CAU/RJ has launched the eighth edition of its Cultural Sponsorship Program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the program will only consider projects featuring remote activities. Applications will also be submitted virtually.

In August, the city of Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais, signed a public-private partnership for a "smart city" project, setting in motion plans to become Brazil's first historic smart city. The contract entails an investment of R$ 10 million and establishes an administrative concession for the Ouro Luz consortium to operate Ouro Preto's public lighting network and telecommunications infrastructure for 25 years.

We have compiled a list of our best articles, projects, and products on natural and artificial lighting in architecture.

Architecture is one of the most beautiful professions—there is an undeniable romance in building the spaces where human beings dwell. It is also one of the oldest: if considered as an activity that organizes space, some form of architectural thinking can be identified dating back at least hundreds of thousands of years. Its beauty, however, is partially eclipsed by widespread frustration within the professional field in Brazil. A general lack of awareness regarding its importance to society, difficulty securing contracts, fierce competition, scarce opportunities in public projects, low-paying jobs, and a willingness to work without fees all contribute to the precarious state of architecture and urban planning.

Last week, Paulo Mendes da Rocha announced the donation of his entire project archive to the Casa da Arquitectura, a Portuguese institution based in Matosinhos dedicated to preserving and exhibiting architectural collections. The news was published at the time by ArchDaily and caused a stir among Brazilian architects, educators, researchers, and institutions—especially the FAUUSP, which expressed regret over Rocha's decision.

Downtown São Paulo will receive a statue honoring Joaquim Pinto de Oliveira, an enslaved Black 18th-century architect known as Tebas. The announcement was made yesterday, September 10, by Mayor Bruno Covas at the São Paulo City Council. 

What does the home of the future hold for us? And for whom will it become a reality? These questions served as the guiding principles for The Future of Living - Contrasts. With a keen eye on identifying the emerging movements that shape how we will live tomorrow, the research team at the Istituto Europeo di Design used the world during the COVID-19 pandemic as their primary backdrop. Drawing from this context, rather than simply discussing housing trends, the researchers address the challenges that must be resolved to make these trends a reality for everyone, rather than a mere set of forecasts that segregate rather than create opportunities.

The winners of the 2nd Tomie Ohtake Institute Leroy Merlin Design Award have been announced. Originally scheduled to take place in person at the Tomie Ohtake Institute alongside an exhibition of the projects, the awards were instead announced via video due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

+ 1

The donation of Paulo Mendes da Rocha's archive to Casa da Arquitectura, an institution based in Matosinhos, Portugal, has sparked intense debate among architects and academics since its announcement early last week. Both opposing and supportive opinions were widely shared on social media and news outlets, and an institutional collaboration agreement between FAUUSP and Casa da Arquitectura was even proposed.

In light of the debate surrounding the preservation of architecture and urbanism collections in Brazil, IABsp published an open letter calling for a national network of archives. Read the full letter below:

Launched last month, the Fortaleza Mais Verde program aims to create a network of micro-parks in the capital of Ceará and implement tree-lined bicycle corridors. Execution of the plan began in August.

"The purpose of the proposal is to preserve, secure, and progressively expand the green cover of the City of Fortaleza, making these areas usable for the population to enjoy," said the city's mayor, Roberto Cláudio. "We have several landscaping and urban planning initiatives underway. We expect to receive suggestions regarding this new pilot project. We want to ensure it is implemented and made irreversible," he added.

To maintain the flow of reliable information about Covid-19, facilitate hand hygiene for users, and pay tribute to the victims of the pandemic, the city of São Paulo has installed a series of multipurpose urban fixtures called “Totens Urbanos – Memorial Pró-Saúde”.

The project came to fruition following a meeting between architect Leonardo Fernandes Dias—whose design proposal won the popular vote in the international Coronavirus Design Competition by the GoDesignClass platform—and the organizers of the Rede Nacional de Apoio às Famílias e Vítimas da Covid (National Support Network for Families and Victims of Covid), an independent, voluntary civil society initiative providing specialized support. Temporary and emergency-focused in nature, the series of totems will occupy 17 high-traffic locations across the city until November.

