The results of the National Catalog of Modular Schools Competition in Peru were recently announced, with a single winning team unanimously selected for all five categories across their respective bioclimatic zones: Coast, Rainy Coast, Highlands, Frost, and Rainforest. Remarkably, this team was formed by an alliance of several highly influential architecture firms in the country, as evidenced by the caliber of their proposals. What made this outcome so compelling was that unity and diversity prevailed in a competition that seeks to foster those very principles through architecture and education.

However, there is an important detail in the competition's process—and processes are journeys worth remembering. The project developed by the architecture offices leonmarcial + Ghezzi Novak was awarded first place by the jury in the Highlands Catalog category; however, it was disqualified for failing to meet the required documentation. Such situations are common in architectural competitions, where regulations must ultimately be upheld.

Beyond the outstanding projects that ultimately won, what happens to those left behind? What becomes of all that valuable material? They, too, deserve visibility, as they represent efforts that should lead to some outcome. We are committed to sharing quality architecture, and this project, given its winning caliber, is undoubtedly one of them.

They represent one of the many treasures of northern Peru: its immense windows. When I learned I was heading pa'l norte to Trujillo, I immediately began to dream of its windows. I had encountered them in an excellent university course, and their dimensions were striking enough to occupy a significant place in my memory—compounded by a natural obsession with windows of any size or shape, their purpose, and what they make possible. Although I had been there years ago as a child, I was now returning with a fresh, more architectural perspective.

This is a photographic journey and compilation of the diverse variations of the Trujillo window. The images are not limited to the well-preserved areas of the city; they also reveal neglect or deterioration. Either way, their beauty shines through.

Kuélap, a pre-Inca site built by the Chachapoyas culture, is located in the north-central part of Peru, in the Amazonas Region. It forms a massive stone architectural complex characterized by its monumentality, featuring a large artificial platform seated on a limestone ridge at the summit of the mountain. Its colossal walls and complex interior architecture bear witness to its function as a well-organized settlement, which included administrative and religious enclosures, ceremonial spaces, and permanent residences.

For a long time, the Peruvian government had targeted the archaeological complex for ongoing visitation and conservation. As an essential destination for both domestic and international tourists, the cable car circuit project was finally brought to fruition through a public-private partnership. Here, we present an intriguing architectural project developed by FD Arquitectos y Urbanistas. Its design successfully reconciles the technology and modernity required by the project's complexity with the traditional vernacular construction of Amazonas, promoting environmental sustainability and a deep understanding of the high-jungle territory.

As part of Semana UTEM 2019—"The Project Within the Project"—21 teams from the Faculty of Architecture at the Metropolitan Technological University of Chile (UTEM) participated in the Domestic Pre-Existences workshop. The students proposed interventions for the historic "C Blocks" in Santiago's pericenter—residential complexes designed by the state Housing and Urban Development Service (SERVIU) between 1986 and 1996.

If you are looking for something different for your architectural presentations, virtual reality can be a compelling option (and a challenge if it is your first time working with it). Do you know which headsets are the most suitable, or what the ideal file size of a 360-degree render or 3D model is for VR viewing?

We hope the following answers to frequently asked questions are helpful!

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Pirwi, the leading national design editor, recently presented new collections featuring collaborations with Mexican artists and designers, including Daniel Pouzet, Joel Escalona, Moisés Hernández, Pablo Herrera, Sebastián Ángeles, Sergio Morales, and Mario García Torres. These collaborations range from small objects such as shelves and furniture to design pieces that offer a critique and reflection on the era we inhabit. Some of the pieces shown below come together as a complete range of daily-life objects designed by Pirwi, reflecting the brand's aspiration to reach a more inclusive audience and refresh its image with materials and finishes not previously explored.

When designing outside of urban areas, where property lines are not constrained by party walls and adjacent buildings do not dictate the layout, some of the most honest architectural responses emerge regarding how to intervene and what stance to take toward the surrounding landscape.

The following four architectural projects located in the Province of Córdoba, shaped by the topographical conditions and the specific characteristics of their surroundings, establish a profound sense of belonging with the landscape. By blurring the line between the natural and the artificial, they offer valuable tools and insights for designing on suburban plots.

From La Candelaria to Teusaquillo and Santa Fe, Bogotá's modern architecture not only stands in stark contrast to the historical legacy of local forms, but also served as a call to rethink the modernization of the Colombian state around 1930.   

The featured city sites serve as a starting point—an invitation to explore the capital and discover an architectural heritage that is distinct, yet remains an integral part of the urban fabric and the daily lives of Colombian citizens. 

Automation has become a major talking point—not only for its potential to replace countless low-income or low-skilled jobs, but also for its capacity to render entire professional careers obsolete through artificial intelligence and machine learning.

At ArchDaily, we opened the floor to this discussion in 2017 with an in-depth report on the subject, and we recently turned to our Instagram audience to ask what they think about automation. Do they believe it will affect them? Our readers seem confident: some argue that architecture is an art—or rather, a discipline centered on emotions—even if they overlook the standardization and modulation processes already established in the real estate market. According to those who responded to our poll, this emotional dimension inherent to architecture is precisely what makes it harder to automate.

In December of last year, the provincial government of San Luis, Argentina, alongside San Luis Agua, launched the Portales de los Lagos Provincial Ideas Competition. The objective was to design an icon to identify and showcase a key local natural resource: water. Read on to discover the first-prize-winning project in the words of its authors:

Even if you already know the answer, it is always worth reviewing key considerations regarding a building's square meters. Not only are they fundamental to determining construction costs and materials, but they also lay the groundwork for tax assessments and regulatory compliance. 

