His mother’s deep interest in architecture, a childhood in São Paulo, classes at FAU-USP, his closeness to Ernest Mange, his first projects, his teaching experience, and the development of his own repertoire. In this episode of the Betoneira Podcast, architect Marcos Acayaba recalls pivotal moments of his training and career, such as the Milan House (1972-1975).
Benches with dividers and uncomfortable shapes, sharp stones under overpasses, fences surrounding plazas and gardens, walls with metal spikes, buildings without awnings or with timed water drippers, electric fences, and barbed wire. The elements and materials used to deter people from public spaces are numerous, ultimately shaping how individuals experience cities and interact with one another. Hostile architecture—a term encompassing all barriers and urban designs that seem to say “don’t make yourself at home,” as reporter Winnie Hu of The New York Times defines it—is part of the reality in most cities worldwide, sparking growing debate over the impact of these measures, particularly on social media.
While the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán is globally recognized and studied for its invaluable commitment to the architecture of his time and context—and, above all, built upon deeply harmonious and poetic foundations that connect with a deeply personal quest in "cosmic solitude, with Mexico as the temporary home he lovingly accepts," as the Pritzker Prize Jury described it when honoring him in 1980—until recently (and even before the launch of the Barragan Foundation website), understanding the full spectrum of Barragán's place in architectural history was somewhat difficult, as several of his works have remained private (or difficult to access) for years.
The Mexican Association of Urbanists, through its Tlaxcala chapter, called for entries for the Conceptual Preliminary Design Competition for the "Parque Integral Zahuapan 10." The competition was aimed at multidisciplinary teams in the fields of architecture and urban planning, with the goal of presenting proposals and conceptual ideas to develop a park along the banks of the Zahuapan River and revitalize its surrounding areas.
Not everyone is aware of the existence and operation of the Cerro Dominador solar power plant in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile.
In 1792, sitting United States President George Washington organized a competition to design the presidential residence. The winning proposal, submitted by architect James Hoban, shaped the neoclassical mansion we know today as the White House, cementing its place in the American collective imagination.
To mark the opening of its third restaurant location in the city of Valencia, Spain, the Voltereta group commissioned creative studio Vitamin to design and produce an immersive and interactive video mapping installation to offer diners a unique experience. Vitamin is a Valencia-based creative studio with eight years of experience in art and technology, developing innovative strategies and ideas to bring unique interactive experiences to life. Their focus on emerging technologies allows and encourages users to become active participants and protagonists, engaging with spaces and artworks in a personalized and dynamic way.
The FAD Awards, one of the most prestigious architectural accolades in the Iberian Peninsula, have announced the winners of their 2021 edition.
Since ArchDaily launched its recruitment services, we have received job submissions from architecture practices of all scales—ranging from private design institutes and independent studios to international design teams—spanning the north and south of China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Below is a curated selection of openings from four firms. Active across diverse architectural fields with their unique design languages, they are looking for talented architects to join their teams.
This week, we feature job openings at two Shanghai-based design firms: ARIZON Design and atelier tao+c. Specializing in different scales and themes, both practices are active across various architectural sectors and are looking to recruit like-minded architects to join their teams.
Pablo Salazar shares his research project titled "Commercial Stand Design in the La Floresta Neighborhood, Quito, Ecuador." The study addresses key issues such as the urban-scale environmental footprint of this activity, solar radiation, wind, and heliographic analysis, alongside the design and material specifications of four commercial stand models.
What is a render? Is it merely an image to win competitions and clients? Or is it an effective tool for a building's development?
We asked our readers, "What are the limits of rendering in architectural design?" and the volume of responses was immense. After reviewing and compiling all the feedback received from construction professionals, students, and architecture enthusiasts alike, there is a clear consensus: rendering should be viewed not just as a sales tool, but as a key element for design verification.
Choosing high-performance BIM software is key to developing efficient projects by automating tasks that traditionally consumed time in conventional design workflows—such as documentation, calculations, analyses, and other repetitive processes.
At the time of writing this article, Brazil is facing the most severe humanitarian crisis in its history—not merely a “health crisis,” as is commonly described. By April 30, 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic had claimed 411,854 lives in the country, and only in recent days has the moving average of deaths begun to cool down once again—after reaching a peak of 3,125 in April.
Epidemiologists, microbiologists, and infectious disease specialists note that the impact of the pandemic on Brazilian cities is highly idiosyncratic: each has unique conditions to consider before we can attempt any generalizations. Furthermore, underreporting is estimated to be high (with actual cases potentially being ten times higher), a figure that also varies from city to city. Nevertheless, with these caveats in mind, what does the overall picture reveal?
