In early 2016, we reported that construction had been completed on BD Bacatá, Colombia's tallest skyscraper (216 meters), and that its opening was just months away. However, an official opening date has yet to be set, while elsewhere in the Colombian capital, construction is progressing on a project that will surpass BD Bacatá in height: the Atrio Towers (268 meters), designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and El Equipo de Mazzanti.
After two editions at the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso, the Chilean Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism will return to Santiago in 2019. On Wednesday, June 6, the Mayor of Santiago, Felipe Alessandri, and the President of the Chilean Association of Architects, Humberto Eliash, signed the official agreement during a ceremony at the Mercado Matadero Franklin, which was attended by city council members, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Cristián Monckeberg, undersecretaries, regional authorities, and other officials.
During the ceremony, organizers confirmed that the 21st Biennial will take place in October 2019, with both the Mercado Matadero Franklin and the Teatro Huemul serving as the main venues for the country's premier architectural event.
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When Le Corbusier visited Mallorca in 1932, he recorded his impressions in a notebook, which is now kept in the archives of the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris. The pages of this notebook, titled Carnet C 10, clearly reflect Le Corbusier's interests during this private trip. However, they also shed light on the role of drawing in his thinking more generally, as Xavier Monteys reflected in his lecture for the series Author's Lessons - Le Corbusier and Drawing, titled Drawings in a Notebook. A close look at the sketches from the Mallorca trip reveals that the series is framed by two drawings of Barcelona, made from a boat at the beginning and end of his journey, between which he recorded various objects.
As is tradition, digital travel platform TripAdvisor has released the results of the 2018 Travelers' Choice awards. These accolades are determined by millions of reviews posted on the website, measuring "the year-over-year increase in positive traveler review ratings," the company explains. Additionally, these cities "have also experienced an increase in search traffic and booking interest" for accommodations.
According to Brooke Ferencsik, communications director at TripAdvisor, the selected cities share the fact that "they all have excellent accommodations, wonderful restaurants, and exceptional attractions for every travel budget."
In South America, six countries are represented on this year's list. Below, discover the ten cities chosen by TripAdvisor users:
Dampness from water ingress, condensation, or leaking and burst pipes; cracks and fissures in partition walls, facades, columns, or beams; corrosion, deformation, and spalling are some of the most common building pathologies that can affect a structure throughout its lifespan. Detecting these issues is essential to address them, keep the building in good condition, and prevent accidents or structural failures.
To address this, the Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM) has launched its first public awareness campaign, titled ‘Arquitecto de la Casa’ (House Architect). The initiative aims to raise awareness about the necessity and benefits of ongoing building maintenance, highlighting specialized architects as the most qualified professionals for the job.
As part of the activities for Arch Days CDMX and Design Week 2018, two exhibitions titled Proyecta and Utopía opened on October 13 at Espacio CDMX, bringing together projects by renowned Mexican architects around two different conceptual frameworks.
Founded in 2013, David Pompa is a Mexico City-based studio comprising designers, engineers, and makers established in Mexico and Austria. David Pompa grew up in both countries and studied product design in London. The idea of working with Mexican crafts began during a 2009 trip to Oaxaca, where Pompa first saw artisans working with “barro negro” (black clay). This inspired him to begin experimenting with the material, resulting in the studio's first collection. Since then, the studio has remained committed to Mexican culture, describing their work as an ongoing journey to create beautiful, accessible design objects.
More than six years have passed since n´UNDO launched its manifesto, which, through its 11 points, advocates for and promotes a new way of approaching architectural action based on non-construction and reuse. This approach is grounded in the re-architecture of territory and the city through subtraction and renunciation.
Since November 11, 2011, n`UNDO has built a highly active and compelling track record through urban and territorial intervention plans aimed at the social, cultural, environmental, and physical improvement and recovery of our surroundings. In addition, they have participated in several competitions, earning numerous awards and accolades, and have carried out extensive educational work through workshops, courses, lectures, and conferences. Notable among these was the symposium “Empty Space, Subtraction, and Silence: Subtraction and Renunciation in the Creative Process. An Interdisciplinary Perspective,” held in Madrid in November 2016.
