Archinect - News

University of Buffalo architecture students displayed 3D printed "Archi-texture" in special Hong Kong Design Centre exhibition

2023-11-08T15:50:00-05:00

Students from the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Urban Planning had the opportunity to display a folded paper apparel concept as part of a special exhibition called The Full Gamut organized by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC).

The project stemmed from a graduate architecture media seminar led by Gregory Serweta, Maia Peck, and Lukas Fetzko where students developed "wearable assemblies of folded paper and 3D-printed resin" to produce shirt and skirt combination "structures" called “sh/kirts.” The work was displayed in the Centre’s satellite Design Spectrum space over the summer.

Students blended architecture and fashion by working with 3D modeling software and a CNC milling machine to complete a process that helps them understand the relationship between two-dimensional planes and three-dimensional modeling, according to the professors.

Image still from “sh/kirts” video courtesy of Architecture and Planning | University of Buffalo.

“Paper is a material with infini...

Get Lectured: Florida Atlantic University, Fall '23/Spring '24

2023-09-25T19:56:00-04:00

Get Lectured offers a rundown of different events and public programs taking place at schools of architecture each semester. Today, our ongoing series continues with a look at what’s in store at the Florida Atlantic University School of Architecture in 2023–24.

The poster, designed by the school's Director, Joseph Choma, literally stands out with its unique folded creases, which turn an otherwise flat medium into a three-dimensional sculptural object. "Unlike typical two-dimensional posters, each poster is folded along curved creases to produce shadows based on the specific lighting condition," Choma told Archinect.

Image courtesy of Joseph Choma/FAU School of Architecture

The Fall’s events begin September 26 with an appearance from UPenn lecturer Barry Walk. He is followed on October 11 by Florida International University’s Elisa Silva. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Ted Krueger will visit campus on October 24 for the special interdisciplinary event ‘The Mission to Mars: An Out...

Recycled paper could cool buildings without electricity, say researchers

2021-07-05T10:42:00-04:00

A team of researchers at Northeastern University has created a sustainable material that can cool buildings without the need for conventional AC systems. Led by associate professor Yi Zheng from the university’s College of Engineering, the team has developed a “cooling paper” made from 100% recyclable paper, intended to cover the roofs of houses, warehouses, and office buildings, as well as being incorporated into the construction of new buildings.

The “cooling paper” reduces heat gain in two ways. The paper’s light color reflects warm solar rays away from a building, similar to Purdue University’s ultra-white paint that we reported on earlier this year. Meanwhile, the porous microstructure of the natural fibers in the cooling paper absorbs warmth generated inside the building, from electronic, cooking, and human body sources, and re-emits the warmth to the exterior.

Previously on Archinect: Researchers create ultra-white paint that could cool buildings

The experiment began wit...

Architects envision post-pandemic domestic architecture through miniature paper houses

2021-03-17T17:28:00-04:00

It was with this in mind that T asked three architects — Vincent Van Duysen in Antwerp, Belgium, Toshiko Mori in New York and Massimiliano Locatelli of Locatelli Partners in Milan — to each design a paper house that could speak to their vision for a post-pandemic domestic architecture. Their models explore basic questions of how we might make homes for a world irrevocably changed.

Plans for the miniature post-pandemic paper houses designed by architects Toshiko Mori, Vincent Van Duysen, and Massimiliano Locatelli can be downloaded here.

Michael Velliquette's intricate architectural paper models to be exhibited in Texas

2020-11-12T18:06:00-05:00

Previously featured on Archinect, artist Michael Velliquette has a new collection of paper sculptures that will be on display at the David Shelton Gallery in an exhibition called Creations are Numberless, I Vow to Free Them.

Everywhere transience is plunging into the depth of being | Paper sculpture |
12” x 12” x 9” | 2020

By constructing objects that convey strength, intent, and durability, Velliquette's work redefines the fragile connotations of paper. The artist's process, done completely by hand, is so intricate and complex that some works can take up to 500 hours to complete.

Now heaven’s river drowns its banks, and floods of joy have run abroad | Paper sculpture | 25" x 25" x 6" | 2017

The love that would soak down into the center of being | Paper sculpture | 20” x 20 x 8” | 2020

The series of abstract layers that make up each sculpture suggest fortress like constructions, tiered mandalas, or complex gears. Velliquette's work is in the permanent collections of the Chazen Museum ...

Create kirigami paper models of Le Corbusier's iconic works with this step-by-step guide — and win a copy of the book!

