Far beyond the technical knowledge of his engineering background, Eladio Dieste (1917-2000) developed a rare architectural sensibility. He was a pioneer and master of reinforced masonry—essentially a relatively thin "shell" system in which ceramic blocks are compressed, steel bars are tensioned, and concrete binds the assembly together. Structural strength is enhanced through the design of complex spatial geometries that respond precisely to applied loads, thereby minimizing material use. This allows large spans and cantilevers to be achieved, while elegantly transferring loads to the ground.

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When heavy rains are forecast for their areas, 64% of Brazilians feel afraid. For 76% of those surveyed, cities are unprepared to face heavy rains, storms, or flooding. The data comes from a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the Boticário Group Foundation for Nature Protection, in cooperation with UNESCO in Brazil, and with support from the National Association of Municipalities and the Environment (ANAMMA) and the Urban Bioconnection Alliance. The full results of the study will be presented on December 2 during the 28th UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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The urban structure of São Paulo was shaped by its topography. With its predominantly rugged terrain, railways were laid along the flat floodplains and river terraces, where they could be developed along routes better suited to their physical limitations. 

The train—a machine slicing through cities and overcoming natural landscape obstacles at speeds of sixty kilometers per hour—was the invention that collapsed geographic distances. This connection-making tool, born of the Industrial Revolution, enabled a productive chain across its various stops by transporting manufactured goods and tons of moving machinery.

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Not necessarily small-scale, but rather targeted and strategic, urban acupuncture interventions are quick to execute, reversible, and often low-cost. The practice has established itself as a viable alternative to urban transformations that require lengthy, bureaucratic processes—both in decision-making and execution—which often exclude residents from the various stages of project development.

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In an effort to bolster public care and personal hygiene services for the unhoused population, the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC) has established the Street Support Points Program (PAR). The initiative aims to provide public spaces and facilities managed in partnership with civil society organizations.

There are and have always been inspiring women architects, urban planners, and policymakers. However, worldwide, the built environment professions—and their upper echelons in particular—remain heavily male-dominated, more so than other fields like education or healthcare.

Today, 64% of architecture graduates in Brazil are women. In engineering, there has been a 42% increase in women registered with CREA since 2016. Yet, how is this reflected in Brazilian society? Globally, progress is even slower: only 40% of architects are women, with very few in leadership roles.

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The study titled Prioritize Active Transportation by Bicycle!, published by the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM)—a research center at the Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences (FFLCH) of the University of São Paulo—presents an analytical planning tool for São Paulo's cycling network, comparing the current scenario with future planning through the lens of inequality.

Journalist Flávio Soares, a master's student at USP's Polytechnic School (Poli), a member of the CEM research team, and one of the paper's authors, explains the key factors analyzed for the construction of bike lanes and cycle tracks in cities.

On the 6th, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes requested CET-Rio, the municipal traffic management agency in the capital, to adjust the speed limits along the waterfront roads. This measure is of paramount importance given that, according to City Hall, more than 600 people lost their lives in traffic crashes in Rio last year, with over 60% resulting from pedestrians being struck by vehicles.

Urban planning is a vital tool for reducing inequality and promoting equity in cities. In Brazil, prioritizing these goals is even more urgent given not only the country's deep social disparities as a whole, but also the stark divide in access to opportunities, infrastructure, and urban services—which ultimately defines true access to the city itself.

Yet, while many believe that urban inequality stems from a lack of planning—as if it were merely a product of chance—the reality is that, historically and to this day, urban planning has often exacerbated inequalities rather than mitigating them.

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The Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP) has nearly 22 million inhabitants, representing about 10% of Brazil's total population. To feed this massive population, tons of food supplies arrive in the metropolis daily from different parts of the country. However, a new study by Instituto Escolhas shows that, with certain measures, it is possible to supply this entire population with locally grown vegetables.

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The history of collective housing has been the focus of the research group PC3 - Pensamento Crítico e Cidade Contemporânea (Critical Thinking and the Contemporary City), at FAUUSP, coordinated by professors Leandro Medrano and Luiz Recamán. Through the Cadernos de Habitação Coletiva (Collective Housing Notebooks) — developed under a cooperation agreement between researchers from FAUUSP and ETSAM-UPM in Madrid — the group explores the most significant examples of this housing typology in Brazil.

According to the group's platform, "the main objective of the Cadernos de Habitação Coletiva has been to build a comprehensive database, organized by decade, that includes the most relevant Brazilian collective housing buildings, both designed and built." Below, we highlight eight collective housing experiments built in São Paulo between the 1930s and 1960s, studied in detail by CHC and featured in individual articles here on ArchDaily.

As the end of the year approaches, it brings the opportunity to reflect on the standout architectural moments of 2023. With this in mind, we looked at the most liked photos on ArchDaily Brasil's Instagram.

On December 2, the 26th National Congress of Architects concluded at the Bíobio Theatre with a moving ceremony that featured the presentation of the 2023 CA Awards, a keynote lecture by National Architecture Prize winner Fernando Pérez Oyarzún, and the submission of the congress's final resolutions, which will serve as a mandate for change for the National Board of the Chilean Association of Architects.

