Nicolás Valencia

Award-winning architect Nicolas Valencia is the former Head of Editorial at ArchDaily, leading a global editorial team ---- @nicolasvalencia.cl | nicolasvalencia.cl | hellonicolasvalencia@gmail.com

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These are the ten booming tourist cities in South America, according to Tripadvisor

As is tradition, digital travel platform TripAdvisor has released the results of the 2018 Travelers' Choice awards. These accolades are determined by millions of reviews posted on the website, measuring "the year-over-year increase in positive traveler review ratings," the company explains. Additionally, these cities "have also experienced an increase in search traffic and booking interest" for accommodations.

According to Brooke Ferencsik, communications director at TripAdvisor, the selected cities share the fact that "they all have excellent accommodations, wonderful restaurants, and exceptional attractions for every travel budget."

In South America, six countries are represented on this year's list. Below, discover the ten cities chosen by TripAdvisor users:

María Paula González Bozzi: 'More than the built object, the design process generates social transformation'

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For this International Women's Day, we have partnered with the Colombian print journal de-Arq (Universidad de Los Andes) to showcase the work of five contemporary Colombian architects. They represent distinct, complementary approaches within our discipline: design, research, teaching, and experimentation.

Today, we meet María Paula González Bozzi, founder and director of Fundación Juligón.

Women architects dominate the 2018 CA Awards of the College of Architects of Chile

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile, the professional association has announced the winners of the 2018 CA Awards, the country's most important national honors.

Following a 2017 edition heavily criticized for the absence of women among the honorees, this year's awards not only introduced two new categories promoted by the Mujer Arquitecta organization—the Dora Riedel and Eliana Caraball awards—and another recognizing regional contributions, but women also swept 9 of the 12 categories awarded by the Colegio de Arquitectos to its members.

Below are the winners of this edition:

Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence'

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In this edition of International Women's Day, we have joined forces with the Colombian print publication de-Arq (Universidad de Los Andes) to showcase the work of five contemporary Colombian women architects, who represent different complementary approaches within our discipline: design, research, teaching, and experimentation.

Today we talk with Lina Toro, a Colombian architect, co-founder of dosmasunoarquitectos, current director of linatoro.arch, and professor at IE University in Spain. "I believe the problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence," says Toro.

Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence' - Image 1 of 4Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence' - Image 2 of 4Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence' - Image 3 of 4Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence' - Image 4 of 4Lina Toro: 'The problem lies in the system's inability to recognize excellence' - More Images+ 2

Discover RCR Arquitectes' proposal at the Catalonia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

The Institut Ramon Llull has presented the project RCR. Dream and Nature_Catalonia in Venice in Barcelona, an exhibition showcasing RCR Arquitectes as part of the collateral events of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, set to open on May 26.

Representing Catalonia at the 2018 Venice Biennale, the project is co-curated by journalist Pati Núñez and architect Estel Ortega alongside the 2017 Pritzker Prize-winning firm. Together, they have created a space free of scale models or blueprints to "investigate and rethink humanity's relationship with the world, located at the La Vila estate in Vall de Bianya (Girona, Catalonia)," according to an official statement from the Catalan institute.

Mirador La Cocha Botanical Garden, Second Place in the 9th Alacero Colombia Competition 2018

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The Mirador La Cocha Botanical Garden proposal by students Germán López, María Echeverry, and Julián Villescas was awarded second place in the ninth edition of the steel design competition for architecture students in Colombia (Alacero Colombia), which focused this year on a greenhouse pavilion for a botanical park.

Under a unified structural concept, the project is divided into three blocks—an entrance building, a circulation ring, and greenhouse pavilions—and aims to establish itself as "a space of high educational and research value that seeks to promote the preservation and conservation of representative and threatened botanical species" in the Colombian department of Nariño.

Flores del Humedal, Honorable Mention in the XXXII CAP Chile Competition

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The team comprising Francesca Fuentes, Juan Andrés Hoffmann, and Kevin Gómez has been awarded an honorable mention in the XXXII CAP Chile Competition. Designed for the Tres Puentes Wetland in Punta Arenas, the project, known as "Flores del Humedal" (Wetland Flowers), seeks to generate "a physical link between the isolated territory and society, in order to facilitate interaction, knowledge, research, and conservation," according to the authors.

The competition jury explained that it is a "project that took steel structure to a highly creative level and challenged the program, proposing a new way of observing nature. At the same time, it generates a profound relationship with the territory for wetland observation."

