Architecture News

The Mexican architecture scene is increasingly shaped by young architects committed to holistic, globally conscious design. One such firm is LANZA Atelier, which will present three of its projects at SFMoMA on March 31.

RSAA / Büro Ziyu Zhuang has unveiled the design for the "Linpan Guesthouse" in Chengdu. Located in Chongzhou, a county-level city under the administration of Chengdu, the project sits in a region with a rich history and deep cultural heritage that has inspired the poetry of literary figures like Lu You, Du Fu, and Wang Bo, preserving the ancient style, charm, and character of western Sichuan. The "Linpan Guesthouse" scheme integrates western Sichuan's historical residential spatial typology with local climatic conditions, cultural characteristics, and the living habits and lifestyles of the local population. It aims to overlap and reorganize the *linpan* (traditional forest settlement) archetype with the multi-point perspective of traditional Chinese painting on a spatial level. This approach seeks to enrich the spatial dynamics and narrative possibilities of both the interior and exterior architectural experience. The project is currently under construction.

+ 18

Thirty-three years ago, the Association of Architects of the State of Jalisco (Colegio de Arquitectos del Estado de Jalisco A.C.) established the Jalisco Architecture Prize to recognize the work of established architects and to encourage and motivate architectural professionals in the State of Jalisco. The award also promotes the state's long-standing tradition of excellence and innovation, which has produced numerous outstanding professionals, including the one who lends his name to the lifetime achievement award: Luis Barragán. This year, the award ceremony took place at the Teatro Degollado, where the jury announced the final verdict and named the following winners:

Far from over, discussions on race and gender in architecture are only beginning to gain momentum. One of their outcomes is the emergence of projects and initiatives that seek to map and identify Black architects who, despite their numbers and prolific activity, are rarely cited—or published.

Still rare and absolutely necessary, these initiatives represent an important step toward fairer, more egalitarian recognition in the field of architecture. Below, we present four investigative projects that aim to identify and shed light on these professionals and their work. 

Videos

The exhibition Vkhutemas: The Future in Construction 1918-2018, currently on view at Sesc Pompeia and curated by Neide Jallageas and Celso Lima, introduces the public to the Soviet pedagogical experience of Vkhutemas — the Moscow School of Arts and Techniques, founded in 1920. Despite its brief existence, closing in 1930, the school's teaching and production methodologies exerted a profound influence on the 20th-century global art scene.

+ 5

The proposal is part of a Master Plan that includes 32 experimental rural housing prototypes designed by different architecture firms invited to reflect on rural housing production across the country, as well as a welcome center designed by MOS Architects.

The project by Dellekamp Arquitectos, located in Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico, spans a total area of 1,465 square meters across two levels. It aims to enhance the duality between the welcome center and the central prototype area—which is framed by the two linear volumes—thereby strengthening the overall urban complex.

The Gustavo Capanema Palace will officially serve as one of the venues for the 27th World Congress of Architects – UIA 2020 Rio. The authorization agreement for the building's use was signed on Thursday, September 20, during an event marking the completion of the restoration work on the building's facades. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture; the president of Iphan, Kátia Bogéa; the president of the IAB, Nivaldo de Andrade; the UIA Vice President for the Americas, Roberto Simon; the president of UIA2020RIO, Sérgio Magalhães; as well as the presidents of CAU/BR and CAU/RJ, Luciano Guimarães and Jeferson Salazar, respectively.

Closed for more than two years for renovations, the Altino Arantes Building, affectionately nicknamed Banespão by locals, will reopen to the public tomorrow in celebration of São Paulo's 464th anniversary. Built in 1947 to house the headquarters of the State Bank of São Paulo (Banespa), the 161-meter-tall skyscraper offered visitors access to its observation deck with panoramic views of the city.

Now, the downtown icon will feature a series of attractions including a museum on the building's history, art exhibitions, a skate park, and a loft available for rent on Airbnb.

An advocate for architecture closer to the natural environment and focused on people, Toyo Ito is currently one of the world's most influential and award-winning Japanese architects. During a visit to Brazil, Ito spoke to Haus magazine about the verticalization of cities—especially Tokyo—the ethereal qualities of architecture, and the lessons of contemporary Japanese architecture for the world.

