By definition, architecture is the art and technique of planning, designing, constructing, and modifying the human habitat. However, my own professional career has constantly forced me to confront the same question: if you are an architect and you don't design, are you still an architect?

We have finally reached the last day of 2018, a year marked by a series of architectural trends, novel proposals presented in competitions, biennials, and architecture fairs, and above all, punctuated by a sea of projects reflecting the concerns of architects proposing new directions for the discipline. Now, after 365 days of many surprises for the world of architecture, it is time to celebrate and give thanks for another year—and what better way to welcome 2019 than to the sound of great music? With this in mind, our editorial team has curated a special selection: featuring the moving sounds of Coldplay and John Lennon, festive beats from Bruno Mars and Alok, and Brazilian classics by Elis Regina and João Gilberto.

Check out the full New Year's Eve playlist below.

When there is a balanced combination of complementary activities in a given neighborhood (meaning a mix of housing, workplaces, commerce, and services), a significant portion of its residents' daily trips can remain short and walkable. Diverse uses, with different peak hours throughout the day, help keep streets busy and safe for longer, stimulating pedestrian and cyclist activity and promoting a lively human environment where people want to live. This also helps balance public transit demand, resulting in a more efficient and sustainable operation over longer periods of the day. People of all age groups, genders, and income levels can safely interact in public spaces.

Active cities are those where the population can make healthier, more sustainable choices. To make this possible, cities must provide access to high-quality public spaces and services for everyone, ensuring they can walk, rest, play, and exercise in plazas, parks, and public facilities. Active cities are also compact, where the proximity between housing and work, school, services, and leisure makes walking, cycling, and public transit networks more efficient and better distributed across the territory. Consequently, opting for walking or cycling for daily commutes becomes viable. For this reason, active cities are, inherently, more walkable.

More than a decade ago, I decided to study contemporary architecture while simultaneously teaching history and criticism, with an emphasis on the last century. The thrilling trajectory of architecture during this period is as surprising and prolific as it undoubtedly was during the Renaissance. Names like Gropius, Jeanneret, Mies, Wright, Costa, Niemeyer, Tange, Bonet, Williams, Scharoun, Terragni, or Aalto represent a group of brilliant architects, much like historical figures such as Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Bramante, Tintoretto, Titian, Masaccio, Botticelli, Palladio, Alberti, and Vignola were to their art starting in the fifteenth century. Modernity in architecture and art undoubtedly possesses the character of a revolutionary period, one of monumental contributions and a turning point in history.

Today, the construction industry faces growing demand for environmentally friendly projects, such as green building certifications and energy efficiency standards. Consequently, raising awareness about the ecological value of timber is essential, as it serves as a renewable alternative to other materials that are more energy-intensive and generate high CO2 emissions.

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Fitting a ramp into a layout can be a designer's nightmare. But anyone who has ever had to climb a steep ramp in a wheelchair or push someone else knows firsthand how much of a difference a well-designed ramp makes. NBR 9050, from 2015, establishes the technical criteria and parameters to be observed in the design, construction, installation, and adaptation of buildings, furniture, spaces, and urban equipment to ensure accessibility.

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In 1988, upon the death of Luis Barragán, a process began to manage the assets he bequeathed to a group of architects based in Guadalajara, Jalisco. This led to the creation of the Fundación de Arquitectura Tapatía Luis Barragán, established to safeguard a portion of his real estate, his library, and certain personal belongings. Consequently, the foundation secured the necessary funding to acquire the Luis Barragán House and Studio, preserving it as the house-museum it is today.

We spoke with architect Salvador Macías, co-founder of Estudio Macías Peredo, who now directs this venue, which aims to provide a public space for reflection and the dissemination of architecture.

Walking through São Paulo without seeing cars and trucks brings me an almost surreal happiness, imagining for a moment that the city actually worked, that Jane Jacobs's dream has come true. Simultaneously, another aesthetic sentiment inevitably emerges—a feeling of the "end of the world." This second impulse materializes as a constructive thought that has nothing to do with moral fatalism, let alone tragedy. It is simply the end of a world that the Industrial Revolution, alongside liberal capitalism, has "schooled" us to accept for two centuries. This was the world of infinite natural "resources," of the dream of endless energy abundance, and of voracious consumption desires. Dreams that were not even ours.

Documenting the urban landscape is a task photographers have undertaken almost since the birth of photography in the second half of the nineteenth century. Inexhaustible, the city continues to serve as raw material for photography, which, in turn, offers an image of the city that is simultaneously identical to and distinct from what is felt when experiencing the urban space.

Mauro Restiffe is perhaps one of the photographers who most deeply experiences the city and its residual spaces—an aspect that becomes immediately apparent upon viewing the selection of photographs chosen for the exhibition São Paulo, Out of Reach, on display at the Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo, curated by Thyago Nogueira. Bringing together photos that record moments of urban transformation and decay in places such as Cracolândia, Bom Retiro, Luz, Itaquera, and Ipiranga, among other neighborhoods, Restiffe composes a fragmented image of São Paulo between 2012 and 2014. Yet—partly due to his technique and, above all, his gaze—it also represents other eras of this metropolis.

Revit templates are the starting point for working in Revit, as they contain the basic elements and settings required to work on any project type. Consequently, each architecture firm creates different templates for its various projects.

Whether you are just starting to work in Revit or looking to supplement your existing templates, we present two templates containing everything you need to successfully begin in the BIM world, available in 2017 and 2018 versions.

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The team led by architect and University of Chile academic Claudia Torres has documented a series of industrial ruins in rural areas throughout Chile for the project “From Noise to Silence: Valuing Industrial Ruins in Rural Areas,” a research initiative funded by Fondart 2017.

