Colorful houses surround a large square stretching in front of the church with a Franciscan facade: visitors arriving in Marechal Deodoro (AL) are immediately captivated by this unique landscape. This is the Nosso Senhor do Bonfim Church, located in Largo de Taperaguá, which is currently undergoing restoration with a R$ 1.3 million investment from the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan). The building's interior also holds treasures, such as the recently discovered ceiling painting.
Propuesta Fundación Urbanismo Social, imagen. Image Cortesía de MINVU
The 2015 earthquake that struck the Coquimbo region in Chile resulted in the relocation of 88 households from the Baquedano sector to safe zones. Consequently, the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (MINVU), through SERVIU, launched a call for proposals to design public rental housing complexes based on general design, energy efficiency, and social participation criteria.
The team composed of Fundación Urbanismo Social and Cristián Fernández Arquitectos won first place in the competition, followed by the proposal submitted by TECHO + Sabbagh Arquitectos. The winning proposal includes a community-support plan that, alongside the construction of public spaces and social housing with mitigation measures, aims to provide displaced families with a safe space to settle and rebuild a sense of community.
UNStudio has revealed the design for Project H1, a tech-assisted masterplan for a 10-minute neighbourhood in Seoul that would cater to the digital economy. The project transforms an industrial site and railyard into a dense mixed-use urban environment containing all the amenities of contemporary living within a 10-minute walk. This pedestrian-friendly, diverse neighbourhood is complemented by a digital infrastructure developed by UNSense, providing a framework for managing energy production and consumption, local food production, and the shared use of communal spaces.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced its longlist of best new homes in the United Kingdom for the year 2021. The jury, which includes Architect and Chair Amin Taha, Co-founder of Ash Sakula Architects Cany Ash, and RIBA House of the Year 2019 winner Kieran McGonigle, have selected 20 newly-built houses or extensions that feature imaginative and innovative residential typologies that cater to the environment and their users.
Following the controversy surrounding the news that Lucio Costa's estate was donated to Casa da Arquitectura, a Portuguese institution dedicated to safeguarding the archives of national and international architects, the Public Archive of the Federal District, the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy (Secec), and the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) are now working to establish a cooperation agreement with the Portugal-based institution.
The winning proposal for redesigning Thessaloniki’s ConfEx fairground features a series of pavilions with large overhanging roofs that float within a park, creating the infrastructure for international events while providing locals with a robust public space. Designed by Sauerbruch Hutton, together with Gustafson Porter + Bowman as landscape architects and Elena Stavropoulou, the project builds on the existing network of landmarks creating a new hybrid landscape that caters to the Northern Greek city’s goal of becoming the region’s primary business and tourist attraction.
After receiving Paulo Mendes da Rocha's complete collection in 2020, Casa da Arquitectura - Portuguese Center for Architecture, based in the city of Matosinhos, has just received Lucio Costa's estate. The donation was made by the family of the Brazilian architect and urban planner and includes about eleven thousand documents produced between 1910 and 1998.
https://www.archdaily.com/970708/collection-of-lucio-costa-donated-to-casa-da-arquitectura-in-portugalEquipe ArchDaily Brasil
Mexican firm Tatiana Bilbao Estudio has unveiled Botániqo, its new project in collaboration with the Ecuadorian firm Uribe Schwarzkopf in Quito, Ecuador. With over 12,000 km2, the project will cede 4,000 km2 to create a new transportation hub expected to service over 60,000 people per day, in addition to the creation of green space around the residential units.
A "symbolic interpretation of the flow of movement", Calatrava’s design for the UAE Pavilion at the 2020 Expo Dubai is a 15,000 square meters immersive and multisensory experience. Images recently shot by Stephane Aboudaram highlight a structure of 28 automated cantilevered wings, that open and rotate at a range of 110 and 125 degrees. Moreover, these photos also show a central skylight, that mimics the logo of this year’s expo.
Homebuilding company Lennar and construction technologies company ICON are collaborating with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group to build the largest community of 3D-printed homes to date. The 100-home neighborhood in Austin is expected to break ground in 2022 and will combine ICON’s innovative robotics, software, and advanced materials with BIG's designs.
