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As the social media curator for Archinect, it has been a unique pleasure to determine which images reflect our collective tastes across our social media platforms, and it has equally been a pleasure to see the community that follows us take notice. Here are the 10 most liked Instagram posts of... View full entry
For a place to be shared on Instagram is no longer a chance by-product of a photogenic design, but a primary concern that drives the ambitions of clients and designers. The idea of “doing it for the ’gram” has moved from the preserve of Like-hungry teens to board meeting discussions and multimillion pound budgets. — The Guardian
Let's face it, what wouldn't people do for a like? The 800 million user and counting social media platform Instagram has taken "photographic moments" to a whole new level. Insta-fame doesn't only affect people, but places as well. Deemed an influential force, Instagram is not only changing the way... View full entry
The central disappointment of these spaces is not that they are so narcissistic, but rather that they seem to have such a low view of the people who visit them. Observing a work of art or climbing a mountain actually invites us to create meaning in our lives. But in these spaces, the idea of “interacting” with the world is made so slickly transactional that our role is hugely diminished. Stalking through the colorful hallways of New York’s “experiences,” I felt like a shell of a person. — The New York Times
In this snarky piece, New York Times critic-at-large Amanda Hess recounts what it was like visiting as many of these hyped-up Instagrammable "museums" that have popped up around the U.S. in recent years. “What began as a kicky story idea became a masochistic march through voids of meaning. I... View full entry
“Designing from Instagram for Instagram seems like a snake eating its own tail. Everywhere looks like everywhere else and the eye grows tired of bananas or concrete tiles or mirror rooms.” — The Guardian
The built environment, this article from Bella Mackie suggests, is increasingly being designed as a 'backdrop;' a stage for those masses which might otherwise be disinterested in the fields of aesthetics and art production. This phenomenon can be felt when traveling the world just as apparently... View full entry
Photogenic is probably not the first word that comes to mind upon hearing the phrase “public restroom”. But the Instagram account toilets_a_go_go by Tokyo-based photographer Hidefumi Nakamura proves that public toilets shouldn't have to look bland and gross. Since starting the Instagram... View full entry
To Skip Phillips, consumer-driven demand has moved the infinity pool away from its original design premise of blending with the landscape. It doesn’t have to be a vertical drop, like that at Marina Bay Sands. “The impetus for this came from the buying public,” and, he adds, “an uneducated pool industry.”
To understand how the infinity pool became a status symbol, it’s important to realize that “wellness” is a luxury commodity.
— The Outline
This Outline piece by Daisy Alioto dives into the origins of the vanishing edge infinity pool, which now — thanks to a lot of help from social media — has evolved into a trendy symbol of luxury. View full entry
This post is brought to you by Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Instagram is an integral part of how we communicate architecture today. It’s unclear how many offices, architects, or students use the social media app, but what is clear is that for many of us who have... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Tom Wiscombe, Chair of the Undergraduate Program at SCI-Arc, hosts a series of B.Arch Salons—informal Friday gatherings held at Cafe Americano across the street from the school. A recent conversation was... View full entry
Spaces like the Museum of Ice Cream and the Paul Smith Pink Wall offer a perfect setting for a highly shareable image—and that’s it. What happens to art, or travel, or the outside world in general when taking a photograph becomes an experience itself?
As photo-driven social networks continue to grow more powerful, they are both transforming boutique economies and exercising visual influence over our modern day cuisine, travel destinations, clothing labels, and makeup trends.
— The Ringer
From museums to music festivals to that cool-looking, brightly colored wall there, this article looks into how image-driven social media like Instagram is increasingly changing the way people are consuming art and culture in practically identical ways. In one interesting part of the article... View full entry
We're joined this week by Devin Gharakhanian, co-founder and co-creative director of the super popular Instagram account and online platform SuperArchitects, to discuss his work in architecture media and community-building, alongside issues troubling architecture education and the public's... View full entry
The Open Architecture Collaborative, the offshoot from the now-defunct Architecture for Humanity, launched its #iOpenArchitecture social media campaign on Tuesday, aiming to expand the dialogue around design and architecture. Participants (the campaign is directed towards "all members of the... View full entry
“New York Horizon” would be virtually impossible to implement in the real world, given the actual urban landscape of the proposed site, which includes some of NYC's subway lines for starters. That being said, the criticism “New York Horizon” has sparked in recent weeks raises bigger questions — particularly involving the rise of “meme-tecture”, the cultural value of landscape architecture, and re-evaluating the setup of open ideas competitions. — Bustler
Previously on Archinect:2016 eVolo Skyscraper Competition winners revealed2015 eVolo Skyscraper Competition winners imagine the potential of vertical architecture2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition Winners View full entry
dying online is open to anyone willing to share his or her end with the blogosphere. [...]
This dissolving of the barriers between the public and the intimate is death’s vital new upgrade... death has acquired a “neurotic separation” from daily life, and this separation has been identified as part of the “malaise of the late twentieth century.”
But thanks to the internet, death might be losing some of its pariah status.
— designobserver.com
Prompted by the recent mass internet-public mourning of David Bowie, as well as a few agencies that offer post-death social media updates to perpetuate the online persona of your late loved-ones, Adrian Shaughnessy (graphic designer at the Royal College of Art) reflects on how a death shared... View full entry
So beginning today and running throughout the August recess, we're turning our Instagram account over to you. Just snap a photo – please do it safely! – of the worn-out infrastructure in your neck of the woods and share it with @USDOT using #ShowUsYourInfraWear. — transportation.gov
Public shaming has long been a tactic of the U.S. criminal justice system – there were the stocks of yore, the scarlet letters, and more recently, the tactics of felony court judge Ted Poe. Nowadays though, we tend to skip all the messiness of the public square and go straight to the internet to... View full entry
Clearly, the days of the critic’s hegemony are done. [...]
Yet as I know from years of blogging and tweeting, there is often wisdom in the crowd. The people who live in a neighborhood or work in a building often know more about it than the lazy critic who makes only a cursory inspection.
My take on all this is that architecture criticism is not dead ... They fail to recognize that the circumstances of our time offer promise as well as peril.
— niemanreports.org
In a speech delivered this past spring at Chicago's Society of Architectural Historians, Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, addressed the nature of architecture criticism in today's media landscape. The talk came after Kamin's contentious Twitter exchange with "comb-over... View full entry
