Thanks to its aesthetic qualities and malleability, concrete is the darling of the world's builders and architects. In Argentina in particular, concrete's durability and adaptability to a range of climatic conditions makes it one of the most sought after construction materials, demonstrated by, not only the country's countless museums, hotels, hospitals, but by its residential and smaller-scale buildings as well.
Inner courtyards and gardens can provide many benefits, such as natural light, better ventilation, and increased contact with nature without losing privacy.
When it comes to designing commercial gastromic spaces, aspects like space efficiency, equipment distribution, materials, and organization are essential when considering the users' experience within the space.
Many architects work in a variety of areas, designing everything from the layout of a city block to the most minute details of a building. A common trend among these projects is that the furnishings, the very things that make a structure usable and livable, are often afterthoughts for the project's creators and only become important when the structure is already built.
The winners of the National Ideas and Preliminary Projects Competition for the “San Patricio del Chañar Sports and Cultural Park” (PDC.SPDC, Neuquén, Argentina) have been announced. Promoted by the Municipality of San Patricio del Chañar, sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architects' Associations (FADEA), and organized by Region 1 of the College of Architects of Neuquén Province (CAN), the competition invited architects across Argentina to submit proposals for a new urban green space that will serve as the city's Sports and Cultural Park. By offering high-quality amenities for public use, the initiative aimed to promote the benefits of sports, culture, and outdoor life, fostering social interaction, community living, civic activity, and collective belonging.
Rich in symbolism and tradition, religious architecture has always been marked by the grandiosity and extravagance of its interior spaces. For the architects and designers who created these spaces, everything from the scale, to the materials, to the lighting were tools to be used in optimizing their form and function and creating a place for users to connect with their faith.
Cross-ventilation, solar radiation control, rainwater harvesting, indirect natural lighting, graywater treatment and reuse, and solar energy harnessing through panels are some of the passive strategies that allow for greater thermal and environmental comfort at low energy costs. When based on a proper understanding of a site's geographical and climatic conditions, these bioclimatic principles can significantly optimize building performance and foster the development of better interior spaces.
The barn, closely related in nature to silos and sheds, is an essential building typology in rural and agricultural landscapes. Featuring highly simple and functional design solutions, barns serve specifically as storage spaces for large volumes of livestock feed and are commonly characterized by high ceilings, generous spans, and relative spatial flexibility, protecting hay and grain from the sun, rain, moisture, and animals.
Alarcia Ferrer is an Argentine architecture firm based in Córdoba, founded in 2009. Focused on medium-scale private residential projects in suburban and rural settings, they have worked for over a decade in close dialogue with the province's landscape, constantly reflecting on the tensions and interactions between nature and artifice. Each project can be read as the result of a material and spatial exercise that serves as a prompt to rethink deeper issues such as permanence, authenticity, and simplicity.
When we study Amancio Williams' work, it almost always centers on his emblematic Bridge House, built for his father in Mar del Plata between 1943 and 1946, or his technical role in Le Corbusier's Casa Curutchet. Of course, to study Williams is to confront several questions: Did he not design any other residential projects? What modernist ideas and concepts can we glimpse into his work? How did his work impact the development of Argentine architecture?
Similar in nature to silos and granaries, the barn is an essential building typology within agricultural storage processes. Their designs are typically simple and functional. Serving specifically as facilities to store large volumes of raw materials, they are characterized by high ceilings, wide spans, and relative flexibility. These structures protect agricultural products—such as cereals, fruits, grains, straw, and hay—from the sun, rain, moisture, and pests.
Located in the central region of South America, Paraguay features a wide variety of geographical conditions, with diverse landscapes and resources. Generally, the territory is characterized by **high humidity** and **mild temperatures** that prevail year-round, with hot, rainy summers and mild winters. Under these conditions, cooling indoor spaces is highly critical, making passive ventilation systems a key consideration during the early stages of design.
Located in the central region of South America, Paraguay features a wide variety of geographical conditions, with diverse landscapes and resources. Generally speaking, the territory is characterized by high humidity and warm temperatures that prevail throughout the year, with hot, rainy summers and mild winters. Under these conditions, cooling interior spaces becomes highly important, and passive ventilation systems are particularly prioritized during the early design stages.
While stone has been used in construction since time immemorial, it's maintained its place in architecture thanks to its design capabilities, durability, and efficiency.
Although concrete is one of the most widely used building materials in the world, thanks to its durability, versatility, and weather resistance, we must not forget that the concrete industry is one of the largest CO2 emitters in the construction sector. Consequently, over the past few years, many architects have begun to experiment with new possibilities to optimize its performance, leveraging its technical advantages while seeking to address some of its environmental drawbacks. As a result, some designers have begun exploring the possibility of replacing traditional wooden formwork with more sustainable materials like bamboo—a plant that grows abundantly across most of the world and offers high-quality textured finishes with a low environmental impact.
Peru, with its varied geography and vast array of natural resources, renders an architectural style that makes itself one with the landscape. In the country's three principal terrains —coast, mountain, and rainforest— there is little variation in temperature and the climate can be defined as either tropical or subtropical.
With an average of 12 square meters of green space per inhabitant, the city of Rosario was declared Argentina's "greenest" urban enclave in a recent report published by the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative. This figure aligns with the standards set by the WHO, which recommends between 10 and 15 square meters of green space per person to ensure a decent quality of life for all citizens. The creation of new parks in recent years, combined with the upgrading of over 70 existing ones through the addition of amenities and technology, highlights the significance of green spaces for the people of Rosario.