We must talk about this issue repeatedly until we truly listen: the city of Lima turns its back on the Rímac River, which spoke loudly to us last year with overflows and disasters following the El Niño phenomenon. Meanwhile, calls emerged to improve the reality surrounding this important river and contribute to national reconstruction. In this context, the much-needed idea competition ‘Rímac River Park’, organized by the urban solutions incubator Lima Design Network, promoted various ways to protect the boundaries between nature and appropriation, highlighting the imminent urgency for public space. It will not be built—not for now—but through this publication, we aim to stir the waters once again and move people with these sensitive, ideal projects for the city.
The competition called for proposals to occupy 70,000 square meters of the Ágora Tech Park complex, as well as the design of its first building, spanning approximately 4,000 square meters. It will be built on a 70,000-square-meter block at the Perini Business Park, across from the UFSC campus in northern Santa Catarina.
One of the organizers' goals was to develop the concept of "Human Smart Cities," where technological infrastructure interacts with and positively impacts people's lives. The competition jury consisted of Gustavo Cedroni, Mário Biselli, Roberto Loeb, Emerson Edel, Marcelo Hack, and Danilo Conti. The contract to develop the project has already been signed. This news renews the optimism of any architect who frequently participates in competitions, believing they are the most democratic way to secure relevant and engaging work, even for young firms like Estúdio Módulo. This efficiency demonstrates the client's commitment to bringing the project to life, unlike the vast majority of competitions. The building is scheduled to open on March 28, 2019.
Discover the winning projects below:
The Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte presents the exhibition De todos, para todos. Diseño y espacio público en la Ciudad de México [Of All, For All: Design and Public Space in Mexico City] from March 3 to April 28, 2018, as part of the cultural program of World Design Capital CDMX 2018.
The exhibition highlights how design practices, across various scales and levels, contribute to open urban public spaces, optimizing their functionality and expanding possibilities for users to enrich their experience.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha is currently the most admired and respected figure in Brazilian architecture. However, his extensive list of works narrowly missed including an intervention project for the work of another master, Oscar Niemeyer. Commissioned in 2015 by São Paulo's previous municipal administration to develop a redesign project for Ibirapuera Park, the proposal by the 2006 Pritzker Prize laureate was shelved in December of last year.
Under the slogan Madrid in October is Architecture, details have been announced for the fourth edition of the Open House Madrid architecture and city festival. Led by architects Paloma Gómez Marín and Pati Núñez, this year's event will feature the most extensive program of any edition to date.
During the weekend of September 29 and 30, more than 120 buildings that are usually closed to the public will open their doors. In addition, over 30 activities have been organized throughout October, making this festival one of the most important cultural events of the year in the Spanish capital.
Porto Alegre will host the 21st Brazilian Congress of Architects in October 2019. Organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil, the event will serve as a preparatory meeting for the 27th World Congress of Architects (UIA2020RIO), which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2020. The theme of this edition is Space and Democracy.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile, the professional association has announced the winners of the 2018 CA Awards, the country's most important national honors.
Following a 2017 edition heavily criticized for the absence of women among the honorees, this year's awards not only introduced two new categories promoted by the Mujer Arquitecta organization—the Dora Riedel and Eliana Caraball awards—and another recognizing regional contributions, but women also swept 9 of the 12 categories awarded by the Colegio de Arquitectos to its members.
Below are the winners of this edition:
The "Single-Family Housing" Architectural Design Workshop, organized by the architecture firm Cota Paredes Arquitectos, concluded its seventh edition, which invited graduate architects and final-year architecture students to develop a Single-Family Housing Project over four weeks, either in-person or online.
The "Bunker" project arises from a lawyer's need for a more private space to practice their profession and meet with clients in a more intimate and secure setting. Consequently, they decided to use their home as a meeting point, making modifications to create a space with character. Grounded in the concept of introspective architecture to maximize privacy, the house becomes a bunker where life and work merge.
