The 12th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale took over two of the most iconic public buildings in the capital of São Paulo. A major exhibition featuring works from various parts of the world remains open until December 8 at the Centro Cultural São Paulo (CCSP), while Sesc 24 de Maio has been occupied by a dozen installations and devices designed specifically for the building and its surroundings.

Here, we present the 10 devices that transformed the space of Sesc 24 de Maio, creating tension and establishing narratives in one of the most intensely used public spaces in downtown São Paulo. The works are divided into the three axes guiding the Biennale: Everyday Tales, Everyday Materials, and Everyday Maintenance.

Architects and urban planners evaluated the services offered by CAU/BR and the state-level CAU/UFs. Out of nine services analyzed by the professionals, seven received an average score above 7 on a scale of zero to 10. These and other findings are part of the CAU Evaluation Survey conducted by the Datafolha Institute in May. The study interviewed 1,500 architects and urban planners and 500 architecture and urban planning firms by telephone to assess the effectiveness of the Council's communication channels with professionals and society, as well as to gather information to support initiatives ensuring access to the entity's information.

Through their narrative forms, architecture exhibitions promote the dissemination of knowledge and inquiries within the theory and practice of the discipline. Beyond the direct appreciation of a specific object or architectural ensemble by experiencing that space, architecture exhibitions present content structured through narrative paths, classifications, associations, or juxtapositions. This expands architectural knowledge, if not through in-situ experience, then through the way graphic materials are displayed. In this light, curatorial and exhibition design practices can foster new questions in the field of architecture, encouraging visitors to engage in critical reflection.

Masonry is undoubtedly one of the most widespread construction techniques in Brazil. Brick, which can serve as both structural support and building enclosure, is an expressive and highly versatile material, easy to use due to its widespread production and the general availability of labor across the country.

Since their university days, architecture students are taught that ventilating indoor spaces is crucial for removing excess heat. However, the specific conditions under which this practice actually achieves adequate thermal performance are not always clearly defined, especially regarding residential roof ventilation.

Tasked with mapping contemporary Brazilian production, the ​Tomie Ohtake Institute AkzoNobel Architecture Prize ​began its activities in 2013 with loosely defined horizons. While there was the expectation of creating an unprecedented initiative on the national stage by honoring projects built over the last decade, there was also the clear challenge of establishing a prize without categories, dealing with a broad universe of programs and comparing initiatives of widely differing scales.

Improving public transit requires close attention not only to vehicles and routes, but to how people access and exit them. All too often, urban planning fails to account for the diverse needs of all individuals and how they navigate a transit system.

Reflecting on the everyday. This is the premise of the 12th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, which opens this September in the capital. Under the theme “Everyday” (“Todo dia”), the biennial aims to address the “most trivial dimension of reality,” shedding light on the production of ordinary, common space—which is, for this very reason, fundamental to the quality of the environment we inhabit daily. Curators Vanessa Grossman and Ciro Miguel join us for a conversation about this key event, which plays a crucial role in bridging academic research, architectural practice, and society at large.

While conventional American urbanism is known to drive excessive sprawl, it is worth remembering that, ultimately, the true extent of a city's horizontal expansion lies far beyond the reach of urban planning controls.

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In architectural discourse, much is discussed regarding the influence of the site where a building is situated, whether through the incorporation of surrounding elements during the design process, or through the negation or overcoming of its undesirable characteristics. Some situations make this negotiation more evident than others, especially when the natural environment is dominant. In these cases, one constantly observes the tension between natural preexistence and human intervention, as well as the possible ways to achieve harmony between the two.

Once subjugated by outlaw armed groups and devastated by the largest urban military operation in Colombia's history, the Las Independencias neighborhood, located in Medellín's Comuna 13, is today an open-air graffiti gallery of sorts, accessed via a system of electric escalators—the only ones in the world built in an informal settlement.