The Competition for Urban Space Intervention was created to establish a tradition of developing innovative ideas on contemporary themes through temporary installations in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico. Organized by the Festival Provincia, the event will take place in April 2018, offering locals, national visitors, and international tourists new experiences to reflect on their environment.

Lima has a strong tradition of courtyard houses, which is why we will always find this typology familiar and captivating. We recognize these courtyards as well-contained and distanced from one another, with each having its own time-space within the home.

+ 48

+ 17

The 'Vivienda para Rosario' (Housing for Rosario) project by Rojkind Arquitectos + Dosa Studio arose in response to the events of 19S, when an earthquake with its epicenter in Morelos shook different areas of the country. In response, various organizations such as Reconstruir México, Pienza Sostenible, and Échale a tu Casa stepped in to support affected families by proposing long-term sustainable solutions. Guided by the premise that demolishing to rebuild from scratch was not the solution, efforts focused on promoting the reuse of existing materials and structures to facilitate diagnostic assessments and prevent future disasters.

Overlooking the Río de la Plata, in the quiet of Laguna del Diario, amidst trees and a vast sky, lies Casa Poseidón, an example of modern Uruguayan architecture designed by Samuel Flores Flores in 1978. Unsurprisingly—as private interests and a lack of awareness have made demolition a recurring theme—its quiet existence is being disrupted to make way for yet another casualty of the real estate market.

The announcement of its demolition, justified by the construction of a building complex, has sparked well-founded criticism from the community seeking to protect the country's tangible architectural heritage. What are your thoughts on this?

Espacio Odeón in Bogotá has announced the winning projects for the open call Odeón o de la contingencia. This marks the Colombian venue's fourth exhibition cycle, for which curators Alejandro Martín Maldonado and Estudio Altiplano have organized an architectural competition that explores the spatial conditions of Odeón, as well as its history, present, and future.

According to the organizers, the exhibition "will present proposals that intervene in the building and question—through humor, play, and fiction—its spatial, heritage, urban, and economic conditions, while speculating on new ways of inhabiting, intervening in, and maintaining it."

One of the most highly anticipated collateral events of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale was the *Young Architects in Latin America* (YALA) exhibition, an open call organized by Architecture-Studio through its CA’ASI cultural center to mark its tenth anniversary.

Following editions focused on Chinese, Arab, and African architecture, CA'ASI's fourth open call invited young architects from across Latin America to showcase their built work on a global stage. Out of more than 200 submissions, 60 Latin American practices were selected for the digital catalog and the exhibition presented in Venice. In the digital catalog, the organizers note that "in a region so vast, diverse, and in constant flux, we find common characteristics among the submitted works that bear witness to the efforts of young architects to improve habitat conditions in Latin America."

At the exhibition's opening ceremony on May 25, the organizers announced 15 honorable mentions and 3 winners, including practices from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Brazil, among others. Discover them below:

Designed by the firm of Ramos de Azevedo and built in the famous Praça Clovis in downtown São Paulo between the 1920s and 1940s, the Palácio da Justiça de São Paulo occupies an area of 25,000 square meters. The building features a symmetrical layout with four corner towers whose wings house the interior spaces.

Between 2004 and 2009, the building's facades and the copper roof of the Jury Hall were restored by the firm APBA – Arquiteto Paulo Bastos e Associados. Later, between 2014 and 2016, another section of the building was restored by Kruchin Arquitetura.

After winning the elections on November 16, Lluís Comerón Graupera today assumes the presidency of the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) for the 2018–2021 term. Founded in 1931, the CSCAE is the organization that unites all regional associations to achieve and defend the general common interest of architecture and its professionals. It also serves as the highest representative body for these associations and the profession before the state administration and international organizations.

According to the CSCAE, Comerón Graupera holds an architecture degree from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), is an associate professor at ETSAB, and is a co-director at the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV). He also runs his own practice, where he has developed a diverse portfolio for both public administrations and the private sector.