This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

Modular units will house people experiencing homelessness in São Paulo. The project, named Vila Reencontro, was launched in the Bom Retiro neighborhood—though the proposed site is currently being analyzed for potential soil contamination—and is now expanding to Ladeira da Memória Street, near the Anhangabaú Metro station in the city center.

Led by SMADS (Municipal Secretariat of Assistance and Social Development), the initiative provides temporary housing made from shipping containers, functioning as modular metal homes.

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The 7th {CURA} Award has announced the winners of its competition, which focused on designing support facilities for app delivery workers. The competition invited participants to design across three scales — city, building, and furniture —, offering a comprehensive response to the needs of these professionals whose work grew more widespread yet increasingly precarious during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Saint-Gobain Group and the Brazilian Association of Architecture Firms (AsBEA) have announced the winners of the 9th edition of the Saint-Gobain AsBEA Architecture Award. The award celebrated projects that offer comfort and innovative solutions, while also preserving the environment and promoting sustainability within the Brazilian construction industry.

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From February 22 to 26, 2023, the International Contemporary Art Fair ARCOmadrid will take place at IFEMA Madrid. HANGHAR and estudio DIIR, both Madrid-based architecture firms, have been selected to design the fair's VIP Lounge. Its central theme, "The Mediterranean: A Round Sea," serves as the starting point and inspiration for this proposal, titled VERBENA.

Combining art, nature, and architecture, Barcelona-based practices Mendoza Partida (Héctor Mendoza and Mara Partida) and BAX studio (Boris Bezan) have joined forces to design Art-Sauna, an experience conceived as a continuation of the emotional journey at the Gösta Serlachius Museum of Contemporary Art in Mänttä, Finland. With a subtle, intimate, and domestic scale, this new space joins the complex, harmonizing the dialogue between these three variables and integrating the building into the journey by merging it with the terrain and making it part of the landscape.

Archiplan S.A. has won the Industrialized Social Housing Competition organized by Chile's Ministry of Housing and Urbanism. Part of the government's Housing Development Plan, the initiative includes the construction of 60 homeownership units in the Lo Espejo district and 103 fair-rent housing units in the Renca district.

Young people from the Quebrada Agroecógica collective received the ImaGen Ventures award during COP-27, the world's largest climate change summit, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The collective brings low-cost mini-cisterns to informal settlements and low-income communities.

A new urban park under the Santa Ifigênia Viaduct, a lookout on Senador Queirós Avenue, wider sidewalks and reorganized traffic at Alfredo Issa Square, increased green space at Dr. João Mendes Square, and a redesigned Clóvis Beviláqua Square for public use. These are some of the urban design solutions presented by the winners of the Reinventing Cities São Paulo International Competition to revitalize four public spaces in the city's downtown.

The public can now experience the virtual version of the traveling exhibition 7 Povos – Retratos de um Território. This is a restaging of the exhibition that has already taken place in person at three venues across the country: the Memorial do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre (RS); the Sítio Arqueológico de São Miguel Arcanjo in São Miguel das Missões (RS); and the Paço Imperial Cultural Heritage Center (CCPPI) in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). With the launch of the online version, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) aims to bring the exhibition to an even broader audience, both in Brazil and internationally.

As part of the celebrations for its 158th anniversary, Campina Grande, Paraíba, has launched a national design competition for the revitalization of its Central Market. The competition is promoted by the City of Campina Grande and organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), with support from the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR), the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Paraíba (CAU/PB), the Institute of Architects of Brazil – Paraíba Department (IAB/PB), and the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).

The Association of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires District VIII launched a provincial preliminary design competition for the design of its headquarters in the town of Saladillo.

In 2020, Trenzando launched the “Ideas for the Rehabilitation of Railway Stations” competition, designed as an opportunity to showcase the richness of this heritage, which includes 170 stations connected to the country's railway network. The open call received around 100 proposals for the rehabilitation of the San Rosendo and Yumbel stations in the Biobío Region, Rungue in the Metropolitan Region, and Ocoa in the Valparaíso Region.

A floating solar farm capable of tracking the sun's rays is being tested in the Netherlands. The prototype, dubbed Proteus, was selected as a finalist for the European Inventor Award, which celebrates the best and most innovative inventions.

