Cities occupy just 3% of the Earth's land surface, yet they account for most of the world's energy consumption and carbon emissions. Many are also highly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their high population densities and interconnected infrastructure. To prevent the worst impacts of climate change—including human, social, and economic losses—making cities more resilient and prepared for a changing climate is crucial. Yet, recent studies indicate we are still far from achieving this.

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Bringing together current scientific research, a new climate science report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was approved and released following intense negotiations between the world's leading scientists and governments. Comprising 37 pages, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report (AR6) compiles six in-depth scientific and policy reports, and is primarily aimed at policymakers.

Among the updates to the new Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) program, recently launched by the Brazilian Federal Government, is the inclusion of a "housing improvement" modality. This is a necessary addition, as it addresses historically underserved populations—precisely those most vulnerable to the increasingly frequent and severe impacts of climate change. A new path toward sustainable, equitable, inclusive, and low-carbon development must be established. This transition depends not only on access to quality housing, but also on infrastructure and public services.

Around the world, forests play a fundamental role in combating or helping to contain climate change. Standing, healthy forests sequester more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit, functioning as a carbon sink; conversely, degraded and deforested areas release their stored carbon back into the atmosphere, becoming a carbon source.

Nearly three years ago, the platform arquitectas.mx was launched as an initiative by Mexican architects Mónica Suberville and Laura A. Gómez. Born from the desire to find ways to support, mobilize, and bring visibility to women in architecture, the platform offers a gathering space for professionals across different practices within the field, aiming to steer the profession toward inclusion, equity, and the improvement of cities through a gender perspective.

Cities worldwide face growing challenges in urban planning and the creation of sustainable, engaging public spaces such as green areas. In response, new approaches have emerged to integrate green landscapes into municipal public spaces. These sites play a fundamental role in the development and transformation of cities; for a long time, they have served as the stage for social interaction, cultural expression, and the exchange of ideas.

Major cities like Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte have been transforming their downtown areas into more residential zones, reclaiming a past of greater vitality. Rio de Janeiro pioneered this trend with the launch of its Reviver Centro program in 2021. More recently, São Paulo launched Todos pelo Centro, which also aims to “promote transformative actions in downtown São Paulo, bringing new life alongside the city's memories and history.”

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Preschool is more than just a place to leave young children; it is a space that allows them to connect with their imagination and senses through the colors, textures, and layout of their environment. In Chile, many architects have committed to translating these learning opportunities into the architecture itself.

From the recently built Golondrina Preschool and Nursery in Valparaíso to the renowned Bambú Preschool in Santiago, we present a selection of outstanding projects that leverage these attributes, enabling both children and educators to engage in their activities in dynamic and creative ways.

The exclusion of women from the production of space is palpable, reflecting a landscape of insecurity and vulnerability. In this context, urban mobility as we know it reproduces the gender, racial, and class inequalities of our society. Whether through walkability or public transit, the fact remains that current transit patterns do not align with the needs of women—especially those who identify as Black or Brown and have lower incomes. Therefore, we aim to focus specifically on how concepts of intersectionality operate within urban mobility as a social right for all.

Studies link green areas to a reduction in anxiety and depression, boosted immunity in children, relief from loneliness in cities for adults, and even increased intelligence. Seeking outdoor leisure activities in contact with nature offers numerous benefits. To help you choose interesting places to visit in the state of São Paulo, we present a list of ten protected environmental heritage sites, compiled by the São Paulo State Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy.

According to the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment, the State of São Paulo has 5,670,532 hectares of native vegetation in various stages of recovery. This area is equivalent to 22.9% of the state's territory. Below, check out some of the spaces that preserve this greenery. In addition to urban parks, trails, and campsites, the list even includes the headwaters of the Tietê River.

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As 2023 begins, looking back at 2022 reveals a year of profound shifts, challenges, and boundary-pushing opportunities for architectural practices worldwide. Navigating these new unknowns, we have compiled our interviews from the past year with a diverse range of firms and practitioners. This retrospective explores how legacy firms with over two decades of practice continue to thrive, how the profession is adapting to technological frontiers like the metaverse and artificial intelligence, the challenges material experts are tackling, and how a new generation of architects is shaping the future of the discipline. Read on for our annual roundup of conversations.

I suspect many readers here experience the same, shall we say, “predicament” as I do: as soon as we step outside our “bubble,” advocating for urban design principles that seem obvious to us — such as eliminating fences and walls, and promoting public access, visual permeability, mixed-use zoning, and active frontages — inevitably runs into the same obstacle: the lack of public safety.

