Felipe Camus, a photographer who has documented ELEMENTAL's project, shares his reflections on Ochoquebradas.

“On Growth and Form”, written by biologist and mathematician D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson [1860-1948], is considered the greatest work of prose in twentieth-century science, highlighting the role of physics and mechanics in determining the form and structure of organisms. The book immediately became a classic for exploring natural geometries in the dynamics of growth and physical processes. Thompson reveals himself to be a great scientist, sensitive to the fascination and beauty of the natural world, writing in a style that led the specialized press to call his work “as much good literature as science; a discourse on science as if it were a matter of humanity.”

The theme of children's absence in the contemporary city, and the search for solutions that enable their mobility with greater autonomy and playfulness, guided a study of about 130 children, aged 7 to 12, from different social backgrounds, residing in the Consolação district of São Paulo. After walking, talking, and drawing with the children to map an ideal route between the local square and school, an intervention proposal [2] was developed, weaving together the Vila Buarque and Higienópolis neighborhoods, aimed at bringing children out to play in groups, outdoors, every day.

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The 5th edition of Portugal's PNAM (National Wood Architecture Prize) was awarded on November 8 at the Monastery of Alcobaça. Organized by the Association of Wood and Furniture Industries of Portugal (AIMMP), the Portuguese Chamber of Architects (OA), and the Portuguese Construction and Real Estate Confederation (CPCI), the biennial award is open to Portuguese architects who choose wood as a primary material for their projects.

Discover the award-winning projects below. 

From nostalgic parquet flooring to more sophisticated wood species, timber is a material capable of providing a high degree of comfort when used as a floor finish in architectural projects. Beyond its obvious aesthetic appeal, its characteristics contribute to a welcoming ambiance and can also meet acoustic and thermal comfort parameters, which explains why the material is so prevalent in residential design.

There is something compelling about the way air—an incredibly fleeting and invisible medium—can shape a wide variety of forms. This fascination has captured our imagination since childhood, when we were first drawn to the lightness, color, playfulness, and variety of inflatables.

Occupying rooftops is an ancient practice; however, it was only with the Modern Movement and Le Corbusier's five points of architecture that the "fifth facade" began to be explored to its full potential. Pilotis, a free plan, ribbon windows, and a free facade combined with the rooftop garden to establish the guidelines for this new architecture. While Modernism as a universal language collapsed, many of its principles endure in contemporary architecture.

Following a debate held last Monday (04/08/19) at its headquarters regarding models for public metropolitan planning companies, the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil - Departamento de São Paulo (IABsp) expresses its concern over Bill (PL) 01/2019. Submitted by the State Government to the Legislative Assembly, the bill proposes, among other mergers and extinctions of public agencies, the shutdown of the Empresa Metropolitana de Planejamento (Emplasa). Established in 1975, Emplasa is responsible for regional planning and plays a key role in the necessary restructuring of inter-federative governance in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, aligned with the guidelines of the Statute of the Metropolis, enacted in 2015.

According to the 2016 report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), there are 881 million people living in slums in cities across the developing world, and it is estimated that by 2025, another 1.6 billion people will likely need adequate and affordable housing. In light of these projections, there has been much discussion about Social Interest Housing (referred to as HIS in Brazil) and how projects in this field can help address the housing deficit. But what, exactly, does this term mean?

In Brazil, an increasing number of people are choosing to live in apartments rather than houses. Mirroring this trend, the supply of residential buildings with diverse floor plans and typologies has grown at a similar pace. In this context, and aiming to evoke the feeling of a standalone house, developers are increasingly offering lofts and duplex apartments. These layouts foster spatial openness, functional design, and enhanced natural light and ventilation through large openings and glass expanses. Additionally, double-height ceilings establish a visual connection between different floors, among other features that provide greater comfort to residents.

We can initially understand the concept of revitalization as a design practice or a socio-spatial process strategically led by specific groups associated with contemporary urban planning. The structuring of the contemporary city depends, according to Meyer (2000), on large-scale strategic urban projects. The strategic value of such projects, according to the author, hinges on their ability to trigger significant transformations in metropolitan space, enhancing its attractiveness and influence. Rather than simply offering localized and specific urban improvements, contemporary urban planning reveals itself, through the intentions of its proponents, as an instrument capable of promoting the cohesion of the metropolitan territory and organizing flows to prevent functional and spatial dispersion.

