In recent years, architecture has increasingly embraced adaptability, flexibility, and responsiveness as core design principles. This evolution reflects a shift from traditional notions of static, permanent structures to dynamic environments that can adjust to changing needs and conditions. Central to this transformation is the concept of "soft architecture", which leverages pliable materials and innovative systems to create spaces that are functional, sustainable, and user-centric. Soft architecture takes shape through membranes that breathe, façades that move, structures that inflate or fold, and surfaces that bend rather than break. It involves designing for transformation — not only in how a building performs environmentally, but also in how it can accommodate shifting functions, user interactions, or temporary occupations. This approach to building challenges traditional notions of durability and control, proposing instead a more responsive and open-ended architecture. It reflects a growing awareness that buildings, like the societies they serve, must be able to evolve.
Modernism emerged in the early 20th century as a revolutionary movement that rejected historical styles, prioritizing functionality, innovation, and rationality. Grounded in the promise of industrial progress, architects like Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe championed using new materials and construction methods, striving for a universal architectural language. Their work introduced radical ideas: open floor plans, expansive glazing for natural light, and pilotis that elevated structures, symbolizing a new architectural era. However, alongside its groundbreaking ideas, modernism's relationship with sustainability has sparked ongoing debates.
While modernist architects sought to address social and economic challenges through affordable housing and efficient design, their reliance on energy-intensive materials like concrete and steel created unintended environmental consequences. The large-scale industrialization celebrated by modernists often disregarded local climates and ecological systems, leading to inefficiencies. Yet, the principles of functionality and adaptability embedded in modernist architecture laid the groundwork for what we now recognize as sustainable practices. From Le Corbusier's rooftop gardens to Frank Lloyd Wright's integration of nature, the seeds of environmentally conscious design were undeniably present, albeit limited in their execution.
This article is the winning entry of the Epistle Writing Prize 2024, an annual competition dedicated to recognizing outstanding writing on design, architecture, and the environment.
We might be in the age of the digital cloud - however celestial or ethereal it may appear to be - but it is not only incontrovertibly material but also a powerful ecological force. In present times, data centers are mammoth powerhouses of modern information, communication, and technology industries with giant servers that store and process data. While their proliferation is in a sense, a consequence of our consumption patterns, and as the global demand for the digital grows, so does the data center footprint.
Mountainous and high-altitude regions are considered to be among the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. From melting glaciers to land erosion, these environments face mounting threats from climate change, making it imperative to reimagine how architecture and its supporting infrastructure are designed for such places.
Tourism in Portugal began to develop in the late 1950s, initially centered on key destinations such as the Algarve coast, Lisbon, and the religious hub of Fátima. This focus made tourism largely a coastal activity. However, rapid growth and overburdened infrastructure in these areas led to saturation and a crisis in the sector. To address this, efforts were made to promote alternative destinations, appealing to a new wave of tourists looking for more sustainable, authentic, and locally immersive experiences.
With the heightening of ecological and social crises all around the world, architects have had to re-evaluate their role, impact, and design approach. As the "new needs" of people arise, new architectural processes must be explored to answer them. However, this still comes with much resistance from the standing practices and push for financial gain that often makes it difficult to implement more comprehensive solutions. These notions led the CCA (Canadian Center for Architecture) to launch their new 3-part film and exhibit series called " Groundwork", curated by the associate director, Francesco Garutti. Through this project, the CCA selected and followed three renowned contemporary architects/practices as they developed their concepts and field research, which allowed them to engage respectfully with their site and residing communities. It's an up close and personal look into what motivates the selected architects to examine alternative ways of designing and the challenges they go through as the three parallel stories unfold.
The first exhibit opening and movie screening was held in May 2024, followed by an in-conversation event with the program curator and architect, where the question of "What is architecture today" was discussed. The exhibit and its many showcased elements, channels visitors along to the first site exploration with DnA's Xu Tiantian as she ventures "Into the Island" of Meizhou, China, in the summer of 2022.
Foster + Partners, in collaboration with the Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC), has unveiled the masterplan for Gaafaru, an inhabited island in the Kaafu Atoll of the Maldives. This project is designed to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for the island by addressing the critical challenges posed by climate change, rising sea levels, and social inequalities. At the heart of this plan are six guiding principles that aim to balance environmental protection with community prosperity, creating a model of future-proof island development.
Are humans the only stewards of the built environment? For many architects and planners, spaces are designed with a focus on the needs, comfort, and health of humans. A spatial ordering, in constructed spaces and the urban fabric, designates humans as the default, singular user in this scenario. However, as much as humans have influenced the trajectory of the world, other species play a crucial role in designing, forming, and maintaining the urban landscapes of the twenty-first century.
Pallet Parliament / Alejandro Haiek, Rebecca Rudolph, and Raffaele Errichiello. Umeå, Sweden 2022 Photo: Kent Brodin. Image Courtesy of Alejandro Haiek Coll
Architecture practices usually start their design process with a client, who provides a program and a site. Alejandro Haiek, founder of The Public Machinery, approaches things differently. The Public Machinery describes itself as a network of architects and designers working collectively, actively observing, imagining, and proposing public urban interventions themselves. Their proposals are at the intersection of art, architecture, and engineering and weave community engagement, ecology, and new technologies into innovative forms of social infrastructure. They secure funding through research and public grants, enabling them to create public spaces that defy expectations in both their design process and in the form their projects take.
