Archinect - Features

Archinect's 11 Top 11 for '11

2012-01-03T19:01:00-05:00

As we enter another new year (Archinect's 15th!), we reflect back on the previous year and share the most trafficked pages in Archinect's diverse online ecosystem, with a list of 11 top 11 lists for '11. As we always do, we're sharing the most popular pages from across the site, based exclusively on visits by unique page-views. There's no emphasis on quality or relevance here... we're simply providing a non-subjective reflection of what our valued readers are reading and sharing the most.

CONTOURS: The Year’s End: The Political, Economic, and Social Perspective

2011-12-27T16:58:56-05:00

By Sherin Wing & Guy Horton

We sit here in the joyous wreckage of The Holi-daze listening to one of the forgotten tunes of 2011, “Soothe Me” by the London-based band, Yuck. We think, yes, soothe us. Please. Just give us some good news. Anything. ABI? Unemployment? A functioning Congress? How about some cool projects that give us some hope that architecture matters in more than just narrow aesthetic terms? Too much to ask for?

Top 10 Design Initiatives to Watch in 2012—for the public good

2011-12-27T14:34:00-05:00

By John Cary

Last week’s Top 10 Design Milestones of 2011, published here at Archinect, highlighted advances in design for the public good by profiling leading organizations from IDEO.org and Mass Design Group to individuals like Jeanne Gang and Michael Kimmelman. As we round out this year and usher in the next, it feels important to also look towards the future—though, of course, looking back is always easier than looking forward.

With that in mind, this is not an exercise in trend spotting, but rather a simple meditation on initiatives poised to advance the field, and how they can be scaled up, refined, tweaked, borrowed, and leveraged. None of the following is entirely new; some are a long time in the making, while others are testing new directions. Some initiatives also evade mention, either because they’re not yet public or because they haven’t yet been dreamed up. One thing is for certain: the bar is higher than ever, even—and perhaps especially—for design efforts that c...