Automation has become a major talking point—not only for its potential to replace countless low-income or low-skilled jobs, but also for its capacity to render entire professional careers obsolete through artificial intelligence and machine learning.

At ArchDaily, we opened the floor to this discussion in 2017 with an in-depth report on the subject, and we recently turned to our Instagram audience to ask what they think about automation. Do they believe it will affect them? Our readers seem confident: some argue that architecture is an art—or rather, a discipline centered on emotions—even if they overlook the standardization and modulation processes already established in the real estate market. According to those who responded to our poll, this emotional dimension inherent to architecture is precisely what makes it harder to automate.

In December of last year, the provincial government of San Luis, Argentina, alongside San Luis Agua, launched the Portales de los Lagos Provincial Ideas Competition. The objective was to design an icon to identify and showcase a key local natural resource: water. Read on to discover the first-prize-winning project in the words of its authors:

Even if you already know the answer, it is always worth reviewing key considerations regarding a building's square meters. Not only are they fundamental to determining construction costs and materials, but they also lay the groundwork for tax assessments and regulatory compliance. 

A spotlight illuminates a window opening in a Madrid building. A woman looks out. "I am a young, beautiful dove, full of hope," she declaims before breaking into Volare, the 1980s flamenco hit by the Gipsy Kings. This is one of the scenes from Kópera, the dystopian opera written by architects and neighborhood organizations for the first edition of Imagina Madrid.

In 2017, the experimental public art program of the Madrid City Council, coordinated by Intermediae, launched an open call to explore new forms of cultural intervention in the Spanish capital's public space. Out of 175 submissions, an international jury selected ideas, merged teams, reassigned proposals, and designated nine districts on Madrid's periphery. 

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"Since childhood, I had lived by the warmth of the stove that heats and at the same time gathers the family. Seeking that warmth was a necessity in southern Chile. Here in the tropics, it is the cooling shade that gathers us, and unlike the stove, it is everywhere."

Based in Costa Rica, Bruno Stagno does not simply initiate reflections on how environmental responses can form the basis of architectural inspiration and identity; he proposes to go further, advocating for an architecture tailored to a specific latitude.

Ruins are defined as structures, architectural remains, or constructions that have been partially or completely lost due to various factors (such as natural disasters, war, depopulation, abandonment, and lack of maintenance). They manifest as the material and tangible presence of a past era, representing the historical paradigm in which they were conceived and built. Their appeal lies in their ability to freeze a temporal plane different from current reality within the present, serving as a condensation of the ideals, interests, aspirations, questions, and challenges of a specific era. With this in mind, we present below a selection of 10 archaeological sites and ruins you can visit in Argentina.

Curious, inquisitive, and tenacious, Miguel Fisac [1913–2006] learned by doing. Fascinated by technology and construction, his direct on-site experience made up for everything that neither university nor books could teach or convey to him. Although his early work could be described as "academicist," within a few years the architect from Ciudad Real managed to shed this approach, turning instead to organic-patterned masonry and beams with bone-like logic. All of this was rooted in an intrinsic, personal commitment to creating a humanized architecture aligned with technical precision.

Every day, more architects are turning to virtual reality, driven by the rapid emergence of headsets and platforms. Architecture firms are seeking efficient ways to present their new developments, and VR technology is making a powerful impact in the visualization of unbuilt projects.

Data is a controversial topic in the twenty-first century. Policy-making regarding data collection and use lags behind, while its value continues to rise—turning any initiative in the sector into big business.

Videos

"Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain a three-dimensional model from a series of photographs," notes the video tutorial developed by 'Antes del Olvido'. The initiative seeks to generate a collective online archive to document the daily transformations seen in cities—particularly on monuments and facades—following Chile's social uprising.

Discussions of Amancio Williams's architecture typically focus on his built work—the tangible side of his profession. Yet beyond being a great architect, he was a researcher, creator, avant-gardist, and visionary. Constantly studying the technical possibilities of his era, he approached his theoretical development and architectural thinking as if the field were a laboratory.

This is evident in the projects Williams developed for dwellings in space (1942), the hall for plastic spectacle and sound in space (1942), the Buenos Aires airport (1945) the suspended office building (1946) and the first city in Antarctica (1980), which we explore below.

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One could say we have waited for sunset to rekindle the warmth of this experience—and thus blend nostalgia with the newly arrived autumn.

The end of summer has arrived in the southwestern hemisphere, and among the many new lessons each climate leaves behind in these parts, in one of Peru's warmest regions, TSI 2019 left footprints and works that sooner or later we would be ready to reveal. All, or most, of those who participated have already returned to their school or work routines, yet at the end of the season, this remains a place to return to.

Videos

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As part of the 2nd Placemaking Latinoamérica gathering –organized by Lugares Públicos A.C.– which took place in Mexico City during the first and second weeks of November, various activities were carried out, including the restoration of eight public spaces led by Mexican and Latin American participatory urban planning specialists in the boroughs of Cuauhtémoc, Iztacalco, and Miguel Hidalgo.

