Flooding, parking and lack of green spaces are only few challenges our cities face. And with the climate change we are likely to face growing numbers of cloudbursts. The young Danish architectural office THIRD NATURE, founded by Ole Schrøder and Flemming Rafn Thomsen in 2012, aims to adapt cities to the consequences of climate changes.

By stacking water reservoir, parking facility and urban space, the project POP-UP solves three challenges at once. As heavy rain falls, storm water fills the underground reservoir and the parking structure will pop up in the cityscape, highlighting the adaption to the forces of nature. THIRD NATURE has exemplified POP-UP in St. John’s Park in New York.

“With POP-UP, we have a humane response to man-made problems, that by combining multiple challenges in one overall solution shows the world how climate adaptation, mobility and urban development do not have to be each other’s opposites in the viable cities of the future.”

– says Ole Schrøder, partner in THIRD NATURE.

Climate challenges force many cities to establish large and very expensive water reservoirs under existing roads and squares. With POP-UP, THIRD NATURE wants to create added value by making use of the expensive reservoirs and establishing underground parking facilities, with urban spaces or public features on top.

The round shape of the parking facility and the water reservoir makes the parking facility lighter and thus helps the buoyancy. The spiral-shaped ramp of the parking facility makes it possible to drive to and from the parking facility on ground level, regardless of the water level in the water reservoir.

“POP-UP is an example of a radical thinking, where design and complex engineering is applied to face challenges imposed by climate change and the need for sustainable urban living,” says Tommy Olsen, Project Director at COWI, one of the engineering firm that has contributed to the project with structural modeling and economic calculations.

Instead of constructing a rainwater reservoir that will be empty 99% of the time, a monofunctional parking facility – often too expensive to build underground where it does not occupy space, and an active urban space fighting for m² in the dense cities, THIRD NATURE suggests POP-UP. A climatic, vibrant and innovative solution that meets all three needs in one solution, which makes it an attractive solution in an overall economic perspective.

“Cities are in extreme situations where billions need to be spent on climate mitigation solutions and the equivalent amount on handling densification of the cities, especially the conflict between cars and urban spaces, so for us it is natural to think of the solutions together,” says Flemming Raft Thomsen, partner at THIRD NATURE.

In September 2015, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the City of Copenhagen’s Technical and Environmental Administration signed a cooperation agreement to develop innovative climate adaptation solutions. THIRD NATURE, together with engineering firms COWI and RAMBØLL, have participated in a number of workshops in New York, with the aim of developing scalable solutions based on experiences from Copenhagen’s climate adaptations.

POP-UP has the inherent potential to be scaled and adapted to other big cities facing similar issues of climate adaptation and parking challenges. The project has been developed and refined for locations in Copenhagen and St. John’s Park in New York (where the illustrations are from).

POP-UP can therefore contribute to the development of a compact metropolitan area based on a decentralized and design-integrated climate adaptation strategy. The co-operation between THIRD NATURE, COWI and RAMBØLL shows how design and climate adaptation can be integrated into a strong business case, with optimized investments that make space for more buildings and attractive urban spaces.

Location:

St. John’s Park, New York City, USA

Project Data:

• Architect: THIRD NATURE
• Engineering Firms: COWI and RAMBØLL

The post POP-UP Parking Aims to Revolutionize Climate Adaptation in Major Cities appeared first on Archipreneur.

2016 was an exciting year for architecture trends. While we still haven’t started travelling to space – though we are a step closer thanks to a successful rocket launch and landing SpaceX accomplished earlier this year – technology has been significantly impacting the way we inhabit cities.

Designers have been experimenting with innovative, intelligent building materials, car manufacturers are rolling out self-driving models, and urban infrastructure is relying more on connectivity to optimize everything, from commuting to working. Many among these are long-term architecture trends that have had breakthroughs in the last year, which promise to continue into 2017.

Here are the 7 most significant architecture trends affecting the built environment that will shape the upcoming year.

#1 – Urban Connectivity

Connectivity extends far beyond Internet access. In fact, several companies across the globe are currently working on integrating tech products into urban environments in order to improve transportation, social services, health and public spaces. We have already written about Sidewalk Labs, a “smart-city” company owned by Alphabet Inc., which creates digital products through public-private partnerships to provide ubiquitous connectivity, real-time sensors, precise location services, distributed trust, autonomous systems, and digital actuation and fabrication.

