Synonymous with light and loyalty, the lighthouse takes us back to antiquity. Conceived for utilitarian purposes, these architectural structures have accompanied thousands of sailors for decades, illuminating the coasts and warning of potential dangers and geographic hazards. Rooted in the collective memory, they represent specific historical moments depending on the country or region in which they stand.

Along Argentina's uninterrupted coastline, which stretches from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego, lighthouses rise like columns. Emerging from the waves, they mark the edge of civilization, enabling dialogue and integration with nature.

Archivo de Ideas Recibidas is an interdisciplinary research and dissemination project that seeks to document and connect the ideas of individuals who contribute to the contemporary creative ecosystem from the fields of art, design, and architecture. It is built on conversations between the team and various creators, exploring topics related to memory, academia, cultural context, key influences, and working methodologies. On this occasion, they share their interview with designer Mariana Otero, who, alongside Yerko Zlatar, leads the design and interior design studio PUNA, based in Lima, Peru.

Founded in 2010 by He Zhe, James Shen, and Zang Feng, People’s Architecture Office (PAO) maintains offices in Beijing and Boston. Guided by the principle of “Design for the Masses,” the firm drives social impact through a multidisciplinary, innovative design approach that spans urbanism, architecture, and product design, with a focus on education, offices, housing, and urban renewal. PAO is the first architectural practice in Asia to achieve B Corp certification, serving as a model for social enterprise. Since 2017, the firm has also collaborated extensively with the Leping Social Entrepreneurship Foundation on various social innovation initiatives.

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Architectures of the Global South is the title of the course taught by architects Marco Artigas and Pedro Vada through the Escola da Cidade Association. The program aimed to broaden perspectives on contemporary architectural production, considering the urgent need for new, fundamentally counter-hegemonic viewpoints. Grounded in the concept of the Global South and a shared vision of unity among countries shaped by colonization, the course, held between September and December 2020, established ongoing dialogues with architects practicing or residing in these nations.

The goal of these sessions was to discuss what and how people are building in these countries through direct conversations about the challenges posed by different territories, societies, and cultures. By exploring the processes and decisions behind each project in greater detail—using richer documentation than typically found in publications—the course addressed structural reflections and urgent issues.

Throughout history, economic crises, health emergencies, and natural disasters—followed by social conflicts, political disagreements, and the search for new places to live—have driven the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The result: shifts in residency, habitat, and culture.

As the first recreational theme park in Latin America, "La República de los Niños" is located in Manuel B. Gonnet, in the city of La Plata, Argentina. Numerous buildings make up a fantasy city built to scale which, since its inauguration in 1951, has aimed to represent basic social institutions and recognize both human rights and children's rights.

Green infrastructure is an approach centered on territorial planning and environmental sustainability. Moreover, it is one of the primary strategies being adopted by communities, municipalities, and governments in cities worldwide to address the climate crisis, improve public health, reduce social segregation, and protect biodiversity. Specifically, it consists of an interconnected system of diverse green spaces that support a range of functions and benefits.

“These types of projects are of vital importance because they seek to reverse social, economic, urban, and political instability, providing organized attention to community needs and creating built platforms that serve as a bridge between the intrapersonal and intra-institutional scales.” Excerpt from the project description of the Community Development Center / OCA + BONINI

Since 2008, World Social Justice Day has been observed every February 20 to support and promote the international community's efforts to achieve sustainable development, poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, universal social protection, gender equality, and access to social well-being and justice for all. According to the United Nations, “Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations," representing the core of its mission to promote development and human dignity.

How do we design spaces that are healthy for both our minds and our bodies? That is the main question we seek to answer this March as we address our monthly topic, “Indoor Well-Being.”

The rapid growth of Brazilian cities without adequate oversight by public authorities has resulted in a series of problems stemming from a lack of decent housing. Since the 1980s, grassroots community associations and academics have joined forces to pressure the government into developing housing policies that would not only construct new homes and neighborhoods, but also secure other fundamental rights, such as healthcare and education. Today, forty years after this initial push, we observe a lack of public housing policies across all three levels of government targeting the most vulnerable populations, even as we see a growing popularization of Technical Assistance for Social Interest Housing, known as ATHIS.

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The primary responsibility of media is to convey valuable information and knowledge; its secondary duty is to champion social values. Yet its most crucial role remains presenting comprehensive, multi-layered content that directs public attention toward critical issues, ultimately driving incremental social progress.

Over the past year, we found ourselves confined, interacting with the world solely through the narrow windows of our phones and computers. While online meetings saved us time, an overabundance of digital content quickly devolved into a fast-food culture—most of it reduced to floating windows on our screens, where "save for later" essentially meant "never look at again." This rapid consumption has eroded our patience; we no longer wish to wait for the slow shifts in climate, light, shadow, and human activity within a space, craving instead only the immediate satisfaction of perfectly staged "glamour shots." At the same time, the lack of physical contact has gradually locked us into localized echo chambers, siloing architectural design within domestic boundaries. As a result, the unified value community built on social consensus is dissolving, and personal opinions of individual architects are replacing objective standards for evaluating architectural design.

