Articles

This article by Alberto Bravo de Laguna Socorro was originally published in the 12th issue of revista rita_ under the title "Transgression, experimentation and communicability of the graphic in collective architectures: Indices of an engaged graphic expression."

Finishes are the skin of the projects we build, serving as the canvases and frames that contain the atmospheres of the spaces we inhabit. As Pritzker laureate Peter Zumthor expresses in his book Atmospheres, it is through the consonance of materials—by joining, mixing, or altering their formats—that a harmonious effect is created in relation to the spatial atmosphere.

Within the framework of the 27th Colombian Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BICAU XVII), the Colombian Society of Architects (SCA) has announced the winners of the parallel IV Colombian Biennial of Architecture Students. For these awards, the proposals were selected across four categories: Architectural Project; Research, Theory, and Criticism; Urban, Rural Design, and Territory Planning; and Architects as Agents of Change. Meet them below:

Brutalisim is an architectural movement that emerged in Europe in the 1960s and became one of the most controversial yet popular styles worldwide. This was due to various factors, including its use of raw concrete and, more broadly, its ideals focused on public service through monumental works. Furthermore, it became a new medium for expressing contemporary political stances through functional public spaces.

Mixed-use buildings are urban devices characterized by a diversity of uses. Sharing an existence fraught with obstacles and setbacks, those that manage to get built endure as true survivors of a vigorous species that thrives in areas of opportunity, carving a path through real estate speculation.

+ 16

Continuous trial and error. Architects draw and redraw lines, shapes, objects, and images on napkins, tracing paper, or black CAD backgrounds. Discarding, restarting, and repeating the cycle. The path between the initial idea and the final project is long and arduous. The challenge lies at the core of design: an endless decision-making process where a single change impacts countless other elements, turning the exercise into a series of trade-offs and concessions. These choices range widely, from determining how much site coverage minimizes environmental impact, to maximizing desk capacity in an office while maintaining fluid circulation. Every decision requires extensive research or calculation to yield an optimal solution. For example, a window placement that looks elegant on the facade might leave no room for a bed inside, or inadvertently spike the building's energy consumption.

In any project, pressing deadlines and tight budgets mean clients are often in a rush, leaving little time to explore every possible combination or calculate the exact impact of each decision. It is at this juncture that the concept of generative design is increasingly coming to the fore in architecture.

Mapas Sonoros is a project by the Usted no está aquí Archive that documents Latin American cities and towns in a non-traditional way. Functioning as a “map of maps,” the website compiles more than 40 independent sites with sound archives from countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay, creating a comprehensive log of georeferenced audio documents that offer an alternative way to map and understand Latin America.

Spending significant time at home has made us realize that the interior spaces of conventional commercial housing are ill-suited to accommodate work, domestic life, and leisure. This situation is further exacerbated in peripheral areas far from urban centers. On Cascajal Island in Buenaventura, Colombia, the relationship between coastal housing and the sea is essential for local cultural and economic development.

While some works serve as monuments to the egos of those who practice this profession, other architectural approaches propose the exact opposite. These practices deliver projects that—almost poetically—harmonize built elements with the surrounding natural environment. There are also designs that adapt to the morphological order of nature, resulting in an organic language that generates highly unique and singular interior spaces. 

The crisis brought about by the pandemic and the resulting new global order compel us to review and adjust all Land-Use Plans—or their local equivalents—across Latin American cities. 

+ 12

Driven by a personal quest to explore heritage and preserve Mexican traditions, architect Ana Ibañez has created a collection titled “Barraganescas,” featuring jewelry pieces inspired by the houses designed by architect Luis Barragán in the city of Guadalajara.

+ 29

The remodeling project for the Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo) in Mexico City was completed in 2018. The design is the result of a competition launched by the Government of Mexico City and the Ministry of Public Works of Mexico City, covering an area of 46,800 square meters.

As one of the first steps in an architectural project, positioning the building on the site guides a series of subsequent design decisions, such as the spatial distribution of the program. 

Especially when a building is constructed on an irregular lot—whether due to jagged boundaries, asymmetries, sharp angles, or narrow segments—the shape of the property is highly likely to directly influence the design concept.

+ 12

+ 34

Combining the efficiency—in terms of both time and cost—of prefabrication with the inherent flexibility and adaptability of on-site construction, DUMAY Arquitectos presents Casa Aditiva, a modular architectural system that leverages standardization to create homes of diverse designs, floor areas, and layouts.

This article by Dr. Clara E. Mejía Vallejo and Dr. Ricardo Merí de la Maza (Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain) was originally published in the 22nd issue of Dearq Journal on 01/01/2018 under the title "Lessons from History: Rogelio Salmona and Pierre Francastel " (http://dx.doi.org/10.18389/ dearq22.2018.06) and is part of a collaborative dissemination partnership.

+ 2

This article is part of a collaboration with the website coolhuntermx and was originally published under the title "Housing Production in Rural Mexico."

Between virtual panel discussions and tweets sparking debate on housing and its role during the pandemic, addressing this issue in Mexico is as complex as the country's history and as vast as its territory. The article What About the Right to Adequate Housing in Mexico? offered an overview of the laws governing Mexico City and urban conditions. But what about housing in rural areas?

Implementing universal design in built environments is no easy task—especially regarding the minimum requirements for making public spaces accessible and adapting urban intersections (sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and bike lanes). For this reason, the Corporación Ciudad Accesible has shared its constantly updated article, Accessibility on Sloped Terrain.

This article by Jaime Coll López was originally published in the 10th issue of revista rita_ under the title "Determination vs Indeterminacy in Domestic Space." It is a critique of flexibility in housing, one of the primary paradigms of 20th-century domestic architecture.