Landscape design is a fundamental component of various architectural typologies, particularly for integrating buildings with their surroundings and establishing connections between spaces. While vegetation is most commonly found outdoors, incorporating indoor gardens can completely transform a project's atmosphere.

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Five Brazilians die in traffic accidents every hour. While highly critical statistics like this can spark positive reactions, they are not always enough to change reality on their own. However, knowing that in the city of São Paulo intersections concentrate more accidents per kilometer, and that these rose by 5% from 2017 to 2018, provides decision-makers with the concrete data needed to implement measures to reduce these numbers. Acting on the most dangerous intersections will save lives.

The following reflections emerged from SENEMAU, the National Seminar of Model Offices of Architecture and Urbanism, which took place in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, from August 9 to 18, 2019. This national gathering, held since 1997, brought together 12 student collectives from various cities across the country for an immersive experience focused on university outreach and the social and political role of architects and urban planners. The self-managed student gathering hosted an exhibition of works, debates on various themes, and immersive experiences in areas of interest across the city. 

The broad scope of the term Right to the City can make it difficult to grasp, as its complexity demands a broader perspective on urban issues, going beyond the scope of architecture to necessarily encompass social, historical, cultural, economic, political, gender, and racial aspects. The overlapping of these—and several other—variables within the urban landscape can serve as the starting point for understanding the notion of the right to the city.

In the popular imagination, *cortiços* (tenement houses) represented the worst of urban housing in Brazilian cities. Deeply rooted in the national culture and immortalized in Aluísio Azevedo’s classic novel, *cortiços* were depicted as unsanitary, dilapidated dwellings where disease proliferated, the margins of society lived, and landlords exploited tenants with extortionate rents.

A quality public transit system does not depend on buses alone: its overall quality is also directly linked to adjacent elements—such as bus stops. In all cities participating in the QualiÔnibus Benchmarking Group, bus stops were identified by the public as one of the most problematic components. But what can cities do to improve them?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? At first, it may seem strange to imagine that we have not always had windows in our buildings, let alone that they were sealed with a transparent material capable of allowing natural light into dark rooms or creating a barrier against the cold: glass.

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A desperate child screams in the middle of Dom José Gaspar Square in downtown São Paulo, pleading for them not to hurt her mother. She cries as she watches her being forcibly dragged by municipal agents from the cart where she sold fruit daily to the square's patrons. Her mother cries as well, trying to explain to the agents that the fruit and the cart were all she had to support her daughter. Moved, onlookers watch the scene and try to reason with the subdistrict officials, but they keep confiscating the goods—after all, “orders are orders.” 

But what is the “order” that governs public spaces? 

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has released the 2019 edition of its annual ranking of the world's top universities in the field of architecture. This year, UCL (University College London) took the lead, a position held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States for the past four editions.

In Latin America, institutions from Chile, Brazil, and Mexico occupy the top three spots, respectively. See the top 10 below: 

It is essential that offices, workshops, and studios are attractive not only to clients but also to employees, who spend an average of one-third of their day in these environments. A poorly designed workspace can make the workday exhausting and discouraging. To prevent this, architectural design decisions can energize the space and promote team integration, even when the footprint is limited.

Emmanuel leaves home with his two daughters at 5:00 a.m. every morning. They take a minibus from their home in Awoshie, a residential neighborhood in Accra, Ghana, to the business district where Emmanuel works. The round trip usually costs $0.90—equivalent to about 20% of the average daily wage in Accra—and takes well over an hour. When traffic is heavy, the cost doubles. To save on a bus fare, Emmanuel sometimes sits one daughter on the other's lap.

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Through its Seminar on Culture and Contemporary Reality, Escola da Cidade invited Pedro Abramovay, Eduardo Ferreira Valério, and Paula Santoro to discuss social rights and the city. This topic has become increasingly urgent and sensitive when discussing any possibility of a democratic and empathetic city. In this video, the panel discusses some of the historical roots and contemporary issues surrounding this theme.

As part of our monthly topic (travel), we invited several Brazilian and Portuguese architecture firms to suggest buildings and public spaces in their respective cities that are well worth a visit. In Brazil, projects in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Olinda, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, and Porto Alegre will inspire our readers to get to know the country better—or cross the Atlantic to visit works in the Portuguese cities of Guimarães, Porto, and Lisbon.