-13T09:30:00-04:00

In this installment of Cross-Talk #9 — The Architecture Play, we talk with Jon Yoder and the reunification of theory and practice into a purely playful disciplinary atmosphere.

The role of Archinect’s series Cross-Talk is to bring forward the positive aspects of the polemic and allow for the resulting conflict to bring to life an otherwise still and comfortable climate of creativity—if there can be one. Cross-Talk attempts—if to only say that it did—to allow text the freedom that the image has accepted and embraced. Cross-Talk attempts to force the no, to contradict itself, to anger, to please and then anger again, if only to force a stance, to pull out the position of the self, of the discipline and of the hour as a means to begin and maintain conversations moving forward.