Paul Bouet’s Post

The power of collective intelligence: Biennale di architettura What’s the value of a major exhibition like the Architecture Biennale? Not just the displayed works, but the creation of a laboratory for collective intelligence — natural, artificial, shared. Carlo Ratti framed it so: to face a burning world, architecture must connect architects, biologists, craftsmen, engineers… even philosophers. To me, this confirms something I practice: design thrives when born from a network of knowledge, not an isolated discipline. At the core of a Midsummer bed lies a weave of nature, culture, craftsmanship — not a single approach.

The Daniels Faculty is pleased to announce that Yusuke Obuchi has been named the 2025-26 Frank Gehry International Visiting Chair in Architectural Design. During his time at the Faculty, Obuchi will be teaching an option studio, called Radical Maintenance – a concept that repositions maintenance as a creative, transformative, and future-oriented design practice. Rather than focusing solely on building new, this studio will explore how care and stewardship of existing infrastructures can reshape our understanding of sustainability, time, and value., on the mixing of old and new in the context of domestic architecture. Yusuke Obuchi is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, where he has directed the Obuchi Laboratory since 2010 and co-founded the Advanced Design Studies Program. Previously, he co-directed the Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association in London (2005–2010). He studied architecture at Princeton, SCI-Arc, and the University of Toronto, and has taught at Princeton, Harvard GSD, Hong Kong University, the University of Kentucky, and NJIT. Obuchi will kick-off our Fall Public Program on Thursday, September 18. Learn more at daniels.utoronto.ca.

We are excited to introduce the 2026 Experimental Fellows at Bauhaus Earth, architects and researchers Ha Nguyen of arb Architects Vietnam and Hojung Kim, US-based professor, who have been selected to develop their project “Situated Regionalism” between Vietnam and Berlin. Their fellowship project, Situated Regionalism, investigates the potential of unfired brick construction across Vietnam’s seven ecological zones — engaging diverse geologies and Indigenous building traditions while confronting the ecological challenges posed by colonial-era infrastructure, war-related contamination, and rapid industrialization. Alongside the Fellowship, Ha Nguyen and Hojung Kim collaborate as co-founders of the Material Matters (MM) Research Lab, where they bridge computational tools with craft traditions to challenge architectural paradigms that have historically marginalized Indigenous practices. With the 2025–2026 Graham Foundation Award in parallel to the Fellowship, they will deepen and expand this material and cultural research. Stay tuned and find out more on our websites or on Social Media. Portrait © Le Lai Bauhaus Earth Chrissie Muhr Rosa Hanhausen Philipp Misselwitz Eda Özdemir #ExperimentalFellowship #Architecture #RegenerativePractice #Eartharchitecture #arbvietnam #bauhausearth

The 2025 Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory (SUDHT) will be held on September 18-21, 2025 at the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning. The purpose of the Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory is to create a forum for those whose scholarship relates to urban design. Cathelijne Nuijsink and Eric Häusler will be chairing a session called "Reimagining Urban Futures: Collaborative Dialogues Across Disciplines". María Novas will be presenting the paper "Between the Street and the Home. The Urban Dimensions of the Women’s Advisory Committee Rotterdam’s Advice." Tom Avermaete will give a keynote lecture entitled ‘Toward Reciprocal Histories of Urban Design’. The 2025 Symposium of Urban Design History and Theory (SUDHT) is convened by Conrad Kickert and Kelly Gregg at the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning. Prior editions took place in 2023 at TU Delft (hosted by Prof. Dr. Janina Gosseye) and in 2021 at ETH Zürich (hosted by Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete). https://sudht.org/ Image: Aerial view of Buffalo taken in 1945 by the Army Air Force. From National Archives and Records Administration via wikimedia commons.

Built Form invites original research articles, review articles, practice articles, viewpoints, critical views, reports, field notes/observations, and other types of manuscripts for its upcoming issue. Topics include (but are not limited to): built form, urban morphology, urban design, architecture, the structure and evolution of cities, preservation and conservation, urban regeneration, local identity, urban aesthetics and landscape, heritage protection and management, spatial continuity and integrity, urban growth management, space syntax, Conzenian urban morphology, spatial analysis, typology, characterising and managing the urban landscape, artificial intelligence and built form. www.builtformjournal.org

Built Form invites original research articles, review articles, practice articles, viewpoints, critical views, reports, field notes/observations, and other types of manuscripts for its upcoming issue. Topics include (but are not limited to): built form, urban morphology, urban design, architecture, the structure and evolution of cities, preservation and conservation, urban regeneration, local identity, urban aesthetics and landscape, heritage protection and management, spatial continuity and integrity, urban growth management, space syntax, Conzenian urban morphology, spatial analysis, typology, characterising and managing the urban landscape, artificial intelligence and built form. www.builtformjournal.org

'The Meaningful City, Reading Barcelona's Urban Landscape' published by Palgrave Macmillan in August. This is a fresh way of understanding what architecture, urban plans and public art are saying to us, consciously and unconsciously, as we move through the urban environment. Thanks to the anonymous peer reviewer who wrote: 'A combination of semiotic landscape analysis and historical perspective, which follows a chronological exploration of "how the semiotic landscape of a globally recognized city has been shaped over 300 years, uncovering the codes, signs, and underlying assumptions that structure the urban text," is both innovative and highly valuable. Its contribution lies not so much in presenting radically new information about Barcelona but rather in reorganizing existing knowledge under a fresh, personal interpretation. In doing so, the book provides a new lens through which to understand the city’s evolution, making it a meaningful and thought-provoking addition to the field.' Order from Springer Nature Link https://lnkd.in/dTdNQTby

#Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) announces its fall 2025 public programs and exhibitions, a series that highlights the ethical concerns of designers who grapple with historical legacies when creating contemporary spaces. https://lnkd.in/gVtpWNZM

One of the privileges of working in higher education is being surrounded by people way smarter than me who are working daily to solve some of our toughest global challenges. Edward Becker, SAFA, one of the rock stars in the Virginia Tech College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, has just been named a Fulbright Scholar for his work researching mass timber architecture and building to make construction more sustainable for us all. 👏 Read more => https://lnkd.in/eQKFPCTD