Archinect - News

Federico Babina's architectural flag illustrations deconstruct the notion of borders to imagine an alternative world

2024-06-14T13:27:00-04:00

Today is Flag Day in the United States and in celebration of the country’s first adoption of the national flag as a symbol of unity in 1777, we’ve decided to present some of the select architecturally inspired works of the Italian-born graphic designer Federico Babina.

Babina describes his approach: “I like trying to explain the world I see through different techniques of expression.” Indeed, as Jasper Johns' own six-decade experimentations in vexillography showed us, flags are as much cultural symbols as they are communication devices to be manipulated by various (and sometimes opposing) parties in order to accomplish different political and social aims.

Federico Babina's architectural flag artwork

Babina crafts his own versions of national standards using elevations, section drawings, plans, and silhouettes that are sometimes representative of each country's endemic architecture to give forms which, in turn, fit into the visual field to create imaginative counternar...

This architect crafts detailed illustrations of the hotel rooms she stays in

2022-04-01T17:22:00-04:00

Architect Kei Endo has a fascinating hobby: While traveling, she measures and sketches her hotel rooms, including the furniture and objects within them, in great detail……draws them up with a Rapidograph……and renders them in watercolor.

Endo, a graduate out of the Tokyo University of the Arts with experience as a practicing architect, currently works at an environmental color planning office. Her work as an illustrator has gained acclaim, though, as she’s produced an array of incredibly detailed drawings of the hotel rooms she visits.

Endo’s work can be viewed on her Twitter and Instagram. She also uploads videos of her illustrating process on her YouTube channel “Draw with KEI”.

Video via Draw with KEI on YouTube

43 illustrated Paul R. Williams-designed homes commissioned to honor the architect's legacy

2020-12-14T13:00:00-05:00

In a celebration of Paul Revere Williams' architectural career, HomeAdvisor commissioned artist Ibrahim Rayintakath to illustrate 43 of the architect's most notable California homes. The illustrations display a wide range of color schemes coupled with a surreal and matted aesthetic. Check out a few below.

View all 43 illustrations here.

Mies van der Rohe's life has been turned into a graphic novel

2019-09-10T14:15:00-04:00

Agustín Ferrer Casas, a Spanish illustrator and writer began working on the graphic novel in 2015, in an endeavor to tell the story of Mies' life and career. Now in 2019, the book is ready for release.

Image by Agustín Ferrer Casas

Casas did his homework for the 4-year project, working from a robust body of material. "It is a fictional biography of his life, based on numerous writings by many other authors and Mies himself," he says in a blog post. "And I say fiction because in this book, I try to show not only part of his work but life, the personality of the architect. What made him a great architect and what he left behind in his ambition to build."

Image by Agustín Ferrer Casas

Norman Foster has also written the prologue for the artistic work, in which he reflects on his appreciation for Mies' projects. The book can be previewed on Issuu and purchased here.

Archinect Outpost and A+D Museum to host book launch for Single-Handedly

2019-06-20T16:23:00-04:00

Join us in celebrating the launch of Single-Handedly: Contemporary Architects Draw by Hand, the latest book by Nalina Moses published by the Princeton Architectural Press. The event will be held at the A+D Museum, with copies of the book sold at Archinect Outpost, on Saturday, June 29th, from 6-7pm. Our address is 900 East 4th Street, Los Angeles CA 90029.

The panel will start at 6, and will feature book contributors Bryan Cantley, Rick Gooding, Dwayne Oyler, Frank Escher and Nalina Moses. The event is hosted by Princeton Architectural Press, the A+D Museum, Archinect and Blick Art Materials, which will be providing gift bags for guests.

The book can be preordered here for pickup at the event or shipping immediately after the event. Please go here to RSVP for the event.

Illustration by Rick Gooding.

"Single-Handedly is a curated selection of contemporary architectural illustrations by Nalina Moses, an architect and writer who lives and works in New York City. After being trained to ...

Lost UK brutalist buildings honored through illustrations

2018-06-25T18:09:00-04:00

Despite being recognized as an important architectural movement, many iconic examples of modernist architecture have been knocked down in the UK, and many more are threatened by alteration or demolition. From The Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth to Gilbey's Gin complex in Harlow, these illustrations by GoCompare pay tribute to Britain's lost post-war brutalist buildings.

