illustrarch: Daily Dose of Architecture, Design & Inspiration
From Site Outline to 3D Model to Final Renders with Rendair
A house develops in seven steps with Rendair: a footprint sketched over a site photo, a bubble diagram, a floor plan, an overhead render, a generated 3D model, an eye-level...
Elif Ayse Sen3 Mins read
Editor pick's
Finch3D Review 2026: How Generative AI Is Changing Early-Stage Architectural Design
This Finch3D review covers how the Swedish-built generative design platform helps architects produce optimized floor plans during early-stage design. It examines graph rules,...
Sinan Ozen8 Mins read
Louis Kahn Buildings: 8 Iconic Works That Defined Modern Architecture
Louis Kahn's buildings stand among the most powerful works of 20th-century architecture. From the travertine courts of the Salk Institute to the geometric...
Furkan Sen11 Mins read
2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture Winners
The 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture celebrates seven exceptional projects across Iran, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Pakistan, and Palestine. Winners showcase sustainable, climate-sensitive,...
Elif Ayse Sen3 Mins read
Adapt for Financial Success After Graduating as an Architect
Newly graduated architects must adapt their expectations, focus on entry-level positions, and prioritize networking to achieve financial success in a competitive job market.
Bahattin Duran2 Mins read
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Students · Start here
New to architecture school?
A step by step starter kit for your first year: set up your room and desk, buy the right supplies, pick your laptop and software, use AI honestly, build the core skills and look after yourself through the semester.
Pearce+ Builds a Guerrilla Shading Pavilion in Camden From Reused Timber
Made from timber reused from earlier projects, Pearce+'s hexagonal Guerrilla Shading Pavilion in Camden argues that shade should be treated as everyday infrastructure in the UK.
illustrarch Editorial Team1 Mins read
Shed House vs Tiny House: Which One is Better For You
Shed house vs tiny house: which affordable housing option is right for you? This comprehensive guide compares costs, interior design, legal considerations, and conversion steps for turning a shed to...
Bahattin Duran18 Mins read
Veil House by Turkel Design
Turkel Design shapes Veil House, a single-level summer home on Martha's Vineyard,...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
House among the trees by Studio COSMO
Studio COSMO places a compact timber family house on a sloping, wooded...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Rain Rhizome by TANAT and Rizoma del Agua
TANAT and Rizoma del Agua install Rain Rhizome, a public drinking fountain...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
WORKac Hangs a Lecture Hall Inside Cornell’s Restored Sibley Dome
At Cornell, WORKac has restored the 1902 Sibley Dome and suspended a...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Yarumos Apartment by Trópico Arquitectura
Trópico Arquitectura reworks a two-level, 115 m2 apartment in Medellín for a...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Atrium Zürich by NOA
NOA reworks the interior of the Atrium villa in Küsnacht near Zurich...
illustrarch Editorial Team3 Mins read
Educational Civic Forum
The Educational Civic Forum in Rosario integrates a ravine into its design,...
Elif Ayse Sen1 Mins read
Casa Tetris by Sabella Arquitetura
Casa Tetris in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, blends stone, wood, and hydraulic...
Elif Ayse Sen1 Mins read
Design for Education: How Schools Shape the Way We Learn
Design for education: how schools shape the way we learn discover how...
Sinan Ozen4 Mins read
Depot Hard High-Rise Ensemble by Morger Partner Architekten
Depot Hard High-Rise Ensemble by Morger Partner Architekten redefines urban density in...
Begum Gumusel4 Mins read
SK Residence in Miami, Florida by Nar Design Studio
Designed by Nar Design Studio, this interior project transforms a multi-million-dollar residence...
Elif Ayse Sen4 Mins read
Qingyi Lodge by Hsu & Du Architects
Qingyi Lodge by Hsu & Du Architects transforms an abandoned village primary...
Begum Gumusel4 Mins read
AimeeHe Studio Retail Store by LubanEra·Design
House of Raaz in Tehran reinterprets Iranian architectural traditions for a modern...
Elif Ayse Sen3 Mins read
Le XV: An Urban Revitalization at the Southern Gateway
Le XV is an urban revitalization project at the southern gateway of...
Elif Ayse Sen3 Mins read
Basics Coffee by archicraft
Basics Coffee approached us to build a café chain brand from scratch....
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Revitalizing a Silicon Valley Ranch House: A Phased Remodel with a Welcoming Twist
A phased remodel of a Silicon Valley ranch house transformed its façade...
Elif Ayse Sen2 Mins read
Redefining Office Spaces: Blending Functionality with Serenity
The office design exemplifies a blend of functionality and tranquility, featuring natural...
Elif Ayse Sen2 Mins read
Cooking School
The design project outlines a cooking school featuring two distinct buildings for...
illustrarch Editorial Team1 Mins read
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Digital Notepads for Architects: 10 Best Apps for 2026
A side-by-side look at ten digital notepad apps for architects, covering sketching, annotation, and note-taking tools with their pricing, platforms, and the best fit for each task.
Furkan Sen8 Mins read
Shop digital tools · Learn Architecture
The marketplace for architects and students
Video courses, ebooks, templates, cutouts and CAD blocks made by architects, designers and tutors. Learn Architecture is our sister platform: download what you need and get back to designing.
