The results of the 24th competition organized by the Projetar.org portal have just been released. The challenge proposed to students was to design a portable individual shelter for unhoused individuals, receiving 142 proposals submitted by teams of students from various Brazilian states and other countries. Given the difficulty of addressing the housing deficit, the fact that the global population is projected to increase by 50% by 2050, and the severity of the situation faced by unhoused people, it is both necessary and urgent to consider emergency solutions that can at least alleviate suffering and improve their basic living conditions.
The results of the Saint-Gobain Architecture Award – Sustainable Habitat have just been announced. The award is one of the most prestigious in the Brazilian construction industry, having recognized over 150 projects for excellence in comfort, innovation, and sustainability. A total of 25 awards were presented across the "Professional" and "Student" categories, in addition to highlights in "Comfort," "Innovation," and "Sustainability." The Best Project award of this edition was presented by Saint-Gobain's global CEO, Pierre-André de Chalendar, and awarded to the Children's Villages project by Rosenbaum® and Aleph Zero. Dal Pian Arquitetos, Vigliecca e Associados, and Estúdio 41 Arquitetura were highlighted in Comfort, Innovation, and Sustainability, respectively.
"The Award is already a benchmark in the Brazilian architecture market, having highlighted hundreds of projects by students and professionals who, in line with Saint-Gobain's values, promote sustainability and respect for the environment," said Thierry Fournier, CEO of Saint-Gobain for Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. "Through this award, we encourage the market to increasingly prioritize the concepts of comfort and people's well-being in buildings," the executive concluded.
Discover the winning projects of the 5th Saint-Gobain Architecture Award – Sustainable Habitat below:
The 21st edition of the student competition was titled Home. The brief challenged participants to design a home for their family in their hometown, with the program, location, and project area decided by the competitors themselves. The competition stands out because participants have only 24 hours between the release of the brief and the project submission. The results were announced on January 30th.
A project developed for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been awarded Gold in architecture at the 2018 iF Design Award. The Dancing Pavilion, designed by architect and designer Guto Requena for the Olympics in Brazil, has just received the Gold Award, the highest architectural category of the iF Design Award. The trophy was presented to the designer during a ceremony in Munich, Germany, in March. According to the jury:
CODHAB-DF recently announced the results of another design competition. This edition focused on the development of a project for an Educational Center (CED) located on Avenida Crixá, Lot 06, with a total site area of 9,500.915 m², as the first phase of the social housing development is already under construction.
The 62 proposals received were evaluated by a jury based on criteria such as the integration of accessibility and public spaces, thermal comfort and energy efficiency solutions, technical and structural feasibility, cost-effectiveness and maintenance efficiency, and aesthetic and formal aspects, while complying with the guidelines and specifications outlined in the Competition Brief, as detailed in the official Notice. The team comprising Eder Rodrigues de Alencar, Juliana Andrade, Marcelo Braga, Mateus Reis, Gabriel Lordelo, Danielle Gressler, and André Velloso, from Brasília, was awarded first place.
Below, see the projects awarded first, second, and third places, along with the Honorable Mentions:
CODHAB has released the results of another one of its competitions. This edition sought design proposals for an Escola Classe (EC) elementary school located in the Crixá Neighborhood development in the Federal District. The facility aims to provide public educational services, as the first phase of the social housing project is already under construction.
The objective of the competition was to select the most suitable proposal to contract the responsible technical team, who will sign an agreement with the organizing entity to develop the Complete Detailed Design (Architectural Design and Complementary Projects). See the results of the competition below:
Most of us share childhood memories of drawing little houses—a triangular roof, a door, a window, and a tree beside it. What sets architects apart from the general public, however, is that we continue to make these drawings long after we grow up. Naturally, our skills usually mature along the way. Just as our residential architecture becomes more complex and refined, our representation of trees must also evolve (that broccoli-like scribble is unlikely to impress clients or professors). While trees are rarely the focal point of a drawing, they play a crucial role in architectural composition, establishing scale, casting shadows, and representing specific landscape designs.
Especially when it comes to public buildings, it is essential that spaces are designed to allow everyone to access them autonomously, regardless of mobility challenges. However, during the design process, aligning a project with accessibility codes can often become a major headache—especially when every single inch counts toward accommodating the required programmatic needs.
To standardize these requirements, NBR 9050 (2015) establishes technical criteria and parameters to be observed in the design, construction, installation, and adaptation of buildings, furniture, spaces, and urban equipment to meet accessibility standards.
On December 18, the winning projects of the national architecture competition for the restoration and modernization of the monument building of the Museu Paulista (MP), located in the Ipiranga neighborhood of São Paulo, were announced. The competition was launched on September 7, as part of the "Museu do Ipiranga em Festa" celebrations. Out of a total of 13 entries, nine qualified to participate. The evaluation criteria included aspects such as rationality, functionality, and technical feasibility; respect for the building's material, structural, compositional, and documentary characteristics; creativity, aesthetic solution, and design innovation; compliance with specific uses and circulation and accessibility solutions; and the adoption of environmental sustainability criteria and solutions.
The winning project was selected by a judging committee comprising 11 members appointed by the competition promoter, including representatives from federal, state, and municipal heritage preservation agencies, the Brazilian Institute of Museums (Ibram), and institutional partners such as the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB) and the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of São Paulo.
Cortesia de ordem dos arquitectos secção regional sul
The results of the design competition for the Carcavelos Health Hub, in Portugal, were announced last month. The jury, comprising architect Luís Campos Guerra, engineer Paulo Nunes, and architect Gabriela Gonçalves, evaluated 40 proposals. The competition was organized by the Municipality of Cascais, with technical support from the Southern Regional Section of the Order of Architects.
The Municipality of Cascais, with technical support from the OASRS, launched the "Sommer Pavilion International Ideas Competition" in May of this year for the construction of a temporary intervention in Jardim da Parada, next to Casa Sommer, in downtown Cascais, Portugal. The project "Gravidade em Suspenso," by architect Inês Abreu Ribeiro and engineer Fernando Coutinho de Vasconcelos Pereira da Silva, was named the winner. Out of the 49 proposals evaluated, the jury considered that the winning entry stood out for its “stimulating approach to the competition theme, exploring different states of water in the form of a 'rain pavilion' and a 'fog pavilion' that relate to each other.”
1º lugar. Image Cortesia de Ordem dos Arquitectos SRS
The results of the public design competition for the Santa Iria da Azóia Health Unit Project in Loures were recently announced. Organized by the Loures Municipal Council with technical support from the Southern Regional Section of the Order of Architects (OASRS), the team from LXM Studio, led by architect João Lisboa, was awarded first place. The jury, consisting of architects João Félix and Carlos Santos from the Loures Municipal Council and architect Victor Neves (appointed by OASRS), noted that of the 35 proposals evaluated, the winning entry stood out for its seamless integration with the surroundings, contributing to an effective visual and landscape revitalization of the adjacent space. The jury also noted that “the solution designed for the exterior openings is innovative and highly functional.”
Santa Iria de Azóia is a Portuguese town in the municipality of Loures, with an area of 7.52 km² and 18,240 inhabitants (2011 data). The site is located in the Pirescoxe area of Santa Iria da Azóia, where the built cultural heritage closest to the intervention area features two prominent buildings: the Pirescoxe Castle, classified as a Property of Public Interest, and the Pirescoxe Convent. The general objectives of the competition were:
Cia Hering Matriz - edifício da Nova Costura. Image Cortesia de Acervo Hans Broos
Born in Slovakia in 1921, architect Hans Broos began his career in Brazil in 1953, after graduating in Germany in 1949. His brief European career was marked by the reconstruction of Germany, during which he worked alongside architect Egon Eiermann as his assistant at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. During this period, Broos came into contact with Le Corbusier and his principles of modern architecture. Aligned from the beginning with the architects of the Modern Movement, Broos developed his first works in Blumenau and Florianópolis, in the state of Santa Catarina, far from major Brazilian urban centers. Throughout his professional life, the architect addressed a wide range of programs—from residential and industrial to religious, commercial, and social projects—over a career spanning more than 50 years and nearly 400 projects. Of these, approximately 100 were built in various states, including Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Pernambuco, and Goiás. The architect passed away in 2011.
The challenge proposed by the competition, aimed at students, was to redefine the highway motel typology, creating a building that would engage with the Rio de Janeiro skyline and focus on design and entertainment for its guests.
According to the jury, “Many proposals focused on autonomous volumetric design, as if shifting volumes to meet a functional solution could account for the complexity required for urban integration. Therefore, the most critical evaluation criteria were program innovation, proper circulation planning, and the interaction between architecture and open spaces. In this regard, the proposals that managed to leverage the site's potential achieved the competition's objectives: the creation of an URBAN Motel.”
Cortesia de TESE Tecnologia Arquitetura e Cultura LTDA + Oficina Urbana de Arquitetura (OUA)
The competition sought the urban, environmental, sociocultural, economic, and management design of a 514-hectare area in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. Located on flood-prone land along the Paraguay River near the Historic Center, the area features high environmental and social vulnerability, with thousands of families living in precarious settlements in high-risk zones. A total of 41 projects were submitted by participants from the United States, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Paraguay. The Brazilian team—composed of the firms TESE Tecnologia Arquitetura e Cultura LTDA and Oficina Urbana de Arquitetura (OUA)—received the only honorable mention.
The brief called for an urban design proposal, including the design of public spaces, aimed at connecting the area with the rest of the city and fostering the relationship between the city and the river, based on the principles and guidelines of the Master Plan for the Northern Coastal Fringe. The evaluation criteria focused on the need to recover and enhance the urban-environmental dimension of the intervention area, alongside developing a strategy for its connection to the city, strengthening its identity and potential, and providing physical and visual accessibility and permeability within an integrated urban intervention vision. See the overall competition results and the Brazilian team's project, along with their project description, below.
Projeto Vencedor Nacional / Região 5. Image Cortesia de Prêmio Rosa Kliass
The Brazilian Association of Landscape Architects - ABAP, in partnership with CAU-SP, has announced the results of the first edition of the Rosa Kliass Prize for landscape architecture graduation projects, open to final undergraduate thesis submissions from all architecture schools across the country. Entries had to address projects of any scale in landscape architecture, landscape planning, historical research, or technical and critical work within the broader field of landscape architecture.
The projects were evaluated by region, with first-place winners selected for each. From these, one work was chosen as the overall national winner. The regions were divided as follows:
Fitting a ramp into a layout can be a designer's nightmare. But anyone who has ever had to climb a steep ramp in a wheelchair or push someone else knows firsthand how much of a difference a well-designed ramp makes. NBR 9050, from 2015, establishes the technical criteria and parameters to be observed in the design, construction, installation, and adaptation of buildings, furniture, spaces, and urban equipment to ensure accessibility.
The Agisa Todeschini Ideas Competition brought together architects and students of architecture and urbanism to select and award the three best free-design concepts utilizing one or more habitable modules as an interactive space for the beneficiary institution. In addition to a cash prize, the competition winner will design a furnished habitable module to be built and donated to Lar Infantil Sol Amigo—an organization supporting vulnerable children in Curitiba—to serve as an educational and interactive space.