2020-01-23T12:26:00-05:00

For all you diehard Le Corbusier fans or architectural model enthusiasts out there, you don't want to miss out on the upcoming Le Corbusier Paper Models: 10 Kirigami Buildings to Cut and Fold, which will be released on February 4. Thanks to Laurence King Publishing, Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to our readers!

Authored by design director and kirigami paper artist Marc Hagan-Guirey, this step-by-step guide teaches you how to create 10 of Corbusier's iconic works using the cutting and folding art of kirigami, a variation of origami. You'll learn how to create paper models of: Villa Savoye, Maison Citröhan, Villa Stein-De Monzie, Maison de Week-end, Maisons Jaoul, Unité d’Habitation, Maison de la Culture, Villa Sarabhai, High Court Chandigarh, and the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts.

Villa Savoye. Photo courtesy of Laurence King Publishing.

High Court Chandigarh. Photo courtesy of Laurence King Publishing.

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Photo courtesy of L...

Artist hand-cuts paper shapes and assembles them into sacred architecture

2018-08-09T14:06:00-04:00

Mixed media artist Michael Velliquette has been making imaginary architecture models. A prolific artist who favors paper as his medium, his latest is a series of carefully detailed installations. Using hand-cut paper shapes, Velliquette assembles countless pieces of paper into complex forms he describes as both "scared architecture and three-dimensional mandalas." Textured and layered over one another, the Wisconsin-based artist's work takes interest in "ritually driven object making, devotional ornamentation, and our natural human impulse for razzle-dazzle."

Image courtesy of Michael Velliquette.

Excavate the hidden architecture models inside these unique note pads

2018-01-16T13:32:00-05:00

The Omoshiro Block is a note pad that unveils itself as it gets used revealing an architecture miniature hidden inside. Using laser-cutting technology, what appears as a regular cube of paper note cards eventually turns into an intricate miniature model.

These unique note pads are designed by Japanese architecture model company Triad. The blocks feature various notable architectural sites of Japan such as Kyoto’s Kiyomizudera Temple, Tokyo’s Asakusa Temple and Tokyo Tower.

Triad's noteworthy miniatures aren't cheap and can be hard to aquire. Ranging from about 4000 yen to 10,000 yen they are currently only available at the Tokyu Hands Osaka location, however you can stay up to date by following the company's Instagram account.

See how Joseph Choma built the “Chakrasana” arch using his fiberglass folding technique

2017-09-05T14:23:00-04:00

Design Topology Lab founder Joseph Choma continues to put his fiberglass hand-folding technique to the test in a new larger scale structure called “Chakrasana”, which is currently on display at Clemson University, where Choma is an architecture professor.

Weighing in at only 400 pounds, the accordion arch pavilion was designed, fabricated by hand, and installed by Choma and a team of four people within 30 days. Design Topology Lab further explains their fabrication process below:

Photo: Joseph Choma.

“Similar to paper folding, the process begins with a crease pattern composed of mountain and valley folds. Two 54 yard long rolls of 33.3" fiberglass cloth were stitched together using a full flat felled seam to create one continuous 32' 10" x 21' 9" sheet, with zero material waste. All the edges were precisely sewn to prevent sharp, rough or frayed edges. Using a painter's masking tape, a crease pattern was drawn on the fabric surface. The intricate pattern was composed of a total of 87...

Joseph Choma demonstrates his nifty paperfolding technique for fiberglass

2017-07-11T20:20:00-04:00

In his latest design investigation, Joseph Choma, the founder of Design Topology Lab and an architecture professor at Clemson University, is helping shape up a future for fiberglass being used as a primary building material. Choma has been developing a fabrication technique that allows him to create structures by hand-folding fiberglass — a technique that he describes is as simple as folding paper.

Photo credit: Ken Scar, Clemson University

By selectively coating resin on fiberglass cloth, parts can fold easily along the fabric hinges, Choma describes. The process doesn't require any molds or fasteners, which could mean less production cost and less material waste. In developing the technique, Choma is driven by the belief that fiberglass will become a primary building material in the next decade, possibly replacing steel. Typically used as a secondary component, fiberglass is noted for its resistance to corrosion and to harsh elements like fire. Choma's technique indicates that it's...