Several incubators targeting urban environments are creating funding opportunities for companies that greatly influence how we live, work and commute. Y Combinator already funded companies like reputable Airbnb, among others, while Impact Engine supports early-stage, tech-focused businesses that change neighborhoods and urban conditions in the Chicago area.

#2 – Autonomous Transportation

Self-driving vehicles are promising to revolutionize the transport industry, which will greatly impact the built environment. Car manufacturers are rolling out models that are already hitting city streets. Last August, Singapore has become the first country in the world to launch a self-driving taxi service, beating Uber by a few days to public road tests. US-based start-up called nuTonomy received permission from the Singapore government to test self-driving cars and start testing with passengers.

Last December, Uber brought a small number of self-driving Volvo luxury SUVs to San Francisco. Another interesting trend – drones – is getting into the transportation race. Chinese drone manufacturer Ehang has created a vehicle capable of autonomously transporting human passengers and their luggage. Aerial drone delivery companies like Flirtey and Matternet are also developing solutions for air traffic. It will be interesting to see what 2017 brings for autonomous transportation.

#3 – Space Sharing

The sharing economy is expanding to include an increasing number of industries. WeWork has come to the forefront of the “space as a service” trend as one of the fastest growing consumers of office space, transforming a real estate business. The company has recently begun testing its first residential offering – WeLive, which brings a “co-living” philosophy into the world of residential real estate. WeLive links tenants with living areas that share kitchens and bathrooms. According to company documents – as Nasdaq reports – WeLive is expected to bring in about 21% of the company’s total revenue by 2018.

Last December, Airbnb has started investing in Home Sharing Clubs – host-led local organizations – around the world, closing out 2016 with 112. The emergence of Club-like organizations is an important trend to watch in 2017.

#4 – AR/VR

Augmented reality and virtual reality are being used in architectural design and real estate with increased frequency. Architecture studios are embracing VR as a way to optimize communication with clients and speed up the design process. This trend is expected to grow in 2017, with firms like NBBJ developing new, immersive solutions. NBBJ has already developed a self-contained venture Visual Vocal to built a VR platform integrated into the firm’s design process. Computing chipmaker NVIDIA conceived a VR demonstration of the completed building powered by NVIDIA products. The VR headset allows Gensler designers to navigate the model of the structure and notice design flaws that could be easily missed in a 2D environment.

According to digi-capital, the virtual and augmented reality industries will be worth $150 billion dollars by 2020. Virtual home experiences are expected to dominate 2017, and can potentially get into architecture schools.

#5 – Entrepreneurship in Architectural Education

Speaking of schools, entrepreneurship seems to be increasingly taught to architecture students. Architecture schools across the world are starting to offer bachelor and master programs in entrepreneurship and real estate development.

The Parsons School of Design offers an undergraduate minor in creative entrepreneurship, while a Penn State-sponsored business accelerator program aims to help student entrepreneurs turn their innovative project into reality. Canada’s Ryerson encourages its students to participate in a variety of projects that allow them to gain skills in architecture that are not taught in class.

The School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P), one of five schools at MIT, launched an entrepreneurship accelerator, DesignX, which allows students to “make the critical leap from project to startup”. DesignX will include a four-month, for-credit accelerator workshop through which participants will get a chance to pitch to outside investors and industry partners.

#6 – Material Innovation

The Multiscale Materials Laboratory at Rice University is working on developing what they call “programmable cement” which can allow designers to control the kinetics of cement to get desired shapes, the morphology and size of the basic building blocks of C-S-H. This way they can self-assemble into microstructures with far greater packing density compared with conventional amorphous C-S-H microstructures.

Another common material that is gaining momentum is timber. Architects are increasingly using this rapidly renewable, carbon sequestering material that environmentally outperforms concrete and steel. In 2016, PLP Architecture and researchers from the University of Cambridge have revealed a concept for London’s first wooden skyscraper, architect Michael Green completed the largest mass-timber building in the United States – a seven-story tower in Minneapolis called T3.

Companies like Solar Roadways and Wattway are developing solar-harvesting road surfaces, while power-generating textiles are being experimented on at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This fabric harvests energy from solar and kinetic sources and is highly flexible, lightweight and consists of widely available, environmentally friendly materials.

