In its most recent edition, BBConstrumat, Spain's largest construction trade fair, underscored its commitment to supporting a new model in the construction industry—one centered on the circular economy and sustainable development. 

Among the event's key highlights, Ricardo Devesa—editor-in-chief at Actar and urbanNext and professor at IAAC—curated the refreshing congress Logics of Innovation and Change, where presentations and discussions revolved around global challenges such as climate change, robotics, resilience, migration, and new global narratives.

As a result of programmatic uncertainty, the diversity of individual lifestyles, and the impossibility of planning future ways of living, our architectural spaces have begun to call their own boundaries into question. The inability to confine contemporary activities to specific rooms, combined with new demands for adaptability and constant mutation in *micro-spaces*, has led to various architectural strategies in pursuit of flexible living.

The abandoned industrial building of the Clesa Factory, which closed its doors for good back in 2012 after nearly two years in bankruptcy proceedings, is set to become the "Matadero" of northern Madrid. The industrial site, located at 67 Avenida de Cardenal Herrera Oria, was designed in 1959 by architect Alejandro de la Sota and officially opened in 1962. The former dairy plant's 37,928 square meters are now being transferred to the Madrid City Council, which aims to convert the space into a major “cultural container.”

Just over a month ago, the Senate of the Argentine Nation approved the Declaration of Climate and Ecological Emergency in the country and gave partial approval to the bill for the Law on Minimum Budgets for Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. Through this initiative, driven by youth environmental organizations, Argentina becomes the first country in Latin America to move forward with a bill of this nature.

The recent and worrying increase in fires in the Amazon, where the fires have begun to relentlessly consume our planet's most important natural lung, has brought environmental issues to the forefront. The consequences of this event will drastically alter the global climate and demand urgent action, preparing us for industrial, energy, productive, and consumption shifts.

Fifty of today's leading architects—answering the call of the Now Institute and its director, Thom Mayne—were convened to assess the architectural legacy of the last century. Their goal? To compile a definitive list of 100 buildings that represent, in their view, the 100 most remarkable architectural achievements of the 20th century. Prominent figures such as Tadao Ando, Steven Holl, Richard Rogers, Kazuyo Sejima, Toyo Ito, Rafael Moneo, Kengo Kuma, and Denise Scott Brown, among others, formed the voting panel.

During Chilean architect Felipe Assadi's course at the 2019 Summer Workshop of the Faculty of Architecture of the IUAV University of Venice, students reflected on the idea of a floating city and its inhabitants, resulting in floating architecture for a fluctuating population. To this end, the architecture students built a wooden floating pavilion as a scale prototype of a micro-dwelling, which forms part of a geometric system for expanding the city over water.

Read about the project in detail below, in the words of its designers.

Continuing with the series of articles by Nikos A. Salingaros, David Brain, Andrés M. Duany, Michael W. Mehaffy, and Ernesto Philibert-Petit on the study of social housing in Latin America, this installment discusses construction work processes and operating systems. Review past publications and the new article below.

What Will Happen Here? (O que vai acontecer aqui?) is a new documentary by Left Hand Rotation, in collaboration with Stop Despejos and Habita, on the housing struggles in Lisbon—a city where rents have increased by 50% over the last three years and that has become the leading European city for real estate fund investment.

The XI Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (XI BIAU) recently announced the 210 selected projects for its upcoming edition, which will take place for the first time in Asunción this October.

The winners of the Panorama of Works Award will be chosen from this shortlist, which includes the following 18 Mexican projects:

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As part of the exhibitions held during the 2019 edition of the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño, Emiliano Godoy, Mauricio, and Sebastian Lara of Lara Hermanos joined forces to collaborate on the design of the piece Arcum. The installation was custom-made to debut at the launch of the new Tecnotabla Melamines, which took place at the Ex Convento de Santa Teresa, the oldest convent in Guadalajara.

The following research by the Córdoba Urbanism Laboratory (LuCBA)—part of an agreement between the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism, and Design of the UNC and the Municipal Planning Institute—explores the formative logic, physical structures, and reality of the Green Belt of Córdoba, Argentina.

"The Metropolitan Rural Landscape" is a compendium that presents diverse, intentional perspectives on metropolitan rural territory. These viewpoints aim to highlight and open a discussion on the challenges and potential of these spaces. Below are some excerpts from the project:

Promoted by the Uruguay River Administrative Commission, organized by the Society of Architects of Uruguay (SAU) and the College of Architects of the Province of Entre Ríos (CAPER) —and sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architect Associations (FADEA)— the call for entries is now open for the binational preliminary design competition to develop a Control Laboratory for the environmental analysis of the Uruguay River.

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Ecosistema Urbano, after winning a public competition, has developed the Landscape Design Project for the Louis Pasteur Boulevard and the main public spaces of the Teatinos University Campus in Málaga, Spain.

The project presents a new campus that is both open to the natural landscape and digitally connected, allowing users to interact, view real-time information, and adapt various public space elements to their needs, including the configuration of bioclimatic conditioning systems.

