The TAC! Urban Architecture Festival is an initiative led by the General Directorate for Urban Agenda and Architecture of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA), in collaboration with the Arquia Foundation. It is aimed at young architects to design and build a temporary pavilion that will host exhibitions, meetings, and activities.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, through the National Cultural Heritage Service (SNPC), launched the bidding process for the design of the Valparaíso Regional Archive. The future building not only aims to preserve historical documents and collections and promote research and access to information, but also represents a major opportunity to value and reactivate the ruins of the historic Palacio Subercaseaux in Valparaíso's Barrio Puerto, Chile. 

Following an evaluation of the 13 accepted bids, the winning proposal was submitted by architects Cecilia Puga, Paula Velasco, and their team. Their design defends and protects the urban profile, showing us how to connect the new with the old. Below, discover the winning project in detail, along with the other awarded entries.

In 2019, the Governing Council of the URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) approved an infrastructure plan to remodel several of the university's campus buildings, including the classroom and departmental building on the Madrid-Vicálvaro Campus. This led to an agreement with the COAM (Official Association of Architects of Madrid) to organize an ideas competition to select the final design for the building, which was launched in February 2022.

In the district of Miraflores, the tourist heart of Lima (the capital of Peru), the San Ramón Gastronomic Market opened in December 2021. It is located on the boulevard of the same name, in the picturesque district's well-known former Calle de las Pizzas. Open to the public, the project by the firm Arquitectura Verde aims to promote the enjoyment and awareness of the wide variety and richness of Peruvian gastronomy.

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To promote Peruvian modern architecture internationally, the exhibition of the “Modern Movement Architecture Catalog of Peru (CAMMP)” opened on March 31 at the headquarters of the Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM) in Spain. The research, conducted by architects Alejandra Acevedo and Michelle Llona, was supported by the Architecture Program at the University of Lima and the Scientific Research Institute (IDIC), and will be open to the public until April 30 of this year.

Architect Benjamín Cadena, founder of Studio Cadena, has designed a bold and playful space for an ice cream and donut shop in Bogotá, Colombia.

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Recently opened in December 2021, the Plaza de Toros Real de San Carlos has been restored and repurposed to become a multi-purpose performance venue with a capacity for around 2,500 spectators in the stands and over 2,000 in the arena. Located in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, this work, originally built by architect Josip Marković and engineer Dupuy, adopted a Neo-Mudéjar style, echoing the Spanish bullrings of that era.

To promote the key, transformative role of architecture in improving quality of life and contributing to a better world, the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) is revamping the awards it has presented since 1981 with the launch of the first edition of the ARQUITECTURA Awards.

Organized by the Colombian Society of Architects - Bogotá and Cundinamarca Chapter (SCA BC) and the Administrative Department of the Public Space Ombudsman (DADEP), the II Bogotá Public Space Biennial 2021 (BEP BOG) aims to recognize and showcase projects that contribute to the creation, recovery, and sustainability of public space in the city of Bogotá.

The New Municipal Swimming Pool of La Calera project in the Valparaíso Region is about to begin construction, as announced by the firm Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos on social media.

Sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architecture Organizations (FADEA), the Argentine Center of Engineers (CAI) commissioned the Central Society of Architects (SCA) to organize and run the binding National Preliminary Design Competition for the Argentine Center of Innovation: Conservation, Preservation, and Adaptation of the CAI Headquarters, located in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For the third time since its founding in 2002, Colombia will host the Latin American Social Workshop of Architecture Students under the name 'Tejiendo Paisajes: TSL Manizales 2022', marking the event's first edition since the start of the pandemic.

The Provincial Ideas and Preliminary Design Competition for the development of a prototype for Innovative Social, Urban, and Sustainable Housing (V.I.S.U.S.) was organized by the Architects' Association of the Province of Córdoba. Promoted by the Construction Cluster of the Province of Córdoba and supported by ADEC's Competitiveness Fund, the initiative seeks to address the growing housing deficit by fostering debate on how architects approach multi-family condominium housing as well as single-family social housing in Argentina.

The winning projects of the 2020-2022 edition of the Richard H. Driehaus International Architecture Competition have been announced, aimed at honoring architectural and urban planning practices rooted in the culture, materials, and resources of each territory. With three Spanish sites selected for this edition, the goal is to preserve and promote local traditions and identity, as well as the circular economy, craftsmanship, and the use of sustainable, reusable materials from the surrounding area.

