ARCHITECTURE FOR A BETTER WORLD

With the design of each built environment, it is possible to help make the world a better place for individuals, the collective, and the planet. The key is to rise as architectural designers to create poetic architecture, not mere status quo buildings. You see, it is with poetic architecture that environmental design can awaken potential to nurture the self-actualization of those it serves.

Three key architectural effects impact building occupants through...

There are times within an architectural design project when digital nature can accomplish goals that actual physical nature cannot. For example, within hospital settings where cleanliness is of prime importance, digital nature can be brought inside. You see, digital nature can be used in three unique ways to enhance an environment that serves to empower the occupant that inhabits its space. The following are three techniques for you to “pull” from physical nature, to create...

STEP 1: EMERGENCE OF A CONVERGENCE POINT SOLUTION

As you work your way through the all-important design concept phase, how do you assess the quality of your design concept? There are numerous aspects you can base a design concept’s success upon. For instance, how well does your design concept meet the needs and goals of its future building occupants? Or, how well does your concept solve for your client’s needs and requirements? And, how does your design concept add to the...

DESIGN FOR PURPOSEFUL INTERACTION BENEFITS

As interactivity continues to be integrated into designed environments, it is important to explore how such interactivity can emerge into forming the behavioral character of a design. With each interaction between design element and building occupant, interactive architectural environments form impressions in the memory of their occupants. Yet, the question remains: Is the interactive character emitting from an environmental design purposeful and...

INTRODUCTION: THE DEFINITION

Schematic design is the first stage of an architectural design project, and within this phase there are important milestones to get right that will greatly leverage the project’s results throughout the rest of its impending design phases. For example, by iteratively designing through various schematic prototypes, it becomes possible to optimize one’s design concept idea in a way that prevents future errors and expands the discovery of new design...

PROMISE OF THE HOLOGRAM

As technology continues to advance, it is important for designers to consider (and guide) how such technologies will affect and be injected into environments. This is particularly true for the long-promised technology which is now gaining ground in its development – the hologram. It has been reported that at Brigham Young University an “Optical Trap Display” is making it possible to project an object in real 3D space. (1) This can occur as a...

INSPIRING NEW KINDS OF CARE

What is the role of environments as we progress into the 21st century? Of course, they still provide places for living, working, learning, healing, and playing – but the way in which environments will nurture these activities is changing as we evolve into the future. In particular, the convergence of responsive design with multi-sensory design can bring about a new kind of nurturing, where building occupants learn and grow within environments.

Being more than...

TUNING ARCHITECTURAL SPACES

The design of architectural environments is becoming even more strategic; with an eye toward helping building occupants achieve higher levels of well-being. And this phenomenon is occurring around the world, as multi-sensory design gets applied to spaces in a multitude of cultures. As such, it is sensory design that can help people to achieve higher levels of well-being by tailoring environments to their needs.

Yet, multi-sensory design can be pushed much further....

FINDING YOUR “WHY”

Why do you do the work you do? As an architect, is there a specific threshold you are trying to cross with your design creations? Or are you simply designing building after building to meet basic needs, without giving much thought to what contribution your designs are making?

It is important for you, as an architectural designer, to bring your designs to that next level – where they push boundaries for better innovation. Perhaps you aim to have your design...

INTRODUCTION – ADAPTIVE URBAN ARCHITECTURE

Urban design within cities around the world has impact upon the citizens they serve. As environmental designers, it is important to continuously evolve how cities beneficially influence citizens as they live their daily lives within these urban areas. A critical way by which to accomplish this is to design urban architecture within such cities so they cooperate and collaborate together to yield a relationship of co-creation with their...