Animals (1977), rcord sleeve featuring Battersea Power Station

Despite your best laid out plans, sometimes other interests get in the way. In 1965, architecture students Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason decided to put their schooling on hold in order to commit full time to their band Pink Floyd. In doing so, they became internationally acclaimed as one of the most influential bands in music history. Now 50 years later, Westminster University architecture faculty has awarded Nick Mason with an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his commitment to music, influenced by his years as a student of architecture. Read More.

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‘Tis the season to make merry. And what’s merrier than gingerbread!? We launched our Gingerbread House Competition yesterday, and to celebrate, we’ve scoped the interwebs for some great gingerbread architecture to get your creative juices going. The following “houses” are all modeled on modernist classics, like the Villa Savoye and the Guggenheim Museum (FLDubbs approves, or that’s how we’re interpreting that “smile” above). Of course, your gingerbread house can be anything you want, either based on a famous building, modernist or not, or a new “building” all your own. We’re giving away a brand new iPad mini to the best gingerbread creation, so you’ll definitely want to go all out! Click through and happy baking!

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For most of its history, architecture always thought of itself as the opposite of temporary. “Permanence” and “solidity” were values that architecture embodied and still does today. But the age of the “pop-up” has changed the public’s perception of architecture; now, we think of architecture less as just “buildings” but as spaces, events, and installations. We’ve picked a few of our favorite projects highlighted on our “Temporary Architecture” Pinterest board, which attest to this development.

Click through to see some of our favorite (but temporary) projects!

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House by Diane Keaton. Rizzoli, $85.

Many would be surprised to know that famed actress Diane Keaton is also an architecture lover. Her new book, House (Rizzoli), takes readers on a meditative tour of both Keaton’s reflections on what homes mean to those who reside in them, as well as her evolving architectural taste, which moves from the traditional to the, ahem, “modern”. The book is divided into two main sections, ‘Farm’ and ‘Factory,’ both of which are compiled more or less the same. Keaton has carefully curated a selection of domestic projects by a wide variety of architects. Each project is prefaced with a thoughtful essay by Keaton, and then explored in a series of beautiful full-page photographs, making this book a primarily visual exploration. Continue.

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All images © Jordi Adria

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Velcro? Snazzy sneakers? This guy? Well, the brand would have you know that Velcro is much more than fun and games. They’re into architecture and design, too! The company’s beautiful new European headquarters in Barcelona is a clean and minimalist with a few quirky touches and pops of color. Oh, lest we forget to mention, Velcro-covered walls. Luise Esalva Studio used the brand’s signature material as an inspiration for unique movable wall panels and custom-made lanterns that bring out the fun and function of Velcro we all grew up loving. Read more.

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There are two important factors in the amassing of a personal library: 1) the books which comprise the collection and 2) the order (or disorder) by which they are cataloged and presented. Architects, of course, are nit-picky about both. You can’t have a library without token volumes on Alberti, Le Corbusier, and Venturi interspersed among novels by Faulkner, Pynchon, and Foster Wallace and works by Lefebvre, Deleuze, and, Negri. The fact that these remain unread is beside the point; their mere inclusion is of more consequence. Yet, so is their presentation. An architect’s bookshelf is a statement itself, one that can speak of the contents of the library it holds or not.

“Bookworm” by Atelier 010 manages to combine these criteria in one sculptural object. It’s part bookshelf, part chair, and even part room. The design features a nook-like enclosure that’s ideal for lounging and picking up a book–one’s always in reach! Continue.

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All images © Nic Tenwiggenhorn

Art can be hard to understand sometimes, as Thomas Schutte’s “Holiday Home for Terrorists” well proves . The German artist, not architect, designed and built this chic, modern house tucked away in the forest of Mosern, Austria on Polish art dealer Rafael Jablonka’s summer home property. Jablonka commissioned the house as a work of art that will never be lived in, visited, or open to the public, ever. Read more.

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We love you, yes, we really love you! We couldn’t be happier with our readers, and to show our appreciation this holiday season we are presenting “Everyday A Giveaway.” The name is pretty self-explanatory, but in case there is any confusion, starting this Monday, December 3, we will be holding a giveaway every (week)day for the entire month!

We’ve scoured the internet in search of the best products for our readers! We reached out to our favorite designers, brands, and retailers and gathered quite the collection of gifts just for you guys. The whole lot is quite varied, including everything from light fixtures, ceramic speakers, and even jewelry. Be sure to check in with Architizer every day for the featured giveaway item and a chance to win! Until then, check out our gift guide, featuring some of the items we will be giving away!

Click through to see our “Every Day A Giveaway” gift guide!

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Building: Santa Maria Housing Development
Architect: hierve diseneria
Location: Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Why We Liked This:

The challenge behind this project was how to integrate a contemporary development within a small, but dense historical context. Valle de Bravo is an old colonial city dating back to 1530, with structures like the 16-th century church of Santa Maria Ahuacatlan constituting a major part of the town’s physical identity—a heritage not to be taken lightly. The architects embraced the limitations and oriented their design around them. The project’s material palette (plaster, stone, wood) and the subdued formal expression bow to the town’s existing building stock, while the interior spatial conditions, via small courtyards and integrated natural elements (trees, vegetation, stone pits), reference the site’s ragged topography. See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

You think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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If Elon Musk’s Red Planet City ever pans out, he should hire AmphibianArc to do the architecture. The quirky Los Angeles-based firm designs wacky towers that look like they belong on Mars–or at least in a sci-fi film. Its latest project is no exception. The team has dreamed up two dueling proposals for the Chinese manufacturing giant Zoomlion’s new headquarters in Changsha, and they’re both out-of-this-world! (Think an alien mothership vs. a space shuttle launch. Really.) Read more!

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