The city of Brasília, inaugurated in April 1960, is perhaps one of the greatest milestones of how architecture, urbanism, and national politics intertwine. The result of Juscelino Kubitschek's government program, which promised "50 years of progress in 5," the city stands as a testament to modernism, revealing political strategies of the era such as heavy investment in the automotive industry and the widespread use of reinforced concrete. While Brasília is a milestone in global architecture, its very existence stems from political and economic strategies implemented by the government in the late 1950s. With the 2022 elections fast approaching, it is crucial for us, as a professional field, to understand how our profession is impacted by the presidency and what we can demand from the executive branch.
On November 21, we celebrate World Television Day, a communication tool that has transformed social relations since its invention in the late 19th century and its industrial widespread adoption beginning in the 1920s. Since then, television programs—inheriting theatrical genres—emerged, evolved, and multiplied, taking center stage in daily life and sparking widespread curiosity about how they work. Among their various aspects, we explore the set designs and present the logic behind television environments.
Beyond Pelé and Maradona, November marks the celebration of Brazil-Argentina Friendship Day. Established in 2018, the date (November 30) aims to highlight diplomatic and commercial relations between the two nations. Together, Brazil and Argentina account for 63% of South America's total land area, 60% of its population, and 61% of its GDP, establishing themselves as key trading partners.
We are used to looking at architecture as large objects situated within the urban fabric or natural landscape, establishing new relationships with their surroundings. However, our daily lives also unfold inside these buildings as we enter, occupy, and interact with them. Consequently, we establish relationships with the built environment immediately around us. Architecture must therefore address the macro scale—such as climate and neighborhood context—while simultaneously attending to the micro scale of finishes, textures, and colors.
Numerous details shape the experience of a building's residents and users; when carefully explored, they elevate the quality of the project and stimulate the senses. These details can be structural, aesthetic, or functional.
The bedroom is one of the most intimate spaces in a home. It is where we rest and escape our daily routines to recharge. Many view the bedroom as a sanctuary, a sacred space of intimacy and care. Beyond a comfortable bed, the room can be styled with elements that foster rest, leisure, and retreat.
While comfort is highly subjective, general design principles can help guide your decisions to create the best possible bedroom layout. Beyond large windows with breathtaking views, you can transform a bedroom simply by changing the layout and the type of bed, adding decorative or functional objects, or even incorporating other zones, such as a home office or a TV area. Below, we explore some ideas on how to transform and style your bedroom.
Structural design is predicated on ensuring the stability of a proposed building based on the chosen materials and construction techniques. To do so, calculations must account for different types of loads, such as the self-weight of the materials, the building's use, and its occupancy patterns, which are classified as either variable or permanent.
Within the scope of construction, a budget is a technical planning tool that forecasts project expenses, combining materials, labor, monthly overhead, and indirect costs. Nevertheless, many risk starting a build without a detailed budget, often falling into the traps of an unplanned project—which is invariably more expensive and time-consuming than anticipated.
In civil construction, a budget is a document that outlines all the services to be executed during the project, totaling the necessary materials and required labor. In addition, the budget can factor in fixed monthly operational costs, such as utilities, or include an extra percentage for contingencies.
The relationship between architecture and structure has been widely discussed and is repeatedly revisited by architects with every new project. Much like plumbing and electrical systems, the structural system is one of the essential disciplines that make up a building. Yet, it is one of the most impactful on the architectural outcome, directly shaping the spatial experience and the chosen materiality. Mastering structural design and understanding how to best integrate it into the architectural project grants architects greater autonomy and expands the possibilities of design solutions.
Selecting a structural system and deciding how to incorporate it into the architectural design is a pivotal decision in any project. On one hand, architects can choose to absorb structural elements, camouflaging them within the building envelope to make them imperceptible. On the other, the structural system can be brought to the forefront, turning into a defining feature of the design—whether through its structural logic, its materiality, or by being elevated to a nearly sculptural element.
