Around one in the morning in Cairo, despite the darkness of the night, everything feels yellow. Arriving in a city of 9 million people, with an airport that handles 3 million daily, is overwhelming, staggering—or, as Lovecraft might describe those lurking in the dark, indescribable and unnameable. In the gloom of a hotel room that saw its glory days long ago, I can see the Great Pyramid of Giza in the distance, shrouded behind the ever-present haze.

The relentless city devours almost everything in its path; the desert resists, tourism does its part, and, for now, the Sphinx simply watches. Restoration and archaeological work are always underway around the historic sites; you brush the dust off your feet only to uncover ancient remains. Saqqara—the Step Pyramid—is perpetually draped in massive scaffolding of dry wood, weathered from years of waiting for the next discovery that might finally let each prop rest. The heat in Cairo is stifling, and while collective memory associates the city with the pyramids and the Sphinx, its daily life breathes desert, diversity, tourism, commerce, and religion.

At more than 3,800 meters above sea level and on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the city of Puno stands as the folklore capital of Peru, where architecture, archaeology, and dance intersect. It is not only home to the Candelaria festival—declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2014—but also sits just a few kilometers from the vast archaeological legacy of the Pucará and Tiwanaku cultures. Additionally, visitors can travel to the floating islands of Uros, Amantaní, and Taquile on the world's highest navigable lake.

Before going any further, if you are not accustomed to this altitude, we recommend drinking coca tea regularly or chewing coca leaves, which can be purchased at any local store. Furthermore, the weather can be highly unpredictable; a single day can bring sun, rain, and hail, so keep this in mind when choosing what to wear. Lastly, in Peru, streets that are at least ten blocks long, narrow, and usually one-way are called jirones (abbreviated as Jr.).

The LIMPAR SANTANA project involves constructing a sustainable basic sanitation system to clean up the waterways of Quilombo de Santana, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, aiming to improve the quality of drinking water in local homes.

Based on an assessment of the area's topography, geotechnics, and geography, the proposal suggests using evapotranspiration basins—a system that treats effluent through natural filtration and evaporation via banana leaves—and biodigester tank systems that convert wastewater into a usable byproduct for agriculture.

What happens when we juxtapose two works by two renowned architects, Mies van der Rohe and Rem Koolhaas, completed twenty-five years apart? We find the answer in the following article by the Arkrit Collective.

La propuesta El Final del “Efecto Arenal” presentada por el equipo de OOIIO Arquitectura ha obtenido una Mención Especial en el “Europan 14”, el concurso de urbanismo para jóvenes arquitectos más importante a nivel internacional en la actualidad. El proyecto destaca por su representación gráfica a través de un cómic, explorando nuevas formas de comunicación arquitectónica. 

El emplazamiento propuesto por el concurso es uno de los ejes marcados por el Plan General vigente de la localidad de El Arenal (Playa de Palma de Mallorca) para su peatonalización y su puesta en valor, mejorando la conexión de la playa con el barrio en el que viven permanente sus habitantes. En el entorno hay una serie de problemas urbanísticos como un centro comercial en desuso que sin embargo presenta un gran potencial como contenedor de futuras actividades y es el elemento de rótula entre el mundo turístico y el mundo local. 

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“A thesis is like a pig; everything in it can be put to use,” concluded Umberto Eco in his book How to Write a Thesis. Indeed, these research projects, developed through four or five years of intense effort and sacrifice, become extraordinary tools and inexhaustible sources of information for both students and professionals looking to delve into a specific topic within their field of knowledge.

In Spain, the 2008 economic crisis triggered a notable increase in the number of architects who chose to pursue a doctoral thesis as a way to continue their academic training and expand their career options. Coupled with the rigorous training that Spanish architects typically receive, this has led to a vast body of exceptionally high-quality research, serving as an invaluable reference resource for both students and practitioners.

This article compiles 10 doctoral theses focused on major Spanish architects whose careers spanned the 20th century and who, for various reasons, left an indelible mark on the history of Spanish architecture during this period.

Presenting a project in a clear and convincing manner can be a major challenge—even a torment for many students. When you add high doses of caffeine, sleep deprivation, and a jury ready to evaluate your work, we can all agree that, once the moment arrives, it is impossible not to tremble inside (at best) and outside (in most cases).

If Muhammad will not go to the mountain, the mountain must go to Muhammad. If the elderly do not go to city hall—sparing themselves the clear hassle of tedious paperwork—city hall goes to them. In a largely unplanned city like Lima, where design for older adults and people with disabilities is rarely prioritized, getting around or participating in social activities requires double the effort. Consequently, they often choose to stay home to avoid the hassle.

