It is no coincidence that curved forms in architecture are deeply embedded in the global perception of Brazilian architecture. Invariably evoking the work of Oscar Niemeyer, curves are hallmark features of the landmark architectural complexes of Pampulha and Brasília. Yet they are also found in residential masterpieces, such as the Casa das Canoas in Rio de Janeiro.

More than 36 tons of organic vegetables are grown on New York City rooftops every year. Beyond providing food, these green roofs also prevent pollutants from reaching the city's rivers.

Originally used to transport large cargo on ships, shipping containers feature a rigid and highly durable steel structure available in various dimensions. However, moving beyond their traditional role in storage and cargo transport, these structures have been adopted as the basis for commercial and residential modules for several years. They offer high strength, low cost, fast construction, and, above all, a sustainability-oriented system through reuse. With this in mind, and moving beyond standardized housing, several architects have developed residential projects by reusing containers as modular blocks, stacking or joining them side-by-side to suit the specific program of each client.

The recent budget cuts for federal universities have reignited a debate that deserves to remain permanently active: the quality of education in Brazil. The first edition of the Encontros de Arquitetura, organized by IABsp, set out to address this theme through the lens of architecture, bringing together four professionals with extensive experience in school design: Catherine Otondo, Marina Grinover (Base Urbana), Keila Costa (+K), and Pablo Hereñú (Hereñú & Ferroni Arquitetos).

A Solution for Heat Islands

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!

Women in architecture, contemporary production in the Global South, theory and history, buildtech, new materials, recycling in construction—2019 was a year rich in investigations and reflections that approached architecture from a variety of perspectives. Fulfilling our mission to make ArchDaily a source of tools and inspiration not only for professionals and students but also for anyone interested in architecture, we published hundreds of articles on topics as diverse as the perspectives on the built environment. 

This year, the Favela-Bairro Program marked 25 years since its creation. Several events and articles have reflected on the milestone, assessing the program's impact on urban housing in the participating cities. We at Arquicast also discuss the topic in episode 76, now available on our platforms.

The Walls of Air exhibition in the Brazilian pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale presented 17 projects from different regions of the country, selected from an open call, as well as a series of large cartographic drawings addressing different aspects of the country's urbanization through the lens of architecture. In this publication, we present the series of ten maps featured in the Walls of Air exhibition catalog as excerpts from the exhibition's maps—a study developed by Mapping-lab in collaboration with the curators of the Brazilian Pavilion (Gabriel Kozlowski, Laura González Fierro, Marcelo Maia Rosa, and Sol Camacho) and their team.

As an escape from daily worries, nightclubs are often venues for physical expression and releasing stress. Designed specifically for dancing and aiming to craft bold atmospheres, architects around the world are increasingly being commissioned to design these venues, delivering innovative concepts that range from unique material selections to unconventional lighting designs.

More than 600 million people lack access to clean drinking water. Droughts affect over 35 million every year. And by 2050, 1.3 billion people will live in flood-prone areas. Many believe that building dams, water treatment plants, and other built infrastructure are the only solutions to these challenges—but that is only because the many benefits of natural (or green) infrastructure have not been considered.

When thinking of galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces in general, the image of an enclosed, well-lit room with white walls and a neutral floor—likely made of wood—commonly comes to mind. The notion of designing exhibition spaces as "pure" environments, whether to focus on the artwork itself or to facilitate the rotation of exhibitions, has perhaps been the dominant guiding principle in the creation of these spaces over the last few decades. However, just as art transforms space, space can also be a transformative agent for art. This shifting perspective gave rise to artistic productions conceived for specific venues, widely known as site-specific installations.

+ 2

A common choice for commercial and corporate buildings, mirrored facades often evoke mixed feelings among architects, frequently leaning toward the negative. There is no shortage of arguments against them, and they generally hold merit—citing everything from the decline of modern architecture and the homogenization of its glass facades to climate concerns and a disregard for local context reflected in these surfaces.

The year 1932 is a milestone in the history of Céará. One of the worst droughts ever recorded devastated the sertão, leading to scenes already immortalized in classics of Brazilian literature—such as Vidas Secas by Graciliano Ramos and O Quinze by Rachel de Queiroz: drought refugees forced to leave their homes to escape hunger and misery.