 #7 – Sustainability

From energy to transportation and architecture, industries are steadily moving towards sustainable practices. 3D printed buildings, like the world’s first 3D printed office in Dubai, also influence the costs and environmental impact of the AEC industry. Cities are moving toward clean energy and a green economy.

After completing the Vertical Forest tower in Milan, Italy, architect Stefano Boeri has recently announced a similar design to be developed in China. This will be the first project of its kind in Asia.

Malaysia’s Forest City is set to become Southeast Asia’s largest mixed-use green development. Sasaki Associates designed the $40.9 billion master plan as an ecosystem that mimics the natural coastal ecologies of the region.

Urban Renewal and farming Projects are also a path to more sustainable cities. Some of the largest are The Los Angeles River Revitalization, Green Square – Australia’s biggest urban renewal project – while the Chinese megacity of Shanghai is set to realize the Sunqiao Urban Agricultural District.

The post 7 Urban and Architecture Trends to Watch in 2017 appeared first on Archipreneur.

We recently spoke with Jeremy McLeod, Founder of Melbourne based company Breathe Architecture.

In the interview he told us that in his career as an architect he eventually got to the point when he was fed up with property developers, off-shore investors and low-quality, expensive housing. Consequentially he and six other architects joined financial forces to develop the project The Commons.

The Commons survived the recent financial crisis and a change in investment to become a success story.

The Commons is an experiment in building an urban community. It could have only worked in a few Melbourne locations. There is no accident that it sits in the heart of old Brunswick – a melting pot of migrant activity.

At it’s core, The Commons is about people not architectural form. What is really impressive here is the way in which people use the building, the way they interact, it’s how they talk to each other in the lift, it’s their generosity toward one another. Could the architecture have been the catalyst for this outcome?

The design strategy for The Commons was to build more with less. To give people what they needed not what the marketing agents thought would sell.

Sustainability and affordability were approached via reduction:

• No cars
• No air-conditioning
• No second bathrooms
• No individual laundries / individual washing machines
• No plasterboard ceilings
• No chrome
• No tiles
• No toxic finishes
• No imported timbers

The planning was kept simple. Materiality took precedence over form. Hand painted signage lead residents past the fire sprinkler assembly, exposed and painstakingly curated, into the foyer, lined with a tapestry of recycled brickwork from the warehouse that once sat on the site.

Lift lobbies battened in natural Blackbutt and mild steel plate signal entries to generous apartments with a soft palette of waxed timber floors, concrete ceilings and exposed copper services. The northern apartments look out through a shipping chain screen, providing the framework for 24 Wisteria saplings to occupy.

Rooftop decks, surrounded by verdant plants overlook the Brunswick skyline to the city beyond.

Neighbors talk at the rooftop plots sharing tips on how best to grow their crops.

The Commons also demonstrates generosity to the wider community. To the west, the ground floor is set back to widen the compressed bike path, the light court and the rear courtyard are both handed over to the public domain rather than being territorially fenced off. These green spaces offer relief to the concrete and asphalt urban landscape of old Brunswick.

The goal of The Commons was to build a flagship of sustainable development. A triple bottom line development that could be replicable. And it did: It became the prototype for the Nightingale Housing movement, a not-for-profit social enterprise that supports, promotes and advocates high-quality housing that is ecologically, socially and financially sustainable.

Location:

7-9 Florence Street, Brunswick, 3056, Australia

Project Data:

• Architects: Breathe Architecture
• Planning / Construction: 2007 – 2013
• Residential units: 24
• Storeys: 4
• Gross floor area: 3,460 m2

The post The Commons – a Benchmark of Sustainable Development by Breathe Architecture appeared first on Archipreneur.

This week’s interview is with Craig Applegath, Founding Principal of DIALOG’s Toronto Studio.

Craig is a passionate designer who believes in the power of built forms to meaningfully improve the wellbeing of communities and environments in which they play a part. Spending his childhood summers in the forests of Northern Ontario, Canada where he learned all about forest ecosystems, it came as no surprise when he later enrolled in biology.

But biology didn’t satisfy his additional passion for designing and making things, so he switched courses to architecture. His early passion for biology, however, remains visible in his work, many of which include sustainable practice, green design, integrated design, and urban resilience among others. The question that defines his work is: How can we shape our built environment so that it is more effectively and constructively integrated with the natural systems within which we live?