Although it was not chosen for the European award, the plant demonstrated its technological potential. Its panels rotate slowly on two axes, using mechanical, geospatial, and light sensors to precisely track the elevation of the sun's path as it moves from east to west. This increases the farm's energy production capacity, allowing it to generate around 73 kilowatts of power.

CAU Brasil has launched its campaign for the 2022 Architect and Urbanist Day. To mark the occasion, celebrated on December 15, a variety of content is being published featuring real-life stories of architects who have overcome various challenges in both their careers and personal lives. The goal is to promote professional appreciation by showing how architecture and urbanism improve people's quality of life.

Following the open call for the Eco Pavilion 2023, 172 entries were received from 16 Mexican states and three countries. After reviewing all first-phase portfolios, the Technical Committee announced the selection of seven teams to develop a specific project based on the guidelines of the curatorial proposal “ZERO TIME. A reflection on time, the Anthropocene, and tangential resistance,” curated by architect Gabriela Carrillo.

Sponsored by the Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation (Bogotá), the Tatamá Foundation, and the Santo Domingo Foundation, the Tatamá Hospital Architectural Competition aims to improve the quality of healthcare services in western Colombia. With advisory support from the School of Architecture and Design at the Universidad de los Andes, the project involves constructing a healthcare complex covering approximately 36,000 m2 in an expanding area of the municipality of Pereira, Risaralda.

The architecture firm Vaillo + Irigaray Architects has won the competition to design the new building for the Donostia International Physics Center Foundation in San Sebastián, Spain. The proposal aims to expand existing activities by creating an emblematic, iconic, and recognizable building to enhance the DIPC's image as a leading research center at the forefront of physics.

From January 14 to 22, 2023, the XXII Chile Architecture and Urbanism Biennial will finally take place in the area surrounding Palacio de La Moneda, Santiago. The theme of this edition, "Vulnerable Habitats," seeks to address the country's urgent challenges surrounding the housing deficit and access to housing, along with the vulnerability of cities and territories reflected in their public spaces, heritage, and environmental issues.

The Architects Association of Chile along with the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, organizers of this event—which held its previous edition in 2019—have recently announced the results of their open calls: 50 works and projects will be part of the National Architecture Exhibition, and 36 initiatives will join the Meetings and Debates Program. See the complete list below.

The firm Apparatus Architects, led by Brazilian architect Gabriella Gama and Portuguese architect Filipe Lourenço, was invited by the Portuguese Red Cross Health School (ESSCVP) to develop a rehabilitation and expansion project for the new school in the Alcântara Valley, Lisbon. Initially, the project consisted of creating a space for a vocational clinic, but it expanded in scope when the architects proposed renovating the entire tower.

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On October 10, 2023, more than 200,000 Brazilian architects and urban planners will choose their representatives for CAU Brasil and CAU/UF for the 2024–2026 term.

Activities related to the 2023 CAU Elections begin on January 1, starting with a campaign to update professional registration data, ensuring everyone can vote and run for office. The deadline to complete the update is May 31.

The "Public Spaces in the City of Hope" competition in José Carlos Mariátegui - San Juan de Lurigancho has announced its winners. Promoted by the CENCA Urban Development Institute in partnership with Ocupa tu Calle, the initiative is part of the project "Promoting sustainable, fair, and participatory social and environmental transformation processes on the hillsides of San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Peru," led by CENCA and supported by the German Ministry and the "City of Hope" institutional strategic proposal.

In April 2021, French lawmakers voted to ban short-haul domestic flights on routes that can be traveled by train in under two and a half hours. The measure aims to help reduce the country's carbon emissions.

Reducing emissions is one of the commitments made under the Paris Agreement to curb global climate change. Among the various measures countries must implement, the aviation sector stands out: air travel is estimated to account for 2.5% to 3% of global CO2 emissions.

Scottish startup Kenoteq has launched the K-Briq – a more sustainable building brick that is unfired and made of 90% construction waste. Developed by engineering professor Gabriela Medero at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the K-Briq generates less than a tenth of the carbon emissions during manufacturing compared to a standard brick.

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Videos

On December 29, 2022, the regional governor of the Metropolitan Region, Claudio Orrego, announced an investment of 7.7 billion Chilean pesos (9.4 million USD) for the construction of the Mapocho Pedaleable y Caminable Urban Promenade. The announcement is part of a public space recovery initiative and the master bike path plan promoted by the Chilean capital's regional government.