Archinect - Features

The People’s Place in the City of Bits and Atoms

2024-03-06T07:34:00-05:00

The city of the 21st century represents a confluence of bits and atoms; an organism in its own right that relentlessly spawns information and data about itself, its people, and the invisible flows that support them. What is the relationship between humans and the city in this new condition? What is its future? To explore these questions, we speak with architect, TED founder, and father of information architecture Richard Saul Wurman, 2025 Venice Biennale curator Carlo Ratti, and MIT Media Lab researchers Naroa Coretti and Ainhoa Genua.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

AI, Complexity, and Ecological Futures: A Conversation with Alisa Andrasek

2023-12-12T08:00:00-05:00

For Alisa Andrasek, a career in architecture represents a point of convergence for her dual passions for art and science. For the past two decades, a respect for both the mathematic and emotional, the computational and the creative, has propelled Andrasek's enthralling investigations into an ecological vision of urbanism.

Describing cities as "the most complex constructs humanity has ever created," Andrasek sees artificial intelligence, computation, and mathematics as a vehicle for delivering urban and infrastructural environments that respect the planet while instilling a sense of "wonder and discovery" in both designers and citizens alike.

In July 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Andrasek about her background, her work across academia and practice, as well as her reflections on the relationship between computation, data, and architecture. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

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

NYIT School of Architecture & Design's M.Arch Graduate Studio Explores 'Designing (Inter)Scalar Domains'

2023-08-01T15:05:00-04:00

Continuing with our Archinect Studio Pin-Ups series, we connect with Archinect Partner School New York Institute of Technology to learn more about its Fall/Spring semester M.Arch studio led by Marcella Del Signore, the school's Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Science in Architecture, Urban and Regional Design.

The ARCH 802 Design-Research Studio "Designing (Inter)Scalar Domains" built upon the preceding M.ARCH 801 Studio from Fall 2020/21 and continued to focus on "interscalar design processes, translating research and design scenarios into the development and production/fabrication phase," asking students to "explore the continuity and interdependence of scales in their project proposals while emphasizing strategies that address micro and macro scales." The concept of 'interscalarity' served as a "methodological framework, investigating scalar relationships and the co-dependency of material, spatial, social, cultural, political, and environmental concerns."

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'Beauty Is a Measure of Ecological Intelligence'; A Conversation with ecoLogicStudio Founders Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto

2023-07-31T09:00:00-04:00

Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney, Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto articulate a refreshing call to adventure. The two ecoLogicStudio founders have built their professional and academic careers at the intersection of computation and biology, allowing them to articulate a vision of artificial intelligence that, in their words, "is more like a slime mold, a spider's web, a microalgae colony, or a mycelium network." Here, the computational and biological find common ground in their use of patterns as meta-language; a commonality that, when pushed, invites both human and non-human designers to shape the built environment as an organism itself rather than a static entity enlivened only by our own mechanics.

For Pasquero and Poletto, this is no theoretical exercise. ecoLogicStudio has already won wide acclaim for its real-world applications of ecological systems in the built environment while also articulating ...

'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...

Understanding a City’s Image: Exploring New York Through the Spatial Experiences and Perceptions of Its Users

2023-03-31T12:45:00-04:00

For our latest installment of the Thesis Review series, we connected with New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) M.Arch graduate Jay Patel to discuss his project, Urbanary — Enjoy the City While Moving.

Patel explained that his work reflects the perception of urban spaces. He uses the city of New York as a reference to investigate "how a human-oriented city image is formed with people’s perceptions to design and define future cities and spaces." Patel's thesis project aims to explore a concept that "emphasizes how each urban location has a distinctive character that has been shaped by human interaction."

In our interview, he discussed his motivations for exploring the topic of architectural perception, urban usability, how Kevin Lynch's work influenced his research approach, and he shared his own path toward licensure in both India and the U.S.

'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 Dean's 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 ...

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...

