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Goodbye bright colors and unusual shapes. Today, the design is minimal and sleek. Most fast-food restaurants are built to maximize efficiency, not catch motorists’ attention. One critic has called this trend “faux five-star restaurants” intended to make customers forget they are eating greasy fries and burgers.
The chains now sport nearly identical looks. Call it the gentrification of fast-food design.
— CNN
The psychologically manipulative color schemes may remain, but fast food’s once-iconic Googie and mid-century modern designs are quickly being swapped out for more monolith structures. Changes caused by the pandemic and technology are the largest factors, along with the rise in popularity of... View full entry
The new developments look startlingly alike, often in the form of boxy, mid-rise buildings with a ground-floor retail space, sans-serif fonts and vivid slabs of bright paneling. The bulky design is conspicuous, jutting out of downtown streets and overpowering its surroundings. Over time, it attracts a certain ecosystem — the craft breweries, the boutique coffee shops, the out-of-town young professionals.
It’s anytown architecture, and it’s hard to know where you are from one city to the next.
— The New York Times
The disappearance of America’s vernacular architecture and subsequent rise of what some call developer modernism is the product of necessity, reluctance towards artistry, and the monopolization of residential development across the country, according to the Times’ real estate reporter Anna... View full entry
The conversation around the shift from workplace to workspace often gets stuck on how the office is transitioning to meet the evolving needs of employees. But it isn’t just offices that are adjusting. Like their office-owning counterparts, multifamily landlords and operators are studying shifts in workplace strategy, planning new ways to design layouts and apply technology to support the growing work from home population. — Propmodo
The pandemic has caused a sharp pullback in multifamily construction as developers have struggled to adapt to the shift in lifestyles. Increased needs for high-quality internet and added remote workspaces have beset the residential market historically driven by amenity trends and aesthetic... View full entry
The announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year seems to cause the media to stir every year. While everyone jumps on the hype showcasing how "excited" they are, how do color trends impact architects? Don't get me wrong; I love seeing the use of color in projects. The study of color theory... View full entry
Last month the IKEA's Museum in Älmhult, Sweden opened an exhibition showcasing 70's years of their iconic catalogs. Due to the location, and COVID, the exhibition was limited to a small number of visitors. Fortunately, they have just published their Swedish catalog archive for all to see... View full entry
The visually ascending nature of stairs often creates two initial reactions, amazement or hesitation. In a recent piece by the Washington Post writer Maura Judkis unpacks the "stairs to nowhere" design concept. Initially coined by architect Morris Lapidus after his signature staircase for the... View full entry
April 9th kicks of a week filled with head-turning designs and exhibitions at this year's Salone del Mobile in Milan. Over 300,000 visitors from all over the globe come to experience the newest designs and ideas in product, furniture, and interiors. In conjunction with Milan Design Week, Salone... 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
Forget climbing stars, or even walking laterally--in the increasingly dense and rapid reality of urban life, elevators have become a major part of daily living. According to The Guardian, major elevator designers like Otis are considering re-designing the elevator to become a more comfortable and... View full entry
According to the AIA, while the demand for multi-family housing has slowed, many other design sectors, especially those related to institutional facilities, have prompted a significant increase in the architectural billings index, from 51.9 in May to 55.7 in June. To provide perspective, the... View full entry
