Articles

Officially debuting the partnership between ArchDaily and Arquicast, episode #68 Interview: ArchDaily Brasil is now live. In this episode, three of the editors from the Brazilian platform—Pedro Vada, Eduardo Souza, and Matheus Pereira—share a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to work for the world's most visited architecture and urbanism website. The challenges of adapting to a new kind of career in architecture, the speed of industry transformations, and the role of technology and collaboration are among the topics discussed in this casual and informative conversation, which can be accessed here!

The practice of the dérive is a subject that sparks great interest among urban scholars and professionals. The Situationists, a social critique movement founded in 1957, used this practice to propose new interpretations of the city based on individual lived experience. Jacopo Visconti, curator of the 34th Bienal de Artes de São Paulo, analyzed in his doctoral thesis artistic practices that incorporate the act of walking, seeking the characteristics that defined the Situationist practice of the dérive. Advised by Prof. Dr. Luis Antonio Jorge, Visconti defended his thesis in 2012, which was later published as a book by Martins Fontes. Read the thesis abstract below.

Brick is one of the most widely used materials in Colombia, helping local architecture stand out globally. This prominence is due to the exceptional quality of the clay found in several regions of the country. Beyond cladding the majority of the buildings that define Bogotá's urban landscape, the material is used in all its forms, from adobe to floor tiles in rural homes.

Since the beginning of the month, thousands of fire outbreaks have been recorded in Brazil's northern states, spreading through Acre, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul, and reaching the triple border of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the country is experiencing its worst wave of wildfires in five years.

The year is 2010. As the first Arab country selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar is already ramping up its preparations to host this highly anticipated and costly event 12 years down the line. Extensive construction and reconstruction efforts are being launched, targeting not only the facilities directly demanded by FIFA, but also, more broadly, the urban infrastructure systems of the country's major cities.

The search for the ideal city has always permeated human history, constituting a utopia pursued by rulers, artists, philosophers, and, in more recent history, by us, urban planners. Since the 19th century, various models of ideal cities have been proposed—and, at times, built—ranging from Howard's garden cities to mechanized, radial, and walking cities (like those of the Archigram group), to nomadic ones like Constant Nieuwenhuis's New Babylon, and modernist cities, among others.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 80/2019, a collective proposal led by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, suffers from blatant unconstitutionalities, in addition to posing structural risks to economic and social development. These issues are analyzed in detail below, based on the following aspects: 

Guilherme Essvein de Almeida's doctoral dissertation presents an analysis of two major works of contemporary architecture: the Casa da Música in Porto, designed by Rem Koolhaas, and the Cidade das Artes in Rio de Janeiro, designed by Christian de Portzamparc. Defended in 2018, the dissertation was advised by Prof. Dr. Carlos Eduardo Dias Comas as part of the graduate program at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Read the author's abstract and find the link to the full dissertation below.

Many of the most compelling design solutions stem from site conditions—whether climate, local materials and labor, construction techniques, or, above all, the way these factors are addressed within the highly specific context of the plot. The plot is the ultimate space for putting these strategies into practice. As cities increasingly feature smaller land parcels, designing for narrow lots has become a recurring reality.

What images come to mind when we think of major Brazilian cities? Perhaps traffic jams, pollution, insecurity, and noise. Perhaps crowds of people coming and going. Pedestres. Bicycles. Buses. After all, eight out of ten Brazilians live in urban areas—regions that have undergone rapid urbanization. Over the last six decades, the country's population grew from 70.2 million to 209.3 million, and the proportion of urban dwellers surged from 44% to the current 85%.

A person living in Moema, a neighborhood with one of the highest income concentrations in São Paulo, lives 20 years longer than someone born in Cidade Tiradentes, in the far east of the capital. Brazil's wealthiest city exposes just how unequal the country is, and how much access to public policies varies depending on where one lives. 

Factories, slaughterhouses, gasometers, convents, water towers, and railway stations are just a few examples of structures that often remain within the urban fabric of cities over time, even after losing their original purpose. Repurposing an existing building for new functions is what has become known as adaptive reuse. While not a contemporary concept, the practice has been widely adopted in recent years as a strategy to manage spaces in a more economical, sustainable, practical, and efficient way.

“Writing is like a city, for which words are a thousand gates.”
- Walter Benjamin

No roads or maps lead to them. Yet, many of the cities imagined in literature feel more tangible than real ones, capturing the human imagination with their fantastical sparks. The rich geographical, cultural, and social detail of cities like the famous Macondo, from One Hundred Years of Solitude, frequently places a magnifying glass over the relationship between territory and its inhabitants.

The veranda is one of the architectural elements that most powerfully fosters the connection between interior and exterior spaces. Its precise origins are difficult to pinpoint, as it can be found in vernacular architecture across the East, the Arab world, Europe, and, with particular prominence, Brazil.

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According to data released by the United Nations (UN, 2017), the global population has reached 7.6 billion, with more than half (54%) living in urban areas. In Brazil, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2010), 84.4% of the population lives in cities.

The work of the Catalan firm Barozzi Veiga is explored through the tension between tradition and invention in architecture in this article by João Paulo Rapagão, published in partnership with AMAG.

In the 21st century, smart city management will be one of the most influential factors in economic development. Addressing challenges in housing, sanitation, democracy, education, safety, economic development, and quality of life will be at the forefront of the agenda for city leaders. 

Announced in November by Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes, the Mais Brasil Plan includes three Constitutional Amendment Proposals (PEC) aimed at balancing fiscal accounts at the federal, state, and municipal levels. Among them is the dissolution of municipalities that are not financially self-sustaining.