‘Clearly, The World Cup Format is Not Sustainable’; A Conversation with WilkinsonEyre Sports Director, Sam Wright

2022-12-20T12:03:00-05:00

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was mired in controversy. Human rights groups saw Qatar’s hosting of the event as an affront to the LGBTQ+ community, free speech, and ethical labor practices. Ethics and standards groups investigated whether Qatar had ‘bought’ the event following rumours of bribery. Fans and sporting bodies alike even questioned the timing of the event, and its interference with domestic league calendars.

While these concerns targeted at Qatar at the 2022 World Cup specifically, the event was also a catalyst for environmental groups to ask broader questions about the carbon cost of major temporary sports and cultural events, and whether they can be justified by long-term economic or social benefits. These questions are not new or bespoke to Qatar; they also formed the basis for our feature articles on both Expo 2020 Dubai and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

For WilkinsonEyre’s Sports and Leisure Leader Sam Wright, whose team has delivered an abundance of major sports project...

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."

It’s Time To Consider the Refugee Camp as a City — And Here’s Why

2022-12-09T09:00:00-05:00

With the horizon of increased global instability closer than ever, whereby the scales of political balance can be so quickly tipped and toppled, questions relating to the rights of displaced peoples in refugee camps are both pertinent and vital. Yet, since refugee camps are becoming increasingly ‘urban’ in terms of scale, population density, social processes, and physical manifestation through schools, clinics, roads, and infrastructure, the questions surrounding refugee camp design and camp dwellers’ rights inherently become architectural and urban matters.

The Revival of Human-Centered Architecture

2022-11-10T08:23:00-05:00

For too long, we have incessantly glorified freshly-poured concrete Romanesque columns and marveled over crumpled-paper-inspired museums. This isn’t real architecture. The real architecture that is worth observing, touching, feeling, admiring, studying, critiquing, and understanding is the one that lives in the unassuming shadows. The type made for ordinary people with ordinary lives; one that seeks not to occupy the cover of architectural digest, but to improve the lives of those who have been marginalized, under-designed-for or forgotten. Architecture where the artist fought for a little more sunlight, a little more fresh air—a little more space to plant a tiny tree that blossoms during gloomy, winter days, inspiring hope where it was seemingly lost. It is these artists and these battles that need our acknowledgement, our praise, and our motivation so that they may continue to design a better world.

The Fluidity of an Architecture Education: A Conversation with Tulane School of Architecture's New Director Emilie Taylor Welty

2022-11-08T08:48:00-05:00

"School is this great place where you can turn research into action, and that testing ground fosters creative, collaborative professionals who can implement positive change in the world," Emilie Taylor Welty shared during our recent Zoom call.

An architect, educator, and multi-disciplinarian specializing in public-interest design, materials, and detailing, her approach to practice and academia is rooted in collaboration and fabrication. As Tulane School of Architecture's new Director of Architecture, her extensive background in social design practices and equity building positions Taylor Welty as another exciting key figure in Tulane's academic leadership.

‘I Seek To Create an Escape From Everyday Life’; A Conversation With Ma Yansong of MAD Architects

2022-10-15T07:16:00-04:00

Much has changed for Ma Yansong since Archinect last spoke to him in 2014. From their roots in Beijing, China, Yansong’s firm MAD Architects has expanded to offices in Los Angeles and Rome, employing over 160 people on major architectural commissions. In 2022 alone, our editorial has offered updates on the firm’s work across continents, be it the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the Cloud Center in Aranya, China, or the commercial MoLo complex in Milan. Added to this list in October was the Quzhou Sports Park, whose newly-completed stadium marks the first step in what will become the world’s largest earth-sheltered complex.

Following news of the stadium’s completion, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Ma Yansong for an insight into the project, and how it represents MAD’s architectural philosophy. We also use the discussion to reflect on Yansong’s own journey through architecture, his role in MAD, and his thoughts on nature, cities, and history. The discussion, ...

