How to Frame the Landscape: Design Strategies in Residential Architecture

When placing a house on its site, one of the first steps is to recognize the territory that surrounds it, identifying its potentials and tensions. In this process, we inevitably select, cut, hide, or enhance certain views, shaping the architectural experience according to the sensations we wish to foster.

Asympta / Leopold Banchini Architects

Li Le is known as one of the people who lived and buried their dead along the Anapo River.  Pantalica - a complex of over 4000 thumbs carved in the rocks a millennium BC - doesn't tell us much about the way the living found shelter. Since very few traces of commoners'  architecture have been found, we can only imagine that the valley's inhabitants used light construction techniques and local organic materials to build their homes.

“Users Are the Experts on Themselves”: How People Shape the Spaces They Use

Does design guide usage, or does usage guide design? Students struggle to maintain focus, employees flinch under harsh lighting, and occupants withdraw from rigid spaces, often in response to environmental conditions that only become visible once a space is occupied. Light falling across a room, the resonance of sound, the texture of surfaces, or the rhythm of circulation can support focus, calm, or inspire creativity, but each can also inadvertently heighten stress and distraction. Architects and designers are exploring and questioning: how are design decisions informed, and whose knowledge is considered essential in shaping space?

Frida Escobedo and Ma Yansong Among 11 International Architects Named 2026 AIA Honorary Fellows

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated 78 architects to its College of Fellows, recognizing members whose work has demonstrated a sustained impact on the discipline and on society. Fellowship is described as one of the Institute's highest honors and is conferred upon architects who have advanced design excellence, strengthened professional practice, expanded architectural education, or contributed to public service. Selected by a nine-member Jury of Fellows chaired by Sanford Garner of RG Collaborative, this year's cohort reflects a wide range of geographic and professional backgrounds, with honorees representing firms, public agencies, and academic institutions across the United States.

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