Archinect - Features

'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...

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.

Architecture, Consumerism, and Human Rights: On ‘Subverting the Narrative of Power Systems in Thailand’ with Shopping Malls

2022-07-08T15:29:00-04:00

Thesis projects offer an exciting glimpse into the minds of emerging designers and their unique architectural perspectives as they navigate through their careers. This is the case for Syracuse University B.Arch graduates Pin Sangkaeo and her collaborative research partner Benson Joseph. Together they explore the practice of merit-making and how political tactics and consumerism have impacted Thailand's social and political agendas through their thesis project, Temples of Consumerism.

According to Sangkaeo, the project "investigates the role of shopping malls as physical tools of maintaining the status quo, used by those who hold political powers in order to superimpose their ideologies on the collective citizens and perpetuate the systems."

Kicking off this season's 2022 Thesis Review series, the duo discusses their project along with Sangkaeo sharing her own experiences and findings while abroad in Bangkok. They also discuss their plans for the future as both continue their resea...

Woodbury M.Arch Student Highlights Armenian Culture by Using Architecture as a 'Tool to Reconstitute, Protect and Expose' Its History

2021-08-30T13:57:00-04:00

Continuing with Archinect's ongoing Thesis Review series, connecting with recent graduates allows us to amplify student voices as they share their experiences and final thesis projects. For this iteration of Archinect's 2021 Thesis Review, we connected with M.Arch student Maneh Tahmasian. A recent graduate of Woodbury School of Architecture, Tahmasian's thesis project "Through Thick and Thin" propels architecture's cultural and historical implications by highlighting the importance of recognizing "the old" to inform "the new" in Armenia.

She explains, "'Through thick and thin' is looking at the spatial aspect of the dome as a historical and cultural element of Armenian architecture. It does not describe the dome as it is, or have been understood, but as it could be reconstituting the matter into something: more powerful." Together we discuss the architectural and cultural themes found in her thesis. She unpacks the importance of heritage and how it can be used to challenge architect...

University of Melbourne Graduate Naveen John Thomas Pays Homage to Australia's Indigenous Communities

2020-08-18T13:18:00-04:00

Pulling focus towards the history of aboriginal cultures in Australia, University of Melbourne M.Arch graduate Naveen John Thomas used his thesis "MEMORIAL REPRESENTATION REMEMBRANCE" to highlight the importance of incorporating culture and history within architectural design and narrative.

Thomas shares, "the recent events around the killing of Mr. Floyd in the US and similar reports from Australia regarding the percentage of imprisoned among the First Nation population, only reiterates the importance of acknowledgement of the past, living with that acknowledgement and respect in the present and planning for the future [...] The aim should be to make the architecture communicate. It should communicate the stories, the history, and the purpose." Archinect connected with Thomas to discuss his thesis project and his observations with how the pandemic has influenced Australia and the architecture industry as a whole.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extra...

Columbia GSAPP MSAUD Students Tackle the Redundant Infrastructure of Retail

2020-07-24T09:00:00-04:00

Recent Masters in Science of Architecture and Urban Design (MSAUD) graduate students of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) aim to redefine the retail model with an emphasis on small businesses and community. A research project initiated by Einat Lubliner, Sushmita Shekar, Hatem Alkhathlan, and Chris Zheng titled Post Retail Apocalypse investigates a new approach for reusing big box stores by implementing design solutions that foster "social interaction and equity."

According to the group, "With the global transition from traditional shopping to e-commerce and the change in consumer trends, main street retail, Big Box stores, and malls, which were a de facto social space for American small towns, have transformed into redundant infrastructure. The repercussions of this have highly impacted social interaction, local economy, existing infrastructure, jobs and services." Their international world views and backgrounds add to the pro...

ASU Graduate Selina Martinez Highlights the Influence of Indigenous Worldviews on Architecture

2020-07-16T14:32:00-04:00

Finding a "balance between the sacred and mundane" has been a driving force for recent M.Arch graduate Selina Martinez. As she completes her academic journey and steps into her career, Martinez emphasizes the role indigenous cultures have on the built environment. In her thesis BACHIA, she focuses on "prioritizing the survival of Yaqui communities, culture, and knowledge" and how this investigation within indigenous communities impacts infrastructure.

A recent graduate from Arizona State University, Martinez shares her experiences of navigating the completion of her thesis during a pandemic and discusses adjusting her workflow via remote learning. We also discuss her thoughts on the architecture industry and how her passions have given her a specific perspective on the future of employment. "I think it is obvious that we need to uplift diversity in these fields, as a lot of architecture schools are still led by white men and continue to teach 'Bauhaus' design processes that disregar...

