Traditional Christian churches typically have a rectangular floor plan and are made up of a nave – the central part of the church – and an apse – the semicircular or polygonal area at the end of the aisle, usually located behind the altar. Disrupting this typology, churches with a circular shape possess a unique character, their shape standing as a religious symbol of heaven and eternity.
Churches of the past often had a grandiose stunning architecture. Contemporary religious structures, however, do not have that dominant identity, with architects finding more unexpected and minilmalist ways to express spirituality.
We are used to seeing sports facilities as autonomous structures. These great tennis courts and clubhouses prove that sports venues can be derived from and in dialogue with their environment.
Repurposing end-of-life shipping containers is a sustainable trend that is gaining more and more popularity. These structures are compact, modular, mobile and scalable, which makes them a great material for construction of extraordinary and practical office spaces.
Rammed earth has been used in construction for thousands of years, with evidence of its use dating as far back as the Neolithic Period. The technique was commonly used in the East and applied to many ancient monuments, such as the Great Wall in China. Even today, some architects continue to advocate the use of rammed earth, citing its sustainability in comparison to more modern construction methods and outstanding raw textures and natural hues.
Things end. Buildings, too, dilapidate and deteriorate. However, conversion and renovation projects can breathe in new life into old buildings, transforming them into bespoke modern spaces. We have selected several outstanding projects that manage to treat the existing structures with respect while creating a tangibly different spatial experience, where the old and the new enter into an exciting dialogue.
What’s your favourite seafood recipe? You’d be surprised at new and ingenuous ways found by designers and artists to utilize seafood waste to create innovative bio-based materials, cement and leather alternatives, as well as sophisticated artworks.
What if we told you that you could build your own house DIY style? Inspired by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad’s credo of “providing affordable, well-designed products ‘for the many people’”, architects and designers find ingenuous ways to create flatpack kit-of-parts building systems that make shipping and assembly easy and efficient.
Did you know that long before trees overtook the land, earth was covered by giant mushrooms? Today, mycelium, the thread-structure that mushrooms and other fungi use to grow, much like the roots of a tree, makes a great base for self-growing, fibrous, natural composite materials with controlled physical properties that can be produced in large quantities and over wide areas, as a great contribution to circular economy.
Modern cities are growing at a fast rate, and in the busy lifestyles urban dwellers grow to be more and more disconnected from one another. Aiming to help alleviate the social isolation that people are prone to in cities, architects create concepts that place themselves between co-housing and a private way of living to increase interaction between citizens – for a healthier, happier lifestyle.
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