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.

Organized by the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning of Uruguay (MVOT) and MEVIR, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the International Architecture Competition "Wood: Innovating Social Interest Architecture" involved submitting proposals for new types of wooden housing extensions. These could be either paired or standalone single-level structures, to be built by MEVIR in a demonstration set of 20 social interest houses within the town of Tranqueras, Rivera Department, Uruguay.

Santiago de Chile's metro system is undergoing a major connectivity upgrade. On the surface, construction has begun at several stations across the city, including two new exits at Tobalaba station that connect to the new MUT Mercado Urbano de Tobalaba. Below ground, equally significant changes are taking place: the extension of Lines 2 and 3, and the announcement of Lines 7 and 9.

An apparent fragility shapes the design of the set built for the exhibition Taib: A History of the Theater, about the Brazilian Yiddish Art Theater (Teatro de Arte Israelita Brasileiro), founded in 1960 and built in the basement of Casa do Povo, a cultural center in Bom Retiro, São Paulo. With exhibition design by the collective Goma Oficina — a transdisciplinary design, architecture, and art association — the theater is staged on the first floor, presenting the powerful history of survival and re-existence of Jewish poetry despite the persecution and violence of the Nazi regime until the end of World War II.

Through August 31, 2023, CAU Brasil will accept proposals for papers on the theme of Education, Professional Scope, and Practice. The goal is to discuss ideas that answer the question: What kind of architect do we need and what kind of architect do we want? Selected papers will be presented during CAU's 2nd National Seminar on Education, Professional Scope, and Practice. The free, hybrid event is organized by the Education and Training Commission of the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CEF-CAU/BR) and is scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20 in Brasília.

The firm gru.a, established in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 by Caio Calafate and Pedro Varella, has developed small-scale projects and installations, focusing particularly on the intersection of art, architecture, and infrastructure. Notable works include the installation La playa y el Tiempo and the Abrigo Alto and Academia shelters.

On Monday, August 14, the Di Tella Architecture Prize—organized by the School of Architecture and Urban Studies (EAEU) at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) through its Center for Contemporary Architecture Studies (CEAC), and funded by a donation from the Instituto Di Tella—was awarded to this emerging practice.

On August 24, Romano Guerra Editora will release the book Arquitetura e escrita: relatos do ofício, which brings together twenty-four interviews with Brazilian and international architectural historians and critics from various theoretical and professional backgrounds, academic disciplines, and generations. Mostly previously unpublished, the interviews were conducted both in response to local interest in the subjects and to reflect the global momentum of theoretical and historiographical debates in the field over recent decades.

One of the leading names in Brazilian photography, Hans Gunter Flieg (1923) worked in the fields of industry, advertising, and architecture. His images document the country's industrial development and verticalization, particularly in the city of São Paulo, starting in the 1940s. Through highly technically sophisticated photographs, he documented industrial facilities, machinery, buildings, and objects, challenging the boundaries between the objectivity of documentary photography and formal rigor.

The film Volume II: Inhabiting the Territory is part of the project From the Periphery, which comprises a trilogy of documentaries exploring various themes related to contemporary Latin American architecture.

This second installment is an audiovisual essay focusing on the academic practice of the Talca School of Architecture and its relationship with the inhabitant, the landscape, and the materiality of Chile's Central Valley through the experience of the Taller de Obras. Specifically, the narrative is set during the 2006 edition of the course, held in the town of Curtiduría under the theme of vulnerability as the workshop's central axis.

Aiming to build a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future, the U.S. Department of State, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Resilient Cities Catalyst, and the Institute of the Americas recently announced the list of Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. cities that will participate in the “Cities Forward” program. The city of Rosario, Argentina, was selected to work in connection with Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States.

A Drug Rehabilitation Center in the Cracolândia region of São Paulo. This was the theme of the first design competition organized by Labideias, open to students and recent graduates in architecture and urbanism with up to two years since graduation.

