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Luken is a designer furniture brand –created and produced in Mexico by architect Paola Calzada Prats–, characterized by its use of recycled or eco-friendly materials. The collection consists of indoor and outdoor furniture that is easily assembled and resistant to sun, water, and heavy use.

Two different materials are used: recycled plastic for outdoor furniture and valchromat for indoor pieces, the latter being a 12 mm thick Portuguese wood fiber panel that, while not rainproof, is resistant to moderate humidity. No glue or nails are required for assembly. Meanwhile, the outdoor recycled plastic is made of 100% melted plastic with no added chemicals in the process. It performs exceptionally outdoors due to its resistance to direct sunlight, sea air, rain, and even heavy daily use by children.

The IAB played a key initial role in consolidating the profession of architects and urban planners as an autonomous activity from engineering back in the 1940s and 1950s. It was organized as a representative institution, a voluntary association of architects, and a platform for the field's public policies. This applied both to guiding legitimate practices concerning the built environment, the landscape, and the city, and to educating both architects and society about an activity so fundamental to citizenship. Action across these diverse areas began with support for the regulation of architecture as a profession in Brazil (the creation of Crea/Confea in 1933), followed by the organization of the 1945 congress, and, in the case of São Paulo, support for the founding of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of São Paulo (FAUUSP) in 1948.

Fitting a ramp into a layout can be a designer's nightmare. But anyone who has ever had to climb a steep ramp in a wheelchair or push someone else knows firsthand how much of a difference a well-designed ramp makes. NBR 9050, from 2015, establishes the technical criteria and parameters to be observed in the design, construction, installation, and adaptation of buildings, furniture, spaces, and urban equipment to ensure accessibility.

Aiming to offer low-income households genuine flexibility for expansion and adaptation during their housing process, the Robotic Timber Framing group at the Department of Architecture of the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, led by Luis Felipe González and Francisco Quitral, is developing timber housing structures that can be freely assembled and transformed by their occupants.

Without the need for metal fasteners, the components are joined using mortise and tenon joints, a process carried out by an industrial robot equipped with cutting tools.

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In the constant ebb and flow of those moving through the city of São Paulo, you have likely noticed the distinctive graphic pattern repeated across various sidewalks. The classic pattern behind the modules that graphically form the map of the state of São Paulo was created in 1966 by architect and artist Mirthes dos Santos Pinto. It all began in the 1960s when then-mayor João Vicente Faria Lima launched a competition to design the city's new pavement. Mirthes, who at the time worked as a drafter for the São Paulo Municipal Works Department, created a stylized map of the State of São Paulo. Using square modules of black and white geometric tiles, the design alternated between solid colors and diagonally split tiles to create a continuous pattern.

There are now more than 350 Colombian projects published on ArchDaily. To celebrate this milestone, we have curated a selection that highlights the invaluable role of architectural models in conceptualizing, designing, and constructing contemporary Colombian architecture.

Far from the photorealism now achieved by 3D rendering specialists, the physical model endures as a critical tool for conceptual, spatial, structural, and constructive exploration, as showcased in the following selection:

When discussing Le Corbusier, a portion of his work—especially the early villas designed in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret—is often dubbed the “White Villas.” It is curious that this color, white, remains so closely associated with the architect, rather than him having a “blue” period like Picasso or a “gold” period like Klimt.

When and why was the term “White Villas” coined for Le Corbusier's work? Could the whiteness of his buildings have been misunderstood, much like Greek art? This notion of whiteness was highly useful for laying the foundations of Neoclassicism in its time, yet it is entirely removed from the rich palette of colors that graced those works during the Hellenic period.

What do the arrival of the Portuguese royal family, Brazil's largest slave trade market, the murder of student Edson Luís during the military dictatorship, and the R$52 million bribe received by Eduardo Cunha have in common? They all took place in Rio de Janeiro’s port area and can now be (re)discovered through the Museum of Yesterday (Museu do Ontem), an app launched by Agência Pública that aims to rescue these stories and foster a new relationship with this important urban territory.

It is another freezing night in Chucuito, and in the restaurant where all the participants of the XV TSL Puno are dining, Jhony Chaves—better known as "El Gato"—tells us stories about impossible places, like Cerro de Pasco, a Peruvian mining settlement even higher, colder, and harsher than Chucuito. He then recalls a village lost in the Peruvian jungle that can only be reached by boat, where the mosquitoes seem as large as birds. Next, he jumps to describing Andean villages that flood and freeze almost year-round, until the weather finally gives a few months of respite to the families who live there simply in houses made of mud.