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Dynamo vs Grasshopper: Which Visual Programming Tool Should Architects Use?
Dynamo automates BIM data inside Revit, while Grasshopper drives complex geometry in Rhino. This comparison covers setup, data model, scripting, plug-ins, cost and Rhino.Inside.Revit, and ends with a simple rule...
illustrarch Editorial Team8 Mins read
archfine · AI rendering for architects
From sketch to photorealistic render in seconds
Upload a sketch, floor plan, photo or 3D model, describe your vision and get a photorealistic render in about 30 seconds. No GPU, no plugins, commercial rights included.
Architecture Portfolio Masterclass: 48 Page Ebook with 8 Page Makeovers, Flatplans, Checklists and Worksheets
📦 Jury Bundle for Architects & Students
📦 Architecture Starter Kit | ALL IN ONE
🖼️ Presentation Board Mega Pack | 72 Board Templates, 14 Filled Examples, 408 Components and a Jury Kit
Portfolio Mentor · AI portfolio review
Is your portfolio costing you interviews?
Upload your architecture portfolio and get page-by-page feedback in minutes: drawings, layout and narrative checked against 200+ criteria, a clear action plan, and a ranked match with studios and M.Arch programs.
Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026
This competition encourages architects to design visionary spaces where natural light drives sustainability, comfort, and innovative architectural experiences.
illustrarch Editorial Team3 Mins read
11 free tools, right in your browser
Bubble, adjacency and zoning diagrams, golden ratio, colour palettes, scale conversion and quick construction calculators. No sign-up, no download.
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Quiz hub
How well do you know architecture?
450 questions across 15 topics, from the Greek orders to sustainable design. Pick a topic, play 5, 10 or 20 questions at Easy, Medium or Hard, and read a short explanation after every answer.
Top 5 AR/VR Firms
AR is an interactive experience that augments and superimposes a user's physical environment with computer-generated input. AR is the overlay of 3D digital building or building component models integrated with...
Elif Ayse Sen5 Mins read
Watch and learn
Architects on architecture, in their own words
Interviews, talks and short films we keep coming back to: Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Balkrishna Doshi, Jeanne Gang, Elizabeth Diller and more. Click a film to watch it here.
Architecture Podcasts
Listen and learn
Podcasts about buildings, cities and design
Eight shows to keep in your ears on the commute or at the model table: design stories, city making, materials and long-form interviews with architects. All free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
A weekly look at the process and power of design and architecture, and the places we have stopped noticing.
Architecture, buildings and cities from the distant past to the present day, with detours into film, fiction and comics.
Fresh stories and new finds from the world of design, from furniture and craft to architecture.
A design curator and a design critic meet the designers tackling big challenges, from the climate emergency to new technology.
Monocle’s guide to making better cities, from new technology and subways to compact apartments.
Designers, makers, architects and engineers on the material or technique that shaped their work and careers.
Long-form interviews with architects, artists, designers and writers on the ideas shaping our world.
Bite-sized episodes on the issues facing architects, building designers and built environment professionals.
Foster + Partners to Test Robot Swarms Building Timber from the Top Down
Foster + Partners wins €4m EU grant to build robot and drone swarms that assemble timber structures top-down.
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Brooklyn Museum’s $48 Million Energy Retrofit Aims to Cut Emissions by 57 Percent
New York City is replacing the Brooklyn Museum's ageing steam plant, adding a solar carport and electrifying humidity control in a $48 million...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Section Perspective Drawings: 12 Examples from Students and Studios
Twelve real section perspectives, from an 1868 dimensioned lithograph in Haguenau to Paul Rudolph's Chorley school, RSHP in Shenzhen and student boards from...
illustrarch Editorial Team19 Mins read
From Site Outline to 3D Model to Final Renders with Rendair
A house develops in seven steps with Rendair: a footprint sketched over a site photo, a bubble diagram, a floor plan, an overhead...
Elif Ayse Sen3 Mins read
What Is Romanesque Architecture? Features, History, and Examples
Romanesque architecture is the medieval European style of roughly 1000 to 1200, defined by rounded arches, heavy barrel vaults and thick walls. Its...
illustrarch Editorial Team9 Mins read
Clearing Beneath Hagia Sophia Reveals a Maze of Byzantine and Ottoman Tunnels
Cleaning under Hagia Sophia's vanished atrium removed about 300 tons of debris and exposed six connected structures, seven water lines in one vault...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Three-Room Thracian Temple at Balak Dere May Be One of the Last Pagan Sanctuaries in Western Thrace
Excavations at Balak Dere near Ivaylovgrad have exposed a 15-metre trapezoidal temple whose three rooms, for altar, sacrifice and offerings, run in a...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Veil House by Turkel Design
Turkel Design shapes Veil House, a single-level summer home on Martha's Vineyard, around sliding hemlock screens that keep its sea-facing glass within the...
illustrarch Editorial Team2 Mins read
Álvaro Siza: Architecture, Key Buildings and Design Philosophy
A profile of Álvaro Siza covering his training under Fernando Távora, his awards from the Pritzker to the Golden Lion, the ideas behind...
illustrarch Editorial Team11 Mins read
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True Black Coffee Bar by NaaV Studio
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Top Render Plugins for SketchUp: Boost Your 3D Modeling and Visualization
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