In 2011, an improvement plan for the Historic Center of Mexico City for the years 2011–2016 was presented to UNESCO. Conceived as a joint initiative between civil society, private investment, and the government, the project led to the revitalization of a large part of the historic center and the social and physical recovery of many of the neighborhood's properties.
Mexico City's architectural legacy extends far beyond its Historic Center, and while the initial plan greatly benefited this area, many buildings both inside and outside Colonia Centro remain untouched. Following the 2017 earthquake, damaged buildings joined the growing list of properties already abandoned, vacant, or severely deteriorated throughout the city.
Among these, we highlight those whose rehabilitation and subsequent adaptive reuse would have the greatest impact on their surroundings, given their symbolic, architectural, and physical value.
Spain is the European country with the most "Good Practices" recognized by the URBACT program. In total, 17 good practices have been recognized across 15 cities and municipalities throughout Spain. The themes addressed by these municipalities are highly diverse, ranging from the issues chosen for intervention to the methods of implementation and the solutions proposed.
The European URBACT program was established to foster sustainable urban development and urban innovation in municipalities across Europe. As such, any city or municipality, regardless of its size, can participate in the program. Currently, 550 cities from 29 different countries and 7,000 active local stakeholders are participating.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113728/spain-is-the-european-country-with-the-most-urbact-good-practices-in-its-citiesJavier García Librero
Since the installation of Speculator in 2008 —the year the Spanish real estate bubble burst— the Spanish multidisciplinary collective has been characterized by its collaborative practices, co-production processes, and civic management models. Over ten years, the numbers speak for themselves: 15 countries, 18 agreements, 29 institutions, 43 grassroots organizations, and 96 projects, including Campo de Cebada in Madrid and the La Y Cultural Hub in Caracas (Venezuela), as part of the government project Espacios de Paz.
TXP explains their methodology: "We start with a preliminary diagnosis that allows us to understand the keys, codes, and particularities of each process. We then define a context for collaborative design where the proposal is prototyped based on collective interests."
"In our practice, we propose a dynamic combination of scopes that tailors the project based on available parameters, allowing us to define a consensus-driven model that responds resiliently. We establish frameworks for collective construction that foster learning environments, serving as tools for civic appropriation and empowerment. Finally, we design management models that address the specific needs of each case, establishing protocols for use and maintenance," they add.
The dry toilet performs all the functions of a conventional toilet without using water, while also producing resources that can be used to fertilize crops and agroforestry projects. With various construction models available, this social technology is far more than just an alternative sanitation system. When approached as a solution within our closed-loop reality, it offers an answer to various public sanitation issues, as this single technology prevents both soil and water contamination.
Operating on the basic principle of using solar heat to raise the temperature inside the waste receptacle—thereby eliminating pathogens and producing fertilizer—ecological sanitation models are highly adaptable. They improve the environmental performance of homes and public spaces, successfully meet demands based on usage, and are easy to construct and maintain.
Today, we launch a series of publications showcasing open-access theses and dissertations that address issues relevant to Architecture and Urbanism. We recognized the need to share the remarkable academic output of our universities—which often goes unrecognized—with the widest possible audience.
In this first edition, we present the work of architect Jorge Isaac Perén Montero and his master's thesis entitled "Natural Ventilation and Lighting in the Work of João Filgueiras Lima, Lelé: Studies of the Sarah Kubitschek Network Hospitals in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro," advised by Professor Rosana Maria Caram at the São Carlos School of Engineering - EESC/USP.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113734/natural-ventilation-and-daylighting-in-the-work-of-joao-filgueiras-lima-lelePedro Vada
On this occasion, architect Jaime Nadal, representing the ARKRIT Collective, brings us an article that delves into the controversial demolition of the famed Casa Guzmán by architect Alejandro de la Sota—a highly praised, widely published, and iconic building of the architectural renaissance in Spain.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113722/the-demolished-guzman-house-by-alejandro-de-la-sotaJaime Nadal Irigüén
Throughout 2018, we selected thousands of projects for publication on our site, occasionally highlighting a few for their innovative techniques and materials, their integration with their context, or their community engagement. Working daily with editors in Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Chile, China, and Northern Ireland, and thanks to the extensive network we have forged with institutions worldwide, we have the tools to gain a much broader perspective on current architectural production—not only in Mexico, but globally.
Music is a vital connection to culture. While it serves as a source of entertainment, it is also a medium for communicating ideas and expressing artistic creativity. Through romantic, social, political, or historical themes, every song evokes memories and emotions.
Although there is an endless array of genres today compared to decades past, music still allows us to travel the world without leaving home through its lyrics and music videos. With this in mind, we have compiled a list of 10 songs that not only feature the names of cities in their titles, but also, through their lyrics and visual storytelling, capture the essence of each place—whether capitals or not—bringing to life the magic of their architecture and streets.