XV TSL Puno: Latin American Architecture at an Altitude of 3,800 Meters

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At the end of March, 250 students from across Latin America gathered to reflect, share, design, and build three projects in the town of Chucuito, Peru. This was the 15th edition of the Latin American Social Workshop (TSL), a workshop organized by the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA) and partnered on this occasion with the Peruvian Organization of Architecture Students (OPEA).

Over ten days, the students worked intensively alongside architects Enrique Villacís (ENSUSITIO, Ecuador), Juliana López and Daniel Buitrago (Ruta 4, Colombia), Jhony Chávez (Peru), and Lucio Torres (Peru). Divided into three teams, the students and workshop leaders addressed issues related to heritage restoration, landscape, and public space, while also learning about the places, traditions, and inhabitants of the region known as the folklore capital of Peru.

ArchDaily en Español and Paisaje Transversal partner to discuss the future of our cities

Our team is proud to introduce a new editorial partner for ArchDaily en Español: Paisaje Transversal, a Spanish urban innovation firm. Operating with its own proprietary methodologies, the firm specializes in urban regeneration through initiatives like Sustainable Urban Development (DUS) and currently serves as the National URBACT Point in Spain.

Through this partnership, ArchDaily's Spanish-language network will publish articles authored by the Spanish firm, bringing the ongoing dialogue around urban challenges directly to our readers. Citizen participation, turistification, smart cities, public space, mobility, urban negotiation, and urban planning tools are among the topics we will cover weekly across our Spanish-language sites.

The New York Times Names Destinations in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Spain Among Its Places to Visit in 2018

Now in its thirteenth edition, The New York Times has released its selection of 52 places to visit in 2018. The influential list by the American newspaper—which previously awarded the top spot to Mexico City (2016), Rio de Janeiro (2013), and Santiago (2011)—now highlights New Orleans.

The New York Times team highlights the ethnic diversity of the American city, influenced by "Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and indigenous peoples who have turned it into a melting pot," with a clear nod to global outbreaks of racism, xenophobia, and aporophobia (fear of poverty).

Additionally, new destinations and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America and Spain have been included in this year's list:

The renovation of Sala Equis, the book Oíza, and Espacio SOLO win the 2018 COAM First Prize 'ex aequo'

The Official Association of Architects of Madrid has awarded the 2018 COAM First Prize ‘ex aequo’ to the renovation of Sala Equis, designed by architects Lorenzo and Luis Gil (Plantea Estudio), to Espacio SOLO by Juan Herreros and Jens Richter, and to the book Oiza by Javier Vellés.

Regarding Sala Equis, the jury highlighted that the renovation of the former Duque de Alba cinema “equips the available space with contemporary uses, materials, and furniture, balanced with the memory of the existing structure,” and emphasized that it “encompasses the traditional movie theater alongside other activities surrounding this main function.”

The renovation of Sala Equis, the book Oíza, and Espacio SOLO win the 2018 COAM First Prize 'ex aequo' - More Images+ 7

Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color.

In 2016, Ecuadorian firm Al Borde designed Germany's pavilion at Habitat III, the UN's global conference on housing and sustainable urban development. The project was designed so that, once the event concluded, the materials could be reused for a social initiative. This concept caught the attention of the Mexican housing institution Infonavit, which invited Al Borde to repeat the exercise with its own pavilion.

This led to the creation of the Comedor de Guadurnal (Ecuador), a social project for one of the coastal communities severely affected by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2016. "We asked our network who was working with an organized community that could benefit from a community facility project," the designers explain regarding the origin of their partnership with Taller General, a firm that had been working with the Guadurnal community and the Escuela 6 de Mayo on their reconstruction process.

Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color. - Imagen 2 de 4Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color. - Imagen 4 de 4Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color. - Imagen 5 de 4Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color. - Imagen 6 de 4Al Borde and Taller General seek to fill this Infonavit pavilion turned dining hall with color. - More Images+ 2

Colombians explore the relationship between interior and exterior space in an award-winning thesis

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Late last November, we published the winners of the second call for graduation projects in Colombia—also known as undergraduate theses—for which we received 70 submissions from 14 cities and 29 universities. Ultimately, nine projects passed the three evaluation stages, standing out for addressing current pressing issues, developing in-depth research analyses, and posing challenges for both urban and rural contexts, just as in 2016.

In this feature, we take an in-depth look at Boundary and Architecture: Relationship Between Interior and Exterior Space, a proposal developed by John Pineda Torres, Juan Salamanca Carrillo, Javier Pachón Romero, and Nathalia Sánchez Rojas, all graduates of the Universidad Piloto de Colombia.

"Colombia requires research and proposals from academia," states the jury of the ArchDaily open call.

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After evaluating 94 submissions from across Colombia, ArchDaily announced the six winning projects of the third ArchDaily Thesis Competition in Colombia. The selection, chosen by our editorial jury, includes built works, historical research, and master plans: ranging from a rural residential prototype to an in-depth study of the *Edificio de Renta*, a popular residential format in Bogotá between the 1940s and 1970s.

For this edition, we introduced a new evaluation stage: a second jury made up of prominent Colombian architects was tasked with choosing the Grand Winner 2018. The members were Lina Toro, Carlos Cano (OPUS, Medellín), and Jorge Noreña (Ruta 4, Pereira).

"While architecture requires rigor, dedication, and communication skills, it also demands strengthening connections with urbanism and landscape, as well as with other disciplines that make transformative ideas viable," comments Carlos Cano in the jury's evaluation, which we invite you to read below.

"Colombia requires research and proposals from academia," states the jury of the ArchDaily open call. - Image 1 of 4"Colombia requires research and proposals from academia," states the jury of the ArchDaily open call. - Image 2 of 4"Colombia requires research and proposals from academia," states the jury of the ArchDaily open call. - Image 4 of 4"Colombia requires research and proposals from academia," states the jury of the ArchDaily open call. - Image 5 of 4Colombia requires research and proposals from academia, states the jury of the ArchDaily open call. - More Images+ 2

XXI Chilean Architecture Biennial Will Return to Santiago as "Architecture Street Market" in 2019

A "common, everyday, and collective" space is the goal set by the curatorial team of the upcoming 2019 Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial. This was announced during the official launch last Thursday, November 8, at the headquarters of the Architects Association of Chile (Colegio de Arquitectos) in Santiago.

The first edition of the Biennial to be held in Santiago since 2013—the last two editions took place in Valparaíso—will be located in the traditional Franklin neighborhood of the Santiago commune, a historic sector of the capital currently undergoing urban transformation driven by real estate pressure, commercial reconversion, and historic preservation.

#ArchDailyCo: our 7 favorite Instagram photos in Colombia this week

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Bogotá. Image © Eddie Duarte

A few days ago, we welcomed @archdailyco to Instagram. ArchDaily Colombia's dedicated account on the platform serves as a new showcase for local architecture. To mark this milestone, we invited our readers to share their best photos of Colombian architecture using the hashtag #ArchDailyCo.

Today, we present six of the best photos, along with ArchDaily Colombia's featured project of the week on our Instagram account. This inaugural selection spans Bogotá and Medellín, contrasting concrete and brick, while showcasing both bird's-eye cityscapes and architectural details captured by our followers.

Remember to tag your future photos of Colombian architecture on Instagram with the hashtag #ArchDailyCo for a chance to be featured in our next roundup.

Phytoremediation Machine for Mine Tailings, winning project of the XXXII CAP Chile Competition

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The team comprising Diego Concha, Tomás Aguirre, and Trinidad Hermosilla (Universidad Finis Terrae) has won first place in the XXXII CAP Chile Competition. Designed for the Quillayes tailings of the Los Pelambres mining company (Coquimbo Region), the project seeks to "recover and reuse mining waste through the use of highly mineral-resistant plants for the reduction and future mitigation of environmental risks on the site," according to the authors.

The competition jury explains that the project proposes "a new way of conserving, actively addressing environmental issues frequently present in the territory. It takes existing elements as a starting point and combines them with a series of contrasting geometries resolved using steel."

BD Bacatá, Colombia's tallest skyscraper, could lose its name

A few days ago, we reported that BD Bacatá, Colombia's tallest skyscraper, has yet to open after a series of delays, and new reports from the local press make it clear that the outlook for its 4,200 investors is not improving.

The developer BD Promotores owes its suppliers an estimated 4 billion Colombian pesos (1.46 million USD) "for finishes and leases." Following a lawsuit filed by three suppliers demanding the payment of 750 million Colombian pesos (273,750 USD) for services rendered, "the only way out after declaring insolvency was the seizure of the trademark" by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC), according to a report by local newspaper La República.