Rodrigo Schiavoni and Adán Yenerich, founding partners of SY arquitectos, have won the open competition organized as part of the eighth International Congress of the Spanish Language, held in the city of Córdoba from March 27 to 30, 2019. This competition called for the design of an urban-scale commemorative landmark to serve as a civic symbol.

Organized by the Córdoba Province Chamber of Tourism and open to artists, designers, and architects, this interdisciplinary competition called for the creation of urban-scale pieces to intervene in the public space of a prominent sector of the city: a portion of the historic founding district located just steps from the Jesuit Block, a site designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

On November 15 of last year, the national ideas and preliminary design competition for the Norpatagónico Hospital in Neuquén was launched. Organized by the provincial government through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the competition was endorsed by the Argentine Federation of Architects (FADEA) and sponsored by the College of Architects of Neuquén Province.

The site—where the objective was to build a facility that provides high-complexity services while connecting with the natural environment—is located on the Neuquén plateau and spans an area of 32,700 square meters. First prize was awarded to La Plata-based architects Guillermo Ariel Canutti, Bernardo Luna, Clara Gallardo, Agustín Ichuribehere, and Fernando Sebastián Fariña. Read on to discover the project in detail below.  

Videos

"An old skating area, a forgotten garden beneath bridges, and the reconstruction of a skatepark in a working-class neighborhood serve as the backdrops for this documentary. The parallel narrative of the construction of three new public spaces in Barcelona shows how once-marginalized territories are integrated into the urban fabric while respecting the site, its memory, its people, and its everyday life."

The premise of the documentary Landskating, directed by Kike Barberá, with a script and production by Sergi Carulla and Oscar Blasco (Scob), is highly promising. Filmed between 2013 and 2015, this period saw the realization of participatory processes led by the youth themselves, alongside the construction of Barcelona's first three urban sports parks: the Landskate Parks.

To mark the documentary's public premiere, we interviewed the team at SCOB to learn more about their work.

The Venice Architecture Biennale is an event organized by the Italian State that brings together some of the world's most prestigious international architecture exhibitions. The Giardini and the Arsenale serve as the event's main venues. These spaces have hosted various exhibitions, national pavilions, and collateral events spread throughout Venice.

Together with a group of researchers, over the last five years we have been studying working-class housing developments in southern Chile: the coal basin in Lota, Schwager, and Pilpilco; the textile towns of Bellavista and Carlos Mahns in Tomé; and the working-class settlements in Valdivia and Magallanes.

Videos

A few months ago, we witnessed how one of the most iconic Gothic monuments in Paris and Europe was consumed by a massive fire that broke out shortly before sunset. The fire reached the north tower of the cathedral's twin belfries, claiming the cathedral spire, which was part of a 19th-century addition built with a timber and lead structure.

An architectural project can always be viewed through a different lens. This time, Fernando Ayuso—creator of "Reflejos," a tribute to Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion—offers a new perspective on the Sant Antoni - Joan Oliver Library by RCR Arquitectes. The video aims to explore an often-overlooked aspect: the building's relationship with "nature" within an urban context.

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In the fall of 2017, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck at least nine Mexican states, leaving several areas severely damaged across Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Guerrero, and the State of Mexico. Jojutla, a municipality in Morelos, was among the hardest hit, left in ruins after the September 19 disaster. Much of the local infrastructure was devastated, prompting a master plan initiated by Infonavit to reconstruct the municipality's primary public buildings.

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In 1900, Dr. José Ignacio Capetillo and his wife, María de la Luz Servín, purchased the land located at General Prim 32 from Archbishop Eulogio Gregorio Gillow. On this site, the Capetillo-Servín family began construction on an apartment building commissioned to architect Manuel Gorozpe, who designed it in the eclectic style characteristic of the period and completed construction in 1906. 

Global South, resilience, buildtech, and new materials: as 2019 comes to a close, we look back on a year rich in research and reflection, approaching architecture from different perspectives to support the millions of readers worldwide who visit ArchDaily every day.

Aiming to offer inspiration, knowledge, and tools, we have published hundreds of articles on topics as diverse as your views on the built environment. With this in mind, read on for our selection of the year. Goodbye 2019, hello 2020! 

The family of José Antonio Coderch [1913-1984] has handed over the Catalan architect's significant archive to the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. With this acquisition, the renowned Madrid museum seeks to follow the path forged by other contemporary art institutions, such as the MoMA in New York or the Pompidou in Paris. Because these institutions already feature dedicated architecture departments, the Reina Sofía aims to expand its own holdings, incorporating both architectural movements and the individual professionals who shaped the art of building. This initiative has been promoted for several years under the leadership of the museum's director, Manuel Borja-Villel.

The archive, which was stored in a utility room at the home of one of Coderch's children, consists of 9,800 documents organized across 875 folders and dating from 1941 to 1978. It includes plans and sketches of his architectural projects; designs, photographs, and negatives of his works, alongside family photos; professional correspondence; invoices and receipts for each project; as well as magazines, books, publications, and scale models; portraits of the architect, several of his numerous awards, and personal belongings.