Also known as "dry construction," this concept is increasingly used in interior renovations. These simple solutions transform the essence of indoor spaces in a more economical and sustainable way by minimizing construction waste and, consequently, reducing the waste of money, time, and raw materials. In this guide, we have gathered 8 tips to help you design more mindful interior renovations.

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Today, computer-aided design (CAD) is the most widely used system for producing technical drawings among construction professionals and academics. It became popular through AutoCAD (Autodesk) by representing geometries that translated design intent into two dimensions. Released in the 1980s, it remains highly relevant and is still used by large corporations, extending its utility through the tradition it has built over four decades in the market.

Since the 1970s, architecture has sought connections with other fields of art, looking for inspiration to break with the paradigms of the time in sculpture and painting, as well as in music and literature. In schools and professional practice, architectural projects were developed based on the study of "paintings by Vermeer, as well as those of the Cubists, the music of Bach, as well as Meredith Monk, literary fragments by Heraclitus, as well as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and James Joyce's Finnegans Wake."[1] 

Much like stone, wood, and other natural materials, straw and thatch have been used as building resources since the dawn of human history. However, with the advent of new technologies like concrete, and the concept of *Progress* driven by the Industrial Revolution—and subsequently by the rise of steel—many traditional materials fell out of favor, widely replaced by modern alternatives.

Flávio de Carvalho was a modern Brazilian architect recognized worldwide for his innovative and provocative way of showcasing his worldview through art. Discover some of his artistic expressions below.

Marking the centennial of its founding, Arquicast #72 discusses the Bauhaus School and its influence on shaping a generation of architects, as well as its impact on the structuring of architectural and urban planning education in various programs worldwide. We invited architect Caio Dias, from Portal Projetar, and architect and ArchDaily editor Romullo Barato for an informal yet informative conversation that delves into the history of the school, its founders, and the broader context that continuously shaped the institution's trajectory.

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Today marks one year since the brutal assassination of Rio de Janeiro sociologist and city councilwoman Marielle Franco. The week before her death, Marielle took part in a series of debates organized by CAU/RJ called "Architecture - Feminine Noun," aimed at strengthening mobilizations for International Women's Day.

The “De-whitening the City” Podcast is a space invented from the desire of five Black women residing in Salvador, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte to circumvent geographic distance in order to foster and celebrate connection. Emmily Leandro, Gabriela Gaia, Luciana Mayrink, Malu de Barros, and Natalia Alves make up the Terra Preta collective, giving shape and voice to this exercise in creating a shared virtual territory—both a political and aesthetic commitment—now made public for the first time.

Daniel Flavin was a key figure of the minimalist art movement of the 1960s and 1970s in the United States. The term was first coined by philosopher Richard Wollheim in his 1965 essay “Minimal Art” to categorize works that, like Duchamp's ready-mades, did not seek to represent an external reality; instead, the exhibited object was to be understood as a work in its own right, and the viewer's experience was not meant to rely on external associations.

Few historical events have been as pivotal to the history of architecture and urbanism as the Industrial Revolution. To accommodate the productive framework that transformed capitalism starting in the 18th century, an entire spatial system was created. Beyond factories, this network included raw material processing plants, power generation and distribution hubs, warehouses, and transport terminals. In urban terms, this process did not merely allocate large swaths of land to industrial activities; it triggered a multisystemic transformation that reshaped how people lived, occupied, and moved within the urban environment.

The formal configuration of open space systems in Brazilian cities—whether qualified or not—derives a significant contribution from private developments, since public urban planning and design have historically been the exception.

Architecture, as construction, has many ways to express itself. Ideas can be conveyed through programmatic organization and the materials used; we can communicate through the rhythm of facades and openings; and we can deliver a message through the transparency or opacity of the volumes and surfaces we design. We can also express ourselves through structure and its arrangement—and this is perhaps the facet of architecture we most eagerly seek to explore. 

Because bathrooms are wet areas with highly specific uses, choosing floor and wall finishes can often feel daunting. In this guide, we round up some of the most widely used materials, outlining their advantages and disadvantages.