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Fertile Futures is the title of Portugal's official representation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2023. Curated by Andreia Garcia alongside deputy curators Ana Neiva and Diogo Aguiar, the project aims to address water resource issues in seven Portuguese hydrogeographies and encourage reflection on building a sustainable, equitable, and fertile future. To this end, seven design teams — Corpo Atelier, Dulcineia Santos Studio, Guida Marques, Ilhéu Atelier, Pedrêz, Ponto Atelier, and Space Transcribers — were invited to reimagine distinct possibilities for these territories.

In an effort to expand access to the content exhibited in Venice, we present here the texts and images from the Portuguese pavilion, as well as photographs of the exhibition space. ArchDaily would like to thank the curatorial and communication team of Fertile Futures, who generously provided the material for this publication.

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One of the things that catches my attention most when I visit major cities in other countries, whether they are European capitals or our neighbors here in South America, is how people occupy public spaces.

And I don't just mean parks or squares. Whether in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Paris, or Amsterdam, for instance, at least on sunny days, almost any patch of grass is occupied by people—children running and playing, friends having picnics, young people reading stretched out in the sun.

The city of Vienna has a highly praised housing policy. While it certainly has many merits, it is not necessarily perfect. In fact, Vienna's housing policy has taken a different path than other European cities, sparking interest among those who study the subject. In this episode of the Housing Voice podcast, produced by UCLA, Justin Kadi presents several features that make the Austrian capital a unique case. The episode also provides a series of academic articles for anyone wishing to delve deeper into the subject.

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The current summer in the Northern Hemisphere has been so hot, with temperatures reaching record highs—including in the sea—that discussions are already revolving around the limits of human survival. Even in Antarctica, sea ice has failed to reform, a drastic departure from normal winter patterns. It is not just an impression that extreme heat events are occurring more frequently. As a result of climate change, the frequency of these events has increased—and is expected to worsen.

In fact, in most years, heat is the most lethal weather phenomenon, killing an average of 490,000 people worldwide and causing serious health problems for many others. According to the World Health Organization, heat-related deaths are projected to increase by 50% by 2050. However, this impact is not distributed equally, either globally or within communities: populations already living in more vulnerable conditions face the greatest risks.

In the design of open spaces, I consider one of the most important concepts—and one of the most difficult to explain—to be the shaping of “positive” open spaces. As far as I have been able to establish, this term was coined by Alexander et al. (1977) in A Pattern Language and continues to be used by other authors (see, for example, CARMONA et al., 2003), although it is not a widely adopted term.

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Tokyo is a chaotic city, in the sense that it did not develop from city-wide coordinated urban planning. By the 18th century, it already had around 1 million inhabitants, with most of the population living in conditions similar to modern Brazilian favelas. Tokyo's dense suburbs resemble Brazilian peripheries, with low-rise but closely packed buildings on narrow plots and a wide variety of uses. Furthermore, Tokyo features a multiplicity of architectural typologies, different modes of transportation sharing the same space, and—not unlike Brazilian cities—billboards and exposed overhead wires clashing with the urban landscape.

The most famous critique of the disproportionate amount of space occupied by automobiles is represented by a poster from the city of Münster, which compares the space taken up by 60 cars, one bus, and 72 bicycles (all carrying 72 people). The image clearly demonstrates that the space required by automobiles to transport the same number of passengers is staggeringly larger.

As part of a new project by the architecture firm WORC, "Moradores" emerges: a space located just steps from Jardín Zaragoza in Toluca, State of Mexico. Housed within a 342-square-meter residence with nearly a century of history, it is one of the few surviving structures from the evolution of a representative neighborhood in the city's historic center. The studio, directed by Ricardo Martínez and Camila Ureña, describes the space as a “public house” comprising a restaurant, art exhibitions, and a community gathering point.

With the goal of highlighting Chilean women who embody female empowerment, Forbes magazine has compiled a list of the 30 most influential women in the country today. The selection is based on key attributes such as leadership, public inspiration, and an ongoing contribution to shaping a more gender-equitable nation.

Between April 2 and 16, students from Latin America, together with architects, worked on the analysis, design, and construction of public infrastructure for the city of Suchitoto in El Salvador, within the framework of the XIX Latin American Social Workshop (TSL).

Since its first edition held in Barranquilla in 2002, the TSL has annually brought together public and private entities, university students, architects, professors, and members of Latin American civil society to develop practical architectural exercises with a strong community and local focus. This year, the XIX TSL was led by the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA) and the local organization, the National Association of Architecture Students of El Salvador (ANEA).

The following is the work produced by the workshops led by architects from El Sindicato, Taller Bugambilias, Taller de Tierra, Colectivo Hormiga, ACCIÓN, Laborateca, Sen Sos Hábitat, Alejandro Alcázar, and Coonvite:

With studies estimating that by 2050 nearly 70% of the global population will live in cities, planning for more sustainable and balanced urban development has become imperative for the coming decades. This discussion invariably hinges on a more assertive choice of construction materials that yield greater urban and environmental benefits. In this context, a material re-emerging as a more sustainable choice for urban infrastructure is wood, particularly when paired with new technological advancements, which is being reintroduced into cityscapes due to its versatile characteristics and its ability to align with the construction of tomorrow.

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Atrium Ljungberg unveiled Stockholm Wood City, the world's largest timber urban development project, serving as a major showcase of Swedish sustainability. At around the same time, on the other side of the world, Tallwood Architects' 'Tamango Project' exemplified both the challenges and opportunities of timber construction in Chile, as it is poised to become Latin America's first 12-story building with a prefabricated timber structure.

Atrium Ljungberg recently unveiled Stockholm Wood City, the world's largest timber urban development project—an effort to showcase Sweden's commitment to sustainability. On the other side of the world, Tallwood Architects' Tamango Project exemplifies the challenges and opportunities of timber construction in Chile and could become Latin America's first 12-story building featuring a prefabricated mass timber structure.

Wulff Castle in Viña del Mar is a renowned landmark, celebrated for its appearance and architectural style inspired by Liechtenstein Castle in Germany. The structure features German and French design elements, along with medieval characteristics—qualities that captivate both locals and the thousands of tourists who visit it.

Like the cobogó and the brise-soleil, the muxarabi is an architectural element designed to reduce solar heat gain inside buildings, acting as a “filter” that allows air to circulate freely. Typically made of wooden lattices, muxarabi panels offer the advantage of being lighter and cleaner to install compared to cobogós, for example, since they do not require mortar for assembly.

There is much discussion regarding ways to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry, whether through the waste generated by traditional jobsite activities or the water consumption associated with the building processes of certain construction types. Driven by the ecological agenda, current efforts to revise these traditional construction parameters also—and perhaps primarily—respond to the potential for improving jobsite logistics and profitability, making construction faster and more economical for builders. Dry construction has emerged as a key alternative for the industry, offering a fast, clean, and efficient building process that generally requires fewer materials.

Every day, governments, financial institutions, and corporations face a critical decision: continue investing in physical assets that emit greenhouse gases and degrade nature, or prioritize developing green solutions that foster a stable, resilient, and equitable economy. As communities bear the brunt of severe climate impacts, the imperative to build a sustainable future becomes increasingly clear.

The city of Federación, located in the northeast of the province of Entre Ríos, was structured, like most Argentine cities, around “the classic block-by-block grid layout bequeathed by the Laws of the Indies,” taking shape alongside the development of its various economic roles. The evolution of economic functions and the actions of different social forces gradually shaped a unique organization of urban space, in which distinct “neighborhoods” or urban districts clearly reflected the inequalities of the local socioeconomic structure.