The 15-minute city urban theory receives the 2021 Obel Prize in recognition of the concept's value for creating sustainable and people-centric urban environments. First coined in 2016 by Sorbonne professor Carlos Moreno, the term defines a highly flexible urban model that ensures all citizens can access daily needs within a 15-minute distance, thus breaking the hegemony of the car and reintroducing the qualities of historic cities within contemporary urban planning.
The Taipei Performing Arts Centre sits amid the city’s Shilin Night Market. Lifted off the ground, so that street life spills beneath the structure, the glass-walled central cube appears light and airy. Image Courtesy of Vanceva
An honourable mention for OMA’s Taipei Performing Arts Centre celebrates the textural power of subtly shaded glass.
London-based architecture firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) has unveiled its design of a 227-acre distillery master plan in Somerset, Kentucky that aims to become a vibrant destination on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® with commercial and cultural facilities that honor the heroes of 9/11.
Designed by Warsaw-based architecture practice WXCA and Swiss studio Bellprat Partner, the Polish Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai is a nod to the country's natural landscapes representing an essential part of Polish identity. Through a modular structure enveloped by a kinetic sculpture resembling a flock of birds, the project references the idea of mobility while showcasing the natural connection established by bird migration between Poland and UAE.
Render aéreo del proyecto del Nodo Náutico de Mestres Wage. Image Cortesía de MWA
International architecture studio Mestres Wåge has been selected to design Barcelona's future educational and technological hub for the maritime sector. The project, presented last April, stood out for its relationship with the surroundings, its permeability, its integration of public space, and its coherent functional layout.
Spaces create living environments, and the design of the room has a direct effect on people's moods and behavior. The winners of this year's iF Design Awards show how high-tech materials, elements, and shapes shine in their uniqueness and create a very special atmosphere.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fundhas announced that it will convert an oil rig into a 150,000 square meter amusement park and resort located in the Arabian Gulf. Titled "THE RIG.", the project is expected to be the world's first touristic destination built on offshore oil platforms, featuring three hotels, eleven world-class restaurants, roller coaster rides, and extreme sports and activities like bungee jumping and skydiving, all accessible via a ferry, yacht, cruise, or helicopter.
Nordic Office of Architecture won the interior design competition for the new Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Terminal 3B in China with a concept that integrates experiential programmes and references the identity of the Chinese city. Created in collaboration with UDG, ADC and Lichtvision, the project aims to facilitate intuitive wayfinding while providing travellers with a series of interactive spaces and attractions along their journey.
For Alape, perfecting the material, glazed steel – not only in visual terms but also as a haptic experience, as with the Aqua surface series – is particularly important. Image Courtesy of Alape
For 125 years, German brand Alape has been perfecting the visual as well as haptic experience of washbasins and washstands made of glazed steel.
Romano Guerra Editora has launched a presale campaign to support the publication of the book Arquitetura e escrita: relatos do ofício, a collection compiling 24 interviews with prominent Brazilian and international historians and critics spanning different generations and intellectual backgrounds. The book is edited by José Lira, Felipe Contier, João Sodré, Jonas Delecave, Paula Dedecca, Samira Chahin, and Victor Próspero.
Conducted by the editors or guest contributors, the interviews shed light on their formative paths, affiliations, and major works, as well as their methodological and interpretive approaches, and their dialogues with other authors and disciplines.
According to data from the Global Media Report, in 2014, 330 million families were financially threatened by housing costs, a figure projected to rise to 440 million by 2025. Not only have these projections been confirmed, but the crisis triggered by COVID-19 is likely to drive that number even higher.
While Brazil's socially and economically vulnerable population already faced a severe housing crisis, the situation has since worsened. According to a national survey by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), in March 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic, there were already over 221,000 people experiencing homelessness.
Architectural photographer and short filmmaker Kevin Siyuan released his latest architectural short film titled "A Wes Anderson-ish Singapore", a short motion picture that features buildings by world renowned architects built around the country. The 30-minute documentary was released as part of Singapore Archifest's virtual exhibition: Singapore Through My Eyes, and focuses on the urban planning, architecture, neighborhoods, parks, and green spaces, and how the people of Singapore have adapted to the pandemic.
CAU Brazil has launched two public calls for institutional support aimed at selecting civil society organizations (CSOs) interested in carrying out two major initiatives to promote architecture and urbanism. Over R$ 1 million will be allocated to cultural projects and technical assistance for social interest housing (ATHIS).
