Look Who’s Talking
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUp In the early 1990s I watched a film that stayed with…
ArchUp
Cat’s Eyes
Architectural history is shaped by the gap between the physical experience of buildings and the…
Dymak Headquarters and Circular Climate-Responsive Design
Massing Composition and Spatial Scenography The architectural concept of the building is based on a…
Brain Rot in the Rabbit Hole: On Architectural Media and the Right to Be Seen
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUp I read a piece of news recently that stayed with me…
I Miss the Render
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUp A few days ago I opened my personal Gmail account after…
AI Interviews Fawakherji
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUp A few months ago, ArchUp published an imagined conversation with an…
When the Builder Becomes the Hesitator
There is an old rule in financial markets that traders repeat to each other so…
When Color Becomes an Acoustic Decision: Dark Materials, Absorbent Surfaces, and What the Architect Sees but Doesn’t Hear
In modern cinema halls, the choice of dark materials is far more than an aesthetic decision — it is an acoustic contract. This article explores how sound absorption coefficients, reverberation times, and immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos demand that architects and interior designers understand acoustic physics from the earliest material specification stages, not as an afterthought outsourced to engineers.
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.
The Geography of Stigma: When Architecture Inherits the Narrative of Trauma
Buildings carry more than structural and material value — their histories shape how people perceive…
Ocean Vortex marine waste floating architecture
Transforming Marine Waste into an Architectural Material The Ocean Vortex project proposes a different approach…
The Taptab Illusion: Rushed Construction and the Defiance of Building Physics
A personal reflection on navigating a grueling sixty-day construction emergency involving a fifteen-thousand-square-meter commercial project. The author examines the collapse of standard building sequencing under extreme deadline pressure, exploring where material science allows tactical flexibility and where the laws of chemistry remain absolute, ultimately questioning the human cost of trading structural patience for the speed of completion.
Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center: Architecture and Landscape
The Shift from a Temporary Space to a Permanent Facility For decades, Hudson Valley Shakespeare…
Secret Gardens: Density and Climate in Housing Design
Climate Architecture within the Urban Fabric The “Secret Gardens” project in the city of Montpellier…
Feixue Pavilion: Architecture, Nature, and Rural Education
Mass Composition and the Relationship Between Light and Space The architectural composition of the project…
North Hertfordshire Rural House: Context and Massing
Site Reuse and Integration with the Rural Context The project is located on a site…
March’s Harvest: Architecture Competitions Still Open in April
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2026, at ArchUp, we have…
Qasr AlHokm Station: The Urban Reflection Experience
The Urban Reflection Experience in Stations An intriguing architectural phenomenon sometimes occurs in modern transit…
Klumpen: Redefining Off-Grid Independence
An Unconventional Design Vision Upon first seeing an image of Klumpen, the form immediately captures…
The Pulse of the Mataf: Architecture, Piety, and the Global Rhythm of Movement
In the realm of Islamic sacred architecture, few spaces challenge the conventional understanding of “form…
The Cuckoo City: When Urban Growth Outgrows Its Nest
A few months ago, while observing a nature documentary, a singular creature captured my attention….