Bringing services closer through mobile architecture—going beyond static physical buildings—is an idea worth putting into practice. Under this approach, the Municipality of Miraflores is rolling out a bus equipped with diverse functions that are valuable to the neighborhood, and particularly essential for a demographic with limited mobility. Architecture in action is capable of adapting an "ordinary" bus for this "multifunctional" purpose. Once again, the profession demonstrates its power to connect, support, and bring people together...

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Intervening in historic buildings is always a highly delicate matter. In architecture, whether through restoration or spatial adaptive reuse, intervention projects are often necessary to breathe “new life” into abandoned or altered structures, modifying or upgrading their use.

Alongside the challenge of preserving existing structures without abruptly altering their original design, there is also the task of introducing annex buildings or elements capable of meeting the intrinsic needs of each program without “harming” or compromising the character of the original buildings.

After receiving more than 70 submissions from various Argentine universities and cities, our editorial team selected 10 of them, focusing on projects that demonstrated critical thinking regarding contemporary issues, formal execution, and representation. The selection not only highlights projects that delivered the best possible architecture through simple design tailored to their context, program, and users, but also those showing significant attention to human scale, mediation, transition, and new ways of approaching urban architecture.

Discover our 10 highlighted projects below.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD AS A CULTURAL CENTER: Alejandro Asens - Victoria Carbonin - Juan Cardozo Sánchez - Italo Parietti

Alô, alô, W/Brasil… Alô, alô, W/Brasil… / Jacarezinho! Avião! Jacarezinho! Avião! / Cuidado com o disco voador / Tira essa escada daí / Essa escada é pra ficar aqui fora / Eu vou chamar o síndico / Tim Maia! Tim Maia! Tim Maia! Tim Maia!

Upon entering one of these modern gated communities, designed with the latest urban planning engineering, one experiences a calming sense of having finally found order and security. We quickly realize that this is a way of life in which precariousness, risk, and uncertainty have seemingly been abolished. The space is homogeneous, governed by specific stylistic rules. Inside, locations are well-distributed, and positions are comfortably occupied. Security forces feel genuinely present, albeit private. The streets are well-paved and signposted, despite a slight excess of signs dictating directions and rules of use. The houses display their inevitable front lawns, without fences. Everything else is functional, managed, and clean. The image of this island of serenity captures the illusions of the average Brazilian consumer dream: a region insulated from the rest of the world, where one can freely cultivate a sense of community among equals. It offers a return to nature, a worry-free life, abundant in leisure and the company of peers—a shared destiny manifesting in countless variations: vertical, horizontal, residential, commercial, private, and even public.

Every Sunday morning, 120 kilometers of Bogotá are transformed into an extensive cycling circuit. This is La Ciclovía, a cultural and recreational initiative in which some of the Colombian capital's streets are designated as wide bike paths, allowing both residents and tourists to travel across Bogotá by bicycle.

In a radio interview broadcast by RCN, architect Jaime Ortiz recalls the origins of the ciclovía in the 1970s, when it emerged as a proposal developed alongside other architects to open up major avenues as cycling spaces every Sunday.

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Experts have various visions for the future of architecture, but one thing is certain: it must evolve alongside technology, with a primary focus on efficiency. Digital architecture, for example, is already a reality, as is the use of virtual reality in architecture. As a result, competition among professionals and firms is forcing a shift in how they approach the market.

Those who only know how to work individually will be left behind. There is no room for vanity—the new era must be collaborative.

Barcelona is an ideal city, boasting a surprisingly rich cultural scene, vibrant neighborhoods full of life, miles of beaches, and an idyllic year-round climate. Yet, without a doubt, it is its architecture that stands as a must-see for visitors and residents alike. The Sagrada Família, Park Güell, and Casa Milà are some of the most famous architectural landmarks and, consequently, the most visited by the tourists arriving daily in this magnificent city.

While there is growing interest in exploring the architecture that lies beyond the city's major icons and symbols, many tourists still bypass—or are simply unaware of—brilliant contemporary works such as Jordi Badia's Can Framis Museum, or the recent restoration of Sala Beckett by architects Flores & Prats, which received a jury mention in the 2017 Spanish Architecture Awards.

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Videos

Over the last twenty years, the world has never been so connected. At the turn of the century, the digital realm seems to have invaded analogue layers, redefining standards, lifestyles, interactions, and the way we connect and use spaces. This social redefinition is strongly attributed to Generation Z—the cohort born during the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, between the 1990s and 2010s. But do you know the defining characteristics of this group?