Bjarke builds a model! (and explicates his design process)

2016-07-21T14:59:00-04:00

Proving that he can hold his own against 8 to 14-year old contenders, Bjarke Ingels demonstrates some model-building basics by participating in the "Build Your Own Pavilion" challenge, whose participants are usually still in grade school. Admittedly, Bjarke's nimble paper crinkling is integrated seamlessly into an explanation of the design concept behind his "unzipped" Serpentine Pavilion. Here's the full video:

Brutal paper cut-outs (of real-life buildings)

2016-05-26T19:22:00-04:00

Poland-based studio Zupagrafika has a thing for modernist and Brutalist architecture. And to share that passion, it has created playful illustrated paper cutout models of Brutalist buildings in London; modernist buildings in Warsaw; and a new series, Paris Brut, featuring Brutalist architecture from the 1950s–70s located in the city center and outlying banlieues.

Cheaper than a train set, more visceral than a video game: Zupagrafika's sets of the Les Choux de Creteil, the Cite des 4000, and the Orgues de Flandre (among others) will keep your fingers busy in assembly and your mind deeply engaged in the thorny issues surrounding the relative success and failure of mid-century design.

A round-up of all the latest in fascinating miniatures:

Bigger than a Breadbox winner "The Pulp Canopy" will be showcased at Boston Society of Architects in June

2015-05-14T20:27:00-04:00

Khôra exhibition curators Robert Trumbour and Aaron Willette organized the Bigger than a Breadbox, Smaller than a Building competition as a means to explore the medium of installation in the architectural realm, specifically the medium's increasing appeal among emerging architects and designers due to its dual spatial-artistic qualities.

For the competition, entrants had to further develop a previous proposal into a new site-specific installation for the Boston Society of Architects gallery lobby. Now that the winning submissions have been chosen, they will be realized in preparation for the "Bigger than a Breadbox" exhibition, opening on June 17.

The top-winning proposal, "The Pulp Canopy", by Katie Donahue and Mason Limke of MYKA investigates the architectural applications of cellulose fiber (paper pulp), which is considered to be the "most abundant raw material on the planet". Originating from its earlier form as The Pulp Wall, The Pulp Canopy consists of discarded paper products t...

Brutal London cutout replicas commemorate iconic brutalist structures

2015-02-04T19:09:00-05:00

Assembling those paper cutouts from the back of the cereal box is a delightful childhood memory for many. Poznan-based design studio Zupagrafika brings back that pastime with their "Brutal London" paper cutouts that would look good on any shelf or desk. Following the Warsaw-inspired "Eastern Block" collection, Brutal London is Zupagrafika's latest addition to cataloging modernist architecture at risk of extinction -- be it demolition in England or thermomodernization in Poland.

The collection features five illustrated mini models of 1960s-1970s brutalist structures in the Camden, Southwark, and Tower Hamlet districts of London: the iconic Balfron Tower and Space House, the demolished Robin Hood Gardens and Aylesbury Estate, and the prefab Ledbury Estate. Made out of 100% recycled paper and cardboard, the models depict original details from the buildings' facades, down to the graffiti.

Young ones could perhaps learn a quick fact or two about brutalist architecture as they cut out a...

Artist Charles Young crafts mini paper metropolis on the daily

2015-01-27T14:36:00-05:00

No, these aren't props from an upcoming Wes Anderson film. These mini paper structures are all part of Paperholm, a daily project by Scottish artist Charles Young. Constructed by hand with only watercolor paper, PVA glue, the occasional dressmaking pin, along with an eye for detail, Young is building his own cityscape, one intricate building at a time.

Young started making small paper models while he was studying architecture at the University of Edinburgh. After completing his M.Arch degree last summer, he eventually began Paperholm as a motivational way to test and develop his creativity and model-making skills on a daily basis.

So far, he has built an array of treehouses, churches, carousels, cabins, towers, and other urban buildings. "I especially like making the structures with a lot of cut out detail even though these take quite a long time," Young wrote via email. "I quite often find myself coming back to tower structures but I try to keep the models varied to produce a mix ...

Self-Folding Robot Based on Origami

2014-08-08T17:41:00-04:00

While still experimental, engineering techniques drawn from origami promise the development of pop-up devices that could assemble themselves from flat, composite materials cheaply and efficiently, the [Harvard and MIT] researchers said. Potential applications range from self-assembling satellites to shape-shifting robots that could be used in search-and-rescue missions.

Researchers at Harvard University and MIT have engineered a self-assembling paper robot inspired by the Japanese paper-folding artform origami. Since the journal Science published the report yesterday, the bots have been widely described as the "world's first Transformer."

On that note, paper bots...roll out!

