In the early 19th century, in a Paris on the verge of having its medieval fabric torn open by Haussmann's grand boulevards, novelist George Sand dressed as a man to walk the streets. According to her journals, "in trousers and boots I could fly from one end of the city to the other, regardless of the weather, the hour, or the place." No one paid her any attention, no one guessed her disguise, and no one stared or criticized; she was just another "atom lost in that immense crowd." Thanks to her male attire, Sand experienced fearless incursions and solitary wanderings like a true flâneur—experiences that would later become fundamental to crafting her successful narratives.

Italian architect Vittorio Gregotti frequently asserted that “creating the place” is the primordial architectural act, its very origin, since simply placing a stone on the ground already marks the beginning of the “modifications” that will transform a site into architecture. Driven by this urge for transformation, we see ideas materialize into relationships and concepts that often bring the genius loci to the fore through a phenomenological approach, establishing an intimate connection between architecture and context, redefining places, and reaffirming the human connection to the world.

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Na teoria, a sensação de bem-estar pode ser definida como um estado de satisfação plena das exigências do corpo e do espírito, evocando sentimentos de segurança, conforto e tranquilidade. Na prática, a sensação de bem-estar pode ser fomentada por diferentes estratégias, desde hábitos individuais até a forma como o ambiente é construído.

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Nearly one hundred thousand square meters make up the site of one of Brazil's most important industrial heritage landmarks. Opened in 1926 by a Canadian group, the Perus Portland Cement Factory in São Paulo was crucial to the region's growth, leaving a legacy that goes far beyond its architectural remains.

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On two specific days of the year, June 21 and December 21, if you look up at the sky, you will notice that the sun seems to stand still at its northernmost or southernmost limit before completing its daily path and reversing direction. This impression of a stationary sun led to the event being named the "solstice," derived from the Latin words 'sol' and 'sistere', meaning to stand still. It occurs when the sun reaches its northernmost or southernmost diurnal arc relative to the Equator; thus, two solstices occur annually, marking the beginning of winter and summer in the respective hemispheres.

Historically, this moment has held immense significance for various cultures, marking holidays, rituals, festivals, and ceremonies that, in turn, are tied to religion, agriculture, and fertility. Recognizing the importance of these rituals for cultural heritage and ancient traditions, the UN established June 21 as the International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice to foster mutual respect between different cultures.

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According to recent research, the global fashion industry generates around $2.4 trillion annually. This staggering figure, unfortunately, is matched by its waste statistics. It is estimated that every second, the equivalent of a garbage truck full of textile scraps is burned or sent to landfills. Considering that fabrics like polyester, which is widely used in garment manufacturing, take an average of 200 years to decompose, the catastrophic future of this model is easily foreseeable. Alarming news consistently highlights this issue, such as the images of the immense secondhand clothing graveyard in the Atacama Desert released a few years ago, or reports that famous British luxury brand Burberry incinerated £28.6 million worth of unsold clothing, accessories, and perfume last year to protect its brand, claiming the carbon emissions were offset, making the action "environmentally sustainable."

The era when Le Corbusier's Modulor—the perfect man—was the only one “allowed” to occupy our cities and architecture is long gone. Decades ago, it became clear that environments were being designed as ideological representations that failed to reflect actual demand and its rich diversity of social class, gender, race, age group, and sexual orientation, among other factors. Planning and design were often disguised as “neutral” concepts, while in reality they reproduced the perspective of a middle-class white man. Ultimately, the time has come for the city to move past this flawed assumption of universal appropriation and instead materialize in its spaces the specific needs of every citizen.

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The year was 1969. Lina Bo Bardi wandered through the São Paulo neighborhood of Bixiga, which at the time resembled a war zone. The clearings and piles of rubble were the result of a violent urbanization cutting through the region in the shape of São Paulo's East-West expressway complex.

Against this backdrop, Lina collected personal objects found in the debris, picking up "the most sordid items," as Zé Celso, director and creator of Teatro Oficina, stated in an interview. There was a clear reason for this undertaking: to compose the set for the play In the Jungle of Cities (Na selva das cidades), designed by the architect herself. In it, a stage shaped like a boxing ring was fashioned from the rubble of the demolitions taking place around the theater. The play was divided into 11 rounds, in each of which an institution is destroyed until the ring itself is demolished. At the end, the actors remove even the theater floor to reach the bare earth.

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It is no secret that gender issues permeate our entire social and systemic organization, directly reflecting the duality of "feminine and masculine roles" and their mechanisms of gender oppression. Architecture and urbanism are no exception. Over the centuries, cities and their buildings have been maintained and transformed to prioritize the demands of a very specific user profile. This structure obviously overlooks other identities and forms of appropriation—namely, actual demand in all its diversity of social class, gender, race, age, and sexual orientation. These plans and designs are disguised under a "neutral" conception, yet they actually reproduce the perspective of a middle-class white man.