The Tricorn Centre, Portsmouth (1966 - 2004)

Pimlico Secondary School, London (1970 - 2010)

Trinity Square Car Park, Gateshead (1967 - 2010)

Derwent Tower, Dunston (1972 - 2012)

Greenside, Virginia Water, Surrey (1937 - 2003)

Milton Court, London (1959 - 2008)

Dunlop Rubber Factory, Brynmawr (1951 - 2001)

Gilbey's Gin HQ, Harlow (1963 - 1993)

Royal Mail Mechanised Letter Office, Hemel Hempstead (1985 - 2012)

Geek out to the architectural drawings used in classic sci-fi anime in this London exhibition

2017-08-07T15:45:00-04:00

Each of the settings on display in the exhibit capture that promise of the future balanced with the starkness of reality. The settings also celebrate a disappearing craft—hand-drawn animation. The anime industry long resisted the shift to computer-generated art that took hold in the West starting in the 1990s, but as technology has advanced, fewer and fewer artists practice the craft traditionally, making the art on display especially striking.

London's House of Illustration is currently displaying “Anime Architecture: Backgrounds of Japan”, an exhibition that showcases over 100 of the intricate paintings and drawings used in the production of iconic dystopian anime films like “Ghost in the Shell” and “Akira”.

No Small Plans, a graphic novel illustrating urban planning of the past, the present and the future Chicago

2017-07-21T13:27:00-04:00

No Small Plans is a graphic novel that follows the neighborhood adventures of teens in Chicago's past, present and future as they wrestle with designing the city they want, need and deserve.

Inspired by the 1911 Wacker’s Manual, which was once used in classrooms to explain Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, the book is filled with beautiful illustrations and divided into three chapters set in the years 1928, 2017 and 2211. Each chapter ends with a map and a short interlude about Burnham, to give readers insight into the creation of the 1909 Plan and other urban planning challenges.

No Small Plans was launched in conjunction with CAF’s 50th anniversary and our new “Meet Your City” initiative, which aims to foster civic engagement. In partnership with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Public Library, CAF aspires to distribute 30,000 copies of No Small Plans for free to Chicago teens over the next three years.

Chapter 2: The Present, pg. 33-34

A copy of the book can be pre-ordered here.

Check out these watercolor illustrations of the settings of some of this year's biggest films

2017-02-24T12:37:00-05:00

Boryana Ilieva is an architect and artist. For the past two years, she’s been engaged in a project, dubbed “Floor Plan Croissant”, in which she paints the house and apartments that serve as the settings for films. Employing watercolor as her medium, Ilieva has studied the architecture of some of this year’s biggest films, all of which have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Fences

La La Land

Elle

20th Century Women

Toni Erdmann

Like her work? Support Ilieva on Patreon.

Two days left to kickstart the full-length comic zine of Fairy Tales 2nd-prize winner "Beautifully Banal"

2015-07-13T19:07:00-04:00

After winning second place in Blank Space's 2015 Fairy Tales Architecture Competition, University of Illinois at Chicago graduate students Alexander Culler and Danny Travis took things one step further to publish their submission, "Beautifully Banal", into a full-length architectural comic zine. The duo initiated a Kickstarter campaign earlier this month that received speedy support, reaching their $1,000 goal in just two days. Now with 52 hours to go, the campaign has garnered $3,578.

Culler and Travis set up the campaign in an effort to bring a light-hearted story that readers both within and outside of the architectural community can appreciate. Derived from the universal notion of finding one's place in the world, the three-part narrative follows Phineas the fly's journey through three major architectural programs: Residential, Commercial, and Industrial.

Readers encounter various architectural drawing conventions at different scales like plans, sections, axonometrics, elevations,...

These artists revamp familiar U.S. landmarks into hypnotizing animations

2015-05-05T19:07:00-04:00

The Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Space Needle come to life in a growing series of U.S. landmark animations created by illustrators Kirk Wallace and Latham Arnot t. In this collection, Wallace's background in computer science is hinted at through his signature computer icon-like style that he always balances with fun and some bright color. Then, Arnott adds the finishing touch by transforming Wallace's pictograms into hypnotizing GIFs.

The illustrations are available for purchase as prints, which Wallace prints in his studio. Perhaps these aren't your old stomping grounds or your favorite landmarks, but more cities are expected to be added over time.

Relax on Kepler-16b: Where Your Shadow Always Has Company

2015-01-12T13:39:00-05:00

Remember the memorable double sunset on the desert planet Tatooine in the original Star Wars? As it turns out, such a vista isn't unimaginable – if you can get to Kepler-16b, an exoplanet about 196 light years away. Of course, if you did get there, you might be disappointed to find that the planet is actually a gas giant, or that its temperature is close to that of dry ice.

One of a thousand such exoplanets recently discovered by NASA, Kepler-16b has been commemorated in a poster designed by Joby Harris, David Delgado and Dan Goods. In a style reminiscent of early 20th-century travel advertisements, the poster is part of a series that playfully celebrates the exciting discoveries that have been made by Kepler telescope, launched in 2009 to discover Earth-like planets. Published under the guise of the fictional "Exoplanet Travel Bureau," the posters help bring the excitement of the project into legible terms for us layfolk.