SketchUp is one of the most widely used digital modeling software programs in both professional practice and academia—and undoubtedly the most intuitive. However, the ease of creating orthogonal geometries can quickly turn into a nightmare when the goal is to design curved and organic shapes and objects.
With this in mind, Gabriel Chahoud of Chahoud Cursos released 30 video tutorials for what he called "SketchUp Month," sharing tips on how to model objects that, at first glance, seem complex to create in this software.
The results of the competition for the Brazilian Pavilion at EXPO 2020 were announced today, November 12. The objective of the competition was to select a proposal and subsequently commission the complete Executive Project (Architectural Design, Complementary Engineering Projects, and Exhibition Design), construction supervision, consulting, and related services for the Brazilian Pavilion at the World Expo. The competition was promoted by Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and organized by the Federal District Department of the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB/DF).
According to the competition brief, “the Brazilian Pavilion should highlight diversity with the theme TOGETHER FOR DIVERSITY, sub-divided into nature, people, and tomorrow (Together for Nature, Together for People, and Together for Tomorrow). These are the starting points for the architects to showcase the diversity of fauna and flora, the ethnic, creative, and cultural multiplicity of our people, and present Brazil as a unifying country, as well as a key global actor in international sustainability issues. The keyword summarizing the Brazilian theme is sociobiodiversity—and the Brazilian Pavilion, from its conception, must reflect this unique characteristic of the country.”
The Council of Architecture and Urbanism (CAU) has re-released the free guidebook on Technical Assistance for Social Interest Housing (ATHIS), originally published by CAU/SC. The 60-page document contextualizes this assistance work in relation to public authorities, the general public, and professionals, presenting different service delivery scenarios.
Brazil's greatest living architect, Paulo Mendes da Rocha does not appreciate architecture alone. Music is also part of his daily life, and this playlist—shared with us by his daughter, Joana Mendes da Rocha—features some of the musical preferences of our Golden Lion.
The Institut Ramon Llull has presented the project RCR. Dream and Nature_Catalonia in Venice in Barcelona, an exhibition showcasing RCR Arquitectes as part of the collateral events of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, set to open on May 26.
Representing Catalonia at the 2018 Venice Biennale, the project is co-curated by journalist Pati Núñez and architect Estel Ortega alongside the 2017 Pritzker Prize-winning firm. Together, they have created a space free of scale models or blueprints to "investigate and rethink humanity's relationship with the world, located at the La Vila estate in Vall de Bianya (Girona, Catalonia)," according to an official statement from the Catalan institute.
Thanks to its geographical and climatic characteristics, Bogotá has great potential for the development and enjoyment of nature tourism. The Colombian capital is bordered by the beautiful Eastern Hills, which connect with countless parks and trails that welcome visitors.
Among its natural wonders is the Sumapaz Páramo, the largest of its kind in the world. Exploring each of these places is undoubtedly an experience that few have the opportunity to enjoy and admire. As a result, numerous activities have sparked public interest in weaving together a city rich in environmental assets, including parks, rivers, wetlands, and gardens.
At FITUR, the Logroño City Council presented LA CALLE ES UN MUSEO (The Street is a Museum), a project aimed at revitalizing tourism and cultural visits in the city by showcasing public artworks and their creative processes, narrated by the artists themselves.
The 2018 CEMEX Pavilion competition was conceived to provide the student community of Guadalajara with an opportunity and a voice to express their aspirations, interests, concerns, and critiques of the profession, channeling them into an intervention within the courtyard of a heritage house in the city's historic center, which functions as a workshop and cultural center. The event is organized by eSCALA, CENTROmx, and TEMAdc—groups made up of students and alumni of the Centro Universitario de Arte, Arquitectura y Diño of the Universidad de Guadalajara—and the winners of the 2018 CEMEX Pavilion Competition, which included one first-place and two second-place projects, were recently published.
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