Following two weeks of enthusiastic voting, ArchDaily readers have narrowed down more than 300 nominees to the top 10 finalists of the year.

During the nomination phase, we witnessed how this award highlights the collective progress and evolving boundaries of architecture. These shortlisted projects represent the most inspiring, impactful, and resonant works chosen by our readers.

The finalists showcase a diverse spectrum of practice, spanning established industry leaders alongside emerging boutique firms with highly distinct design voices. Collectively, these projects also highlight architecture's profound capacity to improve our built environment.

Dear readers,

As the end of the year approaches, we would like to thank you all once again for making 2018 our best year yet. Thanks to your continuous support and our close connection with our readers, we now reach far more architects around the world, inspiring them to create better urban environments.

This week concluded the series of meetings and conferences convened by the Venice Biennale to introduce Freespace, curated by artistic directors Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. Venice, Paris, Berlin, and New York. The Irish architects presented the list of 71 participants making up the curatorial proposal, which features five Latin American participants: Elemental (Chile), Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura (Mexico), Barclay & Crousse (Peru), Carla Juaçaba (Brazil), and Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Brazil).

Videos

Andrés Arochi directed a video that portrays dancing bodies experiencing the space of the Luis Barragán House and Studio, a site in Mexico City famous for the introspective quality of its gardens and the characteristic mysticism of the Mexican architect. Regarding the video Dancing through the Architecture of Luis Barragán, Arochi comments:

This is not the first time that iconic works of architecture have served as a stage for dancing bodies; there is seemingly an intrinsic connection between these two art forms. Exercises like this remind us that architecture is not merely an assembly of concrete, steel, and glass ready to shelter its users, but rather a series of actions harboring a collection of breaths, moments, and movements that give meaning to a place, as Spanish philosopher Marina Garcés writes:

The Ruin Experience project, developed by architect Sergio Navarro García, proposes an intervention in the ruined buildings scattered across the countryside of Lorca, Murcia (Spain), where the local population gradually abandoned these robust houses to move to the city. The project offers an alternative approach to intervention, engaging directly with the environment and leveraging its resources to create sensory complexes where people interact with nature through architecture.

El Mesillo, the site selected for the intervention, is a unique, hidden enclave in the municipality of Lorca, defined by a direct and deep-seated relationship between its inhabitants and nature through agriculture. Historically, this bond was even closer, giving rise to the creation and use of entirely natural creams and treatments. Water, soil, air, sun, essential oils, homemade lotions and concoctions, fruits, vegetables, and, of course, a proper siesta, served as home remedies for minor ailments and daily stress.

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Simply moving through Brazilian cities, wasting hours in traffic jams or waiting for overcrowded buses or subways—or ones that don't even exist!—is enough to see that they are far from functioning at a reasonable standard. And even those who, supposedly protected by walls, rarely come into contact with the precarious housing conditions of millions of families are shocked by the growing number of people living on the streets or by stark reminders of this precarity when a tragedy, such as the fire in the Wilton Paes de Almeida Building, hits the headlines. One would expect, therefore, that urban issues—housing and transportation in particular—would be prominent in the government platforms of the presidential candidates.

Writing for the ARKRIT Collective, architect Carmen Espegel presents an article that exemplifies how the home can serve as a simple refuge for the essence of life—defined by the survivor's austerity, voluntary renunciation, and a rejection of the bourgeois lifestyle.

Originally published as Collaborative Design of Public Space: The Triple Dimension, this new collaboration by Paisaje Transversal proposes a specific methodology for both evaluating the quality of public space and facilitating urban design "if we want to transform public space into a living fabric," the authors explain.

Public space is the fluid that unifies the city, the fabric that stitches buildings together and weaves social, economic, and environmental relationships. It shapes issues as crucial as mobility, coexistence, and a community's cultural exchange, as well as the environmental quality that directly impacts everyone's health.

Public space shapes our daily lives, either offering or depriving us of spaces for socialization. Consequently, it is a priority, both for the sustainability of the city and the lives of its inhabitants—a matter that demands the involvement of not only urban design professionals but also the general public. To achieve this, citizens must understand the factors that determine the livability and functionality of public space, just as they recognize the characteristics of decent housing.

How many children do we see daily playing in the streets, interacting with elements of urban spaces, running in parks or plazas, or riding their bikes? These scenes can say a lot about a city—not only about how it is caring for its younger generations, but also about the quality of life it offers families; which is to say, for everyone.