This article explores a term widely used to describe self-organized collective labor, but which also carries a meaning of anti-hegemonic struggle when used as a synonym for self-managed projects. The practice of mutirões prompts a reflection on the importance of collective work and grassroots struggle, and how architectural practice and civil construction relate to these themes.
Image of the Santos waterfront. Image via Reportagem de Altair Santos
In the 1970s, buildings along the waterfront of Santos, in São Paulo, began to tilt, sparking curiosity among residents and visitors alike. This phenomenon can be seen as the result of rapid and unregulated urbanization, manifesting as a technical issue in the buildings' construction.
Santos, one of the largest cities on the São Paulo coast, with an estimated population of over 430,000 (IBGE 2020), located in the Baixada Santista metropolitan area near the city of São Paulo, was one of the first settlements to be established after Portuguese colonization in the 16th century. Prior to this, however, its territory was dominated by the Atlantic Forest biome and inhabited by Indigenous peoples, such as the Guarani Mbya and Tupi-Guarani.
The relationship between mental health and architects, particularly architecture students, is not a new concern. In a world where stress is one of the greatest challenges of the century—affecting over 90% of the global population according to the World Health Organization (WHO)—the field of architecture and its practices, both academic and professional, have normalized stress and anxiety as intrinsic to the profession. However, recent student surveys reveal deep dissatisfaction with this reality, which has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Is it time, therefore, to reassess institutional practices and push for a cultural shift?
Beyond viewing the home as mere shelter and protection, there is now a much greater complexity of functions integrated into the elementary programs of dwelling. We no longer think only of spaces for sleeping, cooking, and bathing, but rather of a series of new programs that demand new spaces and configurations. Among these, leisure emerges as an activity integrated into living, in the form of backyards, swimming pools, and TV rooms.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Photo by Alessio Maffeis, via Unsplash
Everything built through human physical and intellectual labor carries meaning. It is within physical matter that we find the remains of ancient civilizations, and through these records, we understand their characteristics, the technologies involved, and their social organization. Cities and major urban centers hold layers upon layers of events recorded in their streets, buildings, plazas, and parks. Often, depending on the development of the place, this evidence is gradually erased, disregarded, and altered.
Red House. Photo by Ethan Doyle White, via Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
William Morris was one of the leading figures of the 19th-century Arts and Crafts movement. Guided by his political ideals, his practice spanned architecture, decoration, and design, eventually extending to writing—always striving to foster workplaces as spaces of pleasure and contemplation.
Squares are open spaces within the urban fabric, defined by buildings or streets, that facilitate a variety of gatherings and social and cultural activities. Whether intentionally planned or remnants of the urban layout, squares are fundamental to the life and culture of the community, and they proved even more vital following the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we present nine small-scale squares that demonstrate the diverse uses and functions these spaces can assume in contemporary cities.
Houses are the most intimate structures we as architects can design. It is no coincidence that intimacy, security, and privacy are recurring concepts in residential architecture. Yet, like all architecture, houses are inevitably embedded in a context—an environment with which they must engage. There are many ways to achieve this, particularly within highly dense urban fabrics, as is the case in many Brazilian cities.
Statue of Bandeirante Borba Gato on fire, São Paulo. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter
On August 17, Brazil celebrated National Heritage Day, 21 days after a protest set fire to the statue of Bandeirante Borba Gato in the southern zone of São Paulo. This contradiction opens up an important discussion: how are we constructing memory in our cities? What are we valuing as our country's heritage?
The term historical and cultural heritage refers to the tangible and intangible creations of a given culture within society. What defines a cultural asset as heritage is its historical and social relevance, which can be linked to collective and individual memory, as it is through these memories that we understand the past. From an architectural perspective, the term heritage is constantly associated with historic buildings that typically embody Catholic religious values or the bourgeois lifestyle of the elite.
Mosaic tiles, ceramics, porcelain, wall tiles: when it comes to finishes, there are countless possibilities to choose from to add character and identity to our projects. However, faced with the sheer variety available on the market, choosing among them can be challenging. In this article, we will explore the differences between these cold tiles and offer tips on how to choose the option that best fits your project.