University of Washington M.Arch Graduate Michelle Hook on Using "Speculative Fiction as a Queer Tactic to Disorient and Deconstruct the Norm in Architecture"

2020-06-25T14:03:00-04:00

Michelle Hook is an M.Arch graduate from the University of Washington College of Built Environment. Archinect was able to chat with Hook and dive into her thesis project, "Step into my Queerhouse: Queering the Now/Future." Hook explores architecture's role in representation and how speculative fiction can help change the built environment's perspectives.

Hook shares, "...to construct a new architecture, one that may be inherently queer, speculative fiction becomes the tactic of world-building, free from the constraints and the framework of the normative. The final action of imagining, and therefore queering, creates the new world." She also discusses her take on finding a job during a pandemic and her plans for staying sharp as opportunities present themselves.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had to adapt to a new virtual for...

How Art and Design Museums Switched to Working From Home and Sharpened Their Digital Experience

2020-03-28T08:00:00-04:00

While the worsening pandemic and sweeping social-distancing measures have brought normal daily life to a grinding halt around the globe, cultural institutions, typically the civic pride of cities and entire regions, were also forced to abandon their prime mission and temporarily close most, if not all, brick-and-mortar manifestations.

With physical exhibitions now inaccessible and museum staff ordered to work from home, we wondered: How has the switch to remote work been going so far for institutions that rely so heavily on personal interaction with visitors? Have online programs, or even virtual exhibitions, been in place before the crisis hit? Can the self-quarantining public access and enjoy collections via the web, potentially offering a vastly expanded, global audience to most museums?

A Conversation with Curtis Moody, FAIA on What It Means to Help Shape a Future for Black Architects

2020-02-29T07:00:00-05:00

Within the realm of architectural practice, the need to write and re-frame the narratives and contributions of women in architecture, Black architects, and other minority-identifying designers has gained increasing urgency in recent years. And while architects like Paul Revere Williams, Phillip Freelon, Norma Merrick Sklarek, Zena Howard, Gabrielle Bullock, and Kimberly Dowdell are nearly household names in design, these architects constitute but a few of Black architects who have impacted the profession.

Curtis Moody, a renowned architect based in Columbus, Ohio who has been practicing for over 38 years, is another such architect. When he first started his practice back in 1982, his goal was not only to establish a thriving architecture practice but also build a firm that would be a representation of a group that is often overlooked and misrepresented. Since then, he has expanded Moody Nolan into a practice consisting of 230 employees with 12 offices across the U.S.

Archinect spen...

Follow Your Nose: How Kavi Moltz of Perfume Studio D.S. & Durga Goes Against the Grain

2019-08-15T08:00:00-04:00

Working out of the Box is a series that profiles former architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.

Earlier this summer, Archinect spoke with Kavi Moltz, who co-founded the perfume studio D.S. & Durga with her husband David in New York City over 10 years ago. In charge of D.S. & Durga's design and visual branding, Kavi took a moment to talk about going against the grain, the tough but formative lessons she learned while working in architecture, and how those experiences have influenced the way she runs her growing company.

A Look at Brutalist Guatemala

2018-12-12T12:32:00-05:00

With the launch of Archinect's Brutal coffee, we hit our second destination in this two part feature. Heading over three thousand miles North-West of Brazil, we explore Guatemala and its Brutalist movement.

Guatemala and its relationship with these monolithic structures are tied with the culture and artistic identity of the area. Pulling from its Mayan roots, these prominent structures scattered throughout the region use the Brutalist movement to accompany the historical architecture already present in the city. The artistic presence within the country is a blend of rich folklore and the interlacing of various architectural movements. Highly influential architects such as Roberto Aycinena, José Montes Córdova, Raúl Minondo, and Efraín Recinos, among others, have created a legacy influencing Guatemalan architecture to this day.

#ArchinectMeets @stoptheroc

2018-10-19T11:00:00-04:00

#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.

Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. Using our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.

We spoke to Roc Isern, the photographer behind @stoptheroc and @barcelonafacades. With unmistakable pride for his Spanish hometown, Isern uniquely captures the spirit of Barcelonan architecture for a wide audience. Though perhaps no other architect's work has been photographed as much as Antonio Gaudi's, for instance, Isern deftly communicates elements of his work never before captured on camera.

The Changing Culture of Architecture in Modern India

2018-02-15T09:00:00-05:00

The changing culture of architecture in modern India, both as a lifestyle and as a profession, has been eye-opening. In terms of lifestyle, we never predicted the extent to which architecture and design could affect us as well as the society and culture we live in, nor did we predict how deeply symbolic of our beliefs and attitudes they’d become. As a profession, the huge wave of development and technology that caused us to try and ape everything that didn’t belong to us, has made us question and search for our own identity and provoked us to revisit the solid traditional roots and foundation of Indian architecture.

