Divisare has been my go-to site for inspiration, especially for less well-known projects and architects. It's been my nº1 source of references, and now it's closing, so I'm in need of a replacement.
What are some similar websites you use or know?
gibbost
Dec 11, 18 2:17 pm
This one's heavy on fixtures & furnishings, but still a good resource for design content: www.architonic.com/
Maker of allthearchitects.com here. We collected a shortlist of alternatives to Divisare based on suggestions from other designers and our own discoveries over the years.
Thanks for filling the void, guys. Much appreciated.
will galloway
Dec 13, 18 6:30 am
this is sad news. We have had a few of our projects on the divisare site and i felt pretty glad to be invited, given the company. great photographs, great designs. often inspiring. It will be a hard act to follow.
The examples above are good in their own ways, but not quite the same. they feel a lot like my facebook feed. something that divisare never did. i guess that is what makes the site so valuable to architects in search of something special, and ironically i gather it also makes them less commercially viable...
Gonzalo Samaniego
Dec 13, 18 10:10 am
The way in which they classified projects was unprecedented and displayed enormous love for architecture that I had never seen before.
I hope that someone at some point (I'd love to do it myself) follows up on the theme of an "atlas of architecture" and creates something which will hopefully approach architecture with so much attention and care.
ionutparaschiv
Dec 14, 18 2:29 pm
But do you guys have any idea WHY this is happening ? Or if there's anything we can do to stop it from going down ?
Gonzalo Samaniego
Dec 14, 18 4:40 pm
According to their announcement they kinda just decided to stop... I can imagine it's hard, largely unprofitable work. I really wish there was someone willing to pick up their work where they're leaving it in order to continue with the site. In my eyes, it is the best architecture website there is, period.
We have to do something to stop their site shutting down. I am in panic - the best architecture site!!!! Any ideas???
jamesS
Dec 22, 18 6:32 pm
You can still access a cached version of the site through archive.org, but not all of the pages have been saved.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 22, 18 8:13 pm
...and by "inspiration" you mean "source for modified plagiarism". Learn how to think about space. Whether the end product has been done in one way shape or form before, your process of getting to your current design solution will be original if you actually think about what you are doing rather than borrowing or recycling someone else's ideas. Stop using sites and magazines for "inspiration". Whether you realize it or not, what you are really asking/looking for is a "safe" design solution and timesaver masquerading in what we call "precedent". Stop being lazy and put that creative mind of yours that you went to school for to use!
good details
Dec 23, 18 9:31 am
yeah because looking at inspiration and thinking about what you are doing cannot be done in unison at all..................
wunder_waffle
Dec 23, 18 3:58 pm
originality is overrated. I don't think it's as pressing to reinvent the wheel every single time. Especially when we can't even design simple lasting background buildings on a regular basis anymore. I'd rather the mundane was well done.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 23, 18 5:57 pm
Did I ever say that what anyone does would be 100000% original? read my very original post above in this thread. The idea is that even if your idea is not original, the process of getting there would be in that moment. Do you think Peter Zumthor surfs Pinterest for inspiration LOL
Gonzalo Samaniego
Dec 26, 18 2:32 pm
- Inspiration is source for modified plagiarism
- Ideas don't need to be 10000% original
- Zumthor doesn't surf Pinterest for ideas
You must be fun at parties
tduds
Jan 15, 20 1:00 pm
Great artists steal.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 23, 18 11:18 am
Inspiration definition:
the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative
Why do you need inspiration if you are presumably already engaged in trying to solve a problem creatively? Is it that you are just creatively handicapped, jaded, or incompetent?
