Architecture News

Casa Lacerda, one of the main architectural heritage sites in the Lapa region (Paraná), will soon be revitalized. Currently operating as a museum and Heritage House—with rooms styled to recreate the home of a traditional local family—the space will be expanded with the construction of an annex. On Wednesday (18), the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) and the Paraná Department of the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB-PR) announced the winning proposals of the national design competition for the new building.

Starting November 5, bus riders in Vargem Grande Paulista will be exempt from paying fares. The city is the first in the São Paulo metropolitan area to offer free public transit.

The National Secretariat of Housing of the Ministry of Regional Development and the Council for Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR) agreed, during a meeting this week in Brasília, to create methods that will allow architects and urban planners to participate directly in real estate financing throughout the country. However, the agreement has not yet been finalized, and the procedures will be developed jointly with financial institutions.

The offices AUÁ arquitetos and Estúdio Itinerante were awarded third place in the national competition for the new headquarters of the Association of Engineers and Architects of Sorocaba (AEAS). Read the full project description and proposal below.

The 44th edition of the Itaú Cultural Occupation program honors Ukrainian architect Gregori Warchavchik. A naturalized Brazilian, he was responsible for building the first modernist work in Brazil, the Casa Modernista, located on Santa Cruz Street in São Paulo's Vila Mariana neighborhood.

The Court of Justice of Bahia has ordered the payment of copyright royalties and moral damages to an architect and urban planner whose designs were reproduced in 39 projects built across several Brazilian states. The Social Transportation Service (SEST) and the National Transportation Learning Service (SENAT), which used the designs without authorization in Integrated Care and Professional Centers for Transportation Workers (Capits) nationwide, were ordered to pay not only the inflation-adjusted copyright fees for the 39 projects, but also R$ 100,000 in moral damages. Furthermore, they must publish in a major newspaper, for three consecutive days in a prominent layout, the credit of architect Daniel Colina as co-author of the Capits' architectural design. 

One of Brazil's most influential designers, José Zanine Caldas would have celebrated his centenary in April this year. To honor his legacy, the municipality of Belmonte, Bahia, plans to open a museum in February next year. The project will be divided into two phases: the restoration of the historic mansion where Caldas was born, followed by an expansion designed by Márcio Kogan.

Videos

The School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo (FAU USP), one of the most prestigious architecture schools in Latin America, recently launched its YouTube channel—an initiative that continues efforts to highlight its community's work and democratize knowledge. Featuring student projects, lectures, documentaries, and expert perspectives on a wide range of topics, the channel offers diverse and relevant content.

Following heavy rains that hit Maceió at the beginning of the year, residents of the Pinheiro neighborhood entered a state of emergency as several cracks appeared in the area. Civil Defense authorities state that the neighborhood is at risk of collapse, and the main threat is that the asphalt could sink enough to create a sinkhole and destroy buildings, endangering the lives of over twenty thousand residents.

Videos

The film “Melting Souls” by François-Xavier Destors won the Best Documentary award at the 7th edition of the Arquiteturas Film Festival, which took place from June 4 to 9 at Cinema São Jorge in Lisbon.

The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is a 16-member panel (mostly appointed by the governor) that oversees air pollution control efforts in California. In December, the board approved a first-of-its-kind regulation in the US, establishing a statewide goal for public transit agencies to gradually transition to 100% zero-emission bus fleets by 2040.

Most architecture schools in Brazil also focus on the study of the city. This is only logical, considering that architecture and urbanism can be seen as the same discipline viewed from different scales. However, career opportunities at the urban scale may not always be clear. Consequently, Anthony Ling shared an article on ten ways to work in urbanism.

The transparency of the Glass House, the residence where Lina Bo Bardi and her husband, Pietro Maria Bardi, lived for forty years, is the subject of the work Casa de vento, by the visual artist Lucia Koch, native to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Koch is known for employing filters, screens, photographs, and videos in her investigations of light, spatiality, movement, and time, in close dialogue with architecture. Her intervention in Bo Bardi's house is another of her works that aims to shift our understanding of built reality through the superimposition of other layers of reality.

The Instituto Tomie Ohtake announced yesterday the winners of the sixth edition of the Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Prize. The shortlist featured 12 projects in the professional category and three in the student category, which will remain on display until December 1st at the Institute's headquarters in São Paulo.

The 20 projects selected for the Instituto Tomie Ohtake Leroy Merlin Design Award, under the theme SHARING, are featured in an exhibition in São Paulo. Open to university students and recent graduates from all over Brazil in any field of study, the award – focusing on proposals related to product, furniture, fashion, interiors, landscaping, web, graphic, and service design, among other sectors – received 127 entries from 16 Brazilian states, as well as the Federal District.

After at least five years of study, the time comes for architecture and urban planning students to complete their final graduation projects—often referred to as thesis, graduation, or capstone projects. In choosing their topic, students highlight civil, urban, or theoretical proposals that are highly relevant to fostering discussions about the future of our cities, the built environment, urban infrastructure, mobility, and many other topics essential to evolving the way we inhabit space.

Recently, the population of Mozambique suffered a devastating tragedy caused by Cyclone Idai, which left a massive number of people dead, injured, and homeless. To support the affected communities, the Architectes de l'Urgence Foundation is calling on architecture and engineering professionals to help rebuild one of the hardest-hit areas. Read the official statement below.

The firm Vigliecca & Associados was named the winner of an international competition in Bogotá, organized by Compensar, a Colombian social service organization, in partnership with the Universidad de los Andes. Held in two phases, the competition featured invited firms from Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as Colombia, and aimed to select the best proposal for a social housing complex.