Videos

Escola da Cidade has shared with us a lecture series on Japanese Architecture and Culture, which is part of the Estúdio Deriva program. This series features the following lectures: "Ambience Without Hierarchy: SANAA and Electronic Music" with Guilherme Wisnik, "Contemporary Japanese Culture" with Gabriel Kogan, "The Professional Practice of Japanese Architects" with Lourenço Gimenes, "A Graphical Analysis of Toyo Ito's Mediatheques" with Marina Lacerda, "Destroy to Build: The Impact of Tokyo's Reconstruction Plans in Akira" with Beatriz Oliveira, "Jidai no nagare, the Flow of Eras: Japanese Wood Joinery" with Heloisa Ikeda, and "The Tōkaidō Road: Travel, Woodblock Prints, and Cities of the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868)" with Fernanda Sakano. Watch all the lectures here.

Great ideas can change the destiny of cities forever when implemented in concrete, steel, and stone. When Saint Petersburg, Russia, was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, he envisioned the new capital as an emblem of a modern Russian empire, inspired by Western European commercial hubs like Amsterdam. In the 20th century, Chandigarh, India, was shaped as an English "garden city" to demonstrate progress and aspirations of prosperity in post-partition India. Halfway across the world in the United States, Detroit transformed into one of the world's industrial megacities, shaped by the ideals of the American Dream and Henry Ford's visionary production.

In highly urbanized areas, high land costs and competition for access to urban infrastructure make semi-detached buildings a common sight, particularly in residential zones. Almost always built along an axis of symmetry, they form pairs or rows of multiple homes which, besides lowering construction and design costs, optimize land use.

Here, we select ten Brazilian semi-detached houses that showcase different design strategies for addressing urban constraints.

+ 17

The urban public space between two architectural masses is defined as a street. It is where we establish the relationship between motorized vehicles, non-motorized transport, and pedestrians. In managing this relationship, public space requires a series of systems to guarantee active occupancy, in addition to infrastructure and safety. Consequently, the proper design of roadways and their immediate public surroundings becomes essential. Beyond what meets the eye, water, gas, electricity, and telecommunications networks are laid out beneath our feet, completely unnoticed.

The construction industry drives considerable economic activity worldwide, generating countless jobs and substantial revenue. At the same time, it also carries significant negative impacts, ranging from the depletion of natural resources to high levels of waste generation during both construction and demolition phases. To put this in perspective, in Brazil, Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is estimated to account for 61% of all waste generated, while household waste represents 28% [1].

+ 4

The word “gentrificação” is the Portuguese rendering of the English term gentrification, first used, in all likelihood, by British sociologist Ruth Glass in her book London: Aspects of Change (1964), where the author described and analyzed certain changes in the spatial organization of the city of London. The term gained popularity after its use in academic works on the subject, accompanying an urban phenomenon present across various periods and spaces: the gradual or sudden displacement of residents and users living in precarious conditions from a given street, urban area, or neighborhood to another location, making way for the appropriation by residents and users of higher economic and cultural status.

One of the primary challenges facing contemporary cities is the renewal of existing infrastructure to accommodate a growing urban population. Shifting to the scale of architecture and the built object, restoring legacy structures to assign them new uses and functions also emerges as both a challenge and a major opportunity of our times. Although the world is building at an unprecedented pace, we must not lose sight of the value of existing structures that can be adapted and reused.

The adaptability of architectural professionals in Brazil is indisputable. Confronted in recent years with crises of various kinds that have hindered the execution of work and, perhaps even worse, immersed in a structure that systematically undervalues the profession, the professional, and the project, the vast diversity and high quality of current production is remarkable. 

Designing a home is an experience that nearly all architects have either already had or will encounter over the course of their careers. However, balancing the future residents' requests with technical requirements brings daily challenges, whether due to tight budgets or limited space—both of which can serve as intriguing catalysts in architectural practice. As a result, architects are often challenged to maximize the residential program within a constrained footprint.

The cobogó is a widespread element in Brazilian architectural culture. Its origin and name trace back to the creators of this piece, which filters natural light and ventilation while providing rhythm and lightness to facades and interior partitions. Amadeu Oliveira Coimbra, Ernest August Boeckmann, and Antônio de Góis are the engineers who, working in Recife in the early 20th century, conceived this type of hollow block.