Concéntrico, the Logroño International Architecture and Design Festival, has launched a participatory survey via a mobile app, inviting residents to engage and interact with the project "100 Chairs and 3 Urban Lounges" by Izaskun Chinchilla.

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One of the defining features of cities is their undeniable capacity to bring together creative talent through multiculturalism and transdisciplinarity. Today, it is increasingly vital to generate spaces and platforms within these urban environments that serve as creative laboratories—places not only to share but, above all, to reflect on contemporary practice, viewing design not as a decontextualized entity, but as an integrated concept that bridges diverse disciplines.

In the mountain range of the Andes in Peru, at over 3,700 meters above sea level, lies the Q'eswachaka suspension rope bridge, declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The hand-woven bridge, which connects both sides of a gorge over the Apurímac River, has become the last remaining Inca bridge in use to survive modern times. This has been made possible through the transmission of Inca culture and engineering across generations, which renew the bridge every year to ensure its preservation.

Manuel Bouzas and Santiago del Águila, the authors of La catenaria y el arco in the courtyard of Can Balaguer (by architects Flores & Prats) in Palma de Mallorca, present their urban installation ‘Lucerna,’ created for the A Cel Obert ephemeral architecture festival in Tortosa in October 2021.

This monumental lamp, standing over 6 meters tall and covering an area of 55 square meters, hangs from the main courtyard of the Purissima Concepció monastery, radically transforming this 17th-century building through light and color.

Rodrigo Lagos Vergara and Macarena Paz Barrientos Díaz originally published the article titled "Architecture Education in Chile, 1999-2019: Ecological Potential and Collective Political Meaning of Design Practices" in Revista [i2]: Investigación e Innovación en Arquitectura y Territorio, from the Department of Graphic Expression, Composition, and Architectural Projects of the Universidad de Alicante, on January 1, 2022.

Below, they present some of the most important points of their publication: three pedagogical actions in Chile that understand teaching as a central practice through the academic exercise of the design project.

To promote Peruvian modern architecture internationally, the exhibition of the “Modern Movement Architecture Catalog of Peru (CAMMP)” opened on March 31 at the headquarters of the Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM) in Spain. The research, conducted by architects Alejandra Acevedo and Michelle Llona, was supported by the Architecture Program at the University of Lima and the Scientific Research Institute (IDIC), and will be open to the public until April 30 of this year.

This November, REDBAAL will mark its first decade of activity, a milestone celebrated alongside four editions of the Oscar Niemeyer Award for Latin American Architecture (ON Award). Over these years, more than 350 projects have been submitted, all of which share the distinction of having been previously recognized at the most prestigious architectural biennials across Latin America.

Anderson Marín Vidal and Juan Sebastián García, from the research group on Sustainable and Applied Emerging Technologies (T.E.S.A.), present an analysis of the primary impacts expected from the designs for the Río Molino Waterfront (Malecón del Río Molino). Created by the architecture firm Celeste & Piedra, the project won first place in a competition organized by the Mayor's Office of Popayán and Findeter.

In the second half of the twentieth century, driven by the mass adoption of the automobile and exponential population growth, cities around the world expanded at an accelerated pace. Santiago, Chile, was no exception, characterized by an extensive and fragmented urban sprawl that has led to a heavy reliance on cars, environmental degradation, and the loss of agricultural land. Without planning and policies aimed at sustainable urban development, the result is a more polluted and less green city—an alarming scenario considering the climate crisis we face.

Proximity, understood as an urban quality that facilitates the management and pursuit of daily life, has for decades been a key tenet of feminist and gender-responsive urbanism. In the 1970s, academics from various disciplines began analyzing the link between the configuration and use of space and gender relations and roles. Since then, a robust critique of the androcentric configuration of the city has emerged, alongside proposals and criteria to rethink spaces from a gender perspective.

Cooperative housing, or co-housing, is a residential model that promotes access to housing in cities. This model first developed in countries like Denmark and Uruguay, and it is becoming increasingly popular throughout Europe. Indeed, it arrived in Barcelona several years ago and has since steadily expanded throughout the region, spreading beyond the boundaries of the Catalan capital. Below, we explore the cooperative housing model in Barcelona and how it contributes to a more democratic architecture for its citizens.

The team led by Mathias Klotz and Sebastián Mundi of the architecture firms Klotz and SML has been unanimously selected in the open call for the heritage reconversion of the former CCU Brewery in Limache, the Chilean company announced today in a press release.