Los Angeles Reckons with a Dark History by Asking the Public How to Memorialize the 1871 Chinese Massacre

2022-09-30T18:40:00-04:00

Architects and artists are frequently asked to contribute their ideas for proposed memorials and other works of public art. The City of Los Angeles recently issued a Request for Ideas (RFI) that many designers may find compelling at a time when America's history of race relations and violence are top of mind for many Americans.

Michael Pinto, Principal at NAC Architecture in Los Angeles, discussed the new L.A. RFI with two figures deeply involved in laying the groundwork for a new memorial to the 1871 Massacre of 18 Chinese in Los Angeles that was the largest mass killing in the city's history. Pinto, an advisor to the memorial process, spoke with Christopher Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles (and former L.A. Times architecture critic), and Michael Woo, an urban planner who is a former city council member and dean emeritus of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design.

NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design Fall 2021 Super Review Showcases Civic Engagement and Climate Action

2021-12-17T09:30:00-05:00

For the Fall 2021 school term, the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design (HCAD) welcomed its students back to in-person learning. The College is comprised of the School of Art and Design and the New Jersey School of Architecture, a vibrant community of undergraduate and graduate architecture and urban design students and faculty. As the academic year comes to a close for the winter holiday Archinect was invited to sit in on the Fall 2021 Super Review which took place virtually on December 9 to learn more about the pedagogy and studios at Hillier College.

The review focused on the Master of Urban Design Studio and Bachelor of Architecture Option Studios, featuring presentations from seven studios. The virtual review was moderated by Associate Professor and Director of the School of Architecture Kelly Hutzell, Senior University Lecturer and B.Arch/B.S. Arch Coordinator Mark Bess, and Associate Professor and M.Arch/M.S. Arch Coordinator Gernot ...

Investigating the Relationship Between Public Art and Public Space with LAA Office

2021-12-13T15:25:00-05:00

When public art is incorporated into a design space, how does it interact with its surrounding architecture and landscapes? For Lulu Loquidis and Daniel Luis Martinez, the importance of bridging the gap between public space, community-driven design, and the built environment is essential. The duo are co-principals of the multi-disciplinary design studio LAA Office based in Columbus, Indiana.

After living and working in New York City for several years, their move to the Midwest helped foster an eye-opening opportunity for creating positive design interventions. They explain: "Some of the biggest issues that need to be addressed relate to social, economic, and cultural inequities that privilege certain groups over others. Specifically, in our work, we're hoping to find ways of making art and design accessible to folks that can't normally afford it or who see themselves removed from the processes that shape the built environment around them."

To learn more about LAA Office's path to s...

Architecture and Urban Planning YouTubers worth a 'Like and Subscribe'

2021-12-01T14:31:00-05:00

A new crop of content creators is at the forefront of envisioning and producing some of today's most commonly consumed forms of media. Individuals on various internet platforms, namely YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, tell their stories covering a limitless range of topics.

While not nearly generating the same astronomical viewership as some of the medium's top stars, there is a large community of creators whose work centers on the built environment, covering architecture, design, urban planning, and construction subjects. Through a diverse array of perspectives and ways of communicating information, their content serves as a resource for students, professionals, and enthusiasts alike while making these subjects more accessible to wider audiences.

For this particular showcase, we focus on YouTube and its most exciting creators within this niche. While there are plenty of noteworthy genre-specific channels on this platform, here is our pick of fun, informative, and engaging channels...

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.

Architecture Gets Psychosocial, Socioracial & Sociospatial: A Conversation with Todd Brown, UT Austin's 2021–2023 Race and Gender in the Built Environment Fellow

2021-10-22T14:28:00-04:00

Fellowship opportunities provide design professionals with a bridge to explore and expand their research in an academic environment. Educational institutions have increased their fellowship opportunities for students, graduates, and emerging design professionals. Within these past few years, there has been a distinct push for more social justice, race, and gender-focused fellowships and their relationship to the built environment. Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the role fellowships play in architecture academia by connecting with the fellows themselves. For this iteration of Archinect's Fellow Fellows series, we connected with Todd Brown as he embarks on his new role as the University of Texas Austin's 2021–2023 Race and Gender in the Built Environment Fellow.