BulgarBlogger
Dec 23, 18 4:38 pm
I dare you design something without looking at inspiration beforehand. Bet you anything, that you can't.
randomised
Dec 23, 18 4:56 pm
What about you? I bet that whatever you come up with will have been done before, and will have been done better ;-)
BulgarBlogger
Dec 23, 18 5:40 pm
Did I ever say that what anyone does would be 100000% original? read my very original post above in this thread. The idea is that even if your idea is not original, the process of getting there would be in that moment. Do you think Peter Zumthor surfs Pinterest for inspiration LOL
randomised
Dec 24, 18 5:45 am
Your 100000% original post ;-) I'm sure Zumthor has a library though.
will galloway
Dec 24, 18 8:36 am
there is some truth in what you say. It is hard to not be overly affected in the moment by great works. Divisare was not like that. The works were inspiring but of a different sort. It was not the place to go for ideas. Not like a monograph of work by whomever you adore. The site had a strong tone, of intention to make quiet spaces, spaces lived in, that worked and were nonetheless interesting. Much like Zumthor, really.
Design is a hard thing. It is a lengthy process as well, something that is too long to be sustained by dipping into pools of other peoples designs. Much as Zumthor points out as well, if we are being honest. In which case there is little room for plagiarism anyway. and zero reason to wish anything ill of a company that curated such a specific and particular set of works. Hard to see their dissolution as anything but a loss for our profession.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 24, 18 1:26 pm
I agree that design takes a long time... but people using these sites want shortcuts. They want digested ideas to recycle. In my experience, this happens a lot in interior design and corporate interior/retail type firms. Designers want an edgy trendy precedent to present to their clients who are primarily concerned with brand integration.
randomised
Dec 24, 18 2:22 pm
You have no "idea" why people use those sites. Maybe people don't want shortcuts but simply need to reaffirm their clients, profs or superiors that their ideas after an original process actually can work because it was done in a similar material or application etc here, here and there. But, yes in your field of interior decorating and styling it is all about appearances and superficiality without the substance, but divisare was not aimed at your type of market, it was about architecture.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 24, 18 2:59 pm
Actually, "that" is not my type of market. I do real architecture as an Architect ;)
randomised
Dec 24, 18 4:10 pm
Didn't you do interior design using archiCAD+bimX? My bad...
BulgarBlogger
Dec 24, 18 5:01 pm
Residential architecture involves both. However, I am doing commercial buildings now. However, I have the perspective of both worlds.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 24, 18 5:05 pm
I'll leave the color picking, fabric choosing, and stone selections to the pansie architect wannabes.
will galloway
Dec 24, 18 6:36 pm
why the ad hominems? I suppose process is process. If we give some credit to professionals it is a kind of education as well. The idea of justifying design by referring to someone else's output as a big part of a process is not my own way of working, but I guess it can work. There are lots of ways to be creative.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 24, 18 8:25 pm
Because when you are so focused on getting "inspiration" from others' work, you lose sight of the individual argument behind a personalized design. In other words you get caught up in the way someone else solved a problem and then you try to fit that same solution into your own problem solving effort; you post rationalize and thereby cheat yourself and your client out of a design process that focuses on trying to solve a problem individually. Instead, you borrow someone else's ideas and tell your client- "here you go: I think this will work. Others have done it this way, now pay me for copying them." I cannot emphasize enough what I said in previous posts. I DO NOT MEAN THAT EVERY IDEA WILL BE ORIGINAL; THE DESIGN PROCESS HOWEVER MUST BE.
randomised
Dec 25, 18 6:13 am
The process doesn't have to be original at all, you can perfectly copy Hunter S. Thompson's process of writing and still come up with an original piece of literature. No need to YELL, it's Christmas for Christ' sake! Also, people who say that something MUST BE in a certain way...sorry too dogmatic for my taste, and not very original or creative either.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 25, 18 8:09 am
I am not yelling; I am emphasizing. Gosh, you people are so sensitive these days...By process, I don't mean technique. I mean that when a client approaches you and says they like earthy materials, that you don't take an image off pinterest that shows a space clad in wood and then you present a design that was "inspired by" and is similarly clad in wood. Process is about finding your own languange to solve problems; not borrowing others' and copying it into your solution. That is not to say you won't have a similar solution to others' problems; its just that your process of getting there will catered individually and spefically to that problem rather prescriptively.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 25, 18 9:14 am
I think the orher problem liws
BulgarBlogger
Dec 25, 18 9:14 am
I think the other problem is in translation: if you take an "inspiration image" and present it to a client,
BulgarBlogger
Dec 25, 18 9:16 am
...you run the risk of your client getting married to the image rather than accepting that it is symbolic. You might knkw that you may be presenting it to show material or whatever, but once your client sees that in context, they may not be able to get passed what you are showing them. So uktimately you build your own design barrier.
randomised
Dec 25, 18 2:23 pm
Me sensitive? Was just kidding about the CAPS LOCK, people these days don't know what irony is(!) Since when is Process showing clients Pinterest images?
