Month: October 2023

In terms of activism, disruption is a necessary element of effective protest. When acts of disruption spill into the public domain, they carve out spaces through blockades, defenses, and territorial claims, giving rise to ‘protest architecture.’ This concept is the focus of the exhibition organized by DAM – Deutsches Architekturmuseum and the MAK – Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna. Titled “Protest/Architecture. Barricades, Camps, Superglue,” the event showcases a collection of models, photographs, and films depicting the evolution of protest architecture around the world. The exhibition, curated by Oliver Elser with curatorial assistance and research by Anna-Maria Mayerhofer, is open from ​September 16, 2023, until January 14, 2024, at the DAM OSTEND in Frankfurt.

For the 18^th year, the International Architecture Awards has returned to celebrate outstanding architectural achievements globally. Based in Chicago, these awards feature exceptional new buildings, urban planning projects, and landscape architecture of 2023. Additionally, this month, the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 5) is currently taking place in the city. Both the awards and the Biennial attempt to shed light on each country’s architectural, design, cultural, and social trends.

Until October 16, 2023, the second edition of TAC! Urban Architecture Festival will take place in the city of Valencia under the temporary Mediterranean pavilion designed by Manuel Bouzas. Located in the Plaza Músico López Chavarri in the Carmen neighborhood, the pavilion pays homage to vernacular architecture in response to the Mediterranean climate and the role of the Mediterranean shutter, a mechanism that for centuries provided an effective, simple, and lightweight solution for sun protection, allowing habitable spaces to adapt to climatic conditions.

The German Pavilion was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1929 for the German representation at the International Exhibition in Barcelona held on Montjuic that same year. The Pavilion was conceived as a space of modest dimensions and refined materials. It was made of glass, steel, and four types of marble, intended to host the official reception led by King Alfonso XIII and German authorities. The uniqueness in the use of materials, which was always highlighted in his work, wasn’t about their novelty but about the modernity they represented and their precise application in terms of geometry, the accuracy of their components, and the clarity of their assembly.

The history of ‘neutral colors’ is a fascinating journey through the evolution of human aesthetics and design sensibilities. Closely related to the makeup of materials organically found in nature, the color chorus of whites, grays, and earthy brown tones has played a pivotal role in artistic expression, fashion, interior design, and architecture for millenia. From the understated hues of early clay, straw, wood, or brick architectural structures to the now prevalent contemporary interior style, neutral colors have transcended cultural boundaries and continue to hold a special place in our visual landscape – offering a sophisticated elegance and versatility that has stood the test of time.

Exploring materiality, contextuality, and approach, our editors developed thought-provoking articles seeking to question and describe some of the aspects that make any Architecture, a good one.

This is a house that unfolds to look at itself, it is staggered on a sloping topography through the four modules. They are apparently independent, joined by two garden tunnels that make this house a single unit.

Sometimes, doing nothing brings about things that the biggest one cannot handle. Sometimes, not-building can create an atmosphere that any construction would not improve its feeling. Subtracting from what is to be, adding to what is not to be. Something that can hardly be seen and is the only interface among the various spaces that make sense along each other. A pathway that prompts the mind to move so that the man can find life in it. A complementing void that defines exterior and interior, promenade and stillness, intimate corners of light and shadow which create a charming micro-universe in unity with the whole architecture where your presence in it fluctuates between inside and outside.