Brown dives into his eclectic academic background that combines a series of disciplines that are often seen as separate approaches intertwining later in practice. After receiving his Master of Public Health and la...

The Great Chicago Fire at 150: Architectural Historian Jerry Larson Weighs in on Myths Surrounding the Architectural Changes it Brought to the City

2021-10-08T18:32:00-04:00

Today, October 8th, 2021, marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The three-day blaze, which killed an estimated 300 people and destroyed over 17,000 structures, is said to have been a catalyst in the history of modern design, sparking, as a direct result of the “blank slate” that was created, a revolution in the uses of different building methods, materials, and urban planning strategies around the city. From this, many of us learned, a direct line can be drawn connecting a variety of the changes that took place inside of Chicago thereafter with some of the architectural trends that shaped the development of modern cities through the end of the 20th century.

As convenient as this narrative is, it remains amongst the more dated that are still being routinely taught in design curriculums across the country. Today, we will reexamine the impacts the fire has (and has not) made using a simple two-question prompt: How has the event been misconceptualize...

RISD Interior Architecture Graduate Students Utilize Adaptive Reuse Principles and a 3D Immersive Experience to Reimagine a More Accessible Pell Bridge

2021-09-30T08:08:00-04:00

The case for increased accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists is an ongoing topic. While public access and mobility within urban landscapes also involve factors relating to public policy and urban planning, eight students from RISD's Interior Architecture (RISD Int|AR) were presented with a challenge to address ways an iconic bridge in Rhode Island could be improved.

For their project "Crossing the Pell," a group of graduate students has developed a design proposal that brings attention to pedestrian and cyclist pathways to Pell Bridge, an iconic suspension bridge connecting Newport and Jamestown, RI.

"Crossing the Pell" is merely one of the many projects produced by students from RISD's Int|AR program that aims to elevate the use and application of adaptive reuse techniques and community engagement. To learn more about this work, Archinect explores the project and the immersive in-person exhibition that took place in August.

Perceptions of Safety: Weronika Zdziarska Questions Urban Design and Its Impact on Gender-Based Violence Experienced by Women in Cities

2021-09-27T11:43:00-04:00

How safe can one feel in a city? To be more specific, how safe do women feel in the city? While discourse around public space and the perceptions of women's safety in urban and rural areas have been an ongoing topic, one student utilized her appointment as the 2021 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship recipient to expand on these issues. Weronika Zdziarska's research proposal, "Don't Stay Out Alone: Addressing women's perception of safety and freedom in cities by design," focuses on urban safety and how better design strategies benefit the well-being of women as well as others. She adds, "special attention is devoted to design solutions that successfully evoke the sensation of safety and freedom."

Zdziarska explains the reason for her research stemmed from conditioning women around the world are all too familiar with when it comes to public spaces and cities. During our interview, she shared that her intention was to explore a topic important to her. She dives into her own exp...

Shenzhen: A City at a Crossroads in its Past and Future

2021-09-10T13:55:00-04:00

The past, present, and future narrative of Shenzhen offers rich ground for architectural thought. The megacity, which emerged from the remote Chinese countryside over 40 years, has captured the imagination of urbanists seeking to understand its rise, architects seeking to contribute to its lively urban fabric, and national governments seeking to replicate the "miracle of Shenzhen" and its associated economic riches in their own country. However, despite the prevailing narrative of a highly-planned "instant" metropolis springing from nothingness, Shenzhen's history is more complex, more expansive, and more grounded in localism, than is commonly noted. Meanwhile, as the city continues its meteoric urban expansion, local and international architects, curators, and researchers are tasked with weaving the next chapter of Shenzhen's story; guided by forces of innovation, culture, climate, and geopolitics.

