This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

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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.

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.

Preserving the planet in its current state or even restoring damaged ecosystems has become a collective imperative across all sectors, and architecture is no exception. In her article “Towards Sustainability from Architecture and Ecosophy: Links Between Mental Ecology, Emotional Neuroscience, and Space,” published in the journal LIMAQ No. 7, Isabel Loredo—architect, co-founder of Signare Estudio, and holder of a master's degree in neuroscience and education—explores the various ways in which ecosophy can be applied to the architectural field.

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The internationally renowned art collective _marina_morón (comprising Dr. Jesús Marina, PhD in History, and architect Dr. Elena Morón, PhD) inaugurated their latest work at the Pabellón de Mixtos of La Ciudadela in the city of Pamplona.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Basque-Navarrese Association of Architects and the Pamplona City Council, and will remain open to the public until March 15, 2022.

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May 3rd is a holiday originating from the Finding of the Holy Cross (also known as May Cross or Feast of the Crosses), which traces its roots back to Roman rites celebrating the Cross of Christ. Over time, this commemoration has evolved and been adopted across cities in Mexico, Chile, Spain, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela, where traditions include floral decorations, processions, and dances.

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Mexican interior designer and artist Olga Hanono has been invited to present her latest exhibition, DREAMVILLE, at La Biennale de Venezia Modigliani Opera Vision, from May 1 to July 31, 2022. The collection is inspired by the human capacity to dream, reflecting on imaginary objects that might exist within a dreamscape, along with the variety of colors and shapes found in distant stars, planets, and galaxies. Hanono has created art pieces and furniture using unconventional, luxurious materials.

The world of gastronomy is about far more than just food; space plays a vital role in the overall dining experience. To achieve this, architecture transcends mere functionality to cultivate distinct atmospheres through the meticulous curation of light, acoustics, color, texture, and form, ensuring both intimacy and comfort for diners.

The city of Lima—capital of Peru, a preeminent culinary destination—features a diverse array of restaurants and cafés that reflect the country's rich heritage. Below, we present a selection of 10 restaurants and cafés offering unique dining experiences across the city.

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In this conversation for LA ESCUELA___, Miguel Braceli and Cecilia Vicuña reflect on the artist's pedagogical experiences, her understanding of architecture as a transformative force, and the potential of precariousness in Latin America as a source of creation.

Cecilia Vicuña (Santiago, Chile, 1948) is a Chilean visual artist and poet; throughout her extensive career, she has explored themes related to nature, ancestral knowledge, and feminism. Based in New York, Vicuña safeguards and shares a deep wisdom regarding her Indigenous roots, as well as her experiences from nomadic journeys around the world, where acquired knowledge takes on intangible, "virtual," and collective forms through oral tradition and listening, weaving, and ritual.

In the district of Miraflores, the tourist heart of Lima (the capital of Peru), the San Ramón Gastronomic Market opened in December 2021. It is located on the boulevard of the same name, in the picturesque district's well-known former Calle de las Pizzas. Open to the public, the project by the firm Arquitectura Verde aims to promote the enjoyment and awareness of the wide variety and richness of Peruvian gastronomy.

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Through the construction of a narrative fiction, this work by Federico Lagomarsino, framed around the landscape, aims to depict everything that unfolds in contemporary society when a singular event occurs—in this case, the impact of the two largest meteorites detected to date in South America.

Twenty years after its first edition in Colombia, the Latin American Social Workshop returns to the South American country. In this edition, students from across Latin America, alongside architects from Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile, are intervening in three areas in the coffee-growing city of Manizales: a rural settlement in the middle of the mountain range, a self-managed park, and the slopes of an informal pedestrian neighborhood.

Here, we invite you to explore the progress made by the architectural teams participating in the 18th Latin American Social Workshop (TSL XVIII) in Manizales.

In the midst of today's information age, several Latin American architecture firms are returning to analog formats, ranging from fanzines and illustrations to manuals and postcards.

Against the backdrop of the Taller Social Latinoamericano in Colombia, we spoke with the firms Ruta 4 Taller (Colombia), Coonvite (Colombia), La Cabina de la Curiosidad (Ecuador), and República Portátil (Chile)—all of whom have, coincidentally, explored these formats in their recent work.

More than a trend, industrialization is a necessity in the construction industry. In recent years, we have witnessed its importance in increasing productivity and speed of execution—as well as reducing waste—in architectural projects. Beyond streamlining construction processes, this serial, mechanical, and standardized production increases quality and shortens delivery times. If initial project decisions incorporate the modulation of the various stages that can be industrialized within vertical and horizontal parameters, the outcome is much more efficient than if these are evaluated during construction (when it is no longer possible to reduce waste through modulation). Furthermore, by minimizing waste and reducing the consumption of energy and water resources, it also contributes to a more sustainable industry.