A spotlight illuminates a window opening in a Madrid building. A woman looks out. "I am a young, beautiful dove, full of hope," she declaims before breaking into Volare, the 1980s flamenco hit by the Gipsy Kings. This is one of the scenes from Kópera, the dystopian opera written by architects and neighborhood organizations for the first edition of Imagina Madrid.

In 2017, the experimental public art program of the Madrid City Council, coordinated by Intermediae, launched an open call to explore new forms of cultural intervention in the Spanish capital's public space. Out of 175 submissions, an international jury selected ideas, merged teams, reassigned proposals, and designated nine districts on Madrid's periphery. 

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"Since childhood, I had lived by the warmth of the stove that heats and at the same time gathers the family. Seeking that warmth was a necessity in southern Chile. Here in the tropics, it is the cooling shade that gathers us, and unlike the stove, it is everywhere."

Based in Costa Rica, Bruno Stagno does not simply initiate reflections on how environmental responses can form the basis of architectural inspiration and identity; he proposes to go further, advocating for an architecture tailored to a specific latitude.

Ruins are defined as structures, architectural remains, or constructions that have been partially or completely lost due to various factors (such as natural disasters, war, depopulation, abandonment, and lack of maintenance). They manifest as the material and tangible presence of a past era, representing the historical paradigm in which they were conceived and built. Their appeal lies in their ability to freeze a temporal plane different from current reality within the present, serving as a condensation of the ideals, interests, aspirations, questions, and challenges of a specific era. With this in mind, we present below a selection of 10 archaeological sites and ruins you can visit in Argentina.

Curious, inquisitive, and tenacious, Miguel Fisac [1913–2006] learned by doing. Fascinated by technology and construction, his direct on-site experience made up for everything that neither university nor books could teach or convey to him. Although his early work could be described as "academicist," within a few years the architect from Ciudad Real managed to shed this approach, turning instead to organic-patterned masonry and beams with bone-like logic. All of this was rooted in an intrinsic, personal commitment to creating a humanized architecture aligned with technical precision.

Every day, more architects are turning to virtual reality, driven by the rapid emergence of headsets and platforms. Architecture firms are seeking efficient ways to present their new developments, and VR technology is making a powerful impact in the visualization of unbuilt projects.

Data is a controversial topic in the twenty-first century. Policy-making regarding data collection and use lags behind, while its value continues to rise—turning any initiative in the sector into big business.

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"Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain a three-dimensional model from a series of photographs," notes the video tutorial developed by 'Antes del Olvido'. The initiative seeks to generate a collective online archive to document the daily transformations seen in cities—particularly on monuments and facades—following Chile's social uprising.

Discussions of Amancio Williams's architecture typically focus on his built work—the tangible side of his profession. Yet beyond being a great architect, he was a researcher, creator, avant-gardist, and visionary. Constantly studying the technical possibilities of his era, he approached his theoretical development and architectural thinking as if the field were a laboratory.

This is evident in the projects Williams developed for dwellings in space (1942), the hall for plastic spectacle and sound in space (1942), the Buenos Aires airport (1945) the suspended office building (1946) and the first city in Antarctica (1980), which we explore below.

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One could say we have waited for sunset to rekindle the warmth of this experience—and thus blend nostalgia with the newly arrived autumn.

The end of summer has arrived in the southwestern hemisphere, and among the many new lessons each climate leaves behind in these parts, in one of Peru's warmest regions, TSI 2019 left footprints and works that sooner or later we would be ready to reveal. All, or most, of those who participated have already returned to their school or work routines, yet at the end of the season, this remains a place to return to.

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As part of the 2nd Placemaking Latinoamérica gathering –organized by Lugares Públicos A.C.– which took place in Mexico City during the first and second weeks of November, various activities were carried out, including the restoration of eight public spaces led by Mexican and Latin American participatory urban planning specialists in the boroughs of Cuauhtémoc, Iztacalco, and Miguel Hidalgo.

Rodrigo Schiavoni and Adán Yenerich, founding partners of SY arquitectos, have won the open competition organized as part of the eighth International Congress of the Spanish Language, held in the city of Córdoba from March 27 to 30, 2019. This competition called for the design of an urban-scale commemorative landmark to serve as a civic symbol.

Organized by the Córdoba Province Chamber of Tourism and open to artists, designers, and architects, this interdisciplinary competition called for the creation of urban-scale pieces to intervene in the public space of a prominent sector of the city: a portion of the historic founding district located just steps from the Jesuit Block, a site designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

On November 15 of last year, the national ideas and preliminary design competition for the Norpatagónico Hospital in Neuquén was launched. Organized by the provincial government through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the competition was endorsed by the Argentine Federation of Architects (FADEA) and sponsored by the College of Architects of Neuquén Province.

The site—where the objective was to build a facility that provides high-complexity services while connecting with the natural environment—is located on the Neuquén plateau and spans an area of 32,700 square meters. First prize was awarded to La Plata-based architects Guillermo Ariel Canutti, Bernardo Luna, Clara Gallardo, Agustín Ichuribehere, and Fernando Sebastián Fariña. Read on to discover the project in detail below.  

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"An old skating area, a forgotten garden beneath bridges, and the reconstruction of a skatepark in a working-class neighborhood serve as the backdrops for this documentary. The parallel narrative of the construction of three new public spaces in Barcelona shows how once-marginalized territories are integrated into the urban fabric while respecting the site, its memory, its people, and its everyday life."

The premise of the documentary Landskating, directed by Kike Barberá, with a script and production by Sergi Carulla and Oscar Blasco (Scob), is highly promising. Filmed between 2013 and 2015, this period saw the realization of participatory processes led by the youth themselves, alongside the construction of Barcelona's first three urban sports parks: the Landskate Parks.

To mark the documentary's public premiere, we interviewed the team at SCOB to learn more about their work.