Indian designers dismiss "design-school propaganda" as they decolonise their work
Designers in India are rejecting the western canon and instead searching for home-grown approaches to their discipline. More
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"The traditional model of philanthropic support is an ongoing act of self-harm"
In the wake of recent controversies surrounding the funding of major institutions – dubbed "toxic philanthropy" – we must rethink the system for supporting culture, says Forensic Architecture researcher Robert Trafford. More
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"Charles Jencks' provocation and ever-enquiring spirit has never been more important"
Charles Jencks, the critic who helped bring postmodernism into existence, died this week. With populism on the rise, the pluralism of the movement is needed now more than ever, argues Owen Hopkins. More
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"To end plastic pollution, we first need to eliminate language pollution"
Designers' efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their products are being hampered by confusion over terminology and rampant greenwashing, writes Marcus Fairs. More
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"Attempts to stop terrorism at the fringes of architecture are becoming increasingly useless"
Architects and designers can't design ways to protect mass terror attacks in America's public spaces, but they should join the fight to eliminate the problem at its cause, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"The Law and Justice party faces re-election in Poland and the churches have been their foremost propagandists"
As Poland goes to the polls on Sunday, the churches that were built in the 1970s and 1980s as a sanctuary against an oppressive state are now instruments in a political debate, writes Owen Hatherley. More
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"Goldsmith Street offers a roadmap for precisely the type of housing the UK needs"
At a time when everything in the UK looks bleak, an environmentally conscious social housing scheme winning the Stirling Prize is a rare moment of hope, writes Piers Taylor. More
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"Facial recognition is a fundamental threat to society"
The use of facial recognition in Hong Kong and London's King's Cross demonstrates the need to control access to the technology in the same way other dangerous items are regulated, says Owen Hopkins. More
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"In the age of big data, everything is quantifiable, even happiness"
Measuring people's happiness with architecture is a step towards trying to control them, says Reinier de Graaf.
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"Could all things 'green' be the glue that sticks us back together?"
Dulux chose Tranquil Dawn as its colour of the year for 2020, but something bolder would have better represented the year ahead, says Michelle Ogundehin. More
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"Our dependency on growth, like on concrete, must be abolished"
The pursuit of infinite economic growth is driving climate breakdown and producing ecologically toxic architecture, argues Phineas Harper, one of the chief curators of the Oslo Architecture Triennale. More
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"What are we left with when architecture is stripped of its spatiality, materiality and aesthetics?"
The third Chicago Architecture Biennial draws attention to the biggest issues facing today's society, but is short on architects wrangling with them, says Mimi Zeiger. More
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"The best suburban malls were meccas with superb qualities"
As America's suburban shopping malls are becoming ghost towns, Aaron Betsky argues that their complex architecture character means that they deserve more serious consideration. More
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"Should architects design provocatively ugly architecture that does not conform to Instagram's aesthetic conventions?"
Instagram has had a huge impact on the architecture of our cities and perhaps it is time that this changed, says Will Jennings. More
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"The rapid deterioration of Earth's biodiversity could be reversed equally quickly if we find new ways to design our cities"
Architects must act quickly and cooperatively to change cities and make their environmental good intentions reality, says Doug Voigt, urban design and planning partner at SOM. More
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"The basic foolishness is compounded by a screamingly patronising name – Whey Aye"
As Europe's largest Ferris wheel is set to be built in Newcastle, Owen Hatherley questions why the giant wheels are still being built in cities across the world.
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"What bothers many people is the sense of an alien culture"
The outrage over New York's Hudson Yards is not really about ugly glass towers or bad urbanism – although it features both – but an unspoken disquiet that foreign ideas have overtaken a chunk of Manhattan, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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"It is emphatically not the job of architecture education to mimic practice"
People who say that architecture education isn't fit for purpose are ignoring the many educators and students addressing very real issues, says Sean Griffiths in defence of the current system. More
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"What could Foster bring to social housing today?"
The fact that Norman Foster wants to start building social housing again after 40 years is a sign that a lot of it may be about to be built, says Owen Hatherley. More
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"Design can't solve all our problems, so stop pretending it can"
Designers may not be able to save the world by themselves, but they must help avert societal problems and the looming climate crisis, says Christine Murray. More
