The Morpholio Project announces the launch of its second app, simply called Trace. The app explores the role of technology in the conceptual phase of the design workflow through a digital version of trace paper, and fosters communication amongst a global design culture. Trace, essential to any design or creative process, allows users to instantly draw on top of imported images or background templates, layering comments or ideas to generate immediate, intelligent sketches that are easy to circulate.

The uniqueness of Trace is most visible in two primary modes. One is communication, in which the user can simply trace over something in order to give feedback or convey information quickly, and graphically. The second is idea exploration. “You are plugging yourself into a recursive feedback loop, as you iteratively build up an idea, taking several passes at it,” says co-creator Mark Collins. Both allow creative cultures to maintain conceptual thinking as well as critical feedback throughout the design process.

Created by architects, Trace addresses a number of questions about how the proliferation of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology are changing the way designers work and connect on a daily basis. It has been predicted that in 2020, there will be 50 billion mobile internet connections worldwide, the equivalent of seven devices per person. It is crucial that experimentation and research that harnesses the power of these devices, and makes tools specifically for the design and creative fields, occur in tandem with this rapid evolution of culture and process. Read the rest of this entry »

Surface has a long standing relationship with architecture and has been the primary component through which we communicate architectural composition. However the less obvious contributor that has had its hand in the making of architecture is the line. The line has typically been the ghostwriter for compositions that have been manifested through surface. However surface has the potential to become a canvas for other rhetoric outside those of the lines’ and can dilute the lines’ original aesthetic intention. The ambition of this project is to remove the surface avatar and reveal the line as the protagonist of this project.

A figural arrangement or movement is often illustrated with a line. Contextual forces are used to agitate the surfaces of the building where intense moments unrest yield an unraveling of the lines within. The relationship of line to line and surface to line presents opportunities for different types of spacial configurations for the program. The lines bundle and splay for varying degrees of saturation to fulfill a variety of spacial and programatic requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

The project’s goal by Johannes Beck and Stefano Passeri was to combine techniques developed in an initial exploration on digital drawing, with a building-scale proposal sited in West Hollywood (Sunset Blvd, Holloway Drive intersection). The approach to the architecture starts from the main programmatic elements: office space, three auditoria, and a large public garden. We decided to give each of these ‘blocks’ an independent generic volume. The resulting intersecting boxes are connected via a language of ‘joints’ – a direct consequence of our intention to avoid booleaning the middle. A spacious, central, mostly interior void becomes the indirect by-product of this move. Read the rest of this entry »

The building is composed of several layers assembled on the vertical axis, over a base that provides properly anchored natural and use-related services. It is designed ​​according to the needs of each housing site, thereby defining the overlay districts. As a village, the high-rise is organized and structured around common areas such as meeting places and places of exchange. It includes characteristics of individual housing, offering to its inhabitants large living areas with more than 3 meters high ceilings and customizable spaces through use of mobile partitions. Read the rest of this entry »

An undulating canopy was designed by LAVA Architects, for the invited Astana Railway Station Competition. Located at the crossroads of the city’s main routes, at the point where the railway, the highway and the metro intersect, the station has the potential to develop into a huge transport hub. The project acts as a gateway to the Kazakhstan capital.

Description from the architects:

Astana sits astride one of the ancient silk roads and is both a critical junction and stop within the European-Asian landmass and its vast rail networks. Astana’s International Railway Station is thus a place for special meeting and greeting.

As we enter the low-carbon age, central stations will be the green cathedrals of the future, cathedrals of movement, light and space. They are the critical point of arrival to a city, and represent a place of welcome, greeting and even celebration of society, of space. They reflect technological advancement, and transport/movement at all scales, from international to local. Read the rest of this entry »

In attempt to cut down on Chicago’s CO2 emissions produced from cars in the Eisenhower Expressway, Danny Mui & Benjamin Sahagun propose the splitting of the Congress Gateway Towers, using a system of carbon scrubbers and filtration devices that clean carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. Aimed to increase public awareness and improve of Chicago’s public health, the CO2ngress Gateway Towers absorb the CO2 emissions from passing cars and is then fed to algae grown in the building. The algae then helps with the processing of biofuels which will supply the building residents’ eco-friendly cars. Read the rest of this entry »

Exhibited at the Milan Salone Satellite in April 2009, the Shadow Chair plays with the viewer’s perception. The chair design tricks the eye by appearing to stand on just two front legs. Seemingly, the chair defies gravity. On closer inspection, the Shadow Chair features a flat piece of plate steel that, colored black, appears to be a shadow beneath the actual seating structure. These permanent, unwavering shadows act not only as a visual peculiarity, but an integral part of the cantilevered support structure. Read the rest of this entry »

“The project aims to answer the question ‘What if architecture responded to our presence?’ This project is a realization of our ultimate ambition, which is to design spaces and objects that expand upon our understanding of the built realm without abandoning its history. Soon, just as we can sense a space as calm, contemplative or frenetic … space itself will be able to sense our presence and react accordingly.”

Brooklyn based The Principals, along with twenty students from the Art Institute of New York designed and constructed a reactive architectural environment that opened to the public during New York Design Week in May, 2012. The unique system of sensor-controlled motors developed by The Proncipals was constructed using over 3 000 pieces that created an 8ft x 16ft x 12ft tall interactive structure, capable of responding to the presence of a visitor. The prototype installation combines technology, sensors, micro controlles and motors, with traditional craft in the form of quilt making. Read the rest of this entry »

The Architects’ Association of the State of Veracruz, Mexico launched an open architectural design competition for its headquarters to be located in the city of Cordoba. The mission of the Architect’s Association in Mexico is to promote the architectural profession developed within the highest standards of legal, moral, and responsible practice while promoting professional development, public outreach, design excellence and appreciation of the influence of architecture in shaping the city.

The project challenges involved not only a highly irregular site, but also a limited construction budget. The competition objectives looked for design proposals responding to open, flexible and rational schemes with strong dialogue with the urban structure and site. The architectural program involved a multipurpose space, stockroom, service area, office, workstations, meeting room and parking garage, among others. Read the rest of this entry »

Experiments in Motion is a research initiative conducted by the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), in collaboration with Audi of America and LowLine. The aim of the initiative is to explore new forms of urban motion and new spaces for mobility, with special emphasis on New York City.

Students from the program have spent the summer researching all transportation systems in New York City, exposing the potential of underground spaces. Three studios have researched different aspects of movement in contemporary cities: Paradigms in Motion, Design in Motion and Participation in Motion. A fifty foot floating model of Manhattan made from aluminium displays Manhattan’s road infrastructure, while the plexiglass below presents a never before seen view of the architectural volumes of every subway station on the island. A network of subways, tunnels, bike lanes and bridges are presented as flows of movement, revealing a new reality of the city life – it exposes the city as an interconnected system for mobility. Read the rest of this entry »