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.

Spanish firm Ecosistema Urbano has presented details of Febres Cordero, one of the first projects in Cuenca, Ecuador, to emerge from the Cuenca RED initiative. This iconic, historic building, which served as a school for decades, is being transformed into a mixed-use development that will serve as a benchmark for economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the city.

Developed under the ICES (Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative) program of the Inter-American Development Bank, in collaboration with the Municipality of Cuenca, Cuenca RED is an initiative for which Ecosistema Urbano has proposed programs and activities to establish a new network of reactivated public spaces within the historic center of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999.

On Sunday, April 1, the 15th edition of the Latin American Social Workshop (TSL) concluded in Peru. This annual workshop brings together students and architects from across the Americas to analyze, reflect, design, and build public facilities over ten days in diverse Latin American contexts.

Known as XV TSL Puno, this edition took place in Chucuito, a Peruvian town situated at an altitude of over 3,800 meters (12,400 feet) on the shores of Lake Titicaca, near the city of Puno—the folklore capital of Peru. There, 250 students divided into three teams worked on landscape, public space, and heritage restoration projects, led by ENSUSITIO + Jhony Chávez, Ruta 4, and Lucio Torres, respectively.

Following the workdays, amidst coca leaves and fried trout, a recurring question arose during our conversations with the workshop participants: how can social architecture move beyond the photograph of children drawing and adults talking in a town hall meeting? Below, we present the reflections of four Latin American practices that participated in the TSL between 2017 and 2018.

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It was a city of untamed rivers: they seasonally burst their banks, shaping fertile, humid floodplains. When the waters receded, the ground became firm enough for a ball to roll and feet to run after it. It was in a São Paulo without rivers buried under sad slabs of concrete that futebol de várzea—floodplain football—emerged.

Tracing the history of várzea football in São Paulo means understanding how the city was built around imposing rivers like the Tietê. In the early 20th century, immigrant populations, Afro-Brazilians, and recently freed Black people occupied these territories, giving rise to neighborhoods like Barra Funda in the city's west zone. Far more than an amateur sport, it became established as a symbol of social organization and the struggle for the right to the city, at a time when space in the capital was beginning to be contested and feel the pressures of gentrification.

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On Thursday, September 6, ArchDaily México celebrated its sixth anniversary. The exclusive event took place in one of the country's most significant architectural gems: Casa Gilardi, designed by Luis Barragán, the only Mexican architect to receive the Pritzker Prize. The venue served as the setting for some of today's most influential architects to connect with the ArchDaily México team.

Designed by Milena Lara Silva, the project Ruta de las aves was selected as one of the 10 winners in the Thesis Project 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.

The constant industrial threats endangering the delicate wetland ecosystems are primarily the result of Chile's weak environmental legislation. In the rural sector of Trumao, 11 kilometers from the city of La Unión, this has led to the gradual degradation of its forested wetland. This decline risks not only its biodiversity but also local communities that have persisted since ancient times thanks to the dynamic landscape and its natural resources—both of which are vital for their survival, economy, and, above all, their culture.

As an exemplary figure in the production of modern architecture, Lúcio Costa worked on several fronts—from building design to urban planning, as in the case of Brasília. Among his many facets, his role in promoting and establishing policies to protect the country's historical heritage represents a milestone both in his career and for the nation's cultural assets.

Recent environmental pollution incidents in the Chilean cities of Quintero and Puchuncaví have reignited the debate surrounding the health impacts on residents of so-called sacrifice zones. Last August, the Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that these cities on Quintero Bay coexist with "15 major energy, chemical, and fuel companies," including a smelter, a natural gas plant, and four thermoelectric power plants.

In response, Chilean architect Leonardo Quinteros has developed "Marine Forest" as his thesis project. The proposal features a decontamination platform designed to bioremediate the bay using cultivated brown algae, drawing on research into methods for extracting and absorbing heavy metals to demonstrate the species' potential as a marine bioremediator.