Architecture can play a critical role in questioning existing possibilities. It can be a voice that, through the built environment, proposes more humanized, creative, and inclusive approaches. Based on this premise, the organization invited participants to develop a proposal that addresses the needs of a marginalized and increasingly persecuted population. Discover the winners and honorable mentions of the #001 Labideias Competition below.

+ 2

The German company Sono Motors became world-famous for developing the Sion, an electric car powered by solar energy. However, due to a lack of funding to support pre-series production, the project was terminated in February of this year, and the company’s focus is now on adapting and integrating its patented solar technology into third-party vehicles.

This business setback could be good news for the environment, since instead of focusing on individual vehicles, the business model has been restructured to serve a wide range of vehicles, including buses, trucks, and refrigerated vehicles.

While Chile is recognized as having one of the best education systems in Latin America, it also maintains a dual public and private system where disparities can often be significant. To address this issue, the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) launched the Educational Reactivation Plan, which aims to allocate 100 billion Chilean pesos to preserve the infrastructure of public educational facilities.

Several new projects have been introduced this year that bring significant changes to transit options for Chile's residents. These include the addition of the new Santiago Metro Lines and a new preliminary cable car project designed to connect Valparaíso with Placilla de Peñuelas.

The Region V association of the Federation of Architects of the Mexican Republic (FCARM) issued a call for entries for the "Second Biennial: Living Architecture." The event aims to identify, recognize, and promote the best architectural works, publications, research, and theses by architects from Region V, which comprises the states of Baja California Sur, Nayarit, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Colima.

In August, the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile celebrated its 81st anniversary at its National Headquarters in Santiago. To mark this anniversary, the 2023 CA Awards ceremony was held. 

How are Brazilian municipalities preparing to face climate change? What laws are being created? How are resources being invested? To increase transparency regarding public policies focused on the climate and the environment, the Diário do Clima was created.

Curitiba's Integrated Transport Network was listed as one of the 50 most influential projects of the last 50 years, according to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a global organization with a presence in more than 160 countries.

Artist André Chiote has shared his latest series of illustrations with us, this time portraying the Art Deco and modern architecture of Goiânia. Commissioned for the 31st Brazilian Congress of Dermatological Surgery, organized by the Brazilian Society of Dermatological Surgery in the state capital, Chiote's illustrations use the colors of the official congress logo to represent some of the most celebrated landmarks of Goiânia's heritage.

African countries have issued a stark joint declaration calling on major polluting nations to help poorer countries develop without further destroying the planet's climate and ecosystems, as wealthy nations did. They advocate for a global carbon tax as the primary mechanism to enable sustainable investment in vulnerable countries.

The City of São Paulo, through the online portal GeoSampa—an initiative of the Municipal Secretariat of Urban Development (SMDU)—has made a map of all the city's archaeological sites available. The portal maps heritage sites ranging from clandestine cemeteries and Indigenous artifacts to gold mining ruins.

Throughout 2019, ITDP and the Brazilian Cyclists Union (UCB) worked together to develop a map to facilitate and expand access to data on bicycle infrastructure in Brazilian cities. In September of last year, the public voted on the platform's name, and CicloMapa was launched at the Northeastern Bicycle Forum (FNEBici) in Aracaju.

On Tuesday, September 26, the National Electoral Commission released the list of architecture and urbanism professionals eligible to vote in the October 10 elections.

Check the Qualified Electoral Roll for the entire country on the CAU/BR election website.

Throughout October, more than 230 events will discuss building urban resilience in the Global South. Featuring representatives from over 20 countries in Latin America and Lusophone Africa, the 2023 Urban Circuit (Circuito Urbano) will take place from October 2 to 31. The schedule is now available on the event website.

The results of the National Wood Architecture Prize - PNAM’23 have been announced. In its seventh edition, the award recognized a winning project and two honorable mentions in “Sustainability and Circular Economy” and “Material Typology.”

The top prize was awarded to the renovation of Sala Projeto I - Colégio das Artes at the University of Coimbra, designed by architect Paulo Providência, with carpentry by Veiga Lopes, S.A., Carpinlux, and Brito Móveis. The University of Coimbra was the institution responsible for executing the project.