Every once in a while you stumble upon a website that demands a lot of attention. Sometimes it is an immersive flash site, sometimes it’s an obscure photo blog, and sometimes it’s a treasure trove archive of design. I have been a long time fan of the architecture collective Archigram, but access to their pleathora or revolutionary work has been sparse. This has been particularly true of their seminal magazine, which has been getting more and more underground exposure. The University of Westminster has put together this large online archive of the collective’s work. With the support of the Humanities Research Council and working with the archives of Dennis Crompton and Ron Herron they have done a superb job unlocking the mysteries of Archigram. Grab a brew and sit back for a long design drool session.

Announced a few weeks ago, the austere yet lovable architecture firm SANAA has been awarded the prestigious Priztker Prize for Architecture. Kazuo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa will be awarded this prize in Los Angeles on 17th of May. The Priztker has been awarded to living architects for achievements since 1979 and is considered to a be true defining moment in an architect’s career. Congratulations to our favorite huggable architects! Above are pictures of their Gifu Apartment building finished in 1998. I grew up in apartments like these and really hated them, but this design would make living in such a building again more than bearable.

The name thoroughly explains the appeal of NYC-based design firms. Established is an architecture and graphic design firm that can sculpt a business from the ground up. I never knew how comprehensive of a project a salon design could be. I wish I had had a chance to cop one of those Bar Milano matchboxes!

Thanks to the french blog la cuisine du graphiste (in english : the graphic designer’s kitchen), While reading la cuisine du graphiste (the Graphic Designer’s Kitchen) I discovered that the great japanese interior design firm Wonderwall updated their website! With the help of Yugo Nakamura, the infamous creative director, designer and engineering explorer all forms of interactive expression in digital and networked environment.

The result is a very unsual but simple website, presented as a wall of pictures from their projects. The picutres react as you run your mouse over. The little sounds that react simultaneously with each user action are really great! Despite the forms being cubic, the interaction reminds me of the fluid movement of water as you skim the surface! Kitsune Noir explains this intriguing website in an agreeably accurate way. Have fun!

With a self-professed fondness of “fluorescent inks, extreme matteness, live and immediate processes, color, shape, very glossy paper, voids and holes, surprises, everydayness, diagrams” Thumb Projects makes architecturally intricate designs for print. The two founders, Jessica Young and Luke Bulman, exhibit their architectural training in their love of Buckminster Fuller and spider-like graphics.