If the past few years were a perfect occasion for reflecting and debating on well-being, digitalization, and democratization in architectural design, this 2023 has been a tremendous opportunity to delve deeper and comment on other urgent topics: The climate crisis and the natural environment have unquestionably entered the global agenda of architecture and construction, alongside circularity, energy efficiency, and decarbonization. It's time to engage in dialogue about these matters to conscientiously build for the future.
Reviewing the future of wood, water, and lighting, in each of the related topics that ArchDaily developed month by month, we posed an open question for you - our dear readers - to actively contribute with your experiences and knowledge. After reading and compiling an immense amount of received messages, from construction professionals to students and architecture enthusiasts, it's time to present you with a summary of the main perspectives. Many thanks for your opinions, and we look forward to your comments for 2024!
In 2019, as the world was on the brink of facing one of the most significant pandemics in recent history, Ailton Krenak, a Brazilian indigenous leader, environmentalist, and philosopher, published a book titled Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. This brief booklet, comprising slightly more than 80 pages, came into circulation at a critical juncture, providing both reassurance and a cautionary message to humanity during a time when it observed the rapid evolution of history.
Modernity and globalization have significantly reduced geographical distances, transformed social interactions, and accelerated the flow of information across nations, which has, in a sense, made the world more accessible to people everywhere. However, it's important to note that when we say "everyone," we refer to a vast and diverse population. Modernity and globalization had an impact on noticeable inequalities in both social and technological realms, as more advanced and privileged nations have established benchmarks and norms for leisure, culture, and consumption. As a result, certain cultures have established a dominant influence, promoting the notion that there is a "correct" way to live and build cities. This unchecked pursuit of development comes at a significant cost to the Earth's ecosystems and biomes.
Today is the premiere of the first episode of a new documentary series that explores the projects of Al Borde. Titled "Building with Living Trees", this first instalment highlights the stories behind Casa Jardín (Garden House), a single-family home located in the suburban area of Quito, Ecuador.
Designed for an ecologist named José, the residence is developed into three small independent pavilions with hybrid structures that combine living trees with various construction systems. These structures utilize a vernacular technique of living fences that has been employed in the Andes since ancient times, showcasing a genuine pursuit of coexistence between architecture and nature.
Far beyond its decorative features, landscaping brings with it biological and cultural issues that need to be addressed in projects. However, what can be seen in most public, residential, condominium, commercial and business gardens is a series of approaches that distance landscaping from all its attributes, reducing it to a decorative layer in the construction. Next, we have put together strategies to avoid the main problems of landscape design, joining aesthetics with its environmental and cultural possibilities.
Landscape architecture is having a moment. The latest proof: last week, the US Department of Homeland Security decided to accredit the field with its prestigious STEM designation. As part of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational disciplines that fall under this category, landscape architecture students can now spend an additional 24 months seeking employment and training post-graduation in the United States after an initial period of a year granted to all graduates. The title also promises more prestige, higher entry salaries, and additional career flexibility. Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), calls the development a significant advancement for 'landscape architecture education and practice, and that is great for America and the global community.'
The news corresponds to a growing emphasis on landscape architecture as a pivotal practice around the globe in recent years – one that is closely connected to notions of public health, environmental design, biophilia, sustainability, and re-wilding. It also underlines the intimate relationship between technology and the discipline. Landscape proposals increasingly rely on advanced science and technology to predict how ecological interventions might alter an existing terrain and determine what measures will yield the highest benefit for both humans and nature. The contemporary ideal of wild meadows and biodiverse forests may exist free from external influence, but the path to get there requires assistance.
At the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the Pavilion of Slovenia set out to explore the theme of ecology and the paradoxical ways in which architecture relates to it. Instead of understanding it strictly through energy-efficient adaptations like heat pumps or recovery ventilation, the exhibition titled +/- 1 °C: In Search of a Well-Tempered Architecture aims to address the theme holistically. The Pavilion curators Jure Grohar, Eva Gusel, Maša Mertelj, Anja Vidic, Matic Vrabič, together with fifty European architects and creatives, researched and analyzed vernacular buildings from Europe to gain insight into the living example of intuitive adaptations.
The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, inaugurated on May 20th, is truly embodying its theme: "The laboratory of the future". Presented by the main curator Lesley Lokko, it invited "architects and professionals from an expanded field of creative disciplines to draw examples from their contemporary practices that would pave a path for the audience to move forward, imagining for themselves what the future may hold."
The Chilean pavilion, curated by Gonzalo Carrasco, and Alejandro Beals, as well as Loreto Lyon (Beals Lyon Arquitectos), was centered on "Moving Ecologies." The exhibition presented the current challenges regarding ecological repair and restoration, focusing on the study of soil recovery processes using endemic seeds.
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The Kingdom of Bahrain announced its participation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia with a pavilion exhibition titled “Sweating Assets.” Curated by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, the exhibition highlights the relationship between the extreme heat and humidity that characterizes Bahrain and the inherent need for comfort. The curators aim to show how the necessary cooling infrastructure can be maximized through adaptive means and resource management while reducing its negative impact on the environment.