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In May 2016, the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale opened—perhaps the most important and iconic event in international architecture since its inception in the 1980s. This opening, however, brought something new: for the first time, the event was curated by a Latin American, Alejandro Aravena. This milestone was not an isolated event in the recent career of the architect, who served on the Pritzker Prize jury from 2010 to 2015 before being awarded the prize himself in 2016. Crucially, this prominence is not an absolute exception; rather, it can be understood as the vanguard of a broader appreciation and visibility that contemporary Chilean architecture began to receive in the late 1990s.

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According to the 2018 National Sanitation Information System, 25.8% of the population in Northeast Brazil lacks access to water and 72% has no connection to the sewage network. “Now tell me, how am I supposed to have a bathroom at home under these conditions?” This was the question that robbed Vera of her sleep and peace of mind.

Vera lives in the small community of Riacho das Almas (PE), and her story is similar to those of thousands of families living in the rural areas of the semi-arid Northeast. Where access to water is scarce and basic sanitation is practically nonexistent, the use of traditional bathrooms—equipped with faucets, showers, and flushing toilets—is uncommon in the region. Consequently, families like Vera's and many others rely on improvised outdoor spaces for their needs: the "aveloz bathroom."

Taller Síntesis, based in Medellín, Colombia, shared this article with us. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing the Colombian rural built environment—which accounts for most of the country's territory but not the majority of its architectural practice—with the aim of raising awareness of how architecture is developed and recognized in the country.

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2023 broke temperature records worldwide. People across different regions of the planet are already facing historic heatwaves, wildfires, and droughts with just 1.1°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. Under current policies, which put the world on track for a warming scenario of 2.5°C to 2.9°C by 2100, the stifling heat felt this year is just a small taste of the future ahead.

The academic world has much to contribute to the field of architecture and urbanism. Its research and proposals foster inspiring visions, new materials, and concepts, sparking essential debates on how we perceive, occupy, and design the built environment. Across their entire spectrum, final graduation projects offer students an opportunity to put forward a final proposal before earning their degree, addressing diverse themes and touching upon urgent issues. Consequently, we host an annual call for submissions open to all Portuguese-speaking countries to present a panorama of outstanding projects that help us reflect on the past year and look to the future.

The Instituto Corrida Amiga works to bring people closer and connect them to the spaces they inhabit, aiming to transform citizens' daily lives through the perspective of active mobility, access, and the right to the city.

Part of the institute's initiatives consists of educational practices designed for diverse audiences, featuring playful-educational activities that encourage active participation and collaboration. This allows participants to express their opinions and desires, fostering decision-making, critical thinking, and empathy.

Whether for environmental, structural, or aesthetic reasons, wood is widely used in contemporary architecture, although it still falls far short of its true potential. Properly managed, it becomes an inexhaustible resource—which, in itself, should attract significant attention from architects and other construction professionals.

To separate wood from its association with cladding and partitions—or purely ornamental uses—we have compiled 10 public and community projects of varying scales, from small neighborhood libraries to conference centers, built in locations as far apart as Ecuador and Bangladesh, that employ wood in their structures.

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Caring for the earth, caring for people, and caring for the future. These are the three ethical principles that have guided the practice of permaculture since the term was coined in the late 1970s by Australian ecologists David Holmgren and Bill Mollison. This was an era when the environmental movement gained significant traction, with the emergence of various organizations and movements united in an effort to curb the destruction of the planet's natural resources.

Its three core principles embody a commitment to caring for natural resources, pursuing a social life in harmony with nature, and creating systems to share these resources.

The first architecture course in Brazil was established more than 200 years ago as part of the "French Mission" of 1816. The Royal School of Sciences, Arts, and Crafts of Rio de Janeiro offered the only course in the country for over fifty years. It was an institution geared toward educating the Brazilian elite, lacking any research purpose, and training an "architect-artist in service of the court."

According to architect and researcher Sônia Marques, the requirements for admission to the Royal School were "knowing how to read, write, and count," and the curriculum of the architecture course consisted of subjects such as: ornamental drawing, ornamental sculpture, archaeology and applied mathematics, perspective and shadows, and stereotomy (the technique of cutting construction materials), among others. Its foundation aimed to meet the needs of a clientele consuming symbolic goods—a demographic developed and fostered primarily by the recent presence of the Portuguese court in Brazil. [1]

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In 1936, the Brazilian Press Academy launched a competition for the design of its new headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Herbert Moses, president of the Association, was, according to Cláudio Pereira (2002), in sync with international avant-garde trends, having even served as an interpreter for Frank Lloyd Wright during his lectures in Rio de Janeiro in 1931. It was Moses who handpicked the jury members, which consisted of ABI members, architects, and representatives from specialized organizations.

The existence of urban centers as hubs of trade and culture spans millennia. As construction, water supply, and transportation technologies developed—especially vessels capable of carrying large volumes of goods and people—small villages transformed into major cities.

By 500 BCE, there were already one million inhabitants in Rome. Yet it was only after 1760, following the Industrial Revolution in England, that cities began to take center stage. Since then, cities have faced monumental challenges, and so far, absolutely nothing has been able to disperse populations or dismantle large urban centers.

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