Twenty years after its first edition in Colombia, the Latin American Social Workshop returns to the South American country. In this edition, students from across Latin America, alongside architects from Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile, are intervening in three areas in the coffee-growing city of Manizales: a rural settlement in the middle of the mountain range, a self-managed park, and the slopes of an informal pedestrian neighborhood.

Here, we invite you to explore the progress made by the architectural teams participating in the 18th Latin American Social Workshop (TSL XVIII) in Manizales.

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During the summer of 2021, the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, hosted the first edition of a new platform created to discuss, exhibit, and celebrate the national design scene. Mexico Design Fair was established with the primary goal of promoting the acquisition of contemporary Mexican design to strengthen its positioning, while understanding and transcending the dynamics of the international market. This inaugural event featured key figures from today's design scene, such as Proyector and Pablo Kobayashi, who created temporary installations along the coast of Puerto Escondido. Other activities included the "Designer of the Year" award ceremony, presented to Mexican designer Liliana Ovalle.

In November 2021, the ADUS Award in the "Professional Urban Design (Project)" category was presented to the team from Signare Estudio, composed of architects Isabel Loredo Pecho and Juan José Quiun Montes, for their project "Plaza Cultural de la Danza" in Lircay, Peru.

The award aims to highlight architectural projects that lead to a more sustainable world, based on the premise that architecture drives sustainable trends and improves the quality of life in our cities and the habitat as a whole.

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On Route 104, km 4.5 in Manantiales, Uruguay, stands the new Atchugarry Museum of Contemporary Art (MACA), located on the grounds of the Pablo Atchugarry Foundation. Open to the general public, the building designed by architect Carlos Ott aims to promote the development of national artists while placing Uruguay on the map of major international exhibitions.

"Every person has the right to decent and adequate housing that allows for the free development of personal, family, and community life," states the provision that advanced to the draft of Chile's new Constitution. The draft is being prepared by the Constitutional Convention—a 155-member political body tasked with drafting and approving the proposal for a new agreement for the Republic, which was enabled by the October 2020 plebiscite and driven by the social protests that took place in the country in October 2019.

The team led by Mathias Klotz and Sebastián Mundi of the architecture firms Klotz and SML has been unanimously selected in the open call for the heritage reconversion of the former CCU Brewery in Limache, the Chilean company announced today in a press release.

This project seeks to preserve the brewing heritage represented by the iconic building founded in 1883, through a museum open to the public. 

Manuel Bouzas and Santiago del Águila, the authors of La catenaria y el arco in the courtyard of Can Balaguer (by architects Flores & Prats) in Palma de Mallorca, present their urban installation ‘Lucerna,’ created for the A Cel Obert ephemeral architecture festival in Tortosa in October 2021.

This monumental lamp, standing over 6 meters tall and covering an area of 55 square meters, hangs from the main courtyard of the Purissima Concepció monastery, radically transforming this 17th-century building through light and color.

The Association of Architects of Uruguay has announced the selected works from the 129 projects that participated in the 2021 Completed Work Competition. To ensure maximum territorial equity, the competition considered projects built between 2014 and 2020 across different regions of Uruguay. Divided into seven diverse categories—ranging from housing, cultural, and social infrastructure to interventions in built heritage or public spaces—one award and two honorable mentions were granted for each category.

The jury comprised Alma Varela, Humberto Eliash, Bernardo Martín, Héctor Berio, María Samaniego, Fernando Giordano, Alejandro Baptista, Nivaldo Andrade, and Angela Perdomo, who evaluated their respective categories. They were advised by Juan A. Articardi, Cristina Bausero, and Salvador Schelotto. Below are the winners in each category.

Concéntrico, the Logroño International Architecture and Design Festival, has launched a participatory survey via a mobile app, inviting residents to engage and interact with the project "100 Chairs and 3 Urban Lounges" by Izaskun Chinchilla.

The phenomenon of building new cities around the world is gaining momentum in an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, contain mass migration and brain drain, or improve the poor quality of life in some cities—a reality highlighted by pandemic lockdowns, among many other reasons. Urban planners and professionals in architecture, engineering, and other disciplines undoubtedly face major challenges, raising the question: should we concentrate all our efforts on creating new urban centers, or focus instead on improving conditions and addressing the issues of existing ones?