On this occasion, the project team —Claudia Torres, Sandro Maino, Ricardo Labra, Valentina Soto, and Laura Gallardo— share the story of the mechanized pier of Caldera, a symbol of the iron ore mining boom in Chile.

In the 1950s, small- and medium-scale copper mining went through a period of depression, giving rise to iron mining, which grew exponentially in the Atacama and Coquimbo regions. Many of the copper and saltpeter miners left unemployed by the crisis were absorbed by the flourishing iron mining industry.

In any profession, it is common for children to follow in their parents' footsteps, motivated by the environment they grew up in and inspired by a passion for the craft. Architecture is no exception. Growing up surrounded by sketches, floor plans, and coffee seems to spark the desire to pursue the same career.

In celebration of Father's Day, observed in Brazil this coming Sunday, August 12, we have compiled a list of architects who followed in their fathers' footsteps. Read on below:

Adolf Loos, Joaquín Vaquero Palacios, Fernando Moreno Barberá, Norman Foster, and the bicentennial of the Museo del Prado are just some of the key names and milestones set to take over Spanish museums in 2018.

Here are 10 highly recommended architecture exhibitions for the new year that offer a rich and compelling cultural lineup. They span Spanish and international architects, iconic buildings from Spain's architectural history, and the profound impact of emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality—on the field of architecture. 

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Few cities worldwide have had the courage to tax vehicle circulation—even though existing examples have, so far, been positive. It has fallen to Buenos Aires to launch the first policy of this kind in Latin America. Starting now, the city government will charge for the time saved by those who insist on driving in the historic center (known as Microcentro) of the Argentine capital and in the Retiro neighborhood between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The city joins a list whose prominent names include Singapore, London, Stockholm, and Milan.

Although we are all pedestrians, those behind the wheel often fail to respect the space, time, or priority of people on foot. This is one of the reasons walking in cities remains a challenge. Beyond public safety concerns, the road hierarchy and resulting urban design of Brazilian streets hinder the fulfillment of basic pedestrian rights.

Joaquim Manoel Guedes Sobrinho was a Brazilian architect and urbanist who graduated in 1954 from the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP)—as part of the institution's third graduating class—and was a leading figure of the so-called “Paulista School.” A prominent aspect of his professional practice was his partnership with his wife, Liliana Marsicano, with whom he established a lasting collaboration on a series of projects until 1974.

Aiming to offer low-income households genuine flexibility for expansion and adaptation during their housing process, the Robotic Timber Framing group at the Department of Architecture of the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, led by Luis Felipe González and Francisco Quitral, is developing timber housing structures that can be freely assembled and transformed by their occupants.

Without the need for metal fasteners, the components are joined using mortise and tenon joints, a process carried out by an industrial robot equipped with cutting tools.

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I have been writing about gentrification for some time now. However, over the past week, two reports in particular caught my attention regarding how the topic is stirring up debate in two very different places: California and Berlin.

Interestingly, both cases boil down to the same underlying reason: the risk of gentrification in these cities is largely driven by the impact of innovation ecosystems on local real estate dynamics.

Therefore, this article aims to reflect on how Americans and Germans are tackling the issue, each in their own way. Furthermore, what lessons can we draw from these experiences, given that this could soon affect Brazilian cities rising in the national entrepreneurship and innovation scene?

In the constant ebb and flow of those moving through the city of São Paulo, you have likely noticed the distinctive graphic pattern repeated across various sidewalks. The classic pattern behind the modules that graphically form the map of the state of São Paulo was created in 1966 by architect and artist Mirthes dos Santos Pinto. It all began in the 1960s when then-mayor João Vicente Faria Lima launched a competition to design the city's new pavement. Mirthes, who at the time worked as a drafter for the São Paulo Municipal Works Department, created a stylized map of the State of São Paulo. Using square modules of black and white geometric tiles, the design alternated between solid colors and diagonally split tiles to create a continuous pattern.

There are now more than 350 Colombian projects published on ArchDaily. To celebrate this milestone, we have curated a selection that highlights the invaluable role of architectural models in conceptualizing, designing, and constructing contemporary Colombian architecture.

Far from the photorealism now achieved by 3D rendering specialists, the physical model endures as a critical tool for conceptual, spatial, structural, and constructive exploration, as showcased in the following selection:

When discussing Le Corbusier, a portion of his work—especially the early villas designed in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret—is often dubbed the “White Villas.” It is curious that this color, white, remains so closely associated with the architect, rather than him having a “blue” period like Picasso or a “gold” period like Klimt.

When and why was the term “White Villas” coined for Le Corbusier's work? Could the whiteness of his buildings have been misunderstood, much like Greek art? This notion of whiteness was highly useful for laying the foundations of Neoclassicism in its time, yet it is entirely removed from the rich palette of colors that graced those works during the Hellenic period.

The lessons that can be drawn from visiting or studying a work of architecture are both many and varied. Whether we focus on programming, construction details, material solutions, relationship to context, siting, or any other aspect, these considerations yield clear concepts that can later be applied to our own projects.

With this in mind, and recognizing that there are multiple ways to approach an architectural problem, we have compiled a list of design strategies that define specific spatial qualities in classics of Chilean residential architecture, grouping together some of the most remarkable design moves from each case.

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For optimal and wider propagation of TV and radio frequencies, antennas must be positioned in strategic and, above all, elevated locations. When the local topography is unfavorable, the construction of broadcasting towers and masts becomes essential. Yet, beyond serving a crucial function, these structures stand as visual landmarks, offering an extraordinary opportunity to transform urban infrastructure into pieces of unique aesthetic value. Renowned architects and their teams have designed radio and television towers that marry rigorous structural engineering with the plastic inventiveness of their chosen design solutions. We have selected a brief collection of television and radio transmission towers. See them below: