An Italian architect who adopted Brazil, broke down hierarchies between the arts, and shaped a new language of modernism—merging her own radical vision with references from Brazilian culture—will be the subject of an exhibition this April at MASP. In 2020, the show will travel to Mexico and the US.

In early 2020, Rio de Janeiro will become the global stage for debates on contemporary cities and the future of urban environments. As host of the 27th World Congress of Architects, UIA2020RIO, the city also celebrates its designation as the first World Capital of Architecture by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA).

Last week, we announced the 15 finalists for the 2019 Obra do Ano, an award celebrating the best of Lusophone architecture by inviting our readers to vote for their favorite projects built in Portuguese-speaking countries. Today, we reveal the winners of ODA19.

This year, three Brazilian projects received the most votes. In addition to showcasing architectural diversity, they exemplify the public impact that architecture should deliver. Meet the three winners below!

There are various ways to position a residence on a lot. It can be built along the side boundaries, set back from the rear or one of the sides, aligned with the street, or freestanding on the plot. Each strategy presents its own advantages and drawbacks. On smaller plots, introducing courtyards is an effective way to site a house, particularly for maximizing natural light and ventilation.

The governor of Espírito Santo, Renato Casagrande, signed a decree this week mandating the installation of solar energy harvesting systems in new state buildings. The law also applies to facilities constructed with state funds transferred to municipalities through agreements, accords, or covenants.

Modernism has ceased to exist as a movement in architecture and urbanism since at least the 1980s. In architecture, movements such as Japanese Metabolism and deconstructivism helped to move past the remnants of modern architecture. In urban planning, figures like Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander, as early as the 1960s, helped bury the premises of modern urbanism.

Eight months after the agreement was signed, São Paulo City Hall will finally assume ownership of the Parque Augusta site, which until now has been held by developers Setin and Cyrela. The signing of the deed will take place next Saturday, April 6, during a ceremony held on the site itself.

Registration is open until October 28 for the National Architecture and Landscape Design Competition for the Redevelopment of the Arena BSB Sports and Leisure Complex, organized by IAB-DF and promoted by the Arena BSB Consortium. The competition's scope encompasses part of the Northern Public Recreation Sector (SRPN), adjacent to the Mané Garrincha National Stadium, the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium, and other structures, in the Administrative Region of Brasília – RA I, in Brasília.

Balneário Camboriú is the city with the highest concentration of buildings among the tallest in Brazil. Most of them, however, are still under construction, making the Infinity Coast Tower—inaugurated on the 14th of this month—the country's first completed residential building to be included on this list.

After studying civil engineering at the Escola de Minas de Ouro Preto, Carlos Frederico Ferreira returned to his native city of Rio de Janeiro and enrolled in the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, graduating in architecture in 1935. In 1939, he was hired by the IAPI as an engineer-architect and soon rose to the position of head of the institute's Engineering Department. By 1943, having overseen the partial completion of the first major housing development, the Conjunto Residencial Operário in Realengo, he was able to begin expanding the model to other locations. The designs for Vila Guiomar in Santo André and Piratininga in Osasco, as well as the apartment building and IAPI Regional Office headquarters in Recife—all designed by him—demonstrate how, through his position, he sought to shape the direction of the institute's future developments.

The Academia Paulista de Letras has elected architect Ruy Ohtake as its newest member, who will occupy seat number 39. The seat was previously held by fellow architect Benedito Lima de Toledo, who passed away in July of this year.

The design for a square in the village of Crasto proposes a new cultural, sports, and leisure space for this fishing community located on the southern coast of Sergipe. The project also addresses accessibility issues, interconnecting the new plaza with the pre-existing built environment. 

Popular culture is an imprecise concept that lends itself to various definitions. To grasp the traits characterizing the different meanings of popular culture, one must trace the dynamics of how this term has evolved throughout the studies dedicated to the field. 

Emerging in 1981 with the publication of the essay “The Grid and the Pathway” by Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre, it was Kenneth Frampton's 1983 essay “Towards a Critical Regionalism: six points for an architecture of resistance” that brought the term “critical regionalism” wider recognition. The essay was published in the anthology “The anti-aesthetic: essays on Postmodern culture,” edited by critic and historian Hal Foster, initiating a debate later revisited in "Prospects for a Critical Regionalism," also written by Frampton that same year for the journal Perspecta.

Only recently in Brazil has "cultural landscape" emerged as a new category for the preservation of cultural heritage. Understanding its meanings requires, on the one hand, evoking the preservation experience in two different spheres—both international institutions and the work developed in Brazil. On the other hand, this understanding also requires highlighting the specific academic origins of the cultural landscape concept.

Color can be an element that contributes significantly to the quality of architectural projects. Its efficient use can completely transform the atmosphere of indoor and outdoor environments, signal specific uses in spaces with different characteristics, redefine rooms, and highlight architectural elements. This has proven to be a highly successful feature, even becoming a trademark of prominent architects, such as Mexicans Luis Barragán and Ricardo Legorreta.

Over the past week, thousands of active fires in the Brazilian Amazon captured global attention in the press and on social media, where the hashtag #PrayForAmazonia was mentioned more than 150,000 times in a single day. But what can satellite data tell us about what is actually happening in Brazil's forests?

Invited by Air Wick Bom Ar®, designer and architect Marko Brajovic presents Oásis Air Wick, a multisensory art installation built in Largo da Batata, São Paulo.

The competition challenged participants to design a kindergarten that could serve as many children as possible, aged 2 to 5, in an underprivileged neighborhood of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, as part of a charitable initiative organized by Teto and Archsharing.

Brazil's recent political and social crisis—exemplified by the results of the latest election—is concerning and has been undermining citizens' trust in the decision-making processes that affect our lives and cities. One of the reasons for this is the absence of public spaces where people of different social classes, races, ethnicities, perspectives, and worldviews can meet, exchange, and represent who they are.

Public spaces are fundamental to democracy and citizenship. Modern planning and unequal urban development have led Brasília to become a segregated, fragmented, and deeply unequal city. The deteriorated public sphere and the resulting individualization of lifestyles worsen the situation, leaving us increasingly disconnected, intolerant, and civically disengaged.

Marking the centennial of its founding, Arquicast #72 discusses the Bauhaus School and its influence on shaping a generation of architects, as well as its impact on the structuring of architectural and urban planning education in various programs worldwide. We invited architect Caio Dias, from Portal Projetar, and architect and ArchDaily editor Romullo Barato for an informal yet informative conversation that delves into the history of the school, its founders, and the broader context that continuously shaped the institution's trajectory.

The designer of large-scale projects such as the Sociedade Harmonia de Tênis club in São Paulo, the Centro de Convivência Cultural in Campinas, and Parque Cecap in Guarulhos, São Paulo architect Fabio Penteado (1929-2011), who would have turned 90 this coming June, will have his work revisited in an exhibition in Portugal. 

Curated by Francesco Perrotta-Bosch, Irradiações opens on February 23 at Casa da Arquitectura, located in Matosinhos, a city in the Porto region. The exhibition will feature five radial-patterned projects developed by the architect in the 1960s, highlighting his attention to the collective and public dimensions of space.

There is no doubt that preserving historical, artistic, and architectural heritage is a fundamental goal for building a just city. It is the right of all citizens, both present and future generations, to know and enjoy our collective memory and culture. However, for this to actually happen, both a discerning eye and a comprehensive vision of the city are essential.

One of the most prevalent themes in current discussions about the city is gentrification. Broadly defined as "when someone different from you moves into your neighborhood," this urban phenomenon is far more complex than that, involving issues of land use, real estate speculation, public and leisure spaces, and urban planning.