DIALOG was able to position itself in the Toronto market as a leader in integrated design and green design. The company grew from a one-person operation in 2003, when Craig founded the Toronto studio, to the one-hundred-and-fifty-person operation they are today.

Keep reading to learn about environmentally integrated design projects and Craig’s vision on how climate change, artificial intelligence and automation will change architecture for good.

Enjoy the interview!

Could you tell us about your background?

I trained as a biologist at the University of Toronto, with an interest in ecology and marine biology, and then as an architect at Dalhousie University, in Halifax. After graduation from my first professional degree in architecture I worked for a year in the studio of O.M. Ungers in Frankfurt, Germany, where I was introduced to the importance of the critical relationship between architecture and its urban context. It was that interest that led me enter the Master of Architecture in Urban Design program at Harvard’s GSD.

The next 5 years was spent qualifying as an architect and beginning my own architecture practice in Toronto in 1992. After leading my own practice for six years I joined Dunlop Architects as a partner in 1998 to focus on institutional projects and lead the development of their green design efforts. In 2003, when Dunlop was purchased by Stantec I didn’t relish the idea of being a corporate architect so I left to found the Toronto Studio of DIALOG, lead the firm’s green design strategy, and be part of DIALOG’s institutional design team.

Since joining DIALOG, the Toronto Studio has grown from myself to an integrated team of 150 architects, planners, interior designers and engineers. My primary role now is to lead the Higher Education design team, coordinate the efforts of our computational design group, and continue to push the envelope of green design. The project that I have most recently completed is the Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship Education Centre – a facility designed to be a LEED Platinum and Seven Petal Living Building Challenge facility – the greenest building in Canada.

You started training as a biologist. Is this were your awareness for the environment came from?

Since as far back as I can remember as a kid I was passionate about making and designing things, and fascinated by the natural world. I was extremely lucky because my uncle was a science teacher, and I spent a lot of my summers as a kid tromping around Northern Ontario forests with him and his daughters learning all about forest ecosystems and the role that various plants and animals played in those ecosystems.

The thing I remember most about those outings was how my uncle refused to simply explain things to us, but instead encouraged us to figure them out for ourselves by developing hypotheses and then proving them or not. He provided us with just enough clues to build a hypothesis so that we ourselves could figure it out.

I think this early experience with the scientific method instilled both a sense of wonder about the natural world, as well as a deep love and respect for the scientific method. I also had an amazing biology teacher in high school who continued to inspire my love of all things biological. Upon graduating from high school I entered the science and biology program at the University of Toronto with the intention of pursuing a career as a biologist and academic.

What changed your mind and made you follow a career in architecture?

Although I had started university with the intention of becoming a biologist, I found that as a study, biology didn’t satisfy my other passion for designing and making things. Also, I came to realize that what was really starting to fascinate me was the intersection our built environment and natural systems, and how we could shape our built environment to be more effectively and constructively integrated with those systems. So the more I explored opportunities to do this, the more I was drawn to architecture.

So now, years later, I still find myself still as interested in biology as I do in architecture and urban design, and I am finding that I am able to more and more integrate all three passions in my work.

When did you found DIALOG’s Toronto Studio and how has the studio evolved since then?

I started DIALOG’s Toronto Studio in the fall of 2003. DIALOG (then Cohos Evamy) was well known in Alberta, but new to Toronto. A classmate from the Harvard GSD, the late Tom Sutherland, and I had had parallel careers for many years and when I left Dunlop Architects we agreed that I should start a Toronto Studio for DIALOG. It was really the absolute best of both worlds. On the one hand, it was a start-up, with all the excitement and fun of a start-up. On the other hand, DIALOG’s Alberta studios provided significant knowledge and resources to backstop the Toronto Studio in our first couple of years.

As it turned out, we were very quickly able to position ourselves in the Toronto market as a leader in integrated design and green design, and to win some key projects that really started our growth, allowing us to grow from a one-person operation in 2003 to the one-hundred-and-fifty-person operation we are today. We now have a truly integrated studio of planners, architects, interior designers, and structural, mechanical and electrical engineers.

This integration is critically important because not only does it allow us to do very green design, it provides for a highly collaborative and creative environment to design in. It is also turning out to be very important to our ability to leverage the use of computational design (also called parametric design). The integration of architecture and engineering disciplines significantly enhances our studio’s ability to integrate all aspects of the building design into the computational design process.