As El Gato goes through his inventory of Peruvian towns, it is impossible not to think of the magical realism of Macondo. Is all of this real? Indeed, it fits perfectly that this is also a concept coined decades ago, before García Márquez, by a European, for whom his own continent's nature had been entirely domesticated. Of course, Latin America remains a landscape, and our great victory is that we manage to live within it, despite nature and its disasters. Thus, the villages El Gato evokes bring a certain comfort to our shared table, even as the cold and altitude threaten to take their toll on us. "It could be worse," we think before spooning the steaming soup in front of us.

How, then, can we intervene and propose public space in rural, predominantly Aymara settlements like Chucuito, where nature constantly reminds us that it is the main protagonist?

Few cities worldwide have had the courage to tax vehicle circulation—even though existing examples have, so far, been positive. It has fallen to Buenos Aires to launch the first policy of this kind in Latin America. Starting now, the city government will charge for the time saved by those who insist on driving in the historic center (known as Microcentro) of the Argentine capital and in the Retiro neighborhood between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The city joins a list whose prominent names include Singapore, London, Stockholm, and Milan.

Although we are all pedestrians, those behind the wheel often fail to respect the space, time, or priority of people on foot. This is one of the reasons walking in cities remains a challenge. Beyond public safety concerns, the road hierarchy and resulting urban design of Brazilian streets hinder the fulfillment of basic pedestrian rights.

The Colombian firm Taller Alterno, alongside Laura Flórez and Alexander Jiménez, won the competition for the Rumipamba Park in Pasto, Colombia. Sponsored by the Mayor's Office of Pasto and the Colombian Society of Architects (Nariño Chapter), the architectural competition awarded first place to the proposal “Rumipamba | Parque Botánico” (Rumipamba | Botanical Park), a project that proposes a green oasis in the heart of the capital of Nariño, aiming to make a positive environmental impact while simultaneously offering a recreational space for citizens.

Germán Tamayo, one of the lead designers, told Diario del Sur: “This is an understated proposal, using simple and sustainable materials, where we wanted to evoke the city's topography and bring it inside the park. As a result, we designed spaces for community life, encounters, small events, and gatherings.”

It is inevitable that heavy, static structures come to mind when we think of architecture. However, columns, beams, and slabs are by no means the only elements that define it.

Pneumatic architecture is characterized by lightweight, flexible materials supported on fixed bases. Due to their lightweight nature, these structures cannot support themselves on their own; instead, they span openings through the injection of air. In other words, they are structures shaped by pneumatic membranes inflated by air systems that operate much like a hot-air balloon or historic zeppelins filled with a gas less dense than air. These systems fall into two main categories: those supported by internal air pressure and those stiffened by it.

Josep Lluis Sert, un sueño nómada

The strong influence of Le Corbusier's work and philosophy on Spanish architect Josep Lluís Sert established him as a key figure in local architectural history, sparking one of Spain's first rationalist movements. In 2013, thirty years after Sert's passing, filmmaker Pablo Bujosa Rodríguez released the documentary Josep Lluís Sert: un sueño nómada, which Radio Televisión Española is now making available to the public on its program Imprescindibles.

This documentary traces the life and career of one of the leading figures and benchmarks of 20th-century Spanish architecture—a tireless champion of the Modern Movement who advocated for a functional architecture integrated with other visual arts, such as painting and sculpture.

Designed by Ángel Arroyo Aguilar, the Muelle del Cochayuyo project was selected as one of the 10 winners in the Thesis Projects category of the 2018 Concurso Arquitectura Caliente (CAC 2018), a Chilean competition organized by Grupo Arquitectura Caliente and funded by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage.

My intention was never to reinvent the wheel, but rather to bring it to this remote place.

It has been 453 days since I arrived on these shores, where I was initially not welcome, seeking to immerse myself in the traditions and ways of inhabiting unfamiliar territories. I discovered incredible people and landscapes steeped in craft, and I set out to change the constraints under which the local inhabitants lived.

The modernization of Bogotá between 1940 and 1970, captured in urban and architectural photographic reportages, has been documented in various books, magazines, and photobooks of the era, as well as in images from the city's public and private archives. All these shots reveal an intentional, and even critical, approach to how modern architecture reconfigured city centers and connected new buildings and urban spaces with the existing cityscape.

When analyzing the impact of photography from an architectural perspective, it is essential to discuss Paul Beer and Germán Téllez. Within their broad spectrum of subjects, these two photographers dedicated themselves specifically to architectural photography. They received commissions from the most prestigious architecture firms of the time, and their shots reveal different, complementary values, relationships, and aspects of modern architecture and the city.

