40 inspirational architects websites showcased Great designs of architects’ website are something of a paradox. Many website designs that we’ve seen created by architects are either obnoxious uses of flash or crucially, so minimal and sparse it hurts – or nightmares to navigate. Perhaps its the fact that architects fancy themselves as aesthetic and artistic connoisseurs – and in this pursuit, the message more often takes secondary place to the visuals – the reverse of what works really well on the web. We’ve also seen a few architecture firms who fancy themselves as web designers themselves, attempting the craft themselves, and often failing miserably. So – here follows a collection of the best architects sites that we’ve found from around the web. Some are particularly impressive visual masterpieces, others have particularly interesting UI designs, and some are simply easy to use. We’ve categorised this collection into sites with and without Flash, as the debate on appropriate use of Flash wagers on, architects sites in particular seem to be unable to avoid its allure. Let us know if you have any interesting architects websites in your bookmarks that you think would be worthy of a mention here. Flash sites
Rafael Vinoly URL: http://www.rvapc.com
Of particular interest here is the opening video sequence which illustrates random projects with the architecture portfolio. Clicking on them as they are being hand drawn (in the video), takes you to the project details. Refresh the home page to get an alternate project.
Consarc Design URL: http://www.consarc-design.co.uk