Construye Solar 2019 will exhibit eight sustainable social housing units in Santiago, designed and built by universities from across Chile. The initiative, according to the organizers, aims to "spark innovation in social housing construction, addressing the inherent challenges of pursuing sustainable innovation on a limited budget."
SKALAR is a large-scale art installation designed by light artist Christopher Bauder and musician Kangding Ray. Following its resounding success in Berlin, the work arrives in Mexico City for the first time as part of a collaboration between MUTEK MX, Noiselab, and the German studio WHITEvoid. The installation lasts approximately 45 minutes and is open to the public Monday through Sunday. Additionally, it will feature special shows with live performances by its creators, offering attendees an artistic and audiovisual experience distinct from the continuous loop.
Ecuadorian firm URLO Studio has been selected as the winner of the ideas competition for the southern articulating axis of Quito, a contest aimed at urban renewal in the Ecuadorian capital through the development of micro-centralities along the 13-kilometer tourist route.
Atlantes is the new monumental installation by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, presented by Galería Hilario Galguera, Blain | Southern, and Kasmin. Situated on the coast of Oaxaca, near Casa Wabi, in the largely uninhabited area near Puerto Escondido, Mexico, Atlantes is described as "the region's most ambitious land art project in recent years."
Every four years, the city of Olympia hosted athletic competitions in honor of the god Zeus. During this period, time stood still: the city-states declared a truce and wars were suspended. These festivities were known as the Olympic Games. These new activities required new building typologies; architecture was put at the service of sports, a tradition that continues to this day.
For the third edition of the Youth Olympic Games, held in Buenos Aires, architects from across the country participated by creating various spaces. The multidisciplinary team from Galpón Estudio, along with Gruba and Hacelo Sonar, among other professionals, led the creation of Espacio Infancia, which invites visitors to awaken their senses. Running, climbing, walking, pausing, observing, listening, imagining. Learn more about the project in the words of its designers.
The Urban Agriculture Laboratory is designed by Transversal / Arquitectura Paisaje Urbanismo, located at the Semilla Museum in Chihuahua, Mexico. This project is the result of a civic initiative that combines landscape, architectural, and exhibition design elements centered around urban agriculture, permaculture, and the observation of natural phenomena. In doing so, it redefines the traditional "white box" exhibition space, transforming it into a hands-on pedagogical space, civic gathering point, and laboratory.
The new and growing demands for change driven by urban population growth mean that, when designing, we face a highly heterogeneous and constantly transforming fabric.
Increased urban density directly impacts the open space available for new, standalone construction, leading to a juxtaposition of buildings where the simultaneity and coexistence of individual pursuits result in a varied fabric.
An entire day of the XXI Chilean Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism was dedicated to the guest city, São Paulo. The program opened with a presentation of the architectural works, student projects, research, and publications representing the city that were selected through the event's open call.
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) presented the 2019 edition of its annual ranking of the world's best universities in the field of architecture, in which UCL (University College London) dethroned the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, which had led the list for four consecutive years.
Within the Ibero-American region, the list has not changed significantly compared to 2018: Spain maintains a strong presence, while Chile leads Latin America. Discover the top-ranked institutions below!
The Architectural Design Workshop "Single-Family Housing", organized by the architecture firm Cota Paredes Arquitectos, concluded its eleventh edition, inviting graduate architects and senior architecture students to develop a single-family home over four weeks, in either in-person or online formats.
In this installment, Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit present a new article in their series on the study of social housing in Latin America. Here, they share recommendations on how to work with future residents, based on extensive experience in practical projects. Read the previous posts and the new article below.
Along with the 17 winning projects of the Panorama of Works section, the XI Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (XI BIAU) has announced the winners in the publications, research papers, and academic works categories.
In 2014, a group of friends from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, eager to contribute to their city's resilience and recovery, came together to discuss and pitch ideas for reclaiming streets, squares, and parks through sociocultural projects and urban interventions in public spaces. This gave rise to Nómada Laboratorio Urbano. Ciudad Juárez is an industrial city located on the northern border with the United States, directly adjacent to El Paso, Texas. Over the years, Juárez's economy has been dominated by the "maquiladora" manufacturing industry, and the city was once considered one of the most violent in the world due to a wave of crime between 2008 and 2012.