On one hand, the exorbitant speed represented by rapid, minute-by-minute propagation, the crossing of borders, the spread across all continents, and unrestrained multiplication. On the other, the untouched, the immobile, the domestic cloister, isolation, and confinement in an attempt to avoid any sudden movement, suppress impulse, and control the environment. On one side, the virus; on the other, humanity.

In this pandemic scenario, where a deadly virus is nurtured by the uninterrupted speed of our movements—making us, ourselves, its driving force—immobility is seen as a key part of the antidote. This is an immobility that costs us dearly, confining us to our homes and forcing us to rethink how we experience the world.

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Juliana Coelho is an architect and urban planner with experience in the humanitarian, public, and private development sectors. For the past three years, she has been working in this sector with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. During this period, she was involved in the planning, design, and implementation of 21 temporary shelters, transit centers, and reception/documentation centers for refugees and migrants in Brazil. She also participated in drafting a contingency plan and upgrading spontaneous settlements and donated spaces, providing technical support to Operation Welcome (Operação Acolhida)—the Brazilian government's response to the influx of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to Brazil, which in 2020 also included emergency response measures to COVID-19.

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Considered one of the world's oldest construction techniques, structural masonry in Brazil was first used during the colonial period with stone, adobe, and rammed earth. Since then, the method has evolved, finding renewed viability through contemporary materials such as modular concrete blocks or load-bearing ceramic blocks. 

In this construction method, where the structure and enclosure are built simultaneously, columns and beams are unnecessary. Consequently, the walls serve a dual purpose: they define the spaces while functioning as the load-bearing structure of the building.

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The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 as part of a global agenda aimed at implementing public policies to guide humanity toward a sustainable future by 2030.

According to the organization, the goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. They address a wide range of issues, including health, education, gender equality, reduced inequalities, sustainable consumption and production, the protection and sustainable use of oceans and terrestrial ecosystems, and inclusive economic growth.

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This coming Saturday, October 31, marks World Cities Day, an observance established by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the annual “Urban October” initiative. This celebration aims to foster international interest in global urbanization, enhance cooperation among countries to address urbanization challenges, and contribute to sustainable urban development worldwide.

Yet, while the word “city” generically denotes an “agglomeration of people within a defined geographical area,” in practice we know that each of these settlements is shaped by highly unique developmental and cultural factors. With this in mind, we are using this global celebration of cities to focus on our own reality, highlighting the challenges currently faced by Latin American cities.

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The abandoned city is a classic suspense setting, a place of terror and degeneration, a stimulating blend of danger and freedom. An ambience that ambiguously incites both repulsion and curiosity. A dark, hidden, and marginal space that seems to mourn, in its haunting silence, the void left by those who once lived there. Among its fragments scattered across the floor, fear, discovery, and the inevitable nostalgia for a past that is not necessarily one's own recreate stories of abandonment. Spaces that once had names, dates, and functions, now slowly decomposing in the solitude of the present.

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Caring for the earth, caring for people, and caring for the future. These are the three ethical principles that have guided the practice of permaculture since the term was coined in the late 1970s by Australian ecologists David Holmgren and Bill Mollison. This was an era when the environmental movement gained significant traction, with the emergence of various organizations and movements united in an effort to curb the destruction of the planet's natural resources.

Its three core principles embody a commitment to caring for natural resources, pursuing a social life in harmony with nature, and creating systems to share these resources.

The first architecture course in Brazil was established more than 200 years ago as part of the "French Mission" of 1816. The Royal School of Sciences, Arts, and Crafts of Rio de Janeiro offered the only course in the country for over fifty years. It was an institution geared toward educating the Brazilian elite, lacking any research purpose, and training an "architect-artist in service of the court."

According to architect and researcher Sônia Marques, the requirements for admission to the Royal School were "knowing how to read, write, and count," and the curriculum of the architecture course consisted of subjects such as: ornamental drawing, ornamental sculpture, archaeology and applied mathematics, perspective and shadows, and stereotomy (the technique of cutting construction materials), among others. Its foundation aimed to meet the needs of a clientele consuming symbolic goods—a demographic developed and fostered primarily by the recent presence of the Portuguese court in Brazil. [1]

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In light of today's climate emergency, our current urban model—defined by rapid, uncontrolled growth that fosters social segregation and harms the environment—must be replaced.

Against this backdrop, the concept of Sustainable Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) emerges to break with existing spatial planning paradigms. As the name suggests, TOD proposes action strategies that integrate urban design with transport and mobility planning, which can be implemented through public policies or urban projects. 

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