This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

Designed and built by the team from Universidad Mayor, a sustainable social housing project featuring productive and commercial spaces was named the winner of Construye Solar 2019, the third edition of the Chilean competition organized by Ruta Solar.

Podcasts are a relatively recent medium in Brazil, but they are on the rise and growing rapidly in popularity. A survey by the Deezer platform showed that podcast consumption in Brazil grew by 67% in 2019. Far from a passing fad, this format is being used for entertainment, information, and even as a pedagogical resource for educators.

Among the wide variety of topics available, many shows have fostered debates about the environment, especially regarding the Amazon—considered one of humanity's most valuable natural heritages and the largest natural reserve on the planet.

How does BIM incorporate materials like concrete?

BIM, the acronym for Building Information Modeling, utilizes information-rich 3D models to create the built environment and extract the data necessary for the documentation and construction of architectural projects. This is achieved by modeling various components—such as doors, windows, columns, and walls—which together make up an architectural project. Materials, however, are not 3D components in BIM; instead, they are part of the composition of these components. In this article, we will look at how materials behave in BIM, using the products offered by Melón Hormigones as an example.

Any 3D component created in Revit can have a Material parameter. Whether configured in the project or within the specific family, this material contains a series of default, customizable, and modifiable settings to provide technical and graphic data, as well as physical properties, to the 3D component.

Peripheria Films shares a documentary that explores "the exploitation of territory, the private occupation of public space, the representation and construction of identity through postcards and souvenirs, the conversion of architectural heritage into a product and the city into a brand, and the touristification of historic centers."

Lightweight construction systems primarily consist of a base structure of galvanized steel profiles, which can be clad with gypsum or cement panels. Depending on their specific characteristics, each panel adds enhanced moisture and fire resistance to the system, as well as varying levels of thermal and acoustic insulation. Why are they effective when applied to facades? What possibilities do they offer based on their composition? Let's review the benefits of three types of exterior panels developed by Panel Rey.

In the following article, José Javier Alayón González, PhD, Architect, and full-time assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, shares his perspective on exhibition venues and how they adapt to changing circumstances.

Seeking to design an immersive indoor environmental experience, design studio Aqua Creations created Manta Ray lighting. In this light installation, responsive RGB LED technology mixes red, green, and blue to produce over 16 million different hues. Programmed with a customizable color spectrum, the system is dimmable from 0.1% to 100% brightness and can even load images and videos directly onto its internal memory. This allows users to infuse expressive spaces with dynamic color and movement, or conversely, cultivate a warm, focused atmosphere for private, intimate settings.

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Architectural firms have been deeply questioning the future projections reshaped by lockdown and the new dynamics of how the city and territory are experienced. On this occasion, ruta4 taller from Pereira, Colombia, presents their perspective on how the profession is practiced in the country and their shift toward a more participatory practice for the benefit of local communities. The Pereira-based architecture studio has built exemplary collaborative projects, such as the taller de Urbanautas and the Casa Ensamble Chacarrá, demonstrating through experience that empathetic architecture is a highly viable approach.

The city as we know it is collapsing, incapable of offering new ways of living. The virus is forcing us to confront the exhaustion of the buildings that make up the city and the systems underpinning how the entire urban landscape was conceived. Basic activities separated by miles along untraversable streets; halls and galleries acting as closed, artificially climate-controlled shells that can no longer accommodate crowds (and are therefore no longer visitable); subhuman capsules stacked atop one another in towers devoid of open spaces, common areas, or nature, with virtually no contact with the outside world—these will only become more dysfunctional as time goes on.

Cities are the synthesis of thousands of years of agreements—as fragile as we are, yet wonderfully adaptable to change. As a result, they remain the ultimate ecosystem for our lives to unfold. Thanks to density, they allow us to maximize the benefits of the infrastructure, services, and public spaces we have created to sustain the well-being to which we aspire.

At first glance, all of this is in crisis today as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, looking back at our history reveals far more lethal epidemics that ultimately brought substantial improvements to the way we live.  

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In Latin American countries, the most common method for distinguishing rural areas from urban spaces is based on analyzing the number of residents in a given zone, classifying as "rural" any locality with a population under 2,000. In these contexts, low density and scattered development typically allow the natural landscape to predominate over the built environment.

In the daily routine of our conventional workday, we are influenced by many distractions that affect productivity, which have already become routine. However, now that we no longer lose time commuting and are restricted to activities we can do at home, we manage our time with more holistic priorities.