Each year, the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA), through the National System of Art Creators (SNCA), recognizes outstanding figures in national culture through the Young Creators Program. By providing grants, the program supports the creative and educational development of Mexico's young artists, fostering favorable conditions for the realization of original, significant, and positive creative projects.
As part of the heritage preservation program of the municipality of Rosario, the provincial authorities of Santa Fe held the national preliminary design competition for the new building of the Provincial School of Visual Arts No. 3031 "General Manuel Belgrano". The selected plot contained the former railway workshops of the Central Argentino line, where contestants had to adapt the structures to the needs of the school and the community while preserving their historical value. Discover the winning project below.
Continuing our series of articles studying social housing in Latin America, Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit present a reflection on the problems and solutions of favelas. Read the previous articles and the new piece below.
Ponds and reflecting pools are frequently used in architectural projects. These features significantly improve the thermal comfort parameters of buildings, acting as environmental regulators. Beyond their technical benefits, they serve as elements of aesthetic interest, creating spatial situations with shifting atmospheres influenced by the effects of light hitting the moving water surface.
On this occasion, Camila Costa Curta shares her experience with the Proyecto Habitar (PH) collective alongside Julian Salvarredy and Clara Mansueto, addressing the housing crisis in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires and the teaching and learning processes in contexts of inequality through the 'Primary Habitat Care Clinics' project. Read the full story below.
Interior courtyards are open-air areas located within buildings, with their perimeters defined by walls or galleries. These outdoor yet contained spaces often play a crucial role in shaping and organizing a project's floor plan. In some cases, they act as a central lung, gathering the surrounding spaces around their perimeter. They can also be designed as pathway organizers or articulating elements, connecting while simultaneously dividing different areas of the project.
Numerous benefits—such as the influx of natural light, improved ventilation, and a stronger connection to nature without sacrificing privacy—have made this feature an effective solution for many architectural designs. Consequently, we present a selection of 15 projects in Argentina where interior courtyards take center stage.
Designed by architect Juan Segura and built in 1930, the Ermita Building in Mexico City is considered one of the most influential works of Mexican architecture from the first half of the 20th century. From its inception, it was one of the first buildings to incorporate mixed-use spaces, featuring ground-floor retail, a cinema, and apartments of various sizes.
Providing warmth and a modern yet handcrafted aesthetic, wood is always an excellent choice for interior cladding or furniture manufacturing. However, how do you choose the right cladding for a specific project?
We have compiled a selection of cladding options with different appearances, dimensions, and installation systems, identifying their characteristics and differences to help you select the correct material. Melamine, MDF, or plywood? A natural look or colored pigments? Compare 5 different options below.
The continental winners of the 2019 Prix Versailles have been announced, an annual award celebrating commercial architecture projects around the world.
This year, 11 winning projects were selected for the Central America, South America, and the Caribbean region across four main categories: shops, shopping malls, hotels, and restaurants. The global winners will be announced in September.
The School of Architecture at the Universidad Finis Terrae traditionally organizes workshops where its students build full-scale structures. This time, the workshop was led by Chilean architect Verónica Arcos, who worked with the participants, drawing inspiration from timber-stacking systems for drying wood.
For the sixth time, INFONAVIT, through CIDS, has launched the call for entries for the Sixth Student Competition 2018, as part of its effort to promote and encourage creative practices toward new forms of construction, as well as to achieve better intra-urban social housing based on an efficient, compact, sustainable, and regional model.
The objective of this competition is to develop projects capable of adapting to the specific conditions of the territory and its inhabitants. Beyond defining a housing prototype, the goal was to identify processes and understand replicable procedures. This requires engaging with the community, listening to their stories, and understanding their dynamics and customs, as well as conducting extensive historical research to discover how ways of living have provided valuable lessons for housing design in each region.
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