The results of the National Catalog of Modular Schools Competition in Peru were recently announced, with a single winning team unanimously selected for all five categories across their respective bioclimatic zones: Coast, Rainy Coast, Highlands, Frost, and Rainforest. Remarkably, this team was formed by an alliance of several highly influential architecture firms in the country, as evidenced by the caliber of their proposals. What made this outcome so compelling was that unity and diversity prevailed in a competition that seeks to foster those very principles through architecture and education.

However, there is an important detail in the competition's process—and processes are journeys worth remembering. The project developed by the architecture offices leonmarcial + Ghezzi Novak was awarded first place by the jury in the Highlands Catalog category; however, it was disqualified for failing to meet the required documentation. Such situations are common in architectural competitions, where regulations must ultimately be upheld.

Beyond the outstanding projects that ultimately won, what happens to those left behind? What becomes of all that valuable material? They, too, deserve visibility, as they represent efforts that should lead to some outcome. We are committed to sharing quality architecture, and this project, given its winning caliber, is undoubtedly one of them.

In Barranquilla, we spoke with Manuel Moreno, dean of the School of Architecture, Urbanism, and Design at the Universidad del Norte, on the occasion of the VIII International Seminar on Project Representation, organized jointly with the Universidad del Valle and the Universidad Nacional's Medellín campus.

The theme of the event, which explored Web 2.0 in architecture, prompted us to ask whether students today are learning what they should, or if there is a gap between academia and the professional world.

Chilean architect Sandra Ili has been selected as the winner of the 2019 Marta Scheu Award, an annual recognition granted by the Institute of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) to outstanding professionals in the fields of architecture and urbanism in Chile, regardless of their nationality.

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On Monday, January 14, 2019, nearly 200 architects and professionals gathered at the Center for Architecture to
discover the winners of the 2019 AIA NY Design Awards. Following two days of deliberations by a jury of independent architects, educators, critics, and planners, AIA New York publicly announced the 27 winning projects during a live event, which was followed by a jury-moderated discussion.

They represent one of the many treasures of northern Peru: its immense windows. When I learned I was heading pa'l norte to Trujillo, I immediately began to dream of its windows. I had encountered them in an excellent university course, and their dimensions were striking enough to occupy a significant place in my memory—compounded by a natural obsession with windows of any size or shape, their purpose, and what they make possible. Although I had been there years ago as a child, I was now returning with a fresh, more architectural perspective.

This is a photographic journey and compilation of the diverse variations of the Trujillo window. The images are not limited to the well-preserved areas of the city; they also reveal neglect or deterioration. Either way, their beauty shines through.

From October 10 to December 12, the second edition of the MUGAK International Architecture Biennale of the Basque Country is taking place. This event not only explores the link between art and architecture, but also aims to engage the public and foster reflection and connections with other disciplines, serving as a forum for dialogue and debate to achieve better, more balanced, and fairer cities.

Kuélap, a pre-Inca site built by the Chachapoyas culture, is located in the north-central part of Peru, in the Amazonas Region. It forms a massive stone architectural complex characterized by its monumentality, featuring a large artificial platform seated on a limestone ridge at the summit of the mountain. Its colossal walls and complex interior architecture bear witness to its function as a well-organized settlement, which included administrative and religious enclosures, ceremonial spaces, and permanent residences.

For a long time, the Peruvian government had targeted the archaeological complex for ongoing visitation and conservation. As an essential destination for both domestic and international tourists, the cable car circuit project was finally brought to fruition through a public-private partnership. Here, we present an intriguing architectural project developed by FD Arquitectos y Urbanistas. Its design successfully reconciles the technology and modernity required by the project's complexity with the traditional vernacular construction of Amazonas, promoting environmental sustainability and a deep understanding of the high-jungle territory.

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The Federal Urban Observatory (OFU) of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Works, and Housing of Argentina surveyed and mapped urban data for 16 cities across the country, which are home to 50% of Argentina's total population. Based on data collected over 28 years—between 1991 and 2019—this series of maps and graphs illustrates how each city's urban footprint expanded over time. Overall trends show a sharp increase in urbanized land area (77%) compared to moderate population growth (35%), resulting in a general 23% decline in population density. In other words, city growth has predominantly followed a pattern where land expansion far outpaces population growth.

As part of Semana UTEM 2019—"The Project Within the Project"—21 teams from the Faculty of Architecture at the Metropolitan Technological University of Chile (UTEM) participated in the Domestic Pre-Existences workshop. The students proposed interventions for the historic "C Blocks" in Santiago's pericenter—residential complexes designed by the state Housing and Urban Development Service (SERVIU) between 1986 and 1996.

Hello Wood Argentina, the creative, professional, and social program that aims to teach thinking with one's hands, has announced the 10 projects designed by architects, designers, artists, professionals, and academics that will be part of its fourth edition. The event will take place in March 2020 in the Municipality of Ceibas, Entre Ríos Province.

The Universidad Austral de Chile will build the Museo Humano—which will house works by artist Mario Irarrázabal—at the UACh Museum Campus on Isla Teja, Valdivia. Cristián Undurraga is leading the project, an architect who is also heading the restoration and expansion of the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC Valdivia).