Archinect - Features

Small Studio Snapshots: Peter Zellner of ZELLNERandCompany

2017-01-16T12:15:00-05:00

Chances are, when you first considered pursuing architecture, you imagined forging your own path. But, of course, the realities of practicing architecture in the 21st century make that easier said than done. Starting your own small practice is no small feat. We’re interviewing a variety of different, small-scale practices about the difficulties they’ve encountered and the rewards they’ve reaped. For this installment, we talk with Peter Zellner of ZELLNERandCompany, an award-winning design firm based out of Los Angeles.

Small Studio Snapshots: Safura Salek of Mass Studio

2017-01-09T12:51:00-05:00

In this new series, Small Studio Snapshots, we're taking a look at the ups and downs, ins and outs of running a small architecture studio. For this installment, we're talking with Safura Salek of MASS STUDIO, a bicoastal design collective based out of New York and Los Angeles. Run by two sisters, their work focuses on developing high-end residential, commercial, and hospitality projects.

Short and Not-So-Sweet: A Collection of Architecture Haiku Criticism

2016-11-28T12:09:00-05:00

In honor of November's XS theme, we asked readers to send us notes of architectural criticism, in haiku: the Japanese poetic form restricted to three lines of five, seven, and five syllables, in that order. And boy, did folks deliver. You can pack a lot of sour into 17 syllables, but also beauty. Below are the best haiku from our open call, and a few from Archinect's forum. Enjoy.

The Short Life and Bitter End to Munich's 'Yellow Submarine'

2016-11-26T12:26:00-05:00

Made of 16 bathtubs with specially installed portholes, 'Yellow Submarine' was a hotel room/political housing statement, and one of the 24-winning designs in the 2015 Shabbyshabby Apartments competition. Created by the Glasgow-based and Lithuanian-staffed collective Urban Restart along with Kurt Cleary, the design is purposefully referred to in the past tense: only two days after it was erected in Munich, it was destroyed. This prompted speculation that vandals, or right-wing extremists opposed to refugees, were responsible.

Tweaking the City: the Politics of Urban Interventions

2016-11-23T12:14:00-05:00

“We know that we are living in a crisis,” states Mathias Klenner, one of five members of the Santiago-based architectural collective TOMA. “We also know that the neoliberal political and economic system is so deep inside our minds and inside our bodies that we cannot think of any solutions. And yet you see that sometimes people have actually managed to gather together, like in the Occupy movement. But the question is: how do you create possibilities? How do you think about the future? And how do you connect these different groups of people?”

A Snarky Haiku Collection Targets Architecture's Most Frustrating Moments

2016-11-22T12:03:00-05:00

Created by three contributors who wish to remain anonymous, Five Seven Five: Nine to Five is a collection of haiku that wryly (and occasionally cynically) explores the realities of day-to-day architectural employment, from choosing between SketchUp and Revit to the challenges of working with developers.

Max Friedlander's "Wind Inhabitor" Goes Wherever the Weather Takes It

2016-11-18T14:25:00-05:00

A building fails when it falls victim to the elements. Stability, or firmatis, is the least common denominator of architecture: the first in Vitruvius’ Triad and the least contested. We want our buildings anchored to the ground, resilient against storms and seasons. But what would be the experience of an inverse architecture: a structure that could catch the wind?

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Modulex, Lego's Building System for Architects

2016-11-03T11:52:00-04:00

A success among urban planners but a failure among architects (with the exception of Eero Saarinen, who used them in his prototype modeling stages), Modulex—the architectural modeling Lego-offshoot—was largely shuttered by the 1980s, almost revived in 2015, and now serves as an XS cult classic in architecture.