Divisare has been my go-to site for inspiration, especially for less well-known projects and architects. It's been my nº1 source of references, and now it's closing, so I'm in need of a replacement.
What are some similar websites you use or know?
This one's heavy on fixtures & furnishings, but still a good resource for design content: www.architonic.com/
www.allthearchitects.com (not all the architects)
Maker of allthearchitects.com here. We collected a shortlist of alternatives to Divisare based on suggestions from other designers and our own discoveries over the years.
List of Divisare alternatives: Notes on Divisare
This is the best one I know of: https://afasiaarchzine.com
Thanks for filling the void, guys. Much appreciated.
this is sad news. We have had a few of our projects on the divisare site and i felt pretty glad to be invited, given the company. great photographs, great designs. often inspiring. It will be a hard act to follow.
The examples above are good in their own ways, but not quite the same. they feel a lot like my facebook feed. something that divisare never did. i guess that is what makes the site so valuable to architects in search of something special, and ironically i gather it also makes them less commercially viable...
The way in which they classified projects was unprecedented and displayed enormous love for architecture that I had never seen before.
I hope that someone at some point (I'd love to do it myself) follows up on the theme of an "atlas of architecture" and creates something which will hopefully approach architecture with so much attention and care.
But do you guys have any idea WHY this is happening ? Or if there's anything we can do to stop it from going down ?
According to their announcement they kinda just decided to stop... I can imagine it's hard, largely unprofitable work. I really wish there was someone willing to pick up their work where they're leaving it in order to continue with the site. In my eyes, it is the best architecture website there is, period.
And what about penccil? Anybody using that site? http://www.penccil.com
holy fuck that website is a disaster
We have to do something to stop their site shutting down. I am in panic - the best architecture site!!!! Any ideas???
You can still access a cached version of the site through archive.org, but not all of the pages have been saved.
...and by "inspiration" you mean "source for modified plagiarism". Learn how to think about space. Whether the end product has been done in one way shape or form before, your process of getting to your current design solution will be original if you actually think about what you are doing rather than borrowing or recycling someone else's ideas. Stop using sites and magazines for "inspiration". Whether you realize it or not, what you are really asking/looking for is a "safe" design solution and timesaver masquerading in what we call "precedent". Stop being lazy and put that creative mind of yours that you went to school for to use!
yeah because looking at inspiration and thinking about what you are doing cannot be done in unison at all..................
originality is overrated. I don't think it's as pressing to reinvent the wheel every single time. Especially when we can't even design simple lasting background buildings on a regular basis anymore. I'd rather the mundane was well done.
Did I ever say that what anyone does would be 100000% original? read my very original post above in this thread. The idea is that even if your idea is not original, the process of getting there would be in that moment. Do you think Peter Zumthor surfs Pinterest for inspiration LOL
- Inspiration is source for modified plagiarism
- Ideas don't need to be 10000% original
- Zumthor doesn't surf Pinterest for ideas
You must be fun at parties
Great artists steal.
Inspiration definition:
the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative
Why do you need inspiration if you are presumably already engaged in trying to solve a problem creatively? Is it that you are just creatively handicapped, jaded, or incompetent?
I dare you design something without looking at inspiration beforehand. Bet you anything, that you can't.