Archinect test drives FiftyThree's Pencil and Paper app for iPad

2014-07-25T10:57:00-04:00

Ever since I spotted FiftyThree's beautifully designed iPad pen, aptly called “Pencil”, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one (like literally).

Made by the creators of the award-winning “Paper” drawing and sketching app for the iPad, Pencil is promised to be “the most natural and expressive tool for getting ideas on Paper.” Archinect reached out to FiftyThree, and a few days later, we received a Pencil in the mail – pretty packaging and all – for a test drive.

The first impression is thoroughly impressive: my Pencil's body is milled from a solid piece of premium-grade walnut (there's also a "Graphite" model sporting a handsome seamless brushed aluminum body) with an eraser tip on one end and a tapered rubber-coated tip on the other end. No cheap plastic here, no buttons to push, no distracting LED diodes flashing. Inspired by the iconic form and dimensions of the carpenter pencil, the design and engineering team of Pencil really set out to turn a cutting-edge high-tech device into a ...

UPDATE: ACADIA 2014 Call for Papers deadline extended to April 22

2014-04-15T13:55:00-04:00

UPDATE: The Call For Papers deadline has been extended to April 22nd 12AM PDT.

Due to popular demand, the final deadline to submit papers for the ACADIA 2014 | Design Agency conference has been updated to April 22 at 12 a.m. PDT.

Submissions are welcome from specialized researchers, practitioners, students, and others interested in computational design of architecture. Submissions can include the disciplines of science and art, engineering, fabrication, computer science, construction and design.

This year's conference -- including workshops and tour -- will be held at the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles this October.

Conference: October 23-25, 2014
Workshops and Tour: October 20-22 & 26, 2014.

Submission details
Submit a paper
ACADIA 2014 Consent to Publish form

You can find more details about the conference here.

Last reminder! ACADIA 2014 Call for Papers deadline is April 1 (UPDATE: April 22!)

2014-03-28T18:07:00-04:00

UPDATE: The Call For Papers deadline has been extended to April 22nd 12AM PDT.

Just a heads up that the deadline to submit papers for the ACADIA 2014 | Design Agency conference is April 22 (UPDATED!)!

This year's conference will be held at the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles on Oct. 20-25, 2014.

More details below:

"The conference theme is intended to highlight experimental research and projects that exhibit and explore new paradigms of computing in architecture. The theme is a purposeful instigation of work that looks at re-defining the term "Agency" through the lens of computational design strategies such as simulation, fabrication, robotics, and novel integrations from science and the media arts...

Gert Wingårdh's stunning installation at this week's Stockholm Furniture Fair

2013-02-06T19:49:00-05:00

Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh and Finnish illustrator Kustaa Saksi have joined creative forces to design the installation that will set the stage for talks on design and architecture at the fair. They have each started out from their own perspective while adhering to a shared vision.

“From the very beginning, the idea has been to create a spatiality for communication in which furniture and design have a presence in words and images, as well as a physical presence. To explain the concept behind an item of furniture, what you were thinking and how you arrived at the design, gives a deeper dimension to the object. This is something we’ve wanted to focus on more this year and so we’re giving furniture companies a chance to introduce themselves, their products and designers by communicating through a new program item we call Show 'n Tell,” explains Sanna Gebeyehu, the producer of the project.

  The design suggests a church interior, with rows of high tables in front of an ‘...

Crazy Cardboard Towers Bring Ornament Back to Architecture

2012-11-05T13:15:00-05:00

The project, called Night Blooms, is the work of Wil Natzel, an architect with a taste for the eclectically romantic and for unusual materials. “My larger approach to architecture is embedded in the history of architectural ornamentation,” he says, “As an alternative to a city filled with purely performative architecture” — being the boring walls, doors, stairs, pathways, and other bits that define the spaces we use.

Paper Craft Weds Japanese Tradition And Modern Architecture

2012-10-31T13:30:00-04:00

“Working with paper forces me to be humble, since this medium has a character of its own that asks for cooperation,” Siliakus explains on her website. In the beginning, she worked by hand, using an X-acto knife and a bone folder to prototype each piece dozens of times.

Sketching Out a New Course for Architects

2011-10-03T15:35:46-04:00

Two blocks from the stately columns, arches and sculptures of Grand Central Terminal, a rogue band of architects is engaged in a retrograde venture: They're teaching a new generation how to draw and paint the elements of classical architecture—all those columns, arches and sculptures—with nothing more than pencils and paints on paper. No computers. Ever.