Local communities are more than just a collection of buildings and infrastructure. They possess a distinctive architectural character that mirrors their history, culture, and values. As part of our year in review, we take a deep dive into the top narratives that examine the architectural identity of different local communities.
Together with co-architects HS-Architekten, MVRDV has turned a dated office building from the 1990s into an eye-catching entrance marker for Atelier Gardens in Berlin. Now bright yellow, the building is completed with a new living roof, and a sustainable timber rooftop pavilion and terrace, accessible via a grand external staircase.
The Choctaw Casino and Resort expansion in Durant, OK, USA, completed in 2021, included enlarging the casino, adding 1,000 hotel rooms, conference areas, shops, and other amenities. The entire undertaking was accomplished in just 2.5 years, with an impressive 350,000 square feet of tile installed within a mere six months. The core focus of the project was to waterproof approximately 1,200 showers to ensure their longevity. The combination of high-quality installation systems, thorough training, effective communication, and collaboration were pivotal in achieving alignment on project goals and execution.
The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia closed on November 26th. A total of 285,000 people visited the exhibition, making it the second most highly attended Architecture Biennale in its history. Named “The Laboratory of the Future,” this edition led by curator Lesley Lokko, has been the first to focus on Africa and its diaspora, exploring the “fluid and enmeshed culture of people of African descent that now straddles the globe,” in the words of the curator, with themes of decolonization and decarbonization.
The project is a large-scale installation made for a music festival held in a public park, aimed at raising awareness of the pollution of the oceans by disposable plastics.
Foster + Partners, in collaboration with CannonDesign and Gilbane Building Company, have unveiled the new plans for a Mayo Clinic healthcare vision in Rochester, New York. Named “Bold. Forward. Unbound.” This initiative presents a multiyear strategic endeavor aligned with Mayo Clinic’s strategy to “cure, connect, and transform healthcare globally.” Reimagining the institution’s campus, the design introduces new facilities that merge care concepts and digital technologies.
Sameer Makarius was born in Cairo in 1924. In 1933, he immigrated with his family to Berlin. At the age of ten, his father gifted him a camera, marking the beginning of his journey with photography. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, in 1940, they moved to Budapest, where he completed his secondary education, began his artistic training, and connected with the protagonists of the local avant-garde. In 1946, he embarked on his return to Egypt with a prior stop in Zurich. There, he organized an exhibition of Hungarian modern art with the support of Max Bill. Back in Cairo, he worked as a decorative artist for advertising and also for an architecture and construction studio.
His artistic work arrived in the Río de La Plata a few years before he did, through his partner Eva Reiner, who was already living in Argentina with her family. In 1948, she lent one of his works for the MADI art exhibition organized in the workshop of the German sculptor Martin Blaszko. After marrying Eva in Egypt in 1952, they traveled together to Paris, where they worked as pattern designers. They finally arrived in Buenos Aires in April 1953, a city that would become their permanent residence. His migratory journey was marked by the drama of war. At the same time, during these displacements, Makarius built a network of relationships around photography, visual arts, and architecture that allowed him to unfold his work in various territories and formats.
The ambition behind the renovation was to rethink the organization within the museum’s services by offering visitors and employees a functional environment for work, discovery, and exchange.
Cape Town’s SAOTA, alongside US architect developer David Maman and Belgian interior designer Dieter Vander Velpen, designed this Bel Air residence, perched on a steep, triangular site with striking canyon views extending from Century City to the ocean.
When it comes to windows, we can see how much the industry’s technology has evolved over time. While the first versions of windows were small and not very transparent, today we can find large sheets of glass that blur the boundaries between the inside and outside, and can create virtually translucent façades. And this doesn’t have to be limited to fixed glass. These days, we can use huge glazed surfaces that can be easily handled, thanks to a great deal of research and experimentation by manufacturers to improve components and raw materials. To create a large frame, for example, larger furnaces are needed for tempering, and strict technical control is required, demanding precision and high-quality standards, along with structural bonding using modified silicones and silyl-based polymers.
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