Quinteros—winner of the 2015 CNPP and currently designing the new Providencia Municipal Building in Santiago alongside Tomás Villalón and Nicolás Norero—based his project on a decontamination plan known as FIC Algas. Developed by the Faculty of Ecology at Andrés Bello University (UNAB) in collaboration with the Regional Government of Valparaíso, FIC Algas

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Originally titled "La casa existencial, comportamientos "anti-urbanos" en la ciudad de Loja" (The Existential House: "Anti-Urban" Behaviors in the City of Loja), Ecuadorian architect David Medina Jiménez conducted this research in 2015 to obtain a degree at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja.

As noted by the Colegio de Arquitectos del Ecuador Pichincha on its blog, Medina Jiménez's thesis "explores the importance of 'consciousness' from an existentialist perspective, and its relationship with architecture and the city. The author reaches bold conclusions by questioning an urban planning prejudice that most have taken for granted: the supposed need to densify cities at all costs."

What is architecture? A full answer will probably not be found in words—at least not in those shared here. Nevertheless, it is argued that what we call "architecture"—what we recognize as such—is immanent to self-awareness and consciousness [1] (and these, in turn, to unconsciousness, like light and shadow). The former, self-awareness, is knowledge of the self, of Dasein [2]; the latter, consciousness, is knowledge of the surrounding reality.

From the Fundación Arquia Blog, architect Miren León, a specialist in sustainable design and energy efficiency, brings us an article calling for the reuse of construction materials through "upcycling," a method that helps reduce waste and mitigate the life-cycle impact of buildings.

Although many may have forgotten it today, RE-using is second nature to us. We have all reused shoeboxes, cans, or jars for a purpose different from their original intent: from "creating" new toys or decorative objects to storing marbles or childhood treasures. Since we have all done this on a small scale, why is it so difficult to do it on an urban scale?

In this year's edition, the Electrolux Architecture Competition addressed the challenges of vertical architecture for sustainable cities, promoting new ways to generate innovative programmatic design, public benefit, and community integration. With a focus on contextual relevance, the initiative sought to enhance both public space and quality of life for urban residents.

First prize was awarded to architecture students Mateo Loayza Montalvo, Gabriel Ceballos Melillán, Sebastián Quiroz Lara, and Francisco Beltrán Ayala, from the School of Architecture at Universidad Andres Bello, under the guidance of professors Juan Agustín Soza and Mauricio Bruna and external professor Eduardo Maldonado. Located opposite the historic Patio 29, the project proposes a vision for the relationship between the cemeteries of the future and high-rise structures.

Read more about the project in the authors' own words below.

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between gender and urban mobility, concluding that women face greater challenges in exercising their right to the city and accessing urban opportunities. The unequal division of domestic labor places a heavier burden on women, who shoulder tasks such as school drop-offs and pick-ups, caring for elderly or sick relatives, and grocery shopping. Consequently, this largely shapes a travel pattern characterized by trip-chaining—making multiple, sequential stops—and relying heavily on walking and public transit.

Surprising as it may seem, Spain currently lacks a national Law on Architecture and Habitability to recognize and promote the value of the profession to the country's economic, social, and cultural development.

However, 2017 brought two major developments that can and should provide the momentum needed to advance toward a crucial national law. First, the passage on November 8 of the Public Sector Contracts Law, which, according to Jordi Ludevid, president of the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE), represents "a spectacular and highly positive change" for architects. Second, the approval on June 28, 2017, of Spain’s first-ever architecture legislation, the Catalonia Architecture Law.

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Stadium, Chile's pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale, is presented through a large-scale model of the National Stadium of Santiago, aiming to illustrate local housing policies.

The exhibition, curated by architect Alejandra Celedón, aims for these elements—both fragile and heavy—to tell the story of the moment when citizens 'without homes' became homeowners for the first time, serving as "symbolic fragments of this transmutation."

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With more than 350 Colombian projects now published on ArchDaily, we celebrate this milestone with a curated selection that highlights the value of drawings in conceptualizing, designing, and constructing contemporary Colombian architecture.

While drawing is often associated with a project's earliest conceptual stages, Colombian architects continue to use sketching to explain structure, program, and even construction details in an era otherwise dominated by the efficiency of 3D modeling and rendering.

This selection ranges from single-family homes to public parks, including mixed-use facilities, kindergartens, and university buildings across Colombia.

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After analyzing 94 undergraduate student projects from 20 architecture schools across 8 regions in Chile, the jury of the 2018 Arquitectura Caliente Competition has announced the winning projects of its latest edition.

