Architecture News

Margarida Quintã and Luís Ribeiro da Silva are the winners of the 15th edition of the Fernando Távora Award, the Northern Regional Section of the Order of Architects (OA) announced this week. With the proposal As Fronteiras do México [The Borders of Mexico], the duo explores "the impact of architecture and urbanism on mediating issues related to territorial borders, migration, and the cross-border dimension of human well-being."

The School of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) has announced the results of the national competition for its new headquarters building. The winning team consists of architects Bruno Eduardo Nakaguma Gondo, Carlos Eduardo Murgel Miller, Eduardo Saguas Miller, and Felipe Fuchs, from São Paulo.

The author of more than 30 books and a champion of cities for people, Danish architect Jan Gehl and his team of around 50 professionals have worked to free the centers of cities as diverse as Moscow, Melbourne, Shanghai, and New York from cars.

Romano Guerra Editora has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Catarse to reissue the celebrated book RINO LEVI – arquitetura e cidade. Based on Renato Anelli's doctoral dissertation, the book features iconographic research by a team led by Abilio Guerra and is filled with photography by Nelson Kon.

The benefits of urban vegetation are numerous and well known. In addition to shading public spaces and producing oxygen, trees and shrubs contribute to thermal comfort, by humidifying the air, and acoustic comfort, as they can be used as barriers to minimize noise. 

Brazil's most famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer, kept his office active until his death in 2012 at the age of 104. One of the last projects he designed is nearing completion in Leipzig, Germany. The project is a 12-meter-diameter sphere embedded in the corner of a 19th-century brick building, which will house a cafe and bar for employees of the HeiterBlick and Kirow Ardelt AG railway companies.

In October, the Casa da Arquitectura – Portuguese Centre for Architecture will open the exhibition “Souto de Moura – Memory, Projects, Works,” which will remain on display until September 2020. Curated by Francesco Dal Co and Nuno Graça Moura, the exhibition offers a unique and rare monographic reading of the work of one of Portugal's most prestigious architects.

The proposal to build South America's largest Ferris wheel in Balneário Camboriú (SC) underwent another public hearing this Monday (11)—this time to present the project's Neighborhood Impact Assessment (EIV), which plans for a 57,200-square-meter complex in the Praia do Coco area.

The Urban and Environmental Policy Commission (CPUA) of CAU/BR will produce supplemental educational materials on architecture and urbanism for elementary and middle school classrooms. Developed in partnership with Pistache Editorial, the project aims to bring urban planning discussions into schools to help build better cities in the future. The goal is to foster students' critical perspective on the urban environment, helping them understand the city as a space with multiple historical layers. 

Partially destroyed by a fire in 2015, the Museum of the Portuguese Language has undergone a lengthy restoration process and now has a date to reopen its doors: June 27, 2020. The announcement was made by state and municipal officials this Monday, December 16, during a visit to the site.

The Instituto Tomie Ohtake and AkzoNobel have announced the 12 finalist projects in the professional category, alongside three in the student category, which was introduced in this sixth edition of the Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Award.

With over 1.3 million visits last year, the GeoSampa platform, an open-format digital map of the city of São Paulo, has expanded its reach since its launch in 2016. These results demonstrate that the portal remains a benchmark for geospatial data in São Paulo, thereby strengthening public sector transparency — one of the guidelines of the Strategic Master Plan.

The Ministry of Education (MEC) has released its list of the best and worst architecture programs in Brazil, based on the Preliminary Course Score (CPC). Topping the list is the Architecture and Urbanism program at the Centro Universitário Facvest, in Lages, Santa Catarina.

Brazil has just surpassed the 2,000-megawatt (MW) milestone of operational capacity in centralized solar photovoltaic generation systems—large-scale plants connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN).

According to data from the Brazilian Association of Solar Photovoltaic Energy (ABSOLAR), solar photovoltaic power—based on the direct conversion of solar radiation into electricity in a renewable, clean, sustainable, and increasingly competitive way—reached a total of 2,056 MW of operational installed capacity, equivalent to 1.2% of the country's electricity mix. As a result, it becomes the 7th largest energy source in Brazil, surpassing nuclear power, which accounts for 1,990 MW (1.2%) from the Angra I and Angra II plants located in Rio de Janeiro.

A high-quality public space that prioritizes pedestrians, features organized urban planning, and invites people to stay, enjoy, and socialize. This was the guiding premise of the first phase of the urban revitalization of Rua Grande, in São Luís, the capital of Maranhão. The project began with the restructuring of the entire Deodoro Complex, which now offers visitors and residents a new perspective on the Deodoro and Panteon Squares and the Silva Maia and Gomes de Castro promenades.

The Association of Sabesp Engineers (AESabesp) has launched a competition to select the best architectural designs for the future São Paulo Water Museum. The goal is to find the best architectural concepts and alternatives for the restoration and expansion of the former water and sewage department building—currently known as the França Pinto Reservation Center—and the implementation of the cultural venue.

+ 12

Marked by the intersection and mutual reinforcement of curatorial design and institutional action, the 34th Bienal de São Paulo emphasizes the poetics of “relation” and adopts an innovative operational structure. This framework involves exhibitions and events hosted at the Bienal Pavilion starting in February 2020, in collaboration with a network of more than 20 institutions across São Paulo. Once the Pavilion is fully occupied by the exhibition starting in September 2020, these partner institutions will host, within their own spaces, exhibitions integrated into the 34th Bienal.

Videos

The fanzine Architecture and Politics, produced days before the second round of the 2018 presidential elections, is a manifesto on the urgency of understanding the production of space in its intrinsic relationship with power. Foreshadowing the fate that the outcome of this election brought upon the country, it suggests a way of interpreting the Brazilian political landscape.