Foundations are certainly not the structural elements on which architects spend the most time during the design process. Since they are typically underground and serve a strictly technical purpose, this decision is usually left to structural engineers. However, foundations play a crucial role in construction, as they are the structural elements that transfer building loads to the ground.
The Catalan archipelago is shaped, across almost its entire length, by a small mountain range running along it, rising from the coastline tangent to the sea to form cliffs, and extending barely a dozen kilometers at its greatest extent.
The architecture native to this coastal strip of land is repeatedly categorized as Catalan architecture, thereby overlooking and overshadowing the architecture of the inland—dark, somber, heavy, and intensely material. An architecture—that of the interior—of slow digestion, backlights, and still air, carrying a different scent.
To the northeast, we find a region where beech trees stand still, growing at a lower altitude than anywhere else in the country. Where the light is softer, more diffused; where shadows are both fainter and deeper. Where it rains differently. Where people speak differently. Where the masias are different. There they live. There they work. We are speaking of Olot. We are speaking of RCR.
The modernization of Bogotá between 1940 and 1970, captured through urban and architectural photo essays, has been documented in various books, magazines, and photobooks of the era, as well as in the city's public and private archives. These images reveal an intentional, even critical, approach to how modern architecture reconfigured city centers, bridging new buildings and urban spaces with the existing cityscape.
When analyzing the impact of photojournalism, it is essential to examine the work of Sady González, Manuel H. and Daniel Rodríguez. In their work, architecture and the city serve as the backdrop for scenes of urban life, figures, historical events, and daily activities; their photographs offer an indispensable visual record for understanding the city's transformation and its historical context.
When discussing cities like Amsterdam, we inevitably recall its network of canals and streets interwoven with water. Yet water is also one of the most pressing challenges the city faces. With 60% of its territory below sea level, climate change—and the rising sea and river levels that come with it—is a matter of survival not only for Amsterdam, but for the entire country.
Designed by Fabián Leiva, the Floating Cemetery project was selected as one of the 10 winners in the Thesis Project category of the 2018 Arquitectura Caliente Competition (CAC 2018), a Chilean contest organized by Grupo Arquitectura Caliente and funded by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage.
In 2004, the Ralco reservoir in the Biobío Region was unexpectedly and irreversibly flooded, burying the local Pehuenche community's cemetery beneath its waters. Following years of trying to recover the bodies, studies demonstrated that salvage was unfeasible, leaving the inhabitants helpless in the face of the millions of cubic meters of water separating them from the cemetery. This situation sparked the idea to create a space in memory of a sacred, violated, and unrecoverable site—one that would bring the community closer to their deceased and eternally condemn the event.
The term ‘right to the city’ was on the lips of participants in the June 2013 protests, which were sparked by public transit fare hikes across several Brazilian states. It was also emblazoned on banners hanging from occupied vacant towers and abandoned buildings by the Ocupe Estelita movement, which has fought since 2008 to preserve the José Estelita Pier in Recife. Abroad, the phrase was splashed across Turkish signs when trees were felled in Istanbul’s Gezi Park to make way for a shopping mall.
But what, after all, does the right to the city actually mean—an expression vehemently invoked by social movements in recent years and one that, in Brazil, gained territoriality following the 2013 mobilizations?
Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza. Image Cortesía de COAM
Architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza is undoubtedly a pivotal figure in 20th-century Spanish architecture. Designer of iconic works like Torres Blancas and the current Castellana 81, Sáenz de Oiza was twice awarded the National Architecture Award (1946 and 1954), served as Director of the Madrid School of Architecture (1981–1983), and was a figure whose work and theoretical reflections shaped the course of the Modern Movement in Spain.
This year marks the centenary of his birth in the town of Cáseda (Navarra). To celebrate this milestone, the 15th Architecture Week will pay tribute to him with a major exhibition charting his entire career. Titled Centenario Sáenz de Oiza. 1918-2018 (Sáenz de Oiza Centenary. 1918-2018), the exhibition is organized by the COAM Architecture Foundation in partnership with the Directorate-General for Architecture of the Ministry of Development, and curated by his children, architects Vicente, Javier, and Marisa Sáenz Guerra.
Banco Holandés / Rafael Vélez Calisto. Image Cortesía de J. Paredes para Rafael Vélez Calisto
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a new urban image in the Ecuadorian capital. Rafael Vélez Calisto graduated in 1970, going on to become one of its most prominent and prolific architects. He expressed his architecture for a thriving country and capital that offered unique opportunities to professionals, driven by oil exploitation, the growth of the public and private sectors, and rapid urban expansion.