This article by Carmen Espegel was originally published in the 16th issue of revista rita under the title "Alegato pedagógico en Talca" (A Pedagogical Plea in Talca). The following text explores the unique approach to teaching design studios at the School of Architecture of the University of Talca (Chile), where territory, materiality, and the social sphere converge in a constructive thought and action carried out by students in their own homes, aiming to critically reformulate how we dwell.

The Centro de Estudios Superiores de Diseño de Monterrey (CEDIM) presented "Cámara Clara," an installation that seeks to dialogue with the sun within the semi-arid landscape of the northern city of Monterrey, Mexico. This ephemeral installation, created by CEDIM students, does not fight against the sun, as architecture so often does, but rather celebrates its presence and orbital rhythms, allowing viewers to contemplate it through its skin from a precise central vantage point within the structure.

Each person needs about 110 liters of water to meet their daily consumption and hygiene needs. However, in Brazil, daily consumption can exceed 200 liters per person, according to Sabesp. Due to high water pressure in apartment buildings, this consumption can be even higher. Furthermore, the country loses about 40% of all treated water captured, according to 2022 data from Instituto Trata Brasil. Nonetheless, at least within the home, this waste of clean water can be mitigated through a few simple changes.

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What does 2023 hold for development and the environment?

The end of 2022 certainly left us in an interesting—yet troubling—position. A three-year-old pandemic proved far from over, sickening millions and straining economies. Global inflation reached 9%, its highest level since 2008. Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced millions of people to flee their homes, triggering cascading effects in food and energy systems worldwide. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change—from catastrophic flooding in Pakistan to scorching heatwaves in India and severe droughts in Africa—compounded these threats.

Whether establishing greater fluidity between spaces, integrating distinct elements of an architectural design, or creating a more playful atmosphere, suspended structures in residential projects yield a wide range of spatial experiences.

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You are likely familiar with the story of a man who received a divine command to build an ark to shelter his family and animals of every species, saving them from a great deluge. This flood narrative, known as the story of "Noah's Ark," is found not only in the Bible but also in the Quran and many other cultures—with the Sumerian "Epic of Ziusudra" being the oldest known flood myth, dating back to 2000 BCE. These examples show that the forces of nature, by taking center stage in religious teachings, were already recurring concerns that inspired both fear and respect in early civilizations.

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An interdisciplinary group of professors, mostly from UNAM, founded the Permanent Seminar on Ephemeral Architecture in January 2019, aiming to formalize the work carried out on the subject since 2010. Now, drawing on the reflections and papers presented at the colloquium "Ephemeral Architecture: Reflections on the Mutability of Built Space"—held at the UNAM Faculty of Architecture—the eponymous publication has been released and is available for free download at this link.

Located in Argentina, approximately 56 km (35 miles) southeast of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, stands the city of La Plata, founded on November 19, 1882, as the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires. As the product of the country's most ambitious urban and architectural undertaking, La Plata was conceived as a forward-looking city—one of the first in the world designed in accordance with the new principles of urban hygiene and rational construction generated by 19th-century scientific advancements. Furthermore, the city was showcased at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, the grand exhibition celebrating the centennial of the French Revolution.

Designated by the United Nations (UN), June 17 was established as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, a date that serves to raise awareness about these phenomena while promoting initiatives to address them. Broadly speaking, desertification refers to the process of land degradation in arid regions, caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. This phenomenon leads to the loss of vegetation cover, soil erosion, and reduced agricultural productivity, among other negative consequences. Drought, on the other hand, is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall resulting in water scarcity, which can have severe impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and human livelihoods.

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The concept of the circular economy is increasingly prominent in discussions on architecture and urbanism—especially as cities are home to around 55% of the world's population and continue to grow. The goal of circularity is to reduce the environmental impact of current production and consumption models through the efficient use of material resources and waste reduction. But how can this idea actually be implemented in cities?

Burnout Syndrome, or professional exhaustion syndrome, is an emotional disorder characterized by extreme exhaustion, stress, and physical depletion resulting from demanding work environments that entail intense competition or high levels of responsibility. Particularly during and after the pandemic—essentially our current reality—burnout rates have surged. Yet, the topic remains under-discussed. Given the significant role of spatial design in the lives of employees, how can neuroarchitecture support quality of life and help mitigate burnout?

How can we construct buildings using less water? The construction process consumes a vast amount of water resources, and it is time to consider how to reduce this environmental impact.