Architecture News

Urban agriculture is increasingly seen by organizations and communities as a sustainable alternative that, besides putting vacant land to use, promotes social engagement and reduces the distance from seed to plate, as food is produced within the city itself—often in the very neighborhood or block where the consumer lives. In Brazil, Curitiba offers an interesting example, where a vacant 300-square-meter plot, which served as a trash dump for four decades, was converted into an urban garden in just over ten months.

The São Paulo Court of Justice today cleared the concession of Ibirapuera Park, the largest in the state capital, to the private sector. According to reports by Folha de S. Paulo, the process had been suspended since March of this year, after being challenged by the Public Prosecutor's Office and Green Party council member Gilberto Natalini.

On Saturday, September 21, the City of Paris inaugurated the Marielle Franco Garden in honor of the Brazilian councilwoman assassinated in 2018 in Rio de Janeiro. Located in the city's 10th arrondissement, next to the Gare de l'Est, one of the French capital's main train stations, the project was led by the European Network for Democracy in Brazil (Red-Br) association with the support of the collectives Autres Brésils, France Amérique Latine, Amnesty International France, Coletiva Marielles, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, Inter LGBT, and Amis des Sans Terre.

The City of Salvador is launching the second phase of the "Eu Curto Meu Passeio" program, which aims to promote the renovation of poorly maintained sidewalks that pose a risk to the public.

The São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA) announced yesterday the list of winners for the 2019 APCA Award. The awards are divided into ten categories, encompassing architecture, visual arts, cinema, literature, fashion, popular music, radio, theater, children's theater, and television.

Since 2010, APCA has included architecture critics, who this year presented seven awards: best architectural work; environmental resistance; promotion of architecture in public debate; appreciation of architectural heritage; career dedicated to public university and academic research; urbanity; and urban appropriation.

A crowdfunding campaign is now open to fund the creation of the "Mulheres na Cidade" guide. Conceived by Carmen Guerreiro and Fernanda Carpegiani, communicators and founders of Formiga-me, the guide will map locations in São Paulo that value, welcome, and bring together women's learning and experiences in the capital.

The restoration and reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral—one of the most well-preserved examples of Gothic architecture, tragically devastated by a fire this week—will take several years (five, according to French President Emmanuel Macron's promise) and hundreds of millions of euros. Meanwhile, Patrick Chauvet, rector of the famous Parisian icon, has proposed building a "temporary" wooden cathedral to welcome worshippers and tourists.

Álvaro Siza was born in 1933, the same year the Bauhaus closed its doors. He is perhaps the last practicing modernist, or at least the most significant voice still carrying the incomplete modern project into the 21st century. The exhibition Siza - Unseen and Unknown, opening on February 20 at the Tchoban Foundation in Berlin, presents a series of one hundred sketches that narrate the Portuguese master's work, interwoven with the modern project and personal stories.

The "Building of the Year" has reached its tenth edition and is now considered the world's largest crowd-voted architecture award, showcasing the projects that you, our readers, consider the most significant of the year. In the 2019 edition, "Sesc 24 de Maio," one of the most recent landmarks of Brazilian architecture, was voted the winner in the Public Architecture category, while the Portuguese "Capelas Imaculada e Cheia de Graça" project also stood out in the Religious Architecture category. However, this is not the first time both countries have been featured among the award winners. With this in mind, we look back at the last five years of the awards, showcasing the Brazilian and Portuguese projects that stood out across various categories to offer a glimpse of the best work being produced in both Portuguese-speaking nations.

Federal Police experts found strong evidence that a series of makeshift connections in the electrical wiring caused the fire that swept through the National Museum eight months ago, keeping its doors closed ever since.

What if you could send a WhatsApp message and a bright green van delivered native tree saplings directly to you? In Salvador, the local government does exactly that. Painted with the image of a biodiverse Brazilian forest, this green van is part of the "Disque Mata Atlântica" (Atlantic Forest Hotline) program. Since its launch in 2017, the initiative has delivered 4,500 trees to residents wishing to plant them at home.

Starting February 11, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand is offering a course on the life and work of architect Lina Bo Bardi. Lina Bo Bardi from Ideas to Construction: Architecture as Cultural Action will be coordinated by Marina Grinover, founding partner of the firm Base Urbana and author of two books on the Italian-Brazilian architect.

Female architects and urban planners account for 63.47% of the 174,513 registered professionals currently in the country. Despite being the majority in the profession, the spotlight remains focused on men. To break this paradigm and promote dialogue and ways to foster the inclusion and visibility of women in the multiple fields of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Rio de Janeiro (CAU/RJ) has launched the CAU + Mulheres Award.

One of the most beloved and undeniably successful museums in the Portuguese-speaking world, the Museum of the Portuguese Language is preparing to reopen its doors after the fire it suffered in 2015. The opportunity to rethink the institution and understand its relationship with the public were the guiding principles that aligned with the new usage needs and desires for improvement that permeated the entire concept behind the building's rehabilitation.

Today, October 18, the Casa da Arquitectura – Portuguese Center for Architecture opens the exhibition “Souto de Moura – Memory, Projects, Works,” which will remain on display until September 6, 2020. Curated by Francesco Dal Co and Nuno Graça Moura, the exhibition offers a unique monographic reading of the work of Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2011 Pritzker Prize laureate and one of the most prestigious Portuguese architects.

Just 100 cities account for 18% of all global carbon emissions, even though half of the world's population lives in urban areas. This is one of the findings of the study titled Carbon footprints of 13 000 cities, conducted by an international team of researchers. The study compared the carbon footprints of 13,000 cities using national emissions data, urban and rural consumer profiles, population, and city incomes.

Kanye West has a well-documented interest in architecture. Recently, the rapper announced the construction of housing for the homeless inspired by the Star Wars film franchise. Yeezy Home, his architecture-focused venture, is working on three prefabricated prototypes reminiscent of the aesthetic of Tatooine, the home planet of Luke and Anakin Skywalker.

The Teatro Oficina, designed by Lina Bo Bardi and Edison Elito in 1984, had one of its walls partially destroyed by heavy rain that hit São Paulo yesterday afternoon. The wall of the large glass facade, which faces one of the last vacant lots in the Bixiga neighborhood, collapsed around the iconic tree planted inside the theater.