From Alpine chalets shedding snow to Mediterranean roof tiles mitigating summer heat, the slope responded to climate and construction challenges long before it became an aesthetic code. Although modern architecture has favored horizontal planes and orthogonal plans, the pitched roof requires a project to be conceived in section.
Checking your equipment once a month helps catch small issues before they turn into expensive repairs. A routine keeps everything running smoothly and extends the life of the hardware. Managers should create a simple checklist for their maintenance staff to follow.
Participants are challenged to design a modular, self-sufficient, and energy-efficient microhome with a maximum footprint of 25 m². Proposals should push the boundaries of innovation, functionality, and sustainability while addressing real-world challenges such as urban density, affordability, and environmental responsibility.
Stress-skin panel construction is probably the most energy-efficient and cost-effective building method available today. With super-high insulation levels and airtightness, a stress-skin panel house should have extremely low heating and cooling costs. A reduction of 50% on utility bills as compared to a typically constructed house is reasonable.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy represents a modular technology that can be manufactured in large-scale facilities, generating economies of scale, while also being adaptable to small-scale applications. From residential rooftop systems to large-scale power generation installations, photovoltaic solar energy has established itself as a cost-effective option for electricity production in many countries around the world.
Heritage is usually catalogued by what can be drawn, not by what changed temperature. In heat, buildings are learned first through skin, only later through sight. Generations learn, through their bodies, what works. Shade reduces glare and radiant heat. Air movement shifts perception by several degrees. Thick walls slow temperature swings.
The project reimagines the structure through circular thinking, ecological strategies, and new construction technologies, embracing reuse as a model for sustainable urban development.
Perforated metal has long been valued for its strength, versatility, and clean visual appeal. Created by punching patterns of holes into metal sheets, it offers a practical balance between airflow, light control, and structural support. Across industries such as architecture, construction, mining, and interior design, perforated metal has become a go-to material for projects that require both function and style.
Inside Climate Pledge Arena, a large-scale media installation titled Turn the Tide transforms two interior walls into an architectural interface combining environmental imagery, and . Designed by Digital Kitchen within the arena by , the installation spans nearly 400 feet across the building's east and west walls. The intervention is integrated into the spatial environment of the arena, which is recognized as the world's first net-zero carbon certified arena.
Rather than representing a simple return to the past, this renewed interest reflects a broader reconsideration of how architecture engages with materials, local resources, and environmental conditions.
Thermal modification is not a new invention, but its relevance has increased as expectations around performance, sustainability, and predictability have tightened. Developers, architects, and contractors are no longer just asking whether timber looks good or performs well initially. They want to know how it behaves after ten, twenty, or thirty years, and how much risk it introduces into a project once the scaffolding is gone.
It's likely that you've encountered recycled glass countertops without realizing it. They're far from the hippie-style broken-glass mosaic art of yesteryear, instead presenting as sleek, highly polished, professional slabs with intriguing bits of confetti-style color trapped inside. That's the recovered glass bits set into a binding material such as resin, cement, or concrete, and then smoothly polished so that the composite surface feels like stone.
As the weights touch, they get a bit musical and there's a kind of harmonic ring in your wall. It's like the house is alive. But with soulful age come other sounds: rattles, wind whistling through gaps and a homeowner's curses because the blasted contraptions won't open and close properly.
One of the earliest large-scale examples of composite materials can be found in the Great Wall of China, where stone, clay bricks, and organic fibers such as reeds and willow branches were blended to create a resilient and lasting structure. These early techniques reveal a timeless intuition: distinct materials, when combined thoughtfully, produce properties unattainable by any single element.
From the large industrial roofs and galleries of the 19th century to the contemporary atriums of museums and public buildings, glass has been a recurring material in shaping large and monumental interior spaces. More than a technological or engineering solution, these horizontal glazed planes introduce a distinct luminous quality: light that comes from above. Unlike lateral daylight entering through façades, zenithal light is more evenly distributed, reduces harsh shadows, and lends spaces a sense of continuity and openness that is difficult to achieve otherwise.
Spaces of light and darkness are conceived to enhance circulation and spatial directionality, as well as to highlight the colors, textures, and forms of specific architectural elements. That said, the impact of natural light on building facades reveals the need to develop strategies that support energy savings, improve the thermal and visual comfort of interior spaces, and promote the reduction of carbon emissions.
The site lies within the Petite Arche joint development zone, where design considerations include the town entrance, contextual integration, and alignment with natural elements. The building's form signals its position in an urbanized area and maintains visual dialogue with the surrounding landscape, including the protected Saint-Germain-En-Laye forest. A vegetated threshold along the northern edge reinforces landscape continuity, while the southern boundary engages with the urban character of the area.
Architecture Office founder Alexander Mackison and glass artist Juli Bolaños-Durman had something of a creative meet-cute. The two became acquainted while running a lecture series at Custom Lane, a collaborative center for designers and makers in Edinburgh, where they both have studios. They remained friendly, so Alexander eventually learned of Juli's plans to renovate an apartment nearby. "Just through casual conversations, I became integrated into the project," he remembers.