Álvaro Siza, Portugal's first Pritzker Laureate, is undeniably a figure of major importance in the history of contemporary architecture, with projects that have reshaped the urban landscapes of numerous cities around the world. While his name and work are widely known, Siza is a highly private and introspective person who prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight.
Directed by producer and director Augusto Custódio, the documentary SIZA offers a more intimate and personal look at the renowned Portuguese architect. The film covers his childhood, his relationship with his wife, his passion for sculpture, and his admiration for classical music, exploring his influences and professional journey.
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One of the floating wind turbines installed in Portuguese waters. Photo: EDP
Between October 31 and November 6, 2023, Portugal produced more than enough renewable energy to meet the entire country's demand. While fossil fuel plants were still operational, the clean energy generated was more than sufficient to supply the grid. Consequently, consumer electricity rates dropped drastically.
Using plants to filter impurities from lakes and rivers is already a common practice in sustainability. It is an alternative that avoids artificial chemicals in favor of maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Now, students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) have gone a step further, creating floating planters made of mycelium to clean pollutants from waterways while restoring wetland habitats.
Amazonas Theatre. Photo by Rafael Zart, via Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 2.0
Teatro Amazonas in Manaus and Theatro da Paz in Belém could soon achieve recognition as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The first step toward this distinction for the Amazon theaters will be taken between December 13 and 15, during the first mobilization workshop in Manaus. This event will gather representatives from the governments of Amazonas and Pará, the city halls of Manaus and Belém, civil society, researchers, and the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).
https://www.archdaily.com/1135873/theatro-da-paz-and-teatro-amazonas-could-become-world-heritage-sites-in-the-coming-yearsArchDaily Team
Ipiranga Museum. Photo by Webysther, via Wikipedia. License CC BY-SA 4.0
To celebrate the 467th anniversary of the city of São Paulo, the Museu do Ipiranga is launching the digital campaign São Paulo – Território em Construção on January 25. Through the collection's rich iconography, along with testimonies from historians, architects, and urban planners, the public is invited to reflect on the city's transformations, from its founding in the colonial period to the grand metropolis we know today. The content, formatted as web stories, will be available on a website featuring a timeline, photos, paintings, and maps from the collection, as well as explanatory audio and videos about the evolution of São Paulo's urban space. Visitors can also learn more about the city's main landmarks, such as Pátio do Colégio, Paulista Avenue, and Nove de Julho Avenue.
A brief preview of Uncertainty, the Spanish Pavilion for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, which will take place from May 22 to November 21.
Motivated by the enrollment of a classmate with a disability at the Dona Escolástica Rosa State Technical School (Etec), logistics students at the institution developed a project that could transform public transit in the city of Santos, São Paulo. The project consists of an audio system designed to assist and offer autonomy to passengers who face mobility challenges.
Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Roman Kraft via Unsplash
Anyone interested in urban policy will likely, at some point, come across the term “compact city.” This expression has become a staple of urban planning. Proposals associated with the concept favor denser development, with commerce and services close to residential areas, encouraging pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit mobility. Some European capitals, such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam, are often pointed to as examples of this model. Its counterpart is the sprawling city, where neighborhoods are predominantly residential, far from downtown, and require long commutes from home to work.
The winners of the 3rd Tomie Ohtake Institute Leroy Merlin Design Award have been announced. The award ceremony, which was originally scheduled to take place in person at the Tomie Ohtake Institute alongside the exhibition of the projects, was held virtually for invited guests due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 15 projects were selected from 213 entries representing 20 Brazilian states and the Federal District.
Photo by A. Duarte, via VisualHunt.com / CC BY-SA. ImageCerrado, the third most biodiverse flora biome in the country
With nearly fifty thousand plant species—over half of which are endemic, meaning they only occur naturally here—Brazilian flora is among the most diverse and richest in the world. This data is featured in the country's largest and most comprehensive virtual botanical library, Flora do Brasil 2020, developed by the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden.
