How do you design the peak of your building? That moment when your building meets the sky? When it reaches the sky, what perspective do passer-bys experience? Are they awed? Do they look again? Or are they just upset because they strained their neck for nothing?

Looking Up at Your Design…From the Drawing Board

It might be interesting as an architect to consciously design so approaching occupants look up at a certain moment. Perhaps what you do with the sky becomes equally as important...

Buildings change through time. Not only do their materials weather, but their intended purpose can become altered by a changing society’s or culture’s needs. So, how do you design a building that is both timely and timeless? This is an age-old question.

It is important to stay on top of the latest trends that affect building design and construction processes, but that is not all that is important.

New advances are taking place in other fields. In the sciences, for...

The big challenge for architects designing concert halls is to design the architectural acoustics to meet the needs of varying musical styles. (1)

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM CONCERT HALL DESIGN

The design challenge of a concert hall is at first glance contradictory — to foster closeness and, yet, to surround listeners with the life and essence of a music’s sound.

Different levels of intimacy and aliveness vary depending on music style. What makes this even more...

WHY CHANGE NOW?

Did you know that school design has not substantially changed over the past 200 years? (1) Well, school architecture is undergoing some significant changes now, and computers are a big reason why. The following is an excerpt from Tomorrow’s Schools, by Jackie Craven, to highlight this point…

The Shape of Things To Come In tomorrow’s classrooms, students no longer need to face a podium, teacher’s desk or writing board. Learning...

IT ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE

I discovered a site that has a thought-provoking section on workplace by design. Read this introductory quote to get you thinking about workplace design and what principles you use to create healthy and productive work environments.

The workplace today is a result of historical innovations that were designed to make the workplace a productive environment. However the world of work continues to change, and the design factors that once were helpful are...

YOUR CUSTOMIZED HOTEL ROOM

I came upon an interesting post that got me thinking about the future of hotel design — and hospital architecture…

Chris Brogan, a social media expert, describes his ideas in this post: Ideas for Hotels and Hospitality. He merges his knowledge of social networking with making efficient use of time during his hotel stays — his ideas seem to revolve around productivity, comfort and individual preferences.

I’m especially...

LIBRARY EVOLUTION

As data is being “stored” and “networked” in the digital age, some people question the future of library architecture. Two leading questions are as follows:

• “How will the library evolve?
• “Will the library (as we know it today) become obsolete?”

Most present-day libraries help to foster a sense of community with an emphasis on learning where people can interact, explore, study and research. However, the library is evolving (as...

All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space. — Philip Johnson

WHAT IS GREAT ARCHITECTURE?

Buildings are all over the place, but not all buildings are architecture. In the above quote, Philip Johnson talks about the point where a building becomes great architecture, taking an occupant to another level where a space actually “touches” a person....

Over the years, workplace design has evolved to become more and more flexible. Today, we see the workplace not only as a space in which to execute given tasks, but also as a place in which to interact, communicate and foster creativity. Different work environments call for a variety of different needs; and, one thing seems to be most consistent — design for flexibility.

DON’T FORGET THESE FEATURES

The article entitled “Design for the Changing Workplace” does...

Texture has long been used by architects to breathe life into buildings as well as to create a unique experience for occupant’s senses. Expressing the true quality of materials, shaping an interior space or simply to articulate a pattern; texture is a fundamental tool existing to some extent in most all buildings – both good and bad.

The question becomes — how do you use it in your architectural design?

AN EXPERIENCE FOR ALL THE SENSES

Texture can be used...