Architecture News

Since 1985, for 38 years, the School of Architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico has organized and hosted the calls for entries for the Alberto J. Pani Architectural Composition Award, with the goal of bringing together the top students from institutions affiliated with the Association of Architecture Teaching Institutions of the Mexican Republic (ASINEA). The event is organized in collaboration with an ASINEA member institution, which this year is the School of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism at the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (UABJO).

The pilot project for São Paulo's first floating photovoltaic plant began operations on February 28, 2020, at the Billings Reservoir, adjacent to the Pedreira pumping station. A total of R$ 450,000 was invested in equipment, and the 100-kilowatt facility occupies an area of 1,000 square meters.

2023 has been characterized by new trends in renovating existing spaces, such as the Nueva Alameda Plan, which aims to revitalize a key hub and make it more environmentally friendly. Along these lines, numerous other projects are emerging, such as the recent "Londres 50-46 Building Rehabilitation" plan, led by Inmobiliaria Londres SpA and represented by Simón and Joaquín Duch Salas.

Earlier this month, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) launched a public call to select architectural and engineering projects dedicated to preserving Brazil's Cultural Heritage. This initiative is part of the Federal Government's New Growth Acceleration Program (Novo PAC) and aims to select up to 100 new projects for the restoration, conservation, and promotion of Brazilian cultural heritage sites. The deadline for applications is November 10, 2023, and submissions must be made through the TransfereGov platform.

In its quest to develop circular products, Chinese company Yi Design has been creating various bricks from recycled materials. These products offer construction alternatives to address a major industry challenge: the generation of ceramic waste.

According to Yi Design, approximately 18 million tons of ceramic waste are produced every year in China. Headquartered in Jingdezhen, the country's ceramics capital, the group developed YiBrick, a permeable brick made of over 90% recycled ceramic. The material's production also incorporates wastewater and the fine dust from crushing raw waste.

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Gympass has announced a partnership with Tembici to promote the bicycle as a healthy means of transportation. Gympass users in Brazil can now make up to eight trips per month using Tembici's shared bikes in several Brazilian cities, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília, among others.

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The recent arrival of the Minergie certification in Chile is overseen by EBP Chile. This effort includes training Chilean professionals in this Swiss low-energy building standard, alongside the recent granting of provisional certification to the Covarrubias Hernández House in Lliu Lliu, Limache, designed by Murillo+Toro Arquitectos, and the Burgos Net Zero Building, developed by Cristián Izquierdo together with Tecton Inmobiliaria.

One of the primary demonstration spaces for Itaipu Binacional's socio-environmental actions is the Bela Vista Biological Refuge (RBV) in Foz do Iguaçu. Established in 1984, its initial purpose was to shelter wild animals rescued from the reservoir area—where land habitat was lost—and to serve as a nursery for forest seedlings used to create the Binational's approximately 34,000 hectares of protected areas.

To adapt the refuge's spaces to current needs and demands, including the use of zoo design strategies and ex-situ conservation actions, Itaipu Binacional organized a two-stage architectural competition open to architects from all over Brazil. Below is the winning proposal by RibasMarçal Arquitetura and Tempo Arquitetos.

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This October marked the fourth edition of the Peña Ganchegui Award for Young Basque Architecture, established in 2017 by the Peña Ganchegui Archive and the Basque Government's Housing Department. The award aims to bring visibility to architects who either trained in or practice in the Basque Autonomous Community, have less than 10 years of professional experience, and promote, develop, and strengthen a high-quality architectural culture.

The award ceremony took place at the Basque Country Architecture Institute, located in San Sebastián's Old Town, and was presented by Pablo García Astrain, Director of Housing, Land, and Architecture of the Basque Government. Jurors María Langarita, Fernando Márquez Cecilia, and António Cruz highlighted Ortega Diago's exercise in spatial synthesis, the singularity of their programmatic solutions, their delicate treatment of materials, their emphasis on transparency, and their focus on fluid circulation. These qualities were evident both in their interior design work—ranging from residential renovations to commercial and workspace fit-outs—and in their unbuilt projects. 

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Building Ecologies is the result of collaborative and interdisciplinary research led by architect Juan José Castellón at Rice University, featuring the participation of the School of Architecture, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Shepherd School of Music, along with support from the Carbon Hub initiative.

Exhibited at POST Houston in Texas, this model proposes innovative approaches to urban infrastructure and social spaces, aiming to promote the integration of architectural, technological, and ecological systems. 

The Viva o Verde SP initiative, a partnership between the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Municipal Secretariat for the Green and the Environment (SVMA) of the City of São Paulo, has officially launched assessment activities for over one hundred parks across the city.

The initiative involves implementing the City-Wide Public Space Assessment, a tool developed by UN-Habitat's Global Public Space Programme. From October to December, researchers will visit more than one hundred urban, linear, waterfront, and natural parks to conduct detailed structural assessments of each location.

The historic drought affecting the Amazon region has revealed four archaeological sites in the state of Amazonas, three of which were completely unknown and are of great importance. The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) has implemented an emergency action plan, involving inspections and educational initiatives in partnership with various public agencies and social organizations, including the Soka Institute of the Amazon, which voluntarily dedicates itself to the preservation of local cultural and environmental heritage.

We invite you to participate in the 2020 Obra do Ano Award. In its fourth edition, we are giving our readers the responsibility of recognizing and rewarding the projects that have made the greatest impact on the profession. By voting, you become part of an unbiased network of jurors recognizing the most significant projects built in Portuguese-speaking countries over the past year. There are only a few days left in the nomination stage, which will select the 15 finalists from over a thousand projects.

Remember, registered users can nominate their favorite project once per day. The nomination stage ends on Tuesday, March 24 at 11:59 PM (Brasilia time, GMT-3). Thank you once again for helping us democratize architecture.

From the competition for the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center to the competition for the restoration of Palacio Pereira, architectural competitions have enabled the design and construction of many iconic buildings in Chile's history. To recognize architectural competitions as a platform for professionals and students to not only showcase their creativity and skills, but also to secure the preliminary design that best meets a building's requirements, we have selected some of Chile's most successful architectural competition results.

On the first of this month, São Caetano do Sul (SP) implemented free fares on municipal buses through its "Zero Fare Program." Far from an isolated initiative, the measure aims to encourage public transportation use, providing direct savings to residents while improving air quality.

The ten cities selected to compete for $9 million in the Sustainable Cities Challenge, a global mobility initiative by the Toyota Mobility Foundation in partnership with Challenge Works and the World Resources Institute, have been announced. The list of selected cities includes Fortaleza, Brazil, as well as cities in Colombia, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The climate emergency manifests itself in Brazilian cities in various ways: floods in the South, coastal surges in Rio de Janeiro, storms causing power outages in São Paulo, wildfire smoke in Manaus, droughts in Amazonian rivers, and heatwaves in the Midwest. Therefore, integrating the fight against climate change into public planning is crucial.

On November 15, the Guatemala Architecture Biennial 2023 opened at the Miguel Ángel Asturias Cultural Center—one of the country's most important performing arts venues. While the previous 2021 edition recognized the importance of the city, architecture, and urban planning under the theme 'Mobility,' this latest iteration focuses on 'Public Space' under the slogan 'The City, Without Walls.' Over three days, this new approach will highlight public space as one of the most vital elements in urban planning, with a significant impact on citizens' social, psychological, and physical well-being.

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