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Desde la periferia is an audiovisual project directed by José Luis Uribe, PhD in architecture and professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Talca, Chile. The project consists of three documentaries to be released progressively over the next two years, exploring various aspects associated with contemporary Latin American architecture. The first installment, Volume I: Ugly, Dirty & Bad: A Contemporary Architecture in Latin America, is an audiovisual essay that gathers some of the initial thoughts on its current state through the oral accounts of a group of architects in a hotel room in Asunción, Paraguay.

To promote the key, transformative role of architecture in improving quality of life and contributing to a better world, the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) is revamping the awards it has presented since 1981 with the launch of the first edition of the ARQUITECTURA Awards.

Architects and designers, as well as psychologists and sociologists, recognize that aesthetics and its underlying philosophy have the power to change how we perceive the world around us. Consequently, a deeper understanding of what is beautiful holds the powerful potential to alter how people respond to their environment.

Exploring the different meanings of aesthetics in architecture, from 'form follows function' to the aesthetics of the metaverse, can help us understand the potential of our physical and virtual environments on the path toward a better world.

Much has been written on the subject, from Alberto Pérez-Gómez's "The Beautiful and the Just in Architecture" to Pablo Caldera's "The Failure of Beauty." Now, however, we want to open up the debate and invite you, our readers, to share your perspectives on what makes a building or a city beautiful.

Share your thoughts in the form below. Selected responses will be published in an upcoming article.

In 2019, the Governing Council of the URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) approved an infrastructure plan to remodel several of the university's campus buildings, including the classroom and departmental building on the Madrid-Vicálvaro Campus. This led to an agreement with the COAM (Official Association of Architects of Madrid) to organize an ideas competition to select the final design for the building, which was launched in February 2022.

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Every year, the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA), through the National System of Art Creators (SNCA), recognizes those who represent excellence in national culture through the Jóvenes Creadores Program. By providing grants, the program supports the creative and training processes of young Mexican artists, fostering favorable conditions for the development of original, significant, and positive creative projects.

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As is well known, the year 2015 saw a boom in coworking spaces—a type of shared office that typically operates in an open environment (though some companies offer closed offices), located either across entire floors of high-rise buildings or in repurposed historic sites adapted for these new ways of living and working. These new setups speak to a professional community in the midst of self-reinvention, where an increasing number of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses seek affordable spaces that offer networking opportunities in cooperative environments. These shared workplaces provide access to resources such as high-speed internet, desks, chairs, lamps, filing cabinets, printers, copiers, kitchens, and phone booths in strategic urban locations.

Architectural works from around the world are the primary inspiration for Erika Moreno, the creator of HUAJJE, a digital illustration project. The project was born in 2019, a year after Moreno completed her architecture degree in Tijuana. “The project started by accident; my only goal in making these drawings was to learn how to use more Photoshop tools—it was a personal challenge.” To document her process, she decided to open an Instagram account, which has since fostered an organic community that shares and supports her work. This has encouraged her to overcome her fears and even host workshops on the subject in various formats.

For the third time since its founding in 2002, Colombia will host the Latin American Social Workshop for Architecture Students under the name 'Tejiendo Paisajes: TSL Manizales 2022'—the first edition of the event since the onset of the pandemic.

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When we speak of social production, we refer to processes where community leaders are adults who represent and make decisions for their community; however, we often overlook children, who also enjoy and live in these spaces. They are the ones with limitless imagination and creativity, who create scenarios on Mars on a basketball court. They are the ones who hold the best car races in the loose sand of their backyards. They are children who, due to various family or economic circumstances, cannot write a letter, but instead express what they feel and want through the lines they draw.

Marcelo Villafañe (1951), an architect from Rosario, passed away on Wednesday, January 26, as announced on social media by the Colegio de Arquitectos Distrito 2.

A week ago, we announced the 15 finalist projects of the 2022 Building of the Year award —the prize for the best architecture in Spanish. Our jury of experts—you, our readers—made an initial selection of 15 from nearly 1,000 architectural works built in Latin America and Spain to proceed with the final vote for 3 projects that represent the best of the architecture that inspires, defines, and shapes us.

Today is the day to announce the winners of ODA2022!

We are pleased to present three projects located in Colombia, Cuba, and Chile that demonstrate the relevance of thinking of architecture as a solution to specific and local needs in order to improve the quality of life, at any scale or program. 

The 2022 Building of the Year Award is presented to you by Dornbracht, renowned for its leading designs in architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens. See the selected projects below.