So for example, a parametric exploration of a building façade design can be wholly integrated with the design of the building structural system. In the time that it used to take us to do three options, we can now do two hundred. The use of computational design is also serving as a launching pad for the exploration of cognitive computing and AI in the design and projection process, as well as more effectively tying our design process into the future realities of the construction and building operation processes.

I would argue that cognitive computing is the next space race for our profession. I think it will change just about everything we do.

Could you give as an example of one of your office’s environmentally integrated design project? What was the biggest challenge?

Probably the best example of an environmentally integrated project is the Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship Education Centre. It is 4000 sf education centre designed to be both LEED Platinum and achieve all seven petals of the Living Building Challenge. It was designed as a Net-zero water and Net-zero energy building.

The biggest challenge on this project was to achieve the requirements of the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal, Red List. Many of the materials and product manufacturers and suppliers we researched were unwilling to provide us with the information we needed to make a determination of whether their material or product complied with the Red List requirements. However, it was such a compelling project to work on that these kinds of problems could be taken in stride.

How do you define urban resilience? And how does it define your work?

I became interested in urban resilience some years ago when our studio started to discuss the challenges that our cities would face as climate change started to bite. In essence, planning for urban resilience asks the question: how can we plan and design cities and buildings in ways that will allow them to rebound from the shocks and stresses that will be associated with the climate change impacts that will be increasing in frequency and intensity over the next century?

These explorations were actually the starting point for us to expand our study into the broader question of how we can plan our cities, and the regions they are part of, to be environmentally symbiotic rather than pathologically parasitic. It’s clear that we have a lot of work to do to both reduce our harm and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

You created the Symbiotic Cities Network in 2012. Could you tell us about the network’s mission?

The creation of Symbiotic Cities Network was an opportunity to bring together like-minded professionals – planners, architects, engineers – to explore how we can shift from being pathologically parasitic and environmentally destructive species, to being mutualistically symbiotic and regenerative species. Although this might at first hearing sound hopelessly naïve and optimistic, there are actually a number of important things we can do to move in this direction.

Over the past couple of years we have boiled it down to three overarching and interconnected strategies:

First, we need to radically reduce the harm our species is causing to the biosphere. At the moment we are consuming somewhere in the order 1.7 planets worth of ecosystem services per year (obviously, the world only produces 1 per year so this is obviously not sustainable). This means we are now chewing into our natural capital. We are also pumping millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and have reached over 400 ppms of CO2 in our atmosphere (350 ppms is considered the highest “sustainable” concentration).

To significantly reduce the harm we are causing we will have to economically internalize the costs of using our natural capital, and move toward a much more circular economy, and radically reduce our CO2 emissions. The good news is that we have the technology to do this. The only question is whether we can deploy it soon enough to be effective.

Second, we will have to learn how to adapt our cities and communities to the mounting impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, increased frequency and intensity of severe weather events, as well as stress that a changing climate will cause existing ecosystems. This is where resilience comes in.

Third, we will have to invest significant resources to repair and regenerate the damage we have already done to the biosphere. We will be adding between one and two billion people to the planet over the next 25 years, so this will be particularly challenging. This is where regenerative design is important.

What’s your opinion on the architectural education? Are the architects to be prepared to work with complex challenges like the climate change, population growth and climate-induced migrations that our cities are facing nowadays?

It is probably impossible for any faculty of architecture to adequately prepare students for the complexity of challenges that they will face young architects.

Climate change, population growth, in-migrations of climate and political refugees are all big picture challenges. New building technologies, new design technologies, artificial intelligence, and cognitive computing, and the increasing commodification of architecture are additional emerging professional challenges.

I think that many faculties of architecture in North America are struggling to maintain their currency and relevance in this rapidly changing environment. There is no silver-bullet fix, but I think that both the profession and academia will have to find more effective ways to cross pollenate and collaborate in developing effective learning strategies for both educating and training future architects if they are to be successful.

DIALOG is quite a big partnership; it has four studios in Canada and one in the USA. What are the challenges to work in such a large-scale office structure?

Although DIALOG has over 500 people working across 4 studios in Canada, and one new studio in the USA, it doesn’t feel that big – and was designed that way. We are not a hierarchical organization, but rather a networked organization. There are 50 principals and 75 associates, and work is team-based and very collaborative. Because we are an integrated planning, architecture, interior design, structural, mechanical and electrical firm collaboration and design thinking are powerful cultural drivers in the firm.