Soapbox: Black in Design

2018-02-07T12:00:00-05:00

Soapbox is a weekly series delivering a curated set of lectures, talks and symposia concerning contemporary themes but explored through the archives of lectures past and present. With the plethora of lectures, talks, symposia and panels occurring world wide on a daily basis, how can we begin to keep up and if not, find them once they are gone? Soapbox looks to assemble a selection of recent, archived and outlier lectures surrounding a given theme. Soapbox looks to curate this never-ending library of ideas into an engaging and diverse list of thoughts and provocations. Soapbox is just that, a collection aimed at discovering the occasional needle in a haystack.

Cross-Talk 3: Viola Ago & Hans Tursack on 'Biennales, Triennials and Exhibitions'

2017-12-28T09:00:00-05:00

Cross-Talk 3: Jonathan Rieke on 'Biennales, Triennials and Exhibitions'

2017-12-27T09:00:00-05:00

Studio Visits: Studio Egret West

2017-07-31T06:15:00-04:00

For our latest Studio Visit we went to see Studio Egret West, based in the heart of Clerkenwell.

Lone, the Studio Manager gave me the full tour after which David sat down with me to tell me more about the practice he founded with Christophe Egret nearly thirteen years ago.

Cross-Talk #2: Constance Vale on 'Pedagogy' Today

2017-07-28T09:00:00-04:00

Pedagogy is animated theory that transforms the discipline. It emerges from discussion, debate, and creation and involves the collaboration of instructors, students, and institutions. Essential to pedagogical development is the understanding that architecture is a cultural discipline, one that thrives on creative speculations that enter into tension with external issues.[1] Effective architectural pedagogy alters the world beyond the boundary of its originating institution, changing conformist ideologies and empowering the disenfranchised via the implications of aesthetics.[2] In the pursuit of disciplinary transformation that will destabilize the status quo, pedagogy must first address how to forget and how to fail.

Cross-Talk #2: 'Pedagogy of The Present — Frederick L. Ackerman’s Unrealized Vision for Architectural Education' by Zachary Tate Porter

2017-07-25T12:18:00-04:00

In recent years, various social media platforms have reconfigured the distribution and consumption of architecture—a transformation that has reinvigorated the discipline and produced a wide array of provocative imagery. Yet, while architects can and should celebrate this exciting culture of exchange, there is also the risk of becoming too insulated from the problems and paradigms of larger culture. Ultimately, architectural schools bear the burden of navigating these forces and setting the tone for emerging professionals. As architectural educators chart the course for our discipline, they would be wise to revisit the pedagogical visions espoused by our predecessors.

Introducing Archinect's New Critical Debate Forum 'Cross-Talk'

2017-05-22T14:09:00-04:00

The last four-plus decades have seen formidable developments in the discipline of architectural history and theory. This prolific production was disseminated publicly primarily through text-based mediums such as Oppositions, Log and Assemblage—among countless others. But now, the emergence of new media and platforms have dramatically changed the form and pace with which architectural ideas are transmitted. The slow pace of traditional text-centric publishing appears to be losing ground to the rapid production and transmission of images. Can text catch up with the image?

Telling semiotic tales with Laurel Broughton of WELCOMEPROJECTS

2016-04-07T09:07:00-04:00

Designer Laurel Broughton is serious about playfulness in WELCOMEPROJECTS, a multi-disciplinary studio she established in Los Angeles in 2012. Since then, her studio has worked on a variety of art installations, interiors, and a growing collection of thematic sartorial accessories called WELCOMECOMPANIONS. Regardless of the project type, they’re all imbued with Broughton’s own surrealistic sense of whimsical flair that has captured the attention of designers, artists, and fashionistas alike.

Cutting Room: We talk with Patrick Creadon, director of "If You Build It", about the documentary and the power of design education in post-recession U.S.

2014-05-14T12:33:00-04:00

If You Build It documents a year in the classroom of Project H, an experimental design-build workshop for high school students in Windsor, North Carolina. Guided by designer Emily Pilloton and architect Matt Miller, the creators of Project H, ten high schoolers set out to design and build a farmers’ market hall for their town, in the hopes that it will help invigorate the local economy and inspire other community-minded projects.

Student Works: Martin McSherry's "Vertical Graveyards"

2014-02-12T10:06:00-05:00

Martin McSherry’s “The Vertical Graveyards” is a speculative proposal for a new infrastructure of death, mimicking the skyscraper as a symbol of expanding and densifying urban systems. Currently an MArch student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, McSherry initially drafted the project as a proposal to the Nordic Association for Graveyards and Crematoria’s “The Graveyards of the Future” competition. Imagining the cemetery as vertical and central, rather than horizontal and suburban, the project focuses less on design specifics and more on provoking a change in societal attitudes towards death.