Architecture News

Alongside the activities and lectures held over three consecutive days at the Lux Theater in Guatemala City's historic center, the Guatemala Architecture Biennale (BAG) presented the winning works and projects of the Danta Awards on Wednesday, May 30, and Thursday, May 31.

For this edition, the organization proposed that architecture "is approached as a commitment to the public and private spheres and the power to negotiate individual or collective change to build dreams and aspirations, and even to express utopian ideals." Within this context, the jury evaluated more than 100 submitted projects from across Guatemala and the rest of Central America, recognizing parks, collective housing, gymnasiums, and renovations, among other typologies, that address the vision outlined by BAG 2018.

All winning projects in the professional category will be registered and sponsored to participate in the XXI Pan-American Architecture Biennale of Quito 2018, where they will be exhibited alongside projects from across the Americas and evaluated by the Biennale's jury.

This week, Congress approved the creation of 231 positions for the office of the federal interventor in Rio de Janeiro and the Extraordinary Ministry of Public Security — to fund these new roles, positions will be eliminated at the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan).

Of the newly created positions, all of which are appointed roles, 67 will be allocated to the office of the interventor, General Walter Braga Netto, and 164 will be chosen by the Extraordinary Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann.

Like any other discipline or science, urban planning is dedicated to the empirical study of planning and organizing cities and territories. It faces not only the challenges of designing agile mobility, planning accessible residential fabric, allocating land for economic activities, and efficiently managing environmental and energy impacts, but also the ultimate goal of making the resulting cities as livable as possible.

Named after Arturo Soria, Arturo is an algorithm trained by citizens and designed to determine which urban variables make our cities more livable. Much like Arturo Soria himself—whose commitment to livability was evident in projects like the Ciudad Lineal—the algorithm aims to turn livability into a measurable parameter, into objective data. To achieve this, it relies on the input of thousands of citizens to build an accurate picture of what makes a city livable.

On November 2–3, the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) hosted a major academic forum titled "Challenge: Re-examining Architectural Thought, Education, and Practice." Numerous domestic and international figures and deans of renowned institutions participated in the discussions, including Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas, and Wang Shu. On the afternoon of November 3, acclaimed Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, principal of Jiakun Architects, attended the forum as a guest speaker. With his characteristic warmth and humor, Liu spoke on the core principles of architectural practice, focusing on his West Village Basin project in Chengdu.

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The Architectural Review Emerging Architecture award has been held annually since 1999. It aims to recognize architects at a key stage of their careers, placing them on a global stage and promoting their work worldwide. Previous winners include Sou Fujimoto, Thomas Heatherwick, Sean Godsell, Jürgen Mayer H, Anna Heringer, Shigeru Ban, Li Xiaodong, and Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, designer of the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion.

This year's jury is composed of Spanish architect Ángela García de Paredes of Paredes Pedrosa (1999 AR Emerging Architecture Award winner), Indian architect Gurjit Singh Matharoo (2010 AR House Award winner), and Ronald Rietveld of RAAAF (2013 AR Emerging Architecture Award winner).

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As part of the acoustic exhibition "Modos de Oír," Mexican architect Mauricio Rocha built an architectural and sculptural structure designed to unfold the space of the central nave, creating an ascending path that evokes the cochlear shape of the ear.

The exhibition is spread across the various spaces of the Convento de San José and the Templo de Santa Teresa la Antigua, currently Ex Teresa Arte Actual. Built in the early 17th century, this venue is renowned for hosting numerous events, exhibitions, and sound showcases due to its unique acoustics. Sound art has experienced a significant boom in Mexico in recent decades, with specific links to other historical periods where sonic thinking was also present. Driven by the unique character of this venue and its rich history, Laboratorio Arte Alameda and Ex Teresa Arte Actual sought to create a comprehensive exhibition featuring works that spark a collective reflection echoing the richness, complexity, and significance of the sound art scene.

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Colectivo Tomate is a Puebla-based civil organization made up of 20 artists, lawyers, architects, designers, nutritionists, and administrators who have intervened in around eight cities across Mexico, inviting people to take action in the streets to drive transformation, demonstrate the power of citizens in communities, and strengthen community ties.

On September 30, 2013, at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, the collective was recognized with the Quórum award for their Ciudad Mural project. This award recognizes, among other categories, the strategic use of design to impact quality of life as an agent of change, as well as its role as a key ingredient for innovation, productivity, and economic development in the country.

The Mexican Pavilion presents a creative process in which architecture embraces geographic sensitivity and diversity. The exhibition visualizes the territory, its layers, and cultural expressions through sixteen murals that showcase architectural abstractions, intentions, and contextual appropriations for each work.

Curated and designed by Gabriela Etchegaray and Jorge Ambrosi, the exhibition establishes sequences that reveal a dialogue between natural phenomena, geographic formations, and design solutions. Each stone panel shapes the space, highlighting cross-cutting readings: a country vulnerable to natural disasters due to its geological conditions; a highly diverse architecture in terms of scale, site, and integration; and a critical reflection on architecture's role in relation to the Freespace theme of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

The Architecture and Landscape Ideas Competition for the Pasarelas San Borja and Surroundings announced its winning proposals during an event held on Thursday, September 6, at the National Headquarters of the Chilean Association of Architects (Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile). The main objective of the competition was to recognize, through a qualified and representative jury accredited by the sponsors, the best urban design ideas that help define intervention criteria and generate proposals for the San Borja neighborhood.