This project seeks to preserve the brewing heritage represented by the iconic building founded in 1883, through a museum open to the public. 

The TAC! Urban Architecture Festival is an initiative led by the General Directorate for Urban Agenda and Architecture of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA), in collaboration with the Arquia Foundation. It is aimed at young architects to design and build a temporary pavilion that will host exhibitions, meetings, and activities.

Organized by the Colombian Society of Architects - Bogotá and Cundinamarca Chapter (SCA BC) and the Administrative Department of the Public Space Ombudsman (DADEP), the II Bogotá Public Space Biennial 2021 (BEP BOG) aims to recognize and showcase projects that contribute to the creation, recovery, and sustainability of public space in the city of Bogotá.

The New Municipal Swimming Pool of La Calera project in the Valparaíso Region is about to begin construction, as announced by the firm Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos on social media.

The power of visual representation in architecture fosters debate and reflection on various urban issues. "Imaginarios urbanos" (Urban Imaginaries) is a collective initiative by Nómena arquitectura and Cuatro Cero Cuatro Arquitectura. Through a series of evocative images, the project aims to raise awareness and drive change in the design of Lima's streets.

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Recently opened in December 2021, the Plaza de Toros Real de San Carlos has been restored and repurposed to become a multi-purpose performance venue with a capacity for around 2,500 spectators in the stands and over 2,000 in the arena. Located in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, this work, originally built by architect Josip Marković and engineer Dupuy, adopted a Neo-Mudéjar style, echoing the Spanish bullrings of that era.

"I'm an architect... now what?" must be one of the most common questions for any recent graduate with an architecture degree in hand. Over the years, many will find jobs in different industries that do not necessarily involve working in an office designing and constructing buildings.

More than a decade ago, a new initiative emerged to redefine the architectural pedagogical system. With an influence that today spans countries like Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, and the United States, the Virtual Workshop of the Americas (TVA) successfully and synergistically brings together education, collectivity, and virtuality. Architects Nahuel Salcedo and Celeste Gómez Lahoz are part of the coordination team driving this project forward year after year. Here, they explain the initiative in greater detail.

The phenomenon of building new cities around the world is gaining momentum in an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, contain mass migration and brain drain, or improve the poor quality of life in some cities—a reality highlighted by pandemic lockdowns, among many other reasons. Urban planners and professionals in architecture, engineering, and other disciplines undoubtedly face major challenges, raising the question: should we concentrate all our efforts on creating new urban centers, or focus instead on improving conditions and addressing the issues of existing ones?

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The Municipality of General Pueyrredón and the Buenos Aires Province Association of Architects announced a Provincial Ideas and Preliminary Projects Competition for the 40th Anniversary Memorial of the fallen soldiers in the Malvinas and its area of influence. This scope included the plaza of the same name and its surrounding area in the city of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires province.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, through the National Cultural Heritage Service (SNPC), launched the bidding process for the design of the Valparaíso Regional Archive. The future building not only aims to preserve historical documents and collections and promote research and access to information, but also represents a major opportunity to value and reactivate the ruins of the historic Palacio Subercaseaux in Valparaíso's Barrio Puerto, Chile. 

Following an evaluation of the 13 accepted bids, the winning proposal was submitted by architects Cecilia Puga, Paula Velasco, and their team. Their design defends and protects the urban profile, showing us how to connect the new with the old. Below, discover the winning project in detail, along with the other awarded entries.

How can we analyze the environmental impact of buildings? What strategies could be developed to improve people's quality of life and achieve a harmonious relationship with the environment? Year after year, more questions are added to the design decision-making process of thousands of architects around the world. They seek to take action and implement policies that improve the environmental performance of their buildings, reducing energy and resource consumption while also lowering greenhouse gas emissions and waste production.

The city is in constant flux: monuments disappear, landmarks are forgotten, and new symbols emerge, prompting streets, plazas, and walls to redefine the urban landscape. In doing so, they offer new reference points, narratives, and ways of understanding the city, our history, and our society.

Thinking, discussing, and reconfiguring the city through art involves a series of processes. Researching territories, their inhabitants, sociocultural environments, and relational dynamics are essential pillars when designing and implementing installations that impact the city. The proliferation of large-scale artistic interventions that prioritize the purely aesthetic forces us to reflect on what we encounter in public spaces and how these encounters affect our daily lives.