Architecture News

The World Design Organization has selected Valencia, Spain, as the next World Design Capital for 2022, following a competition with finalist city Bangalore, India.

Architecture is often described by architects themselves as an exhausting path of study, where pulling all-nighters is encouraged and sleep is sacrificed—in theory—in pursuit of project quality, yet at the expense of mental health.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided to remove the Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works in northern Chile from the List of World Heritage in Danger, a status they had held since 2005.

On Friday, December 6, Chile's Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage announced the results of the first phase of the ideas competition for the curation of the Chilean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2020, themed How will we live together.

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As part of our ongoing effort to highlight the important academic work being done in universities, we launched an open call last January inviting Mexican architects to share their thesis projects. We sought academic research and theses addressing key issues in the Mexican context—projects that often remain on paper but deserve international recognition. This call in Mexico joins the recognition already granted to architects in Colombia and Argentina.

The National Ideas Competition for the Pabellón del Centenario and its surroundings, promoted by the State Property Management Agency and organized by the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos, closed on April 22, yielding a total of 65 proposals and the participation of architects from across the country.

The significance of the competition lay, on one hand, in the opportunity to restore the architectural value of the Pavilion which, designed by Virginio Colombo, is the only standing building of the 20 constructed for the Centennial celebrations in 1910. At the same time, it presents an opportunity to enhance and revitalize the adjacent areas, generating urban-scale impacts that will drive the future development of the area and integrate a wide variety of scenarios.

The "Microcentralidad la Y" ideas competition, organized by the Metropolitan Institute of Urban Planning (IMPU) and the Pichincha College of Architects (CAE-P), aimed to develop a plan for the former "La Y" northern station, proposing a management model for its execution that incorporates environmental sustainability aligned with the New City Model outlined in Vision Quito 2040. The jury awarded first place to the team from Raíz Estudio. Read on to learn more about the winning project in the words of its designers.

On September 11, the winners of the National Ideas Competition for the “Architectural, Urban, and Landscape Development of the Northeast Entrance of the Port District - City of Santa Fe” were announced. The call for entries sought to offer new spatial responses for the area, contributing to the material and symbolic reconstruction of this sector and helping to strengthen its connection to the city and the waterfront.

The following project is the winning entry of the National Architectural Design Competition "Enhancement of the Cerro San Cristóbal Tourist Circuit and Creation of the Virgen de Cocharcas Santísima Theme Park."

Architect Belén Hermida has been elected dean of the Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM).

Guadalajara 90210 presents “Pabellón de las escaleras” (Staircase Pavilion), an exhibition consisting of a series of installations by artists from various disciplines—architecture, contemporary art, and industrial design. The venue is an unfinished building located in Santa María la Ribera—a neighborhood that has recently experienced a surge in cultural events, art installations, and architectural proposals—featuring open-air sections, a concrete labyrinth, and exposed pipes.

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This November, Mexico City cements its status as one of the most exciting creative capitals in the world, featuring a circuit of activities designed to highlight the avant-garde, experimentation, and new digital art models that the city attracts and inspires. After 16 years of continuous work, MUTEK Mexico is proud to be part of this circuit, collaborating with other organizations to offer the public one of the year's most intense and stimulating weeks dedicated to digital art and sound.

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As part of the cultural program of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao presents an exhibition exploring and interpreting Mexico's historical culture and building traditions. Titled The Architect’s Studio - Tatiana Bilbao, this is the third installment in Louisiana's The Architect's Studio exhibition series, which features internationally renowned architects showcasing their careers.

In 2018, a group of former political prisoners who had been incarcerated at the Punta Carretas prison from 1968 to 1985 formed a "pro-Memorial Site commission" to promote a project that would invite reflection and memory regarding the events that occurred during their years of confinement in the former penitentiary. Seeking to create a site that fosters memory for current and future generations, they launched a call for proposals to develop a Memorial. This project honors the victims, their families, and the entire community, continuing the struggle for truth, memory, and justice in Uruguay.

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The Safe Cities Index (SCI) by The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks 60 representative cities worldwide based on indicators covering digital security, health security, infrastructure, and personal security.

Focusing on Latin America —and setting aside the repeated leadership at the top of the list by Tokyo, followed by Singapore, Osaka, Amsterdam and Sydney— where do this region's cities rank in terms of safety for 2019?

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"SOM: Art + Engineering + Architecture" is an exhibition opening at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City. Presented in collaboration with MEXTRÓPOLI, the global architecture and urbanism festival organized by Arquine magazine, the exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of SOM's structural engineering practice, its integration with architectural design, and the firm's long tradition of collaboration with the visual arts.

Of the two million people currently living in the region of Galicia, an estimated 5,000 work in the production and sale of crafts. Through the exhibition “Pensar coas mans. Las nuevas siete lámparas de la belleza artesanal” (Thinking with Hands: The New Seven Lamps of Craft Beauty), located at the Museo Centro Gaias in The City of Culture, Izaskun Chinchilla presents an art installation of 250 pieces. Created in collaboration with 65 artisans, the project seeks to restore the prestige of craftsmanship and prompt reflection on its collective value.

With the launch of ODA19, this year we celebrate the eleventh anniversary of the Obra del Año (ODA) Award, the highest accolade in the architectural world where the winners are chosen by popular vote. Starting today, Monday, April 1, and for the next three weeks, our readers are responsible for determining which projects inspired us during 2018, faithfully representing the identity of our local contexts while shaping the way architecture is practiced around the world.

Over the next three weeks, the entire ArchDaily en Español network (Plataforma Arquitectura, ArchDaily México, ArchDaily Colombia, and ArchDaily Perú) will serve as the platform to celebrate the best built architecture in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.