Architecture News

On Tuesday, November 15, the public announcement of the finalists for the BAQ 2022 Competition (Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito) took place at the National Theater of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana.

During the event, jurors Nuno Grande of Portugal and Carla Hermida of Cuenca announced the selections for the Publications Award, which was an open call for books and magazines—both print and digital—produced throughout the Americas during the four years prior to the event. Read the full list below.

According to the World Population Clock, the human population reached 8 billion on November 15^th. According to the UN, this milestone represents a celebration of human longevity due to improvements in public health and medicine, but it also comes with warnings about inequality, limited access to food and resources, and environmental damage. Despite the impressive number, the annual World Population Prospect report shows that the global population is growing at the slowest rate since 1950, and it predicts a continued deceleration in the second half of this century.

As more than half of the world population lives in cities, an estimated 55.7%, according to UN-Habitat’s latest reports, the urban challenges are growing exponentially. The UN expects this number to increase to 68% by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa. Accelerated urbanization can pose significant risks, such as increasing inequality, poverty, sectorized development, social exclusion, and pollution. In this context, a well-balanced urban agenda becomes crucially important in achieving inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities.

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Milan-based architecture studio Peter Pichler has designed an eco-resort to develop a new concept of hospitality in the European Alpine region. Dubbed the YOUNA Nature Resorts, the complex follows the mountain’s silhouette to offer a maximized relaxation experience. The A-shape typology allows wide opens the front facade to connect with nature while reaching high-private interiors under the same roof. The resort is the last of the studio’s series of projects in the Italian rural area, including a hotel in Maranza and a prototype of a treehouse in the forest of the Dolomites.

From November 18 to 20, 2022, Open House Málaga, one of the world's most important architecture and city festivals, will take place. Now in its second year in the city, the festival features over 40 free activities, including building visits, urban tours, and experiences. The event aims to connect the city with its residents and visitors, offering a unique architectural perspective alongside architects and industry professionals.

A Foster + Partners and Buro Happold consortium has been announced as the winners of the competition to design the new CPK airport, situated between Warsaw and Łódź, in Poland. The project is envisioned as a 21st-century transport interchange, bringing together air, rail, and road. The design seeks to strike a balance between operational efficiency, environmental responsibility, and a symbolic expression that reflects the country’s national identity. Initially, the airport will serve up to 40 million passengers but is planned to easily expand to meet the 65 million passengers target in 2060.

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The Swedish architecture firm Tham & Videgård exhibits a broad selection of projects celebrating over twenty years in practice at the ArkDes—Centre for Architecture and Design in Stockholm, Sweden. For the first time, the studio’s work is being presented in its entirety, displaying in detail acclaimed buildings like the winning proposal for the Denfert art center in Paris and the 150-meter-tall +One Tower for the Swedish Exhibition in Gothenburg. From November 2022 to August 27, 2023, On: Architecture offers visitors a full-scale spatial experience involving models, new photography, and films – all set within a glass ground showroom.

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Registration is now open for the 24th IABsp Awards 2022—a traditional and prestigious award in the field of architecture and urbanism organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil, an institution with over a century of history. “This edition seeks to consolidate the advances of the national edition held in 2021, aligning the categories and subcategories with the reality of our profession.” Hannah Machado, Co-president of IABsp

Until November 21, architects and urban planners can register for free through the website. Participation is limited to IAB members from any of the state departments across the country with works and proposals executed in the state of São Paulo since January 2017. Fortunately, applicants can also join the institute during the registration period.

Stefano Boeri Architetti, together with a multidisciplinary team including ARUP, Fabio Novembre, and Balich Wonder Studio, has unveiled the design for the new Milan Stadium, named the International Forest Stadium. The project, located in the San Siro area of the city, was presented to the public on the occasion of the competition announced in 2019 by the Inter and Milan teams. The stadium is envisioned as an integral part of the “Sport and leisure district” system, an extensive masterplan measuring over 800 hectares, planned to transform the San Siro district into a center for excellence in the context of European sports.

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Emerging Ukrainian architecture firm NOVA - New Office of Vital Architecture- designed the new Mariupol City Hall as a proposal to reconstruct the city, almost devastated during the current war in Ukraine. The project seeks to open the discussion on urban democracy and civic life through architecture by replacing traditional hierarchical schemes with an open and accessible government building.

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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.

One of the most significant cultural events in the Middle East, Dubai Design Week represents a platform that offers individuals and companies the opportunity to showcase their design experience and to open conversations about the most pressing issues of our times. Developed in a strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), the event presents a series of immersive, large-scale installations that highlight the festival’s theme: Design with Impact.

This year’s program is focused on designing a sustainable future. To promote this, Dubai Design Week has invited international and regional architects and designers to create installations that demonstrate creative design thinking, to introduce innovative materials, and spark conversations about the ways in which design can have a positive impact on the environment.

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Videos

Pioneer in large-scale 3D printing, ICON announced the construction of a 3D-printed 100-Home Community co-designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and developed by Lennar. Located north of Austin, in the city of Georgetown, "The Genesis Collection at Wolf Ranch" will become the first and largest house estate in the world built by a fleet of robots integrating additive construction techniques.

Combining the digital possibilities of 3d printing with sustainable features at an affordable price, the project aims to support the housing crisis in Austin, one of the U.S.A's most dynamic and growing cities, home to the new Tesla Gigafactory and other giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle.

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As part of Open House Buenos Aires, the themed photography competition Open Foto 2022 was held with the support of Wikimedia Argentina. Its goal is to highlight the architecture of Buenos Aires through the routes taken by visitors during the architecture and urbanism festival on October 1 and 2, 2022.

Today, it was announced that architect Emilio Tuñón has been awarded the 2022 National Architecture Prize, presented by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (Mitma).

The tenth edition of the Architectural Photography Awards has announced its shortlist, selected from entries from 64 different countries. The photographs are divided into six categories: Exterior, Interior, Sense of Place, Buildings in Use, Mobile, with Bridges being this year’s theme, and Portfolio, focusing on the theme of Transport Hubs. The photographs will be displayed at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Lisbon in Portugal from 30th November - 2nd December. The winners, two per category, will be announced by the end of the festival.

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Stefano Boeri Architetti presented a new design for the Vertical Forest towers during COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The prototype would be in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the next host of COP28 in 2023. The ambitious project would represent the first Vertical Forest prototype for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and it is the latest in an extended list of greenery-covered buildings by Boeri Architetti, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan, the Easyhome Huanggang in China, and a prototype of the First Dutch Vertical Forest.

Located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the Mariano Moreno National Library stems from a national design competition launched in 1961. Built on the site of Argentina's former Presidential Residence during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón (the Unzué Palace), the competition—which closed in April 1962—sought to shake up the architectural scene, serving not only as a mandatory step to develop the project but also as a platform for formal and programmatic experimentation.

In a presentation at the Buildings Pavilion Auditorium during COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) presented the Urban Sequoia NOW concept. The proposal, developed by an interdisciplinary team at SOM, represents a design that can sequester carbon from the atmosphere throughout its lifecycle. The design can be implemented with today’s technologies. This represents SOM’s concept of going beyond net zero carbon by combining multiple strategies: reducing embodied carbon, generating energy, absorbing carbon, and increasing the typical 60-year lifespan of the building.