Articles by David Basulto

For the last eight years, Moscow has hosted the Moscow Urban Forum, a yearly gathering for experts to reunite to discuss pressing issues of today’s metropolises. Some of the most renowned architects and urbanists, city mayors, government officials, economists, developers, academics, citizens and professionals from diverse fields and nationalities come together in the iconic Russian city and its important venues like Menage or VDNKh. But it was the presence of two of the world’s most influential men in their respective areas of influence which marked the importance of this year Moscow Urban Forum: Rem Koolhaas and Vladimir Putin.

The 4th Istanbul Design Biennial, curated by ​Jan Boelen with Nadine Botha ​and ​Vera Sacchetti, has just announced the participants of this year’s edition. Under the theme “A School of Schools”, it seeks to explore how design education, and education in general, can evolve and adapt in a new age of artificial intelligence.

Update: The final entry deadline has been extended to June 1st. Register your projects here.

Every year in August, a temporary metropolis is erected in Black Rock City, Nevada. This is Burning Man, an annual event of art and architecture that attracts some 70,000 participants. The people who come to Burning Man come from all walks of life. What is incredible is that they come together to construct an ephemeral city that lasts for 7 days. These people assume the role of architects and construction workers and use the desert to build all sorts of shelters in a fast, sustainable way. The desert is so remote, and everything built in Black Rock City is packed and taken home at the end of the event, and some of the art is burned on site. This poses a unique architectural challenge. The people who have come to build these structures have to plan them way in advance to accommodate all the challenges of working in the desert, but the result is worth it – a striking, unique city, democratically built, set against a desert landscape, and for only one week.

“The Greenest Building is the one that is already built.” (Carl Elefante, FAIA)