A total of 86 interdisciplinary teams registered for the competition, with 34 proposals successfully submitted and evaluated. The jury awarded first, second, and third place, along with three honorable mentions. Additionally, a Neighborhood Mention was awarded to two projects highlighted by the Neighborhood Advisory Commission during the evaluation process.

Discover the winning projects below:

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On March 6, environmental pollution in Medellín, Colombia, triggered the highest alert levels. For three days, industrial production and driving restrictions (locally known as pico y placa) have been tightened. According to specialists consulted by the local newspaper El Tiempo, meteorological conditions are expected to make the situation “most critical” in two weeks.

In light of situations like this, air quality monitoring and control have taken on greater importance in Colombia. This is especially critical given that one in eight deaths worldwide is caused by air pollution, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). In Colombia, 10,527 deaths and 67.8 million cases of related symptoms and illnesses occurred in 2015, as reported in 2017 by the National Planning Department following a study on the health costs of environmental degradation.

The measure is based on the principle that it makes no sense to continue applying the same rules to two such different types of vehicles.

Mayor Valérie Plante has promised improvements to the city's cycling infrastructure. Her ideas align closely with those of Councilor Marianne Giguère, who is responsible for sustainable development and transportation. Giguère believes that, under current laws, the message to cyclists is that they must be just as cautious as drivers, “even though you [the cyclist] pose much less of a danger.”

Over the past five years, Lisbon has attracted significant international attention, driving major changes in the Portuguese capital's urban life. From foreign technology investment to the promotion of cultural initiatives, these transformations are both positive and negative—a complex issue currently debated through the lens of gentrification, echoing developments in other global cities such as Berlin, Portland, and San Francisco.

On the cultural front, the city boasts an impressive diversity of initiatives, ranging from the opening of major, world-class museums—such as MAAT and Coches—to a rich culture of urban graffiti murals. This scene is supported by initiatives like the Underdogs cultural platform, which has worked with artists from around the world since 2013 to bring these paintings to the city's walls.

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Before discussing how and by whom this project is internationally acclaimed, it is important to recognize its regional relevance. Built for the University of Piura, this classroom building is a robust educational project located in the middle of the northern desert. In light of the events of 2017 in various parts of Peru caused by the devastating El Niño phenomenon—where the north was hit hardest, losing many poorly situated buildings made of inadequate materials—this building stands firm. It exemplifies how to intervene with sensitivity, coherence, and respect for the local climate and landscape, serving as a replicable model for national reconstruction. Furthermore, it represents a major contribution to improving the quality of—and investment in—educational spaces outside the capital, promoting decentralization and offering better education and opportunities to students.

Beyond its domestic impact, the project has also garnered significant international recognition:

What is the manufacturing process of a chair like?

Our partners at Herman Miller opened the doors of their factories and offices in Michigan, United States, to show us the complex yet efficient design and manufacturing process of their various furniture pieces and products. During a three-day tour, we saw that their production involves a high level of detail and craftsmanship, where the experience and skill of their workers are essential.

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The "Single-Family Housing" Architectural Design Workshop, organized by the architecture firm Cota Paredes Arquitectos, concluded its sixth edition, which invited graduate architects and senior architecture students to develop a Single-Family Housing Project over four weeks in either in-person or online formats. Discover the top projects:

The brief required designing a single-family home for a family of three in Cuautitlán Izcalli, State of Mexico. The workshop also aimed to design projects for low-income families who owned a plot of land and planned to build in the future. The chosen designs had to adapt to the context, creating a home for the family using the concepts of introspective architecture.

Google has launched the Environmental Insights Explorer tool to provide users with access to data and technology that can contribute to the transition toward a lower-carbon world. The information is primarily based on data already available on Google Maps.

The goal is to enable cities worldwide to calculate their greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to facilitate climate action planning. “The inventory can help prioritize investments in the areas of greatest impact, as it highlights key emission sources or hotspots and can be used as a baseline to measure progress,” the company states on the tool's website.

Yesterday, July 12, a partial collapse occurred at Plaza Artz Pedregal, a high-end shopping mall in southern Mexico City. Designed by the prominent Mexican architecture firm Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos, the collapsed section appears to be an overlapping cantilevered volume, as seen in social media videos of the incident and renderings released in 2016. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation.

Eleven years after its inauguration, the Madrid City Council has announced a renovation and upgrade plan for the monument to the victims of the March 11 (11-M) terrorist attacks at Atocha Station in Madrid, Spain, as reported by the Spanish newspaper El País.

Designed by Estudio SIC, the monument to the victims of 11-M was inaugurated in 2007, three years after the attacks perpetrated by a terrorist cell on March 11, 2004. The attack consisted of the simultaneous explosion of 10 bombs on four commuter trains, claiming the lives of 193 people and leaving more than 2,000 injured, making it the worst terrorist attack in Spain's history.