Architecture News

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Torre Helea is a residential building designed by Bulnes Arquitectos currently under construction in Puebla, Mexico's second fastest-growing city. This project is an architectural response to the significant challenge of catering to the most demanding segment of the local real estate market. The qualities that define Torre Helea recently led it to be nominated for the 2018 World Architecture Festival in the residential category.

Featuring a geometry that stands out in its context, this 33-story tower with a stepped rise will include 93 residences and over 41,000 square meters of built area. Each floor features three rectangular apartments arranged radially like a propeller, which in turn rotates 15 degrees counterclockwise at each level as it ascends to a total height of 142.5 meters.

The Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR) has sent an open letter to the president of the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), historian Kátia Bogéa, demanding the professional minimum wage for architects selected through the national competition launched last week.

To start at the end: last Saturday, September 8, 2018, the award ceremony was held for the XVIII National Biennial of Architecture and Reconciliation “Rethinking the Territory”, an event co-organized by the Architects' Association of Peru - La Libertad Region, and the Architects' Association of Peru. This concluded a three-day series of events designed to foster reflection and showcase the work produced in Peruvian architecture over the last two years. We attended the biennial in the city of Trujillo, where its decentralization, return to long-forgotten values, and rethinking of the territory invite deep reflection—points we will return to later. For now, we focus on presenting the results.

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We are pleased to announce a strategic partnership between the ARKRIT Collective and ArchDaily en Español to regularly publish critical essays that foster debate, rigorous argumentation, and discussion around architecture.

ARKRIT is a research group within the Department of Architectural Design at ETSAM in Madrid. Over more than a decade, it has established itself as a hub for reflection and knowledge production by and for architectural criticism. Founded by Professor of Architectural Design Dr. Antonio Miranda Regojo-Borges, its members include PhDs and university academics working across various European and Latin American research centers.

Heidegger wrote that humanity should dwell poetically.

Yet in a society driven by materialism, uniform residential buildings dominate the landscape. Is there a way of living that is better suited to human nature? This remains a question we cannot help but explore.

From October 12 to 15, World Architecture magazine, in partnership with Aranya, hosted the second Aranya Architecture Forum. Prominent Chinese and international architects, alongside cross-disciplinary leaders, gathered by the sea to discuss the relationship between architecture, art, life, and humanity.

Under the theme “My Perceptual Space,” the main forum was complemented by sub-forums featuring dialogues between architects and cross-disciplinary figures. The event also marked the launch of the Aranya Architect Debut Award, China’s first-ever award dedicated to architects’ debut projects. Additionally, a diverse program of cultural activities offered fresh perspectives on understanding architecture and space.

The results of the Saint-Gobain Architecture Award – Sustainable Habitat have just been announced. The award is one of the most prestigious in the Brazilian construction industry, having recognized over 150 projects for excellence in comfort, innovation, and sustainability. A total of 25 awards were presented across the "Professional" and "Student" categories, in addition to highlights in "Comfort," "Innovation," and "Sustainability." The Best Project award of this edition was presented by Saint-Gobain's global CEO, Pierre-André de Chalendar, and awarded to the Children's Villages project by Rosenbaum® and Aleph Zero. Dal Pian Arquitetos, Vigliecca e Associados, and Estúdio 41 Arquitetura were highlighted in Comfort, Innovation, and Sustainability, respectively.

"The Award is already a benchmark in the Brazilian architecture market, having highlighted hundreds of projects by students and professionals who, in line with Saint-Gobain's values, promote sustainability and respect for the environment," said Thierry Fournier, CEO of Saint-Gobain for Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. "Through this award, we encourage the market to increasingly prioritize the concepts of comfort and people's well-being in buildings," the executive concluded.

Discover the winning projects of the 5th Saint-Gobain Architecture Award – Sustainable Habitat below:

During the World Urban Forum 9 (WUF9) taking place this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ECLAC, UN-Habitat, and the member countries of the Forum of Ministers and High Authorities of Housing and Urbanism of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) will launch the Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean (RAP).

Coordinated in collaboration with more than 70 regional experts from various stakeholder groups, the RAP aims to foster a shift toward a new urban paradigm that recognizes the city as a macro public good and guarantees the economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights of all. The document thus seeks to build on the momentum generated at Habitat III and serve as the regional expression of the New Urban Agenda.

