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An architectural take on permanent shade umbrellas
January 5th, 2026
Image: FIXER Photographic Studio Taiwanese architect Cheng-Tsung FENG took inspiration from traditional oil-paper umbrellas to create an airy park pavilion that has a pocket garden and benches for people to gather and relax inside. The structure takes an umbrella’s design and turns it on its head—well, more literally on its side. The shape appears as […]
Fabric architecture for placemaking and decarbonization
August 1st, 2025
Like a mirage on a seaside beach, the Oicho Challenge Shop in Oi, Japan, is composed of numerous ETFE-wrapped modular steel-framed cubes that easily can be reconfigured to meet the needs of available retail or cultural activities as they change. ETFE membranes replace glass walls, reducing carbon. The fabric architecture project received an Award of […]
ATA Japan members showcased at World Expo 2025 in Osaka
July 1st, 2025
The Future City pavilion, which showcases advanced urban concepts and transformative technologies, is made of a polyester mesh coated with PVC and titanium dioxide, which allows it to be self-cleaning with sunlight and rain while also reducing pollution in the air. It spans 150 meters (492 feet) in length. Image: Taiyo Kogyo ATA Japan members […]
Fabric architecture on display for millions in Osaka
April 1st, 2025
The 2025 World Expo Grand Ring in Osaka, Japan, where many events will take place April 13–Oct. 13. Country and regional pavilions are also inside it, including dozens of fabric structures. Image: Provided by Japan Association for the 2025World Exposition © Expo 2025 A projected 28 million visitors to the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, […]
GuildWorks gives a California park its first shade
February 1st, 2025
River Park in Petaluma, Calif., is transforming. Its inaugural structure is the peninsula’s first shaded area—there aren’t even any trees—underneath a shade sail array composed of diamond shapes and providing a covered area more than 70 feet in diameter. It rises 20 feet and was created by GuildWorks LLC of Portland, Ore. “We see our […]
Fabric skin completely transforms riverboat casino
December 1st, 2024
Image: Structurflex/Daniel R. Berger II Calling it “a complete overhaul” doesn’t even begin to describe the transformation of the Bally’s riverboat casino in Kansas City, Mo., done by Structurflex of Merriam, Kan., with the FlexFacades cladding system. There’s nothing “old-timey riverboat” about the current look, although there is a nod to the water with some […]
Robotics plus ETFE fabric architecture in a Chinese building
November 1st, 2024
This dynamic architecture features ETFE petals that open and close around the building, offering privacy or views. When you think of robotics, architecture probably is not what first comes to mind. But design company line+, of Hangzhou, China, partnered with robotics systems company RoboticPlus.AI to create a dynamic building like no other. The public building, […]
Baseball complex is repeat business for Signature Structures
June 1st, 2024
Spring means the start of baseball season, and in March, Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Mass., opened its new indoor baseball and softball practice facility, thanks to work done by Signature Structures LLC of Easton, Pa. The company partnered with Dellbrook/JKS as general contractor and ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge. This is the second facility Signature Structures […]
Awnings encourage natural light and offer shade protection
June 1st, 2023
Natural light can help reduce energy usage in our buildings. This is a lesson known for centuries but seemingly forgotten after the 1940s with postwar technological advances in air conditioning (coupled with the Modernist design movement that declared “ornament is a crime”). These stripped-down building facades spoke volumes about a new era of high-tech materials […]
Sports pavilion built at a school in France
May 1st, 2023
Lycée Michelet is located in Vanves, an old but storied suburb of Paris, on a piece of land it first occupied in 1871. The school (Lycée) is at the center of Vanves and within blocks of the Paris Convention Center and little more than a third of a mile from the Seine River. As with […]