Kubuswoningen, designed by Piet Blom in Rotterdam, Netherlands (1984). Photo by Nicole Baster, via Unsplash
With one of the best higher education systems in the world, the Netherlands offers annual scholarships for Brazilians through the Orange Tulip Scholarships program. Applications for the 2021/2022 academic year are now open for undergraduate, postgraduate, or MBA students.
More than 20 Dutch universities participate in the program, offering scholarship options for courses in the fields of Arts, Biological Sciences, Health, Exact Sciences, Technology, and Humanities, including some focused on architecture and urban planning – all taught in English.
The University Council of the São Paulo State University (Unesp) has decided to award the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to Adélia Borges, a curator, journalist, and critic active in the field of design. The initiative for awarding the degree came from the Department of Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Arts and Communication (FAAC) on the Bauru campus. In its justification, the Council stated that the title was awarded “for her work as a critic and curator with a significant contribution to the research, dissemination, and promotion of Brazilian Design on both the national and international stages, demonstrating deep knowledge of the field and a broad socio-political and cultural vision.” The official ceremony will take place on March 8, 2021, International Women's Day, at 2:30 PM, and will be broadcast on the TV Unesp YouTube channel.
The septic tank developed by the Municipality of Uberlândia is a compelling alternative for repurposing waste materials while also addressing basic sanitation challenges common in many Brazilian cities.
The Municipal Department of Water and Sewage (DMAE) is the agency responsible for designing the system and manufacturing the sustainable septic tanks distributed in the city. To share this knowledge more widely, however, they created a step-by-step manual so the design can be replicated anywhere.
One hundred and twenty civil society organizations (NGOs, institutes, foundations, collectives, and social movements) advocating for the right to the city sent an open letter to the Mayor of São Paulo, Bruno Covas, demanding that the Strategic Master Plan (PDE) review process be conducted by the Municipal Government in a way that guarantees full public participation, respecting the principles of democracy, popular sovereignty, and transparency, even amid the pandemic.
The 6th edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, taking place in 2022, is themed Terra. Carrying different meanings depending on the scale and the observer, Terra expresses territory, the city, the landscape, the place where we belong, or a continent seen from the sea. It can be a habitable planet or matter for cultivation. It can be in excess or lacking, and it can be an obstacle or an element in building communities. Driven by a sense of urgency, the Triennale 2022 calls for reflection on all these dimensions, which are closely related to architecture.
Arquigrafias. Guido Guidi and Álvaro Siza is the exhibition marking the public reopening of Casa da Arquitectura after the lockdown. Curated by Paula Pinto and Joaquim Moreno, the exhibition of photographs by Italian photographer Guido Guidi of the work of architect Álvaro Siza is on display at the Casa Gallery from April 17 to October 3, 2021.
The curators selected eight projects located in Lisbon, Porto, and Matosinhos, represented through 97 images captured by Guido Guidi's lens. Arquigrafias thus offers a “dialogue between the photographic work of Guido Guidi (Cesena, 1941) and the architectural work of Álvaro Siza (Matosinhos, 1933), constituting a unique encounter between two singular figures in their respective fields.”
Today, the IABsp announced the winning team of the co-curatorship competition for the 13th International Architecture Biennale of São Paulo. Titled Travessias, the team comprises nine Brazilian members from various fields: Carolina Piai Vieira, Larissa Francez Zarpelon, Louise Lenate Ferreira da Silva, Luciene Gomes, Pedro Cardoso Smith, Pedro Vinícius Alves, Raíssa Albano de Oliveira, Thiago Sousa Silva, and Viviane de Andrade Sá.
France is investing in initiatives to combat climate change, including shifting to more sustainable modes of transport. Owners of older cars can now receive a government subsidy of up to 2,500 euros to trade in their vehicles for electric bicycles.
“For the first time, it is recognized that the solution is not to make cars greener, but simply to reduce their number,” noted Olivier Schneider of the French Federation of Bicycle Users.