"Experience the gravity of HD 40307G," a "super planet" with ...

San Francisco is quick to poke fun of Snøhetta's new One Van Ness tower design

2015-01-05T14:02:00-05:00

The new design for One Van Ness, which will rise 37 stories at the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Market Street, is the work of Snøhetta [...]. A journalist and illustrator, Susie Cagle tells me in an email that she covered San Francisco real estate in 2008, and the Snøhetta project reminds her of ambitious residential projects planned for Market Street that never happened. "I think it's a place where dense construction makes sense," she says.

Previously: Snøhetta to take over SF development project near Civic Center

Win a copy of "Archibet" by Federico Babina!

2014-12-26T13:00:00-05:00

Architect and graphic designer Federico Babina has become popular for his whimsical illustration series that fuse together his love for architecture and drawing. This includes his "Archibet" series, where famous modernist and contemporary architects like Alvar Aalto, Luis Barragán, Herzog de Meuron, Quincy Jones, Mies van der Rohe, and Zaha Hadid are rendered as each letter of the alphabet in their signature architectural styles. Starting on January 20, Archibet will be widely available as a binded collection of postcards through Laurence King Publishing.

But guess what, five Archinectors can get their hands on a copy of Archibet before it's out in stores.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: First, have a look at the entire Archibet series here. Then in the comment section below, say which architect and for what letter that you would include in the Archibet.

Giveaway ends January 2, 2015. Five winners will be selected at random. Good luck!

An illustrated history of Canberra, the Australian capital designed by American architects

2014-09-25T20:13:00-04:00

Cartoonist and journalist Eleri Mai Harris tells the story of Canberra's creation by architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffin (who also happened to be married to one another, and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright).

Read the piece in full, gorgeous watercolor on Medium: The Utopian City That Wasn't: How two American architects won a competition to design Australia’s capital in 1912

Ten Top Images on Archinect's "Art-chitecture" Pinterest Board

2014-08-29T14:57:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Art-chitecture.

↑ Collapse Construction in Los Angeles, CA by Formation Association in collaboration with Los Angeles artists, Edgar Arceneaux and Nery Gabriel Lemus; Photo: Hammer Museum

↑ From "Personal Work" by Megan McGlynn

↑ Empty Architecture by J. F. Bautista

↑ From "Selected Artwork" by Christopher Alexander

↑ GOOGLE CAMPUS project by Dimitra Tampaki in cooperation with Irem Dokmeci, Dimitra Pavlakou, Angel Tenorio

↑ The Chair Pavilion by Michael Jantzen

↑ Cable car project in Wengen by Fei Alexeli

↑ Vista Initiation 12 by Aimilios Davlantis Lo

↑ Drawings on John Cage by Nurhan Gokturk

(Cover pic: Illustration by Angel Beale)

Click her...

ARSHIHARA: Applying the Ishihara Test to architecture's most iconic buildings

2014-08-22T19:45:00-04:00

Here's a fun visual exercise to drift off into the weekend with: Yannick Martin, a French architect and graphic designer now based in Colombia, has shared with us his latest project, ARSHIHARA — like much of Martin's œuvre, an investigative play with forms, language, architecture and cubes.

This is how he describes it: "The idea was to create minimal graphics that could represent the best some of the most famous building, and to illustrate them using the formal and colorful test of Dr Shinobu Ishihara, test that he made to recognize colorblind people."

Keep scrolling and try to guess the buildings before reading the hint...

All images courtesy of Yannick Martin

"Archimusic" renders famous musicians into characteristic buildings

2014-06-17T17:12:00-04:00

Illustrator Federico Babina from Barcelona looks to some of the world's most influential musicians in his latest series, "Archimusic." Depicted in Babina's signature whimsical style, he architecturally renders 27 familiar names in various music genres like J.S. Bach, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Björk, Freddie Mercury, and Radiohead.

Maybe these drawings can spark a few creative notes (pun totally intended) of inspiration.

The buildings surely emphasize the enduring fame of these musicians, with some of them even resembling their physical appearances. Based on mere sightreading, the few measures of notes right below could also perhaps be a hint at the musician's musical personality.

Previously on Archinect news:
"Archibet": if architects designed an alphabet...
André Chiote illustrates the role of iconic buildings in the "urban collective memory"

A cartoon encyclopedia of Tel Aviv's buildings

2014-01-13T15:22:00-05:00

Israeli designer Avner Gicelter gives loving homage to Tel Aviv's array of architectural styles in his illustrated "TLV Buildings" project. In the continuing series, Gicelter faithfully represents each building's facade in simple, colorful, almost 8-bit renderings, sometimes retaining small individuating elements such as rooftop gardens or balcony banners. Presented in isolation from their urban context (although titled with their address), the buildings receive equal respect and altogether could form a simple reference guide for Tel Aviv's architecture. Gicelter hopes to update the series weekly with a new illustration.