Fellow Fellows: Jennifer Meakins Interrogates Power Imbalances Within Architectural Pedagogy

2021-08-23T13:37:00-04:00

Fellowships can help spark critical career-changing moves for designers and academics looking to establish their research and design perspectives through teaching. However, besides the teaching experience, research exploration, and funding, what else can an architecture fellowship provide young professionals? In Jennifer Meakins' case, she received much support as the 2020—2021 Schidlowski Emerging Faculty Fellow at Kent State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

For this iteration of Archinect's Fellow Fellows series, we unpacked Meakins' research and studio she taught. While her research primarily focused on "architecture's role in upholding and furthering systems of inequity and injustice," we also dove into the current state of fellowships and how they impact the careers of design professionals. In addition, Meakins provided insight into why she pursued a fellowship versus a full-time position at a firm and her thoughts on fellowships as a vehicle or con...

A House of Cards: The Miami Condo Collapse Exposes a Dehumanized Mindset in the Built Environment

2021-08-17T08:00:00-04:00

On June 24th, 2021, the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Miami collapsed, killing 98 people. While the causes of the collapse are still under investigation, the building's history of structural deficiencies is likely to have played a part. The Champlain Towers collapse is only the latest in a series of fatal building catastrophes which could have been prevented with proper oversight. In their wake, the continuing deterioration of our buildings and infrastructure causes us to ask if the commodification of buildings as real estate, and exercises in wealth creation, has caused us to lose sight of architecture's primary role as shelter and habitat.

Private Interests and the Public Good: Could an Office of Public Space Management Fix New York’s Chaotic and Unfriendly Public Realm?

2021-08-12T09:00:00-04:00

Cities express the tension between private interests and the common good, between buildings and public space. New York, the most populous city in the US, enjoys an abundance of impressive, exclusive structures (and quite a few impressive public ones, most of them built in the mid-20th century) while lacking high-quality, accessible open space.

This is despite a stock of undervalued public space: streets.

For Host Cities, the Olympics Are No Game

2021-08-03T13:27:00-04:00

With the 2020 Olympics underway in Tokyo, we reflect on the urban and environmental impacts of the Olympic Games on its host cities. Whether Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024, or Los Angeles 2028, the Olympics suffer from a legacy of fragmenting existing urban environments, accelerating gentrification, and alienating local citizens. Meanwhile, the environmental cost of hosting the Olympics, driven by the construction of new venues and infrastructure, serves as a visible embodiment of our failure to adequately address climate change. Among the challenges, however, there are meaningful steps for improvement.

For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized

2021-07-28T14:51:00-04:00

Across the globe, the design and construction of affordable housing is failing to meet demand, leaving both low and middle income dwellers with little choice but to accept high costs, substandard conditions, or a move away from urban centers. This reality not only presents dangerous environmental and social conditions, but also underpins a fundamental failure of our current processes to design and construct quality affordable housing. In the face of this crisis, architects are finding opportunities for change. In this article, we speak with architect David Wallance FAIA, whose new book The Future of Modular Architecture sets out a paradigm-shift vision for the future of affordable housing. Here, we discuss the details of Wallance’s industrial-scale system, derived from the standard dimensions of intermodal shipping units, as well as the major changes such a system would bring to cities, housing markets, the environment, architectural education, and the business structure of the arch...

Beyond the Street: ODA Proposes a Zoning Regulation To Expand the Public Space in New York

2021-07-24T09:00:00-04:00

ODA has released a new video advertising Beyond the Street, which promises to hack New York’s infamously rigid gridiron to unlock hidden courtyards New Yorkers never knew they were missing. The proposal, which has no official client, aims to create new privately owned public space by opening the interior of city blocks to pedestrians and street-level retail.

The speculative project by the New York-based firm is being promoted through a glossy animation depicting the potential change to Manhattan’s Flower District, where the architects keep an office space.