The capital shifted the profile of its main corridors, gradually shaping itself as a vertical city. Along Quito's Avenida Amazonas, the dominant presence of large, still-functional estates gradually disappeared, replaced by high-rise buildings (1)—an urban landscape that continued to spread along new arteries toward the north.
In these areas, several of his notable, contemporary, and cosmopolitan buildings stand out.
Originally published in Metropolis Magazine as El Equipo Mazzanti Heals a Gash in Bogotá’s Urban Fabric. With a Patchwork of Verdant Gardens, Anna Fixsen writes about Bicentennial Park in Bogotá. "Once a lightning rod for controversy, the innovative park now reconnects two areas at the heart of the city's historic center," she writes.
It is impossible to experience Bogotá without encountering the aura of Rogelio Salmona. Perhaps more than any other architect, Salmona shaped the urban identity of this Andean city through civic and poetic buildings. From a small balcony in his last office—located at the top of a tower he designed himself—a tableau of Salmona's legacy unfolds: directly ahead, the massive volumes of the Torres del Parque, a three-tower residential complex completed in 1970; and to the south, MAMBO, the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá.
Located on São Paulo's most iconic avenue, after eight years of construction, the new Sesc Avenida Paulista branch finally opened its doors last Sunday, April 29. Guided by the triad “Art, Body, and Technology,” the institution—which expects approximately 18,000 visitors per week—has already seen these expectations begin to materialize.
The Sustainable Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance's new platform brings together tools to help urban managers build more sustainable cities. Photo: Taís Policanti/Flickr
By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities – hubs that catalyze economic, cultural, and political progress, but also consume vast resources and account for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To avoid catastrophic climate change while ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future, we must act quickly.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113777/new-digital-tools-help-urban-leaders-turn-ideas-into-actionMark Watts e Ani Dasgupta
The concept of Complete Streets has gained prominence in recent years and has arrived in Brazil bringing the vision that streets must be planned, designed, operated, and maintained to allow safe, convenient, and comfortable travel for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation.
Starting in May, Argentina reaffirms its presence at the Venice Biennale with an invitation to critically rethink the territory.
The "Imagined Lines" exhibition in the Argentine Pavilion, Horizontal Vertigo, curated by architects Javier Mendiondo, Pablo Anzilutti, Francisco Garrido, and Federico Cairoli, is a proposal to rediscover the territory as a collective construction—based on the potential of the relationship we perceive between territory and society—understanding architecture through its capacity to spark unexpected possibilities in each project.
Explore the selected projects and a statement from the curators below.
Pavilhão da Utopia. Image Cortesia de Eduardo Longo
Describing the work of an architect is sometimes an arduous task. Categorizing a production based on the various criteria to which a body of work is tied often subjects it to the constraints of its historical context. Eduardo Longo, however, represents a clear exception, as his work actively rejected the prevailing principles of his time in pursuit of continuous experimentation. Entering the School of Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo in 1961, he encountered a unique moment in Brazilian architecture: the formation of the so-called “Escola Paulista” (São Paulo School) alongside national political instability, marked by the onset of the military dictatorship and the construction of the new federal capital, Brasília.
As a student, he distanced himself from the canons of the Escola Paulista, seeking instead to experiment and foster new architectural discourse. Against this backdrop, during his fourth year of university, Longo designed the Mar Casado beach house. Intended for his aunt and uncle, the project was heavily criticized by both faculty and peers due to its “independent way of interpreting architecture” [1] and its structural configuration—which featured a non-orthogonal design with acute and obtuse angles beneath a multifaceted roof—openly defying Paulista Brutalism. Despite the backlash, the house was built and eventually gained recognition: art critic Pietro Maria Bardi praised its relevance in 1967, followed by a feature in *Domus* magazine in 1968 and its inclusion in Yves Bruand’s seminal 1981 book [2].
Media and technology have been revolutionizing content creation across diverse niches, and architecture is no exception. YouTube channels, television shows, and specialized playlists on architecture and urbanism are just a few examples. Over the last few years, however, podcasts have emerged as a powerful alternative. Unlike other media, podcasts are an audio-only format shared across a wide range of platforms—from specialized websites to blogs. Today, there are countless listening options available, both Brazilian (as listed below) and international, as previously published by ArchDaily.
Finding specialized podcasts can be a daunting task. To help, we have gathered a list of nine Brazilian podcast channels for you to listen to. Put on your headphones and check them out:
The Son Jarocho Documentation Center is a cultural venue in the city of Jáltipan de Morelos. Dating back to 1998, its former headquarters suffered severe structural damage during the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico, which affected several regions. As a result, municipal authorities determined that it was necessary to rebuild the facility.
Bringing this project to fruition required the involvement of various institutions and fundraising events. Among these was a campaign led by Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade titled 'Un Canto por México' in Anaheim, California.
