From a natural perspective, agglomerations represent a nucleation similar to the "gravitational model," in which flows of energy and matter are "optimized" through proximity and articulation—the urban center. Etymologically, as we know, polis, from the Greek, indicates the collective and political character of the formation of urban space.
The recent completion of the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC), a collaboration between REX, Davis Brody Bond, and the Rockwell Group, is a milestone in the cultural transformation of Lower Manhattan. The PAC site is part of the World Trade Center complex, owned by the Port Authority of NY and NJ, an autonomous agency responsible for managing bridges, ports, tunnels, and airports. Since the 2001 attacks, the site has undergone significant changes, including the construction of the four WTC complex towers and the Oculus. More than nine years passed between the launch of the PAC competition and the project's completion, and I participated in the last five years as an architect on the Davis Brody Bond team.
This article by Diego Capandeguy was originally published in Revista Rita under the title "Las vastedades del sur. Encuentro con la Patagonia" (The Southern Vastnesses: Encountering Patagonia). The text explores the various influences on architecture and construction in Atlantic Patagonia, including landscape, history, culture, geopolitics, and eco-social pacts.
From its historical origins as a fishing village and the site of a pepper farm to today's bustling metropolis, Lagos, Nigeria, has evolved into a complex agglomeration of people, settlements, and vested interests.
As the economic powerhouse of Nigeria and West Africa, Lagos is projected to become the most populous city in Africa over the next 50 years, growing from its current 15 million to a population of 100 million. If recent migration waves are any indication—comprising those seeking economic opportunity or fleeing climate crises and conflicts in other parts of Nigeria—these projections may well be underestimates.
Six years ago, the 2017 earthquake left deep scars across various parts of the country, including Mexico City, where several buildings suffered severe structural damage and were subsequently evacuated. One of these is the SCOP Center (Centro SCOP). Designed by architects Carlos Lazo, Augusto Pérez Palacios, and Raúl Cacho, this integrated sculptural and pictorial complex features murals by Juan O'Gorman, José Chávez Morado, Francisco Zúñiga, and Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt. Today, it stands as one of Mexico's most significant 20th-century artistic monuments. Spanning over 6,000 square meters of gross floor area, it is widely considered one of the most successful examples of the *Integración Plástica* (Plastic Integration) movement.
Between 1928 and 1930, in the city of Prague, then the capital of Czechoslovakia, Adolf Loos, in collaboration with Karel Lhota, designed one of his most influential works: the Villa Müller. The house became not only a milestone in Loos's career and architectural history, but also a symbol of the expression of Raumplan, characterized by Loos as a sequence of spaces that, across different levels and varying ceiling heights, relate to and interact with one another.
It is 6:00 AM on a Tuesday. Where are you?
Geovana leaves her house already running late. It usually takes her two hours and three different transfers to get to her job in the city center. But it rained all night and her house flooded. She, her mother, and her siblings tried to save their furniture and other belongings. At 2:00 AM, when the rain finally let up, she managed to rest a bit, only to wake up shortly after. After yesterday's rain, she knows the streets in her neighborhood will be flooded, and her commute will take an hour longer than usual.
The practice of building with straw has existed since the dawn of civilization. Given the devastating impacts of contemporary construction methods, could straw be a viable, biogenic alternative to today's building materials?
Evidence suggests that straw and reed have been used in construction for over 10,000 years. Since then, the Industrial Revolution has completely transformed building practices, introducing the mass production of steel, glass, and, not least, concrete.
At the close of the first day of the 38th National Architecture Congress SCA in Pereira, the winners of the 3rd Vidrio Andino Award for Excellence in Sustainable Architecture were announced. This recognition aims to promote sustainable architecture by highlighting the collaborative efforts of designers, developers, and builders on projects that combine construction quality with architectural design, innovation, materials, and environmental and social impact.
One of the structural problems of Brazilian society is the excessive growth of the urban footprint, commonly referred to as "urban sprawl," which results in low-density urban occupation. This dispersed footprint complicates the provision of public services and compromises residents' quality of life, as it fails to generate sufficient demand for mass transit and encourages the use of private automobiles for commuting. To reverse this trend, urban policy seeks to increase the density of the existing city, whether by constructing new buildings on vacant lots or by rehabilitating degraded buildings in central areas. However, as currently designed, housing policy actually encourages urban sprawl.
Unlike standard doors, pivot door systems do not require conventional hinges. The pivots—the hardware that allows the door to rotate—are hidden from view, installed at both the top and bottom of the panel to create a vertical axis around which it swings. Because these pivots can be positioned near the frame or further toward the center of the panel, pivot doors are typically larger than average. This increased size compensates for the reduced clearance in the passageway, as the offset axis of rotation causes part of the door to swing inward, unlike traditional hinged doors.
The relationships between the waters and the diverse lives that inhabit the Amazon. This is the starting point for the first Bienal das Amazônias, which brings together 120 artists from all the countries spanning the territory of the world's largest rainforest. Under the title “Bubuia: Waters as a Source of Imaginations and Desires,” the exhibition is curated by Keyna Eleison and Vânia Leal, with the collaboration of Sandra Benites and Flávia Mutran in the project's conceptualization, and is currently on view in Belém. The exhibition took shape in a building remodeled specifically to host it, and its exhibition design maintains a constant dialogue with the materials and cultures of the region. We spoke with architect Juliana Godoy, who was responsible for the exhibition design, to understand how Amazonian subjectivities were translated and conceptualized within the spatial realm.
Reflecting on landscape, typology, and technology, the architecture firm Balsa Crosetto Piazzi designed this shared bathroom module for dairy farmers living a few kilometers outside the town of Ausonia in the province of Córdoba, Argentina.
Through talks, anecdotes, gatherings, and visits, the 28th edition of the Latin American Encounter of Students of Architecture (ELEA), held in San Juan, Argentina, set out to address diverse themes surrounding resilience, new technologies, the circular economy, and sustainability, aiming to foster a shared community of ideas, knowledge, and experiences through collaborative, participatory work.
Throughout her career as an architect, Fernanda Canales has shown a specific interest in studying the housing phenomenon in Mexico. This focus is reflected in her various research projects and publications, which aim to address this issue on a global scale. As she explains regarding this project: "With millions of vacant homes in the world and millions of people without housing, architecture has the potential to offer alternatives to segregation: it can undoubtedly offer more, for more people." In this vein, Canales presents "A HOUSE FOR MORE," a workshop and installation at the VDL House designed to question underutilized residential spaces and integrate diverse collective programs into the places we inhabit.
The 2023 Guatemala Architecture Biennial brings to the forefront the need to build a city without walls, integrating public spaces that foster a sense of belonging, unity, and identity. In this interview, the Biennial's general coordinator, Esteban Borjes Castillo, discusses the significance of this year's edition.
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Through exhibitions, the interior spaces of museums construct narratives that lend logic and meaning—which might otherwise not exist—to the objects on display. Indeed, the resources utilized in an exhibition are capable of shaping meaning by establishing connections not only among the displayed pieces, but also between the exhibition design and the artwork itself.
No País dos Arquitectos is a podcast created by Sara Nunes, who also runs the architectural film production company Building Pictures. The podcast aims to profile the professionals, projects, and stories behind landmark contemporary Portuguese architecture. With just over 10 million inhabitants, Portugal is a highly compelling country within this professional field, and its architectural output far exceeds what its population and territorial scale would suggest.
In this episode of the sixth season, Sara talks with architect and curator Pedro Gadanho about the exhibition Generation Proxima: Emerging Environmental Practices in Portuguese Architecture. Listen to the conversation and read part of the interview below.
