Archinect - Features

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.

That's Chunes: Archinect's architectural-themed playlist certified to make you sweat

2021-08-26T17:30:00-04:00

With all the heat and high-profile stories in the season, it’s easy for Archinect users to get a little beleaguered this time of year. Here's a chance to stomp back into the groove with a mix that's guaranteed to get you moving this summer as we begin to transition into the fall and a post-pandemic society.

2020 saw a rise in impromptu solo performances with plenty of site-specific tie-ins that offer design aficionados as much musically as they do architecturally. Now, as the days start to grow shorter, catch up on what’s been going on in the industry of late with these scorching summer sounds dedicated to the built environment and all who appreciate its principals, practitioners, and awe-inspiring power.

Our eight-set playlist can be seen below:

The Art of Pushing Boundaries

2019-06-18T13:28:00-04:00

In our creative endeavors, we are often seeking to push boundaries, to challenge the status quo. As creators, we want to introduce something fresh and new to the world. We hope to express ourselves in authentic ways. In a studio setting, we talk about innovation, but how do we go about that? How do we get outside of the box and separate ourselves from the majority? It’s an interesting question, one that I don’t think has any prescriptive kind of answer. We are all already extraordinarily creative, after all. Nevertheless, there are countless examples for us to explore to help us establish some principles to guide our thinking. This article is one such exploration of how we might approach pushing the envelope in our work.

Rex’s Brown University Performing Arts Center Shape-Shifts to Fill a Campus Void

2019-06-14T13:38:00-04:00

The tradition of architects experimenting with new typologies and forms on college campuses is one that goes way back.

Whether considering Frank Lloyd Wright’s 10-building collection of Usonian structures at Florida Southern College, Venturi-Scott Brown’s technological-contextual works at UCLA, Minoru Yamasaki’s elegant and stately Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, or Frank Gehry’s shape-shifting Stata Center at MIT, college campuses have often provided fertile terrain where thoughtful, brand name designers and open-minded clients with unconventional program needs can come together in the pursuit of bold design solutions.

REX’s forthcoming Performing Arts Center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is no exception.

Beijing-Based Rocker-Turned-Architect Cao Pu Sees Architects as Social Workers

2017-08-21T09:30:00-04:00

Originally part of an electric-rock band, Chinese architect Cao Pu began his architectural career doing stage design for his musical group. Today, his studio remains small with a focus on conversion and community revival projects and his designs demonstrate a talent for working within small spaces and low budgets.

For this week's iteration of Small Studio Snaphshots, we talk with the musician-turned-architect about involving clients in his process, designing "in the gap," and architecture as a form of social work.

Working out of the Box: Kwinten Crauwels, architect and music encyclopedist

2016-10-04T11:52:00-04:00

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

In this installment, we're talking with Kwinten Crauwels, a Belgian architect, music data visualizer, and aspiring filmmaker.

Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.

Pop Cultitecture: The Genius of David Byrne

2015-02-04T10:04:00-05:00

Unlike those architects who long to be thought of as artists, Byrne is an artist who loves to thinks about architecture. Like the deadpan docent of the infrastructural realm, David Byrne's work has inadvertently helped make architecture into a pop culture staple. While his commentary may not be mind-blowing to an architect, the method of his commentary – the diversity and size of his audience, the innovative visual and aural techniques in which he conveys highly abstract concepts – is a major contribution to architectural discourse.

"I am trying to function a little bit, in a humble way, as an ambassador for Los Angeles": Interview with Gabriel Kahane about his new album, The Ambassador

2014-06-20T15:12:00-04:00

Gabriel Kahane's new album, The Ambassador, builds songs from the moods of places within Los Angeles. Born in Venice Beach, raised in northern California and living in Brooklyn, Kahane has created an unlikely ambassador for Los Angeles' pathos.