The Gustavo Capanema Palace, located in Rio de Janeiro and recognized as a benchmark for Brazilian architecture and arts, is scheduled to reopen to the public in 2024. On the 15th of this month, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) presented a new proposal for the building's use. From the ground floor to the rooftop terrace, the building will be transformed into a series of spaces dedicated to exhibitions on art and the formation of Brazilian society, while also hosting administrative operations for agencies linked to the Ministry of Culture.

The Recife Street Design Manual (MDR) emerges as a significant milestone in the city's urban mobility planning and design, focusing on active and collective modes of transportation. Developed as an integral part of the Recife Mobility Plan, which was approved in 2021, it represents an innovative approach to street circulation, establishing new design parameters that benefit all users. With its goal of promoting broad, safe, efficient, sustainable, resilient, and democratic access to the city, the manual seeks to transform how we think about and design streets.

The Social Service of Commerce (Sesc) offers a wide range of activities in culture, sports, leisure, education, health, and social assistance. Since 1946, the institution has also played a fundamental role in architecture, delivering buildings with innovative approaches that prioritize community integration. Renowned architects like Lina Bo Bardi and Paulo Mendes da Rocha have designed iconic projects like the Pompeia and 24 de Maio centers, demonstrating how spatial design can transform and revitalize urban areas while establishing cultural and social landmarks. São Paulo will welcome 12 new centers over the next decade, the first of which—Sesc 14 Bis—opens this week.

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The Escuela Guaraní Mbya, designed by the Brazilian firm Studio Guimarães Rosa, was selected as a finalist in the 5th edition of the Prêmio Félix Candela, one of Mexico's premier design competitions. The contest centered on the concept of the "man of maize"—the human returning to the land. The firm proposed a rural school that equips people to return to the countryside. The guiding question for the designers was: how to return without destroying? Their answer was to learn from Indigenous peoples.

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Seeking more accessible school routes and initiatives that integrate children into urban mobility, the Cidade Ativa collective, in partnership with IDOM, has developed an action plan based on the assessment of two case studies in the city of São Paulo. Available online for free, this material serves as inspiration for other cities aiming to make their urban spaces safer and more accessible. 

Sloping terrains, hillsides, and mountains present challenges for architects and engineers alike, but they also offer the potential to create unique homes that embrace their context. Following a careful study of the topography, soil, drainage, and access to power and water systems, designing how to integrate the house with the landscape, establishing its aesthetic, and, above all, ensuring a safe and welcoming environment is the responsibility of the architects.

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The project Fertile Futures, the Portuguese representation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, organized an International Summer Seminar in July in the municipality of Fundão, promoting alternative approaches to architecture and highlighting the project's promising future. The seminar aimed to foster thematic awareness, collaborative experiences, and an expanded field of action among the participants.

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The web series Atemporal ‑ A arquitetura permanece features a compilation of nine episodes depicting the various architectural movements that have shaped the history of Curitiba. Launched in 2020, the project spans from the earliest architectural impacts on the city during the colonial era and the influence of immigrants, to Eclectic architecture, Art Deco, and the first glimpses of Modernism, culminating in a denser vertical growth and an internationally recognized urban plan.

The "Kilometer Zero" concept has been gaining popularity in contemporary architecture, promoting environmentally conscious approaches to reducing carbon emissions. One application of this concept is the blōma project by SPBR arquitetos, led by Angelo Bucci. The São Paulo-based firm's first project in Curitiba, the residential building was designed to prioritize local resources and labor.

A technique used for centuries, particularly in hot, dry climates, limewashing can be applied to both interior and exterior walls. Beyond its affordability, this rustic finish offers numerous benefits that extend far beyond aesthetics: its light tone and striking texture create a compelling contrast between the building and its surroundings. Learn more about its advantages and how to apply this finish below.

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On August 24, Romano Guerra Editora will release the book Arquitetura e escrita: relatos do ofício, which brings together twenty-four interviews with Brazilian and international architectural historians and critics from various theoretical and professional backgrounds, academic disciplines, and generations. Mostly previously unpublished, the interviews were conducted both in response to local interest in the subjects and to reflect the global momentum of theoretical and historiographical debates in the field over recent decades.

One of the leading names in Brazilian photography, Hans Gunter Flieg (1923) worked in the fields of industry, advertising, and architecture. His images document the country's industrial development and verticalization, particularly in the city of São Paulo, starting in the 1940s. Through highly technically sophisticated photographs, he documented industrial facilities, machinery, buildings, and objects, challenging the boundaries between the objectivity of documentary photography and formal rigor.

Pointed arches, ribbed vaults, stained glass, finials, rose windows, and intricate decorative details. These are some of the elements that define Gothic architecture, a movement that emerged and flourished in Europe from the 10th to the 15th centuries. In Brazil, these features were adopted much later, within a revivalist context known as Neo-Gothic. This historical revival is primarily reflected in grand churches and select historic buildings. While the tropical nation does not boast as many works as the European continent, architecture expressing these ideals can be found from north to south. 

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A Drug Rehabilitation Center in the Cracolândia region of São Paulo. This was the theme of the first design competition organized by Labideias, open to students and recent graduates in architecture and urbanism with up to two years since graduation.

Architecture can play a critical role in questioning existing possibilities. It can be a voice that, through the built environment, proposes more humanized, creative, and inclusive approaches. Based on this premise, the organization invited participants to develop a proposal that addresses the needs of a marginalized and increasingly persecuted population. Discover the winners and honorable mentions of the #001 Labideias Competition below.

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The firm Solss Arquitetura was awarded first place in the national competition Iconicidades, organized by the State Government of Rio Grande do Sul and launched in April this year. The initiative sought to select the best proposals for transforming public spaces into hubs that foster the creative economy in the cities of Pelotas, Rio Grande, Santa Maria, Cachoeirinha, and São Leopoldo.

The firm won the competition in São Leopoldo, which aimed to choose the best revitalization project for the Casa da Feitoria and the Immigrant Museum, preparing the site for the bicentennial celebrations of German immigration in Brazil. Discover the project below:

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Between April 2 and 16, students from Latin America, together with architects, worked on the analysis, design, and construction of public infrastructure for the city of Suchitoto in El Salvador, within the framework of the XIX Latin American Social Workshop (TSL).

Since its first edition held in Barranquilla in 2002, the TSL has annually brought together public and private entities, university students, architects, professors, and members of Latin American civil society to develop practical architectural exercises with a strong community and local focus. This year, the XIX TSL was led by the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA) and the local organization, the National Association of Architecture Students of El Salvador (ANEA).

The following is the work produced by the workshops led by architects from El Sindicato, Taller Bugambilias, Taller de Tierra, Colectivo Hormiga, ACCIÓN, Laborateca, Sen Sos Hábitat, Alejandro Alcázar, and Coonvite:

The word "deck" originated in the English language to refer to a ship's deck. Today, the term is used to describe outdoor surfaces made of wooden planks that may or may not surround pools, hot tubs, and soaking tubs. These design options can be highly diverse—so much so that a new approach has emerged in the market as a growing trend: the wet deck.

The results of the National Wood Architecture Prize - PNAM’23 have been announced. In its seventh edition, the award recognized a winning project and two honorable mentions in “Sustainability and Circular Economy” and “Material Typology.”

The top prize was awarded to the renovation of Sala Projeto I - Colégio das Artes at the University of Coimbra, designed by architect Paulo Providência, with carpentry by Veiga Lopes, S.A., Carpinlux, and Brito Móveis. The University of Coimbra was the institution responsible for executing the project.