Archinect - News

Find all 30 architectural references in this challenging 3D puzzle

2017-12-21T17:54:00-05:00

Architecture has seen a lot of different styles in the past 3000 years, from the grand temples of ancient Egypt to the small, cubical dwellings of Japan. Fumio Matsumo, a project professor at the University of Tokyo's University Museum, has managed to fit elements from 30 distinct icons of architecture into a single 3D model. As Co.Design reports, Memories of Architecture acts as both a history lesson in design and a challenging puzzle for architecture fanatics.

Each element in Matsumo's design puzzle references architecture history beginning with 18th century BCE at the base and working it's way up to modern day. If you get stuck or just want to know/(cheat) here is a full list of all the iconic buildings represented in the model.

Defy gravity in the works of FLW, Tadao Ando, Louis Kahn in this upcoming video game

2016-06-27T20:44:00-04:00

Frank Lloyd Wright, level designer? That’s what artist William Chyr was thinking, from the moment he crossed the threshold at the Robie House...It was a rare IRL architectural excursion, as Chyr has been immersed in building the digital levels of Manifold Garden, his first-person 3D exploration game in which you defy gravity in order to walk up walls, fall through windows, and launch yourself from one side to the other of an infinite stepwell, [while] solving increasingly difficult puzzles.

Alexandra Lange interviews video game designer William Chyr on his upcoming game, “Manifold Garden”, which is due for a January 2017 release on PlayStation 4. “Chyr has slowly incorporated more architectural references,” Lange writes, ”stretching back through the centuries and including built works by Frank Lloyd Wright and Tadao Ando, and unbuilt works by Louis Kahn, Anne Tyng, and Arata Isozaki.”

You can also watch a 16-minute gameplay demo right below. (Just be careful if you have motion-sickness.)

Aspiring Japanese surgeons build tiny models to get hired

2016-04-26T12:41:00-04:00

Forget the life and death drama of heart transplant surgery—what about the insane pressure to expertly fold a piece of origami in under 15 minutes? Located in Japan's Okayama prefecture, Kurashiki Central Hospital is holding fierce recruitment competitions in which surgeons must assemble tiny models—in one case, a piece of sushi with a single grain of rice—to demonstrate their fine motor skills (and coolness in a complicated deadline situation: sound familiar, model builders?). Here's the video of the tryouts:

Piecing together creativity with Atelier-D's OBLIKA architectural puzzle

2014-05-09T18:43:00-04:00

Twenty-two is the magic number for the OBLIKA architectural puzzle. Crafted by Jonathan Dorthe of Atelier-D from Montreal, Canada the 22-piece wooden puzzle could be a nifty tool for coming up with new design ideas or simply a fun therapeutic way to take a break during those hectic weeks at work or school.

Plus, the puzzle's sleek aesthetics make it appropriate for creative minds of any age. Each geometric piece is made of 9 1/2'' x 9 1/2'' wide x 1/4'' thick wood that features an etched linear design. Then you can arrange the pieces inside the wooden frame to form a neat square or skip the frame and go crazy putting together any shape you want. The puzzle also includes a paper grid with examples to spark ideas.

"I was inspired by a childhood game 'tangram' which is a simpler version. I wanted to make it more architectural and more complex," Dorthe wrote in an email. "That's why I added lots of pieces of different shapes and even circular shapes. The laser etched pattern adds a graphi...