“How much does a subway line cost?” is a question frequently asked when discussing high-capacity rapid transit solutions for Brazilian cities. However, the cost of implementing rail projects varies enormously across different global geographies.
For example, a rail line in New York costs about twenty times more per kilometer than one in Seoul, reaching a budget of $6.4 billion for a segment of just 2.6 kilometers in the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway in northern Manhattan. Geographical factors, or even the high built density of the American metropolis, are insufficient to explain such a massive disparity in construction costs.
The following publication by Gehl titled 'Masterplan Framework with ecology at its heart' is an interesting case study in Huechuraba, Chile. In it, the team consisting of David Sim, Esben Neander Kristensen, Alexander Spitzer, and Tamara Kalantajevska showcase their work in the region through the creation of a specific framework for an urban master plan that puts ecology at its heart:
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"Albañilas, construyendo sin patrones" (Women Masons, Building Without Bosses) is a short documentary released on May 5, 2021, produced by the Front of Organizations in Struggle #FOL. Active in more than ten Argentine provinces, the film gathers the deeply personal testimonies of Brenda, Natalia, Claudia, Isabel, Nora, Ana, and Moni, who share how they took up the bricklaying trade to construct the #FOL community hall.
Receiving architectural recognition typically reflects best practices. This is the case for Niro Arquitectura + OAU, who have won the Building Of The Year 2021 award in the commercial architecture category with the Gramalote Market Square. This demonstrates that this pair of young Colombian practices is on par with internationally renowned firms such as Álvaro Siza, MVRDV, Heatherwick Studio, or Foster + Partners.
To understand how communities are confronting the COVID-19 crisis, the Caos Planejado podcast hosts Eliana Sousa Silva, director of the NGO Redes da Maré and coordinator of the campaign “Maré Says No to Coronavirus.”
Born in Serra Branca, Paraíba, Eliana holds a master’s degree in education and a PhD in social work and public security from PUC-Rio. She is a researcher in public security and a visiting professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at USP.
As a member of the Urban Design Expert Committee of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, I strongly urge an immediate increase in architectural and urban design fees. This is a matter of utmost urgency, for several key reasons:
1. The current fee structure is a relic of China’s era of rapid, large-scale incremental construction, when design work focused primarily on spatial capacity and fees were strictly tied to project scale. Today, however, almost all cities have entered the era of existing urban stock. Moving forward, as the focus shifts to urban renewal, design work can no longer be mass-produced. Instead, architects must tackle an immense volume of bespoke, custom-tailored projects. Consequently, traditional fee metrics are completely out of sync with the actual workload;
2. The flaw in traditional fee calculation methods is that when project scales shrink and design complexity increases, the upward adjustment coefficients for fees remain far too low. This is especially true for small-scale projects and renovations, which are incredibly time- and labor-intensive. Architects are essentially working at a loss, driven solely by passion. This leads to the absurd reality where years of design fees might not even equal the cost of a single tree. It is truly tragic when human value is deemed worth less than material objects;
3. While the state encourages urban design—the essence of which is fostering urban diversity—achieving diversity requires architects and urban designers to invest significantly more time and labor into custom, site-specific solutions. Without a fee mechanism adapted to this level of customization, how can we support their creative work? While passion might sustain a single project or a brief moment, only a proper mechanism can ensure fair and sustainable practice. The so-called "cookie-cutter" urban landscape is, in reality, the product of a cookie-cutter fee structure.
In short, transforming Chinese cities begins with raising design fees!
Founded in 2017, Studio 10 is an architectural-focused, multi-disciplinary design studio based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
On Thursday, March 25, the agency that provides air navigation services in Mexican airspace (SENEAM) announced the implementation of the first phase of the Mexico City Airspace Redesign. Listed benefits of this redesign include reductions in flight times, operational delays, and fuel consumption, although the primary driver behind it is to integrate the future Felipe Ángeles International Airport in Santa Lucía into the capital's airspace. From day one, areas that previously did not experience aircraft noise from arrivals at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) began to notice the effects of the redesign. How significant is the noise impact of this airspace redesign for the population of the capital's metropolitan area?
CLOU architects is an award-winning international design studio specializing in architecture, interiors, and landscape design. CLOU's diverse design team is comprised of approximately 65 creative talents from around the world.
How do we design spaces that are healthy for both our minds and our bodies? That is the core question we will address this March by exploring our monthly theme, “Well-Being in Interior Spaces.”