+ 6

Situated on a suburban lot in Gallarate, in Italy's Lombardy region, the latest project by Álvaro Siza rises in two travertine marble blocks: a 20-unit residential complex developed in partnership with the Portuguese firm COR Arquitectos. Facing the busy Via Roma and the quiet Via Postporta, the development reinterprets two local typologies—the Lombard courtyard and the isolated villa—in a play of volumes that recalls the geometries of another Siza masterpiece, the Porto School of Architecture.

+ 9

Design is more than product design. It is also the construction of personas, with their bodies and souls. The natural state is just one of the design parameters. We are the design of ourselves, in permanent transformation.

Guilherme Wisnik talks with Ivana Wonder, a persona created by designer Victor Ivanon. Possessing a powerful voice and breaking down the boundaries between masculine and feminine, Ivana leads a multisensory experience of emotion and longing. From the central spotlight of a damp cabaret, this haunting and ethereal figure emerges.

Architect and urban planner Maria Elisa Baptista is the new President of the National Board of the IAB. She succeeds Nivaldo Andrade, whose term ended on September 26 of this year. In nearly a century of existence, this is the first time a woman has held the position.

The leadership team also includes Rafael Pavan dos Passos (National Vice President, IAB-RS), Cláudio Listher Marques Bahia (Secretary General, IAB-MG), Rosilene Guedes Souza (Administrative-Financial Director, IAB-MG), Luiz Eduardo Sarmento Araújo (Cultural Director, IAB-DF), Fernando Túlio Salva Rocha Franco (Extraordinary Vice President of Institutional Relations, IAB-SP), and Luiza Rego Dias Coelho (Extraordinary Vice President of Affirmative Action, IAB-DF).

The IAB-SP, organizer of the São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, following a public consultation on the open call guidelines from October 10 to 25, is launching a competition on November 4 to select the co-curatorial team for the 13th Biennial, which will take place in 2022. Proposals can be submitted through the Biennial's website until January 24, 2021. This edition features a 12-member committee, which includes IAB representatives from other Brazilian states to ensure a diverse perspective in overseeing the event, which has both national and international reach.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented consequences for the global economy. In Brazil, it hit an economy that had barely recovered from the 2015–16 recession. However, responding to the crisis requires not only easing budget rules, but rethinking the very role of the state to address historical deficiencies that the pandemic has laid bare.

Guilherme Wisnik talks with Laura Carvalho, professor at the School of Economics and Administration of the University of São Paulo and holder of a PhD in economics from the New School for Social Research. She writes biweekly for the newspaper Nexo and is the author of "Valsa Brasileira: do boom ao caos econômico" (Todavia, 2018) and "Curto-Circuito: o vírus e a volta do Estado" (Todavia, 2020).

The struggle for the right to the city is deeply tied to the right to decent, permanent, and accessible housing. This involves downtown building revitalization projects driven by broad social participation, particularly by women who are heads of households—initiatives that serve as scalable models across the city. Guilherme Wisnik speaks with Carmen Silva, a Black woman from Northeast Brazil and an activist for the right to the city. A leader of the Movimento Sem-Teto do Centro (MSTC), she served as a Municipal Housing Councilor for two terms, and during the same period, she coordinated the Participatory Council of the Sé region.

The jury of the Maré-City International Competition, organized by the 27th World Congress of Architects – UIA2021RIO, has selected the three winning projects and three honorable mentions. The choice was not easy: out of 180 entries from places as diverse as Germany, China, Egypt, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Colombia, France, Portugal, Oman, and Ukraine, the jury shortlisted 28 finalists before deciding on the winners. Chinese entrants represent the majority of the awardees, securing first and second place, as well as the Roberto Burle Marx and Demetre Anastassakis honorable mentions. Third place went to a project by Brazilian students from São Paulo, while the Luiz Paulo Conde honorable mention was awarded to a project by students from Bogotá, Colombia.

+ 2