With a seminar on sustainable construction, La Ruta Solar kicked off Construye Solar 2019, the third edition of the competition that invites universities from Chile and around the world to design and build housing prototypes with high thermal and environmental standards, as well as low construction costs.

The event, which took place at the Chilean Chamber of Construction Auditorium in Santiago, Chile, and was sponsored by the Technological Center for Innovation in Construction (CTeC), was attended by the Undersecretary of Social Evaluation, Alejandra Candia, and the Chief of Staff of the Undersecretary of National Assets, Mario González, along with key speakers from industry and academia who shared their experience in developing innovations focused on sustainable housing.

Every two years, the International VELUX Award challenges architecture students from around the world to envision the future of daylight, drawing inspiration from creative exploration and research.

For the 2018 edition, the jury—composed of Carme Pigém Barceló, Rick Joy, Li Hu, Saša Begovic, and Martin Pors Jepsen—has announced the global winners. Selected from among the 9 regional winners, the chosen projects are ‘Light Forms Juggler’ by Anastasia Maslova, and ‘Road to Light’ by Yuhan Luo, Di Lan, Yuan Liu, and Yusong Liu.

National and local authorities are making "uneven progress" toward making cities safe, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable by 2030, warned UN-Habitat at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the primary UN platform for sustainable development and tracking the 2030 Agenda.

This is the main conclusion of the report produced by the agency and its partners to monitor the 2030 Agenda, an action plan adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly to end poverty and hunger through 17 global goals.

Discussing public space and urbanism with children in a playful way: this is the premise of the book Casacadabra – Cidades para Brincar, which will be launched on November 11 at Sesc Avenida Paulista in São Paulo.

Written by Bianca Antunes and Simone Sayegh, with illustrations by Luísa Amoroso, this is the second title in the Casacadabra series. The first, titled Invenções para morar, introduced the architecture of ten houses around the world. The Casacadabra series is a pioneering initiative in Brazil, bringing specific architecture and urbanism content to children.

City Councilor Marielle Franco, who was shot and killed in Rio de Janeiro, had introduced a bill last December to establish a Technical Assistance program for Social Interest Housing in the city. “This is a historic demand of social movements and organizations linked to the field of architecture and urbanism, given the massive low-income population that needs designs and construction work to improve their housing conditions,” Marielle stated in the bill's justification. “It is also important to expand the number of examples of good design and construction practices in the city, contributing to the dissemination of these experiences.”

As part of the Brazilian contribution to the 2018 Venice Biennale, titled Walls of Air, Atelier Marko Brajovic presented the NSDC installation, which proposes redesigning city fences into street furniture, viewing the design process as a tool for transformation used to shape the urban landscape and its use.

Assumpció Puig is set to become the first female dean of the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) after leading the Ara, Arquitectes (“Now, Architects”) slate. The winning list received 1,238 votes, defeating the candidacies of Ramon Torra (600 votes) and Enric Mir (385) votes, according to an announcement by the COAC.

The professional association reported that 2,452 members voted, representing 24% of eligible voters—an improvement over the 2015 elections, which saw a 17.3% turnout. Puig will lead the governing board for the 2018–2021 term, alongside Pere Castelltort (secretary), Ione Ruete (treasurer), and board members Josep Ferrando, Guillem Costa, and Duna Bellmunt.

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'Oso Hormiguero' is an exhibition presented on November 21 at Fundación Alumnos 47. It serves as a metaphor for an experimental urban research practice that explores the fictional potential of a dormant urbanization, seeking to demonstrate that by challenging our habits and everyday objects, we can limitlessly reinvent how we view the surrounding urban landscape.

Editor's Note

The Docomomo SP recently published a free e-book featuring the contributions received during the fifth edition of its annual seminar, which took place in 2017. Spanning over a thousand pages, the publication compiles articles addressing modern heritage in São Paulo across three thematic areas: recognition, intervention, and management.

The City of São Paulo has opened a public selection process for professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, agronomy, and geology, offering a total of 118 positions in these areas, in addition to 50 openings for organizational development and planning analysts. The positions are for roles within municipal secretariats and other government agencies.