Articles by Eric Baldwin

The Grade II listed Old War Office building has been reimagined in central London. As a new destination for the city and rebranded as The OWO Residences, 85 homes are available in the Old War Office, which has been closed to the public for over a century. EPR Architects are working to restore and convert the building into residences and the first Raffles hotel in London.

Lehrer Architects has designed a tiny home village for homeless residents in Los Angeles. Called Whitsett West, the project was completed with the City of Los Angeles’ architects and engineers in the Bureau of Engineering. Located in North Hollywood, the project is the fourth collaboration in the past seven months designed to be a prototype for transitional housing formats.

Architecture has always centered on permanence and ephemerality. Defined by material conditions, how we build is closely tied to what we preserve and how we conceptualize the future. Furthering international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences, and culture, UNESCO is an organization that continues to examine the relationship between history and growth, preservation and change. As architecture, landscapes and cities become threatened by the climate crisis and unrest, cultural context becomes paramount.

Architect and developer SinHei Kowk has completed Polker, a six-unit multifamily project in the Historic Garfield neighborhood near downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Featuring two-bedroom and loft-style units, the project reconsiders its surrounding context of single family houses. Polker provides a new kind of residence for urban dwellers who do not want to live in a single-family home or big box apartment, but would like to live and work closer to downtown.

Rapt Studio has recently completed the new headquarters for VF Corporation in Denver, Colorado. With a mission to power active and sustainable lifestyles for the betterment of people and the planet, VF is a diverse collection of global brands. Their new ten-story headquarters brings together several of those brands under one roof, and at the same time, allows each of them to maintain individuality and expression.

The relationship between building envelope and structure remains a centerpiece of architecture. Understanding a building’s skin is how designs become open or closed, controlling environmental conditions, light and views. Whether perforated, slotted or modular, brise-soleils are elegant envelopes that create new spatial conditions. This is especially true in France, where architects are rethinking tradition to bring new screened structures to life.

Sustainable architecture begins with designing for longer lifecycles and reuse. Looking to create more inclusive and viable  futures, architects are exploring adaptive reuse as one of the best strategies to address the climate crisis and promote social justice. Reuse keeps the culture of an area alive, bridging between old and new as projects push the boundaries of circular and adaptive design.

Morphosis has joined DesignClass, a growing collection of online classes featuring innovators from architecture, design, and creative leadership. Each class aims to build “curious and creative confidence” in future generations of creative professionals. Delving into design process, logic, and architecture, the new class focuses on how to translate ideas into dynamic architecture with one of the leading practices today. 

FIRST 500 is a global initiative documenting the achievements of Black women architects, and now the organization has launched a new website. Serving as a digital archive, the website aims to raise awareness about Black women architects and their accomplishments, provide resources for students, practitioners and aspiring architects, and build a community for Black women in the field.

Creative agency Accept & Proceed has designed a new basketball court for Nike using 20,000 recycled sneakers in New Belgrade, Serbia. Inspired by the ‘Move to Zero’ ethos, the design features the court, children’s playground, bleacher benches, chain link fence, outdoor gym, collection bins, in-store campaign presence and restoration of existing elements. The renewal aims to re-energize the local neighborhood while providing a space for play and for sport among kids and adults alike.