No Image

From NASA to Bouncy Houses: The Evolution of Inflatables

April 21, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

Inflatable Architecture has enabled the imaginations of environmental dreamers of all types. From figures like Buckminster Fuller to Ant Farm, inflatables promise to liberate people from the harsh conditions of nature or the tyranny of architecture. Originally developed by the US Military for radar enclosures on the arctic, inflatables were picked up by NASA before their secrets were bestowed upon the public who deployed them to solve all sorts of problems, from enclosing pools to stadiums.

No Image

The Design Educates Awards Unveil Their List of Winners

March 30, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

The Design Educates Awards, the awards that annually recognize the best projects that respond to complex social and environmental contexts and carry educational value, have just announced the results of the 2022 edition. The awards look for what will have a lasting impact on users and the environment and showcase the world’s best ideas and realizations that can educate.

No Image

“How to Win Work” – Business Development for Architects.

March 10, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

The talk “How to Win Work” – Business Development for Architects, is hosted by Sara Kolata with the following guests: UNStudio’s director Filippo Francesco Lodi, London practice owner Simone de Gale, author of “The Business of Architecture” book and practice owner, Kathy Denise Dixon and Jeronimo Van Schendel of the IE School of Architecture and Design. All four experts are speakers at Disrupt Symposium, taking place 1-5th May 2022, online. https://www.disruptsymposium.com/

No Image

How Structuring Skyscrapers Became Beautiful

February 26, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

Fazlur Rahman Khan was a pioneer in the structural engineering of tall buildings. After buildings exceed sixty stories height, gravity loads account for a smaller proportion of structural weight than wind loads. Khan developed the tubed truss tower design to stiffen the building at taller heights without adding significant weight. The tube design had the added consequence of pushing the structure out to the exterior of the building to become part of its architectural expression. However, the acceptance of visible steel trusses was a slow process that parallels the acceptance of engineering infrastructure like bridges as aesthetic productions. This video traces a lineage of this process from Eiffel — who’s pylon designs look much like the Hancock Tower — to today. 

No Image

The Confusing Reality of Building Styles

February 19, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

What style is it? This is a common initial question people ask to learn more about a building. For architects, this seems like a poor entry point and the initiating question can seem naive and trivial. This varying degree of attentiveness to a building’s style leads to an impasse between the public—that wants to understand the built environment—and architects eager to share the nuances of their discipline.

No Image

The Bewildering Architecture of Indoor Cities

February 15, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

Interior Urbanism describes interior spaces so large that they behave like cities. These kinds of constructions can develop either as an adoc growth over time, or as a planned and cohesively designed set of volumes. Each approach has its own opportunities and problems when it comes to efficiency and architectural integrity. This video explores both and uses Chicago’s Pedway and John Portman’s Hyatt Regency near O’Hare airport as examples. Stewart Hicks visits these examples, discusses the implications of bringing our urbanism indoors, and compares and contrasts the spatial qualities of each — the contingent and gritty urbanism of the Pedway, with the pristine perfection of the hotel lobby and conference center.

No Image

The Bewildering Architecture of Indoor Cities

February 15, 2022 Diego Hernández 0

Interior Urbanism describes interior spaces so large that they behave like cities. These kinds of constructions can develop either as an adoc growth over time, or as a planned and cohesively designed set of volumes. Each approach has its own opportunities and problems when it comes to efficiency and architectural integrity. This video explores both and uses Chicago’s Pedway and John Portman’s Hyatt Regency near O’Hare airport as examples. Stewart Hicks visits these examples, discusses the implications of bringing our urbanism indoors, and compares and contrasts the spatial qualities of each — the contingent and gritty urbanism of the Pedway, with the pristine perfection of the hotel lobby and conference center.