I suspect that new interns that have worked in very hierarchical, top-down firms must wonder when they arrive at DIALOG just who is running the place. It takes a while for them to figure out that as a networked organization there is actually no one ‘running’ the firm, but rather, there are people entrusted with carrying through both the studio and firm level strategy that has been developed by the principals consensually.

The other important ingredient for success in DIALOG is expertise, leadership, and entrepreneurialism. Principals are only as successful as their ability to provide the kind of expertise and experience necessary to win good projects and clients.

What is your strategy to find new customers?

Two simple words: expertise and service. Our clients hire us because of the expertise we can offer them, and for our commitment to excellent client service. New business comes from either referrals, or from clients seeing us speaking at conferences, expert roundtables, or reading about us in professional journals.

The best advice I have ever seen on how to win new business was written by David Maister in his book, Managing the Professional Service Firm. As he points out, people want to hire experts who care about them, and experts are people who do research, write about it, and speak about it.

Do you have any advice for archipreneurs who are interested in starting their own business?

When I first started my own practice I thought everyone wanted to run their own practice. It turns out not. Most people just want to work in a great practice run by someone else. But for those who are real archipreneurs – and you know who you are – I will tell you that there is nothing so thrilling and fun as starting your own business; and nothing so scary and anxiety producing as starting your own business! They are the flip side of the same coin. But in terms of general advice for people starting their own practice or business here are a few lessons learned:

1. Design Your Life:

Before starting your own business, make sure that starting a business is the right thing for you, and figure out what kind of business you want to be in. One of the best ways to do this is through something you are probably pretty good at already: design thinking.

However, to really see design thinking very effectively applied to designing your career, reading Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ book Designing Your Life, is one of the first things you should do. (I am actually using it right now to design the next decade of my career.) One of the things that they very effectively show you how to do is ask the right questions so you can solve the right problems.

The last thing you want to do is start a business that is smart as a business idea, but does not succeed in helping you develop the career that will be most fulfilling to you, and that you will be most successful in.

2. Business 101:

Most architecture schools do not provide good training in the business aspects of the profession of architecture. So before you quit your day-job, it’s worth taking a community college or continuing ed course at your local college or university on how to start and run a small business. It will teach you the basics of sales, marketing, book keeping, and managing people.

I would also recommend taking a course in negotiation. Architects, for some reason, are typically terrible negotiators, especially in negotiations for fair compensation for their services!

3. Find a Blue Ocean:

This is a reference to W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne’s book Blue Ocean Strategy that suggests that entrepreneurs look for business opportunities in uncontested waters – blue oceans – rather than competitive, bloody waters – red oceans. This is good advice if you can find your own blue ocean.

One thing is for sure, in North America and Europe, architecture is a mature market with limited opportunity for new traditional practices. If you are a traditional practice, you will be up against dozens, often hundreds of competitors who will have much deeper portfolios than your new business will have.

So you will need to offer something that really differentiates you from your competitors. Maybe you will be the new expert in computational design? Maybe you can team up with an emerging builder to become a niche design-build practice? Maybe you will be a developer-architect? Whatever you do, you need to develop a secret sauce that your competitors will find difficult or impossible to copy.

When I started my own practice just as the Internet was emerging, I positioned myself as a “virtual architect” and pulled together consultants form all over North America to do projects – mostly buddies from grad school. But it sounded cool, and got me speaking gigs at conferences, and conferred a degree of uniqueness on my practice that got me noticed.

4. Build and Support Your Network:

I have not met any successful entrepreneurs who do not have a deep network. Networks are for support; networks are for leads; networks are for advice; networks are for collaboration. Networks are the important bonds that allow you to see and realize potential opportunities.

One of the best guides to developing your network is Harvey Mackay’s book, Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty. One of the most important lessons in Mackay’s book is that networks are not to be milked, but rather supported. You build a network of people whom you will try to support, and care about, and they will in turn do the same for you.

I can’t say enough about how important building a good network is.

Without a good network success will be virtually impossible.

5. Take Care of Yourself:

You will be pulled in a thousand directions at the studio, and you will also have a private life with its own demands and stresses. So you will need to learn how to take care of yourself and manage your energy and manage your physical and mental health. There are two very important things you should be doing, even when things are crazy busy – in fact especially when things are crazy busy.

