Architecture News

For the third time since its founding in 2002, Colombia will host the Latin American Social Workshop for Architecture Students under the name 'Tejiendo Paisajes: TSL Manizales 2022'—the first edition of the event since the onset of the pandemic.

The ARQUITECTURA Awards, organized by the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) and officially sponsored by COMPAC, concluded their inaugural edition with a celebration at CaixaForum Madrid, where the nine winning projects were announced. The awards recognized and celebrated social, cultural, and sustainable values in architecture and urbanism, with a particular focus on the projects' impact on human health, well-being, and safety, as well as planetary sustainability.

Marcelo Villafañe (1951), an architect from Rosario, passed away on Wednesday, January 26, as announced on social media by the Colegio de Arquitectos Distrito 2.

Commemorating PAC 3.0 and PAC 4.0, which took place during the quarantine, and launching PAC 5.0, Sto Chile celebrated at "Casa ArchDaily" with competition partners and friends from the private, public, trade, and industrial sectors.

Join the PAC team!

A week ago, we announced the 15 finalist projects of the 2022 Building of the Year award —the prize for the best architecture in Spanish. Our jury of experts—you, our readers—made an initial selection of 15 from nearly 1,000 architectural works built in Latin America and Spain to proceed with the final vote for 3 projects that represent the best of the architecture that inspires, defines, and shapes us.

Today is the day to announce the winners of ODA2022!

We are pleased to present three projects located in Colombia, Cuba, and Chile that demonstrate the relevance of thinking of architecture as a solution to specific and local needs in order to improve the quality of life, at any scale or program. 

The 2022 Building of the Year Award is presented to you by Dornbracht, renowned for its leading designs in architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens. See the selected projects below.

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The Catalan firm Batlleiroig, founded in 1981 by Enric Batlle and Joan Roig, has designed the first residence for the British group Vita Student in Barcelona. With this project, Batlleiroig joins an innovative proposal that aligns with the firm's other works, where the primary focus is urban renaturalization, landscape regeneration, and the creation of healthy spaces. The firm promotes an innovative design seeking a new way of living for students and faculty, featuring increased contact with nature, a strong focus on sports areas, and large common spaces for the entire community.

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On Thursday, April 7, the Regional Museum of Aysén (MRA) won the LCD Berlin Award 2021/22 for “best new museum” globally in the Latin American category. The accolade was presented by the international organization “Leading Culture Destinations,” which is headquartered in the German capital, in cooperation with VisitBerlin.

The award, which recognizes the museum located in the city of Coyhaique as one of the world's emerging and established cultural destinations, is a recognition of the work carried out by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage through Chile's National Cultural Heritage Service.

The savings and credit cooperative Visón de los Andes, “VisAndes,” launched a competition for the design of its new headquarters in Salcedo, Ecuador. As one of the strongest cooperatives in its sector, it sought to incorporate sustainability principles alongside its own core values, inviting prominent architecture firms from across the country.

Metha Arquitectos and Be Maarch have won first prize in the design competition for the remodeling of the Plaza de Armas in Juliaca, Peru. Key aspects of the proposal highlighted by the jury include: prioritizing pedestrians over vehicles, strengthening institutional character and environmental value, and creating a space that introduces nature. Additionally, the jury noted that the project understands and accommodates informal commerce dynamics, establishing a hierarchical longitudinal axis between the plaza and the school to create a pedestrian urban space. This is complemented by a secondary transverse transit axis and organized to eliminate architectural barriers, creating more inclusive spaces. See the project below.

The Municipality of the City of Mendoza launched a provincial ideas competition for the design and construction of a memorial honoring Malvinas veterans. Although organized by the Architects' Association of the Province of Mendoza (CAMZA), the initiative originated from a group of Malvinas veterans who reached out to the municipality. They sought a single space where they could be remembered, and which could bring together the four local Malvinas organizations: ACUVEMA (Cuyo Association of Malvinas Veterans), AVUM (Association of Veterans United for Malvinas), ADEM (Association of Malvinas Veterans), and FECUVEMA (Cuyo Federation of Malvinas Veterans).

To mitigate the consequences of informal urban growth in the Lima and Callao regions, on April 19, the Colegio de Arquitectos de Perú Regional Lima (CAP RL) launched the program “Valora Nuestro Barrio” (Value Our Neighborhood). Through 21 selected projects, the initiative aims to improve residents' quality of life by recognizing and showcasing successful urban improvement practices in the proposed neighborhoods.

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The Mayor's Office of Santiago de Cali, the Special Housing Fund (FEV), and the Colombian Society of Architects – Valle del Cauca (SCA Valle) launched a public competition for the preliminary urban, architectural, and landscape design of a sustainable rural social housing prototype. This project is designed to resettle families with productive vocations.

For the project, located in the city of Cali, within the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, the jury awarded first place to the architecture firm DARP – De Arquitectura y Paisaje + Ana Elvira Vélez.

At first glance, textile materials and clay do not share many similarities. However, Oficina Penadés brings these two concepts together, showcasing the potential of a new textile-based material combined with clay processing techniques in “Looks like magic!”, an exhibition held during the recent Milan Design Week.

The Central Society of Architects (SCA) and the Association of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires (CAPBA) organized the National Ideas Competition to develop a Rail Cultural Hub. The project includes a new General Railway Archive (AGF), a branch of the National Railway Training Center (CENACAF), and new facilities to protect records and showcase the historical and cultural heritage of Argentine Railways (Ferrocarriles Argentinos).

In August 2021, the call for entries was launched for the ideas competition for the "Scenic Garden and Pavilion" project. The primary goal was the reorganization and comprehensive recovery of the area known as the "ecological parking lot" to integrate it with the Centro Cultural del Bosque (CCB). The project called for the design of a Scenic Pavilion conceived as "a permanent space with unobtrusive, harmonious architecture that blends into the Forest's environment, establishing a point of connection with both the performing and visual arts ecosystems, looking toward the Zoo and the Museum of Modern Art."

The Municipality of Flores launched a public competition for preliminary architectural proposals for a mixed-use building called Mercado Trinidad, to be located in the city of Trinidad, Uruguay. By integrating existing heritage structures and renovating or replacing the remaining buildings and open spaces, the project aims to redirect truck and heavy machinery traffic from the municipal workshops and warehouses currently operating there. This shift will promote urban regeneration and revitalize the central area with a new urban facility.

As part of an initiative by the Ministry of Urban Development and Mobility of the Government of Michoacán, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo, the First Ideas Competition to renovate and adapt the Morelia Zoo (one of the largest in Mexico by number of species) to the new environmental, social, and cultural conditions of its context was launched.

The National Ideas Competition for the Todos Hermanos (Fratelli Tutti) Themed Promenade was organized by the Merlo chapter of the Association of Architects of the Province of San Luis. The objective was to create an open public space for reflection on peace and fraternity, addressing themes such as overcoming social, cultural, religious, and environmental conflicts. At the same time, the space will support recreational, cultural, and leisure activities, landscape contemplation, and other programs that engage the public.