These projects span the entire country and encompass a wide range of typologies, from urban planning to student housing, alongside landscape architecture projects and structural initiatives for emergencies.

Below, we present the award-winning fourth and fifth-year projects:

The proposal Temporary Activation Circuit was awarded third place in the Pasarelas San Borja competition in Chile. The main objective of the competition was to recognize "the best urban design ideas that contribute to defining intervention criteria and generating proposals for the San Borja neighborhood."

As the authors explain, the third-place-winning proposal offers "a mutable and flexible system that reflects contemporary times."

In Spain, a neologism has emerged to explain a rising phenomenon: touristification. As Antonio Maestre notes in La Marea, the term refers to "the impact on neighborhood residents when facilities and services shift to cater almost exclusively to tourists at the expense of locals."

Among the consequences of this phenomenon in cities like Madrid and Barcelona is the massive proliferation of tourist accommodations. These lodging options drive and facilitate speculative processes whose negative impacts ultimately fall on neighborhood residents, who are forced to leave because they can no longer afford rising home prices or rents.

Crucial for ensuring that urban planning fosters prosperity and quality of life for all residents, public participation must be integrated into decision-making processes. Every citizen deserves a space to contribute new ideas, establish priorities, and track the progress of municipal projects. To facilitate this exchange, Consul—a platform developed by the city of Madrid—is being made available free of charge to cities worldwide. In Brazil, a workshop hosted by WRI Brasil introduced the tool to interested municipalities that are already working to implement it.

Historically relegated to the private sphere, it was only in the 20th century that women truly began to exercise their right to the city and its dynamics. Even today, however, this claiming of space remains restricted. According to a survey by the Locomotiva Institute this year, eight out of 10 Brazilian women are afraid of walking alone at night.

In addition to the threat of violence, other barriers to women's sense of belonging, mobility, and free use of public space include the lack of policies designed to address their urgent needs, as well as their identities and perspectives.

Jaime Sanz Haro, from the ARKRIT Collective, invites us to reflect—in an article originally titled "Regulations, the New Architectural Treatise: Vitruvius, Alberti, Palladio, and the General Plan"—on the role and consequences of regulatory frameworks in urban planning.

In this post, the Arquia Foundation Blog, together with architect Carlos Cámara, invites us to reflect on learning digital tools in architecture, a recurring topic of debate in the training of new architects, given that the use of different software seems to grow more valuable by the day. Based on this reality, which is increasingly distant from the pencil, the questions in this article arise... How are these new technologies being taught to students? Are they tools that foster dependent consumption? Are these tools conditioning the design creativity of future architects?

The practice and work of Fausto Banderas Vela stood out significantly within a generation of architects working since the 1960s, forging new paths in Ecuadorian architecture. His projects do not go unnoticed; into them, he poured research, reflection, and experience. He embraced the complex dimension of architecture, conscious of the need to transcend an individual vision and focus in order to emphasize the confluence of multiple contributions.

“Architecture is a complex and collective endeavor. To my understanding, there is no possibility of confronting the subject individually; not in design, where dialogue and mutual contribution are required, nor, obviously, in construction, since a work of architecture only begins to exist when it transitions from graphic and written documents into a material reality”¹. He pointed out that architecture only truly exists when materialized. Thinking, designing, and constructing it are stages of the process embraced by Fausto Banderas, enabling him to achieve coherence and quality.

Designed by Ignacio Lira Montes, the Ruta Memorial Selk'nam project was selected as one of the 10 winners in the Thesis Projects category of the Concurso Arquitectura Caliente 2018 (CAC 2018), a Chilean competition organized by Grupo Arquitectura Caliente and funded by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage.

The project stems from research on the Selk’nam people of Tierra del Fuego and how this ethnic group was exterminated by the owners of the Magellanic ranches. Studying Selk'nam cosmogony and visiting the site determined the design approach to this theme.

As 2018 draws to a close, it leaves us with a particularly interesting realization. Given its visual nature, Instagram has become a highly important tool for the dissemination of architecture in the digital era.

On our account, we share the various projects published on the site and keep track of the photographs with the most engagement. Do you know which images were our most popular on Instagram in 2018?