Einstein Tower: Mass, Light & Time in Expressionist Architecture
Sculptural Expressionism and Mass KineticsThe tower transcends its role as a mere physical shell for a scientific instrument, becoming a…
Architecture
Contemporary Architecture
Architecture considered through its spatial, cultural and technical dimensions. This section examines design ideas, building traditions and the relationship between individual works and the conditions in which they are produced.
Explore architectural projects and building studies, connect them with cities and urbanism, and follow the questions developed in architectural research.
Brain Rot in the Rabbit Hole: On Architectural Media and the Right to Be Seen
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpI read a piece of news recently that stayed with me longer than I expected.European regulators were…
The Property That Teaches
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpThere is a stage in every project that most people mistake for an ending.The design is complete….
Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino: Topography and Spatial Design
Integration with Topography and Spatial ContinuityThe design transcends the conventional concept of luxury hospitality resorts by adopting a decentralized master…
Moonrise: Lightweight Public Space Design
Mass Formation and Spatial DynamicsThe artistic composition functions as a tool for redefining public space at the starting point of…
Urban Cabin in Amsterdam: A 3D Printing and Tiny Living Approach
Spatial Experience and the Dynamics of PassageThe compact urban rest space is transformed into an applied study in the scenography…
I Miss the Render
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpA few days ago I opened my personal Gmail account after the message everyone dreads appeared on…
The Driver’s Room: Architecture’s Forgotten Space
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpThere is a room that appears in almost every Gulf villa built in the last four decades….
AI Interviews Fawakherji
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpA few months ago, ArchUp published an imagined conversation with an AI model about the future of…
A Conversation with AI from 2035
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpToday we are breaking from our usual format at ArchUp.For years, our conversations have been with architects,…
When the Builder Becomes the Hesitator
There is an old rule in financial markets that traders repeat to each other so often it has become almost…
Cabane 7L: Ecological Intelligence in Villa Medici Gardens
Geometric Rigour and the Spatial ExperienceThe spatial experience in the Villa Medici gardens is founded on a precise kinetic contrast;…
Exploring Spatial Duality and Mountain Context in Cut Out House
Spatial Duality and Site ResponsivenessThe user moves through the dwelling across two distinct levels of visual and spatial perception. The…
Architecture in the Prophetic Tradition: When Space Entered the Text
When the conversation turns to Islamic architecture, the mind moves immediately toward the visible: domes and minarets, geometric ornament, the…
When Your Army Fights Your Project
In the early twentieth century, Sigmund Freud proposed one of the most contested theories in the history of psychology. The…
Rosa Jamaica Beach Club: Massing and Coastal Topography
Mass Dynamics and Living TopographyThe project engages the site’s topographic character as both a structural given and a primary spatial…
Valaya House: Balancing Climatic Protection and Spatial Openness
Dialectic of Openness and Protection: Massing Articulation and Climate ManagementThe architectural composition of the Valaya Projects emerges as a direct…
The Real Opium: Ibrahim Fawakherji on Why Writing Was Always the Other Practice
ArchUp — Ibrahim fawakherjiThere is a particular kind of regret that has nothing to do with failure.It is the regret…
The Last Drawing: Why Architectural Photography Matters More Than Most Architects Think
A building’s public life begins not at completion but through its photograph. Most people will never experience a project in person, making architectural photography a final act of authorship rather than passive documentation. From the narrow windows of golden-hour light to post-production refinement, the image ultimately determines how a building is understood, remembered, and judged by the discipline for generations.
Beyond the R-Value: Why Smart Walls Are No Longer About Insulation Alone
Building envelope performance can no longer be reduced to a single thermal metric. Climate zone, wall orientation, material embodied carbon,…
If Kant Were an Architect
Architecture has always recorded what a society truly values, and Kant’s philosophy reveals why. Drawing on his concepts of a priori spatial cognition, the Categorical Imperative, and the sublime, this essay argues that every design decision operates as an involuntary psychological transaction. In 2026, when capital pressures eliminate ambition, spatial ethics demand treating occupants as ends, never means.