As an international architectural media platform, ArchDaily is raising its editorial standards once again. Our 22 editors worldwide will deliver global, multi-dimensional, open, thematic, and socially conscious architectural content. Through the 2019 and 2020 ArchDaily Topics, we have proven that we offer not just the most comprehensive architectural news, but also a clear perspective. This year, our theme is the "Unity of Knowledge and Action"—a commitment to reality over illusion, rejecting deceptive renderings and hyperbolic puff pieces.

Ultimately, after a lengthy process, the 15th modification to Concepción's local regulatory plan has finally been enacted (1). In practice, this regulates the maximum allowable construction height within the municipality, ending two decades of mimicking the high-rise real estate model dominant in Santiago.

What is the role of corporate offices today? The coronavirus pandemic highlighted profound needs and transformations in all of our lives: in relationships, work, consumption habits, and rising inequality. Unquestionably, the question of workspaces came to the fore during a historical phase when, for the first time in the postmodern era, people saw their personal freedoms restricted.

Most people were forced to work from home, and since the beginning of quarantine, reflecting on the future of workspaces became inevitable. Interesting data shows that the coronavirus merely accelerated a practice that had been gaining traction for years in some countries. According to studies conducted jointly by Global Workplace Analytics and FlexJobs, between 2005 and 2015, the number of professionals in the United States who do at least 50% of their work from home or another location outside their offices grew by 115%, and today this number reaches 4.7 million, or 3.4% of the workforce.

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Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city located on the northern border with the United States, directly across from El Paso, Texas. Over the years, Juárez's economy has been dominated by the ‘maquiladora’ industry, and it was once considered one of the most violent cities in the world due to a wave of crime that took hold from 2008 to 2012. In 2020, the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit) reported that there are 17,871 abandoned homes in Ciudad Juárez, leading the country's municipal rankings and contributing to a total of 650,000 abandoned houses nationwide.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, architects Rafael-Beneytez-Duran and Peter Jay Zweig have designed a dynamic, inflated structure titled AIRSCAPES #1.

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To create, express architectural language, and be universally understood, scale models translate design ideas and projects into proportions that are more accessible and easier to comprehend.

This article focuses on scale models as acts of material thought, highlighting the practice of the model-making laboratory of Miguel Forero Barbosa. Explore their work below.

This is not a book about architecture; rather, it is a book about a territory—a territory in Chile, within the Metropolitan Region, shaped by a mountain range, a river, and a valley.

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As part of an initiative by the UHPH Platform, co-organized with Habitat for Humanity, the 2021 call for entries was launched for the "Inspiring Practices" competition, held within the framework of the 4th Latin American and Caribbean Housing and Habitat Forum: "Action for Housing and Settlements Facing COVID-19." This initiative seeks to improve urban spaces and equip them with infrastructure that promotes community development.

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In the future, the Internet of Things (IoT) will play an increasingly profound role in our lives, with devices communicating independently and integrating into our daily routines as smart assistants. As a result, demand for smart home technology is growing in tandem with the range of products on offer. In a recent report, market research firm Statista predicted that this year, approximately 12% of households worldwide will own smart home devices, a figure projected to rise to over 21% by 2025—translating to more than 478.2 million users globally. But which of these devices are actually useful? A selection of outstanding technologies and designs has recently been honored with the 2021 iF Design Award, and here we take a closer look at nine of them.

The term ergonomics was first coined in 1857 by the Polish scholar Wojciech Jastrzębowski, deriving from the combination of the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (laws or rules). Although initially associated with the physical comfort of workers, today the term applies to a wide range of activities, from sports to leisure. It represents a set of guidelines and procedures designed to ensure both physical and mental well-being during any given task.

Public and private sector leaders and civil society representatives from around the world gathered at COP26, held in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, to debate and deliberate on one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century: climate change. The summit centered on four key goals:

"Domingos Libro" is hosted by Carmelo from Enorme Studio. Every two weeks, the series delves deep into forgotten architectural publications, books, and magazines from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, uncovering the fascinating stories behind them.

In this eleventh episode, titled "El Huevo" (The Egg), Carmelo discusses the 1978 book *L'Oeuf* by André Bruyère. An obsession with eggs led the French architect to propose an egg-shaped skyscraper for New York and write this book, which champions the ovoid as a fundamental form.

Dear readers, with your companionship, ArchDaily has journeyed through 2020. Throughout this past year, we have continued our daily mission to report on and share global architecture, growing along the way while earning the recognition of architects and the invaluable support of our readers. 2020 has been an extraordinary year. At a time when we cannot gather or meet in person, we rely on the digital realm to send holiday wishes, sharing warmth and connection through online greeting cards. We have compiled the holiday cards we received this year to share with you, our dear readers. Let’s take a look at these creative designs from architects worldwide as we welcome 2021 together.