"Archibet": if architects designed an alphabet...

2014-01-10T19:35:00-05:00

The Barcelona-based illustrator responsible for Archicine and Archipixel, Federico Babina, has created a whimsical alphabet in the style of 26 particularly inspiring architects. For Archibet, Babina modeled each letter after an architect with that shared initial. The Guggenheim wraps around a leg of "W" (is for Wright); wood and colorful panels form a grid in the shape of an "E" (for Eames). The references are as diverse as the architectures, but Babina's style beams overall as colorful, retro, almost Saul Bass-ish.

Seeing the alphabet all together as a composite "Archibet City" is another surreal treat, and a snapshot of architectural history.

You can check out the rest of the Archibet and all of Federico Babina's work here: http://federicobabina.com/

André Chiote illustrates the role of iconic buildings in the "urban collective memory"

2013-12-09T13:52:00-05:00

Rendered into clean lines and bold graphic hues, Oporto-based architect and illustrator André Chiote draws some of the world's most iconic contemporary structures designed by their equally iconic architects. He began developing this project by choosing specifically-programmed buildings that became cultural symbols eventually engrained into the "urban collective memory."

Even by only highlighting a particular detail, the building is still recognizable whether one remembers seeing it on TV, online, in print, or in person. The souvenir poster/advertisement-like quality of Chiote's illustrative style further emphasizes the popularity of these structures.

In his last approach, Chiote illustrated famous museums like Renzo Piano's addition to LACMA or the Mercedez-Benz Museum by UNStudio, among others.

Chiote continues exploring the role of these memorable buildings with "Sport's Buildings" -- many that have been seen in past Olympic Games. Here, he describes them as examples of "...

Moby: Dancing About Architecture

2013-10-04T14:50:00-04:00

It’s the perfect time to talk to the DJ about structures: in a week in which Moby has released new album Innocents, he is currently in the middle of a residency at LA’s 1920s Fonda Theater, a venue featured on his Los Angeles architecture blog. London-based artist Simpson has imbued today's pictures with a sense of each corresponding track, adding a mysterious figure to add scale and a narrative.

Architects’ Renderings as a Weapon in Real Estate

2013-08-26T15:33:00-04:00

An architectural rendering is a premonition of sorts, an illustration of what a park or a bridge, an apartment building or an office tower, might look like, even before the first splash of concrete licks the ground. But its most important mission is not to show the girth of a building’s footprint or the shape of the windows; it is to gin up enthusiasm for a project, or to incite resistance. So the real purpose of these drawings is not to predict the future. Their real goal is to control it.

Windows of New York | A weekly illustrated atlas

2013-02-12T11:25:00-05:00

The Windows of New York project is a weekly illustrated fix for an obsession that has increasingly grown in me since chance put me in this town. A product of countless steps of journey through the city streets, this is a collection of windows that somehow have caught my restless eye out from the never-ending buzz of the city. This project is part an ode to architecture and part a self-challenge to never stop looking up.

Jose Guizar, a graphic designer in NYC, has created a beautiful weekly journal showcasing his illustrations of New York City windows.

Gert Wingårdh's stunning installation at this week's Stockholm Furniture Fair

2013-02-06T19:49:00-05:00

Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh and Finnish illustrator Kustaa Saksi have joined creative forces to design the installation that will set the stage for talks on design and architecture at the fair. They have each started out from their own perspective while adhering to a shared vision.

“From the very beginning, the idea has been to create a spatiality for communication in which furniture and design have a presence in words and images, as well as a physical presence. To explain the concept behind an item of furniture, what you were thinking and how you arrived at the design, gives a deeper dimension to the object. This is something we’ve wanted to focus on more this year and so we’re giving furniture companies a chance to introduce themselves, their products and designers by communicating through a new program item we call Show 'n Tell,” explains Sanna Gebeyehu, the producer of the project.

  The design suggests a church interior, with rows of high tables in front of an ‘...

KRob Competition 2011 - The winners are in!

2011-11-18T16:20:29-05:00

Eleven winners and eighteen finalists were announced this week at KRob 2011, the international Ken Roberts Architectural Delineation, Drawing and Illustration Competition. The prestigious contest is the longest running architectural drawing competition currently in operation anywhere in the world, hosted annually by the AIA Dallas chapter [...].

Together with fellow jurors, Julie VandenBerg Snow of Julie Snow Architects and Kevin Sloan of Kevin Sloan Studio, I had the great pleasure to also serve on this year's judging panel as part of the long-standing partnership between the KRob competition and Archinect & Bustler.