What about you? I bet that whatever you come up with will have been done before, and will have been done better ;-)
Did I ever say that what anyone does would be 100000% original? read my very original post above in this thread. The idea is that even if your idea is not original, the process of getting there would be in that moment. Do you think Peter Zumthor surfs Pinterest for inspiration LOL
Your 100000% original post ;-) I'm sure Zumthor has a library though.
there is some truth in what you say. It is hard to not be overly affected in the moment by great works. Divisare was not like that. The works were inspiring but of a different sort. It was not the place to go for ideas. Not like a monograph of work by whomever you adore. The site had a strong tone, of intention to make quiet spaces, spaces lived in, that worked and were nonetheless interesting. Much like Zumthor, really. Design is a hard thing. It is a lengthy process as well, something that is too long to be sustained by dipping into pools of other peoples designs. Much as Zumthor points out as well, if we are being honest. In which case there is little room for plagiarism anyway. and zero reason to wish anything ill of a company that curated such a specific and particular set of works. Hard to see their dissolution as anything but a loss for our profession.
I agree that design takes a long time... but people using these sites want shortcuts. They want digested ideas to recycle. In my experience, this happens a lot in interior design and corporate interior/retail type firms. Designers want an edgy trendy precedent to present to their clients who are primarily concerned with brand integration.
You have no "idea" why people use those sites. Maybe people don't want shortcuts but simply need to reaffirm their clients, profs or superiors that their ideas after an original process actually can work because it was done in a similar material or application etc here, here and there. But, yes in your field of interior decorating and styling it is all about appearances and superficiality without the substance, but divisare was not aimed at your type of market, it was about architecture.
Actually, "that" is not my type of market. I do real architecture as an Architect ;)
Didn't you do interior design using archiCAD+bimX? My bad...
Residential architecture involves both. However, I am doing commercial buildings now. However, I have the perspective of both worlds.
I'll leave the color picking, fabric choosing, and stone selections to the pansie architect wannabes.
why the ad hominems? I suppose process is process. If we give some credit to professionals it is a kind of education as well. The idea of justifying design by referring to someone else's output as a big part of a process is not my own way of working, but I guess it can work. There are lots of ways to be creative.
Because when you are so focused on getting "inspiration" from others' work, you lose sight of the individual argument behind a personalized design. In other words you get caught up in the way someone else solved a problem and then you try to fit that same solution into your own problem solving effort; you post rationalize and thereby cheat yourself and your client out of a design process that focuses on trying to solve a problem individually. Instead, you borrow someone else's ideas and tell your client- "here you go: I think this will work. Others have done it this way, now pay me for copying them." I cannot emphasize enough what I said in previous posts. I DO NOT MEAN THAT EVERY IDEA WILL BE ORIGINAL; THE DESIGN PROCESS HOWEVER MUST BE.
The process doesn't have to be original at all, you can perfectly copy Hunter S. Thompson's process of writing and still come up with an original piece of literature. No need to YELL, it's Christmas for Christ' sake! Also, people who say that something MUST BE in a certain way...sorry too dogmatic for my taste, and not very original or creative either.
I am not yelling; I am emphasizing. Gosh, you people are so sensitive these days...By process, I don't mean technique. I mean that when a client approaches you and says they like earthy materials, that you don't take an image off pinterest that shows a space clad in wood and then you present a design that was "inspired by" and is similarly clad in wood. Process is about finding your own languange to solve problems; not borrowing others' and copying it into your solution. That is not to say you won't have a similar solution to others' problems; its just that your process of getting there will catered individually and spefically to that problem rather prescriptively.
I think the orher problem liws
I think the other problem is in translation: if you take an "inspiration image" and present it to a client,
...you run the risk of your client getting married to the image rather than accepting that it is symbolic. You might knkw that you may be presenting it to show material or whatever, but once your client sees that in context, they may not be able to get passed what you are showing them. So uktimately you build your own design barrier.
Me sensitive? Was just kidding about the CAPS LOCK, people these days don't know what irony is(!) Since when is Process showing clients Pinterest images?
https://www.archdaily.com/452513/peter-zumthor-seven-personal-observations-on-presence-in-architecture
AND DIVISARE IS COMING BACK IN JULY.
IT'S BACK!
Similar to divisare, one of my favorite free architecture sites is this one: https://archeyes.com/
In case your beloved Divisare decides to shut down again add https://www.subtilitas.site/ to your list of alternatives.