The Bogotá-based firm 57Uno focuses its practice on sustainability and has now channeled its creativity toward resilience and adaptability through Arquitectura en Tránsito (Architecture in Transit). This proposal aims to address the health emergency caused by COVID-19 by repurposing decommissioned buses from one of the primary contributors to poor air quality in the Colombian capital.

Stilt settlements have existed throughout the world wherever populations sustain their lives through constant interaction with water. In Colombia, the settlements of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, in the department of Magdalena, are a local benchmark that has endured since pre-Hispanic times. Today, these are informal dwellings, unrecognized in the official land registry. The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and AGRA have shared their research, compiled in a book that supports the documented formalization of these dwellings using architectural representation standards, specifically by identifying the typologies of Nueva Venecia.

The following article proposes rethinking architecture in social housing in Colombia. Natalia Carrero Rojas and Pablo González delve into the subject as educators and through their practice 57Uno, where they constantly balance high-quality housing with real estate viability.

Videos

Students from the Barcelona School of Architecture are organizing a live-streamed architecture lecture series, featuring both local and international guests, to reflect on quarantine, confinement, freedom, repression, and viruses.

When we think of architectural visualization, sketches, drawings, and 3D renderings usually come to mind. This association is natural, as "visualization" is typically equated with imagining a project before it is built—whether to validate aesthetic and functional decisions or to communicate concepts to clients unfamiliar with technical drawings. However, beyond superficial elements like materials, layouts, textures, and colors, architects must also address highly technical, invisible factors that directly impact a building's performance.

We may still have a long way to go when it comes to addressing the diversity of flora and fauna in urban habitats, yet it is incredible how fast, easy—and even fun—the architecture that makes this possible can be.

In practice, how are we promoting spaces for animals and plants in our cities?

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One of the most important factors in design is the site's specific climate. This can pose a challenge in extreme weather, where insulating materials are required to adapt to changing conditions. However, in the case of Mexico and its privileged climate, this factor works to the architects' advantage, allowing them to create microclimates and spaces that blur the transition between indoors and outdoors.

This article is part of a collaboration with the website coolhuntermx. It was originally published on February 2, 2020, under the title "Un parque moderno para Guadalajara" and written by David Lozano Díaz.

In 1971, architect Fernando González Gortázar, at 29 years of age, was commissioned to build González Gallo Park. This commission served a dual purpose: to commemorate the late former governor José de Jesús González Gallo and to provide a substantial new public space for the developing neighborhoods in eastern Guadalajara.

Recent floods in Belo Horizonte and other cities in Minas Gerais have alarmed residents. Videos showing the force of the torrents dragging cars and toppling structures shocked the entire country. This state of emergency was not confined to Minas Gerais. Much of the Southeast faced heavy rains, causing widespread disruption. In Espírito Santo, for instance, more than 5,000 people were forced to leave their homes, while São Paulo was placed on high alert for flooding. Meanwhile, in Rio de Janeiro, an algae bloom in water sources led to the opposite extreme: a water crisis triggered by the poor quality of the water reaching people's taps.

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Roma 212 is a multidisciplinary studio dedicated to architectural design, ephemeral installations, interiors, and urban planning. Its philosophy centers on experimenting with new materials, forms, and processes, aiming to renew and rethink architecture as a cultural catalyst.

In recent days, a series of reports and articles correctly diagnosed the cause of the recent floods in the state capitals of Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Porto Alegre, as well as in smaller cities such as Iconha, in Espírito Santo. The primary cause of these disasters was the urbanization of our cities—both planned and unplanned—which amplified the potential damage.

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“Where the city ends should not be the question,” Alejandro Aravena has repeatedly stated in various lectures, “where it begins is the question we should try to understand.” In many Latin American countries, the concentration of wealth in urban environments has led to the explosion of cities and “metropolitan areas,” giving rise to complex challenges. 

Videos

“Interiores: Conversaciones en línea” is the title of the series of virtual encounters organized by the Faculty of Architecture, Art, and Design at Universidad Diego Portales (UDP). In this first season, Professor Alberto Sato hosts meetings between renowned architects, including Álvaro Farrú and Enrique Walker, Alejandra Celedón with Cecilia Puga; Mardones with Pezo von Ellrichshausen; Solano Benítez with Mathias Klotz; Smiljan Radic with Alberto Sato; and Fernando Perez with Francisco Liernur.

You can watch these conversations below.