First, you should set aside an hour at least three to four times per week for exercise – both cardio and resistance training. Second, learn how to meditate and do so each day. If you are new to meditation try the Headspace App on your iPhone or Android. I have talked with a number of entrepreneurs who say they could not function without exercise and meditation, and most accounts by successful entrepreneurs I have read have said the same.

6. Make a Difference:

I think to be successful you need to lead a meaningful life – that is, a life that provides you with a powerful and meaningful reason d’etre for what you do. As part of designing your life (above) you will be thinking a lot about this. You don’t want to get to being late middle aged and wonder what the hell you have done with your life! Life is short and needs to be lived with passion and intent.

7. Read, Read, Read:

I think that one of the most important ingredients for success is to be constantly at the intersections of culture, technology, and business, and to do so you will need to be constantly reading – reading books, blogs (like Archipreneur), newspapers, and journals of all sorts.

You need to read both broadly and deeply. You need to understand the bigger world around you; but you also need to maintain your expertise in whatever your specialty niche is (and you will want to have at least a couple of specialty niches!).

How do you see the future of the architectural profession? In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major opportunities for up and coming developers and architects?

The world is changing so fast I am not sure what to say here, except that the chances of getting it right are highly unlikely. Having said that, there are a number of trends that smart archipreneurs should keep theirs eyes on.

The first is the transition from green design to resilient design. I’m not sure how fast this will happen, but once Miami, NYC, Boston and Seattle all start flooding on a regular basis because of climate change, resilient design will be much more of an opportunity.

The vertical integration of design, construction, and building operations is another thing that is coming, being driven by the transformation of everything into digital information – BIM is the future. Parametric design and BIM will smooth the way for this to be ever more a reality.

Prefabrication, like the work SHOP does will also be a possible blue ocean for archipreneurs.

All the above lead to the conclusion that

to be successful young architects will have to be capable of swimming in the worlds of design, information technology, business, and fabrication/construction.

The world of digital information is turning us into craftspersons once again – but craftspersons on amphetamines!

About Craig Applegath

Craig Applegath is the founding principal of DIALOG’s Toronto Studio, and a passionate designer who believes in the power of built form to meaningfully improve the wellbeing of communities and the environment they are part of. Since graduating from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University with a Master of Architecture in Urban Design Craig has focused his energies on leading innovative planning and design projects that address the complex challenges facing our communities, as well as on his advocacy of sustainable building design and urban regeneration and symbiosis.

Craig’s area of practice includes the master planning and design of institutional projects, including cultural and museum, post secondary education, and healthcare facilities. In addition to his professional practice responsibilities, Craig speaks about his research and design explorations at conferences and workshops internationally. This has included recent presentations at conferences in Prague, Munich and Beijing.

Craig was a founding Board Member of Sustainable Buildings Canada, and a Past President of the Ontario Association of Architects. Craig has lectured or taught at Harvard, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, as well as at many professional and sector related conferences around the world. In 2001 Craig was made a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for his contributions to the profession.

The post Going Green: Advice on Integrated Design, Life and Business with Craig Applegath appeared first on Archipreneur.

This week’s interview is with Lihi Gerstner and Adi Biran, co-founders of Splacer, an online platform that brings together people who own unique spaces with people who are looking to book singular locations for meetings, workshops, parties, exhibitions or other special events.

Airbnb turned homes into hotels; Splacer transforms undiscovered and underutilized spaces into event venues. As architects, Lihi and Adi understand the power that space can have. With their platform, they want to improve the way that we use and share spaces, promoting a more sustainable model of urban life. They envision a world where beautiful spaces never go to waste and can be a part of a sharing community.

Keep reading to learn how these two architects founded their project starting with a test version that meant renting their own homes, and how this endeavor eventually led to a company with three offices in two continents.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

When did you two team up and what are your respective backgrounds?

We met about 20 years ago in our undergraduate studies, but only clicked when we found ourselves during our master’s studies. Since then we have been collaborating on various projects, teaching architecture, and working on several research studies related to architecture, cultural & demographic behavior, and the future development of cities.

In the 2 years since we founded Splacer we also became business partners. We both hold a B.Arch Degree from the Pratt Institute of Architecture and a Master’s in Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University. Adi has experience as an architect, lecturer and entrepreneur in Israel and New York, while Lihi has owned and managed her own architecture practices in New York, Paris, Brussels and Tel Aviv and has also been Creative Director and Advisor for several art and fashion companies.