In this edition of Bogotá through the Lens of 10 Photographers, we explore the legacy of Paul Beer:

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Videos

0-VOID is an inflatable pavilion developed as part of the third-year Architectural Design studio taught by BASE studio (Bárbara Barreda + Felipe Sepúlveda) at the School of Architecture and Art of the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile. The pavilion synthesizes and embodies the themes explored throughout the semester, centered on the potential inherent in pneumatic systems for formulating unconventional geometric, material, and spatial responses.

Its design was developed through an iterative process between 1:1 material exploration and digital tools, informed by a series of preceding exercises conducted by the students during the semester.

Colectivo ARKRIT has shared a chronicle by Kosme de Barañano on the physical—and perhaps also social and economic—reconstruction of New York in 2018, following the devastation of the Twin Towers attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. His extensive, wide-ranging work spans surprising European references, New York management systems, contemporary formal architectural exuberance, and bold proposals for public space design.

In this first chapter, Kosme de Barañano describes the new development known as 'Hudson Yards.'

As has been discussed in several countries around the world, promoting cycling as a mode of transportation brings diverse benefits to cities and their citizens, such as: a reduction in chronic illnesses (like hypertension and cardiorespiratory diseases), lower rates of overweight and obesity, fewer traffic fatalities and injuries, and lower levels of air pollution, among others. Despite the continuous dissemination of these positive impacts, in Latin America less than 10% [1] of the adult population uses the bicycle as a means of transportation, whereas in European countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, this figure exceeds 25% of all trips [2].

To better understand the relationship between the built environment and the promotion of cycling in Brazil, a study [3] sought to understand the associations between cycling for transportation and bike paths and mass transit in the city of São Paulo. The research was

I have been writing about gentrification for some time now. However, over the past week, two reports in particular caught my attention regarding how the topic is stirring up debate in two very different places: California and Berlin.

Interestingly, both cases boil down to the same underlying reason: the risk of gentrification in these cities is largely driven by the impact of innovation ecosystems on local real estate dynamics.

Therefore, this article aims to reflect on how Americans and Germans are tackling the issue, each in their own way. Furthermore, what lessons can we draw from these experiences, given that this could soon affect Brazilian cities rising in the national entrepreneurship and innovation scene?

On the occasion of the recent edition of the Latin American Social Workshop in Chucuito, Peru —XV TSL Puno—, ArchDaily en Español and the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA) invited all participating students to reflect on their personal experience in a recent call for articles. The text, originally titled "Construyendo Lazos" (Building Bonds) by Indira Fernández and Diana Hernández—members of the Puma Workshop led by Lucio Torres and students at the Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico—was selected as the winner of this open call.

Indira and Diana focus on the challenge that the TSL has faced in recent years: it is no longer merely a construction workshop, but also a platform for future architects to practice different methodologies of citizen participation and integration during the design process, while simultaneously discussing the challenges and threats facing so-called social architecture.

Being part of a team dedicated to understanding emotions, traditions, and cultures is deeply rewarding, but it also prompts you to question the ultimate purpose of practicing architecture. What could we expect from a social workshop in a country other than our own, Mexico? What can be learned from a community located 3,870 meters above sea level? What can we, as students, contribute?

In any profession, it is common for children to follow in their parents' footsteps, motivated by the environment they grew up in and inspired by a passion for the craft. Architecture is no exception. Growing up surrounded by sketches, floor plans, and coffee seems to spark the desire to pursue the same career.

In celebration of Father's Day, observed in Brazil this coming Sunday, August 12, we have compiled a list of architects who followed in their fathers' footsteps. Read on below:

When there is a balanced combination of complementary activities in a given neighborhood (meaning a mix of housing, workplaces, commerce, and services), a significant portion of its residents' daily trips can remain short and walkable. Diverse uses, with different peak hours throughout the day, help keep streets busy and safe for longer, stimulating pedestrian and cyclist activity and promoting a lively human environment where people want to live. This also helps balance public transit demand, resulting in a more efficient and sustainable operation over longer periods of the day. People of all age groups, genders, and income levels can safely interact in public spaces.

Until a few years ago, childbirth was the leading cause of death for women in the municipality of Tenejapa, located in the Highlands region of Chiapas (Los Altos de Chiapas). Faced with this situation, coupled with a lack of medical services in the region, traditional midwives from 22 communities joined forces to combat the issue. They formed the “Un solo corazón A.C.” Midwives Network, an organization that has succeeded in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates to zero while attending 98% of births in the area.