What made you decide to found Splacer? Was there a particular moment that sealed the decision for you?

We’ve always been interested in the ways in which space is being utilized and how it could be better designed to match different activities throughout the day/year. We first tested the idea in Israel, listing our own homes and our friends’ spaces for people to rent for events. It was such a success that we built a company around it that now offers more then 500 spaces across New York and San Francisco.

How did you finance your start-up in the beginning and how is the situation today?

We launched a very lean product and funded it by ourselves. We managed to book events and were later able to hire another person to help us with more bookings.

Last May, we raised our seed fund and with this managed to develop a great team and product, and launched our operation in the US. Today, we have offices in Tel Aviv, New York City and San Francisco, and over 500 spaces are listed on our site.

How many people do you employ and what kind of professional background do they have?

Splacer is made up of architects, curators, technical types, business-minded people, installation artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, musicians and more. Our team members’ backgrounds are as diverse and unique as the spaces we offer on our platform. Presently we’re 18 people divided between 3 locations.

Who are your clients?

Splacer is a resource for anyone looking to host an event: creative directors looking for a photo shoot location, film directors, those in need of a cool space to host a conference or work retreat, and even individuals who want to host a dinner or birthday party in a unique space bigger than their own apartment (which is an issue in many expensive urban areas). Our spaces are so versatile that the opportunities are endless.

How do you find these great places?

We actively seek them out – and also go by word of mouth! People list their homes and commercial spaces with Splacer because we have a reputation for seeking architecturally distinct locations. You can get a sense of the aesthetics from our website, and our team is creative to the core. They’re constantly on the prowl for urban gems – and we’ve unearthed many.

Do you offer your services as architects/designers when you see a space with potential?

No, Splacer is a platform to list, discover and book event spaces, and as of today we do not offer design or architecture services.

Splacer is often called the Airbnb of event spaces. Are you planning to go global with Splacer like Airbnb?

Right now, our focus is on expanding across the US. So far, we’re in New York City and San Francisco, with Splacer opening soon in a handful of other US cities.

You started out in Tel Aviv, but I can’t find places in Tel Aviv listed on your site. Why is that?

Tel Aviv was our pilot city where we tested, developed and fine-tuned Splacer’s model for scalability. We recently decided to terminate our operation in Israel for several reasons and mainly focus on our US expansion.

Did your architectural skills set help you to become digital media entrepreneurs and do you continue to use these skills in your work?

Every day! Splacer spaces are all vetted for their architectural integrity. We want the platform to offer interesting and cool spaces that pass muster with designers, spark excitement with users, and are accessible to anyone.

Do you have any advice for archipreneurs who are interested in starting their own business?

Think of technology as a new tool for planning and building your surroundings. Be persistent and don’t give up on your dreams. Find the best team members to build your business with and, most importantly, – don’t be afraid to dare and enjoy what you do.

How do you see the future of the architectural profession? In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major opportunities for up and coming developers and architects?

The architecture and construction industries are notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. Architecture must be responsive to local environments and needs, and architects need to better use technology, as it opens new worlds for planning and building our surroundings and is an enabler of good design.

As with many other industries, technology is creating rapid change. With cities expanding, there has been a massive shift, and our perspective is perhaps: “Don’t keep building… but rather find a way to use existing structures and technology to meet our cities’ growing needs.”

About Lihi and Adi

Adi Biran, Founder + CEO
Adi is an accomplished architect, lecturer, and entrepreneur working in Israel and New York, where she owned her own architecture and consulting firm. She brings her creativity, business development and research skills to Splacer. Adi holds a B.Arch. Degree from the Pratt Institute of Architecture and a Master’s in Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University, both with the highest honors.

Lihi Gerstner, Founder + CMO
Lihi is an accomplished architect with international experience who owned and managed architecture offices in NYC, Paris, Bxl & TLV. Lihi brings this international experience to Splacer, together with her own sense of style and design as a creative director in the fashion, advertising and art industry. She holds a B.Arch. Degree from the Pratt Institute of Architecture and a Master’s in Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University, both with the highest honors.

The post How two Architects Created a Platform to Share Unused Space for More Sustainability: Splacer appeared first on Archipreneur.