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, Tec de Monterrey unveiled “Skyspace: Espíritu de Luz,” an installation designed by American artist James Turrell that now joins DistritoTec in Monterrey, Mexico, as a cultural destination that enhances spatial quality through innovation. Arising from the “Light & Space” art movement, this piece was designed as an observatory to generate a unique visual experience through a sequence of lights every 12 hours, at dawn and dusk. It also serves as a tribute to the life and legacy of Don Eugenio Garza Sada and Eugenio Garza Lagüera.

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Architectural visualization is a branch of the profession that has gradually evolved to show more than just a final image of the projects presented. Over the years, with new tools made available by technology, it has become increasingly interesting to explore the different facets that speak not only to an author's language, but to a firm's own processes. At ArchDaily, architectural visualization has been a topic we have explored through various articles that reveal different ways of working, but above all, of communicating.

Over the years, the practice of architecture has maintained a very clear line regarding the solutions and services it offers to society. However, given the fast-paced and shifting context we inhabit today, it is far more common to find emerging firms establishing themselves through new discourses that promote transparency and horizontality in the profession. Today, it is fascinating to see how younger generations are increasingly adopting a perspective that borders on theater and the arts, shaping a scene that complements and draws inspiration from other disciplines, rather than remaining confined within the boundaries of architecture itself.

Gathering spaces in rural areas play an important role in improving the quality of life for local communities. In April 2022, Fundación Mi Parque launched the book “Rural Public Spaces: Community, Architecture, and Landscape” as both a contribution and a guide for a design discipline that seeks to highlight and address the need for meeting spaces in rural environments. The book is the culmination of five years of fieldwork, during which 37 community spaces were built, benefiting more than 26,000 residents in the Choapa Province of Chile's Coquimbo Region.

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The first “Urban Life Competition: Ideas for Sustainable Urban Transformation” was launched as part of an initiative by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in collaboration with the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), under the framework of the LAIF City Life initiative and with the support of the European Commission. On June 15, 2022, the appointed jury announced the winning ideas, selected from over 90 proposals from 15 Latin American countries.

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The international architecture festival Open House Madrid returns with a surprise for 2022, offering free access to five “magical” locations to enjoy the city from above, from September 23 to 25.

“Mercado Retablo” is the winning proposal of the II Semilla Competition organized by MURU, presenting a new design for the Playa Grau Municipal Market, located in the city of Ayacucho. Architects Santiago Nieto Valladares and Lucía Uribe Osores explain how “the market proposes quality public spaces that establish it as a gathering place, moving beyond a mere site for transit and commerce to host and foster social interaction.”

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The Municipality of Avellaneda, in partnership with the Association of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires (CAPBA), launched a national ideas competition for a new urban public park and the National Football Museum. The project is to be located near the urban center of Avellaneda, in the province of Buenos Aires.

Exacerbated by the pandemic, the housing crisis has become a global phenomenon. Rising prices, lack of access, and poor housing policies have resulted in greater scarcity and precarious conditions. Chile is no exception. Indeed, according to the latest reports issued by the Chilean Chamber of Construction (CChC), there are “more than 700,000 families experiencing overcrowding and irreparable housing, in addition to 81,000 families living in informal settlements.”

The Municipality of the Villarino District (MPV) and the College of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires, District 10 (CAPBA, D10), launched the National Binding Preliminary Project Competition for the design of the Pedro Luro Bus Terminal. Sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architectural Organizations (FADEA), the competition's objectives focused on creating a high-quality space for arrivals and departures of medium and long-distance travel, consolidating the site's character to transform it into a new central hub, and creating a new service space for local identity that engages both the local and regional populations, among others.

According to a recent study titled "Digital Transformation in Architecture," conducted by RIBA in partnership with Microsoft, 87% of architecture firms agree that digital technologies are transforming the way they work, and the majority have already embarked on their digital transformation journey. The study shows that architectural professionals have readily embraced digitization through systems like 3D computer-aided design, rapidly advancing toward Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Although the construction industry has spent years making strides in new fields such as biomaterials, nanotechnology, and 3D printing, it simultaneously remains one of the slowest to adopt new technology. Many of these innovations never progress past the experimental stage. How can this situation be reversed?

Videos

Teresa Moller, José Cubilla, Solano Benítez & Gloria Cabral were honored today with the 2021 Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, organized by the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, a French institution dedicated, among other initiatives, to organizing events focused on heritage and architectural education.

The results of the XIV Yucatan Architecture Biennial have been announced. A total of 17 accolades were awarded, including 1 gold medal, 6 silver medals, and 10 honorable mentions across 15 different categories. The jury comprised architects Edgar Herrera, Manuel Herrera, Felipe Leal, and Carlos Rodríguez. Read on to discover the winners.

The bookstore and publishing house Arcadia Mediática, alongside the architecture, design, and construction magazine Arkinka, began 2022 with the launch of their first joint editorial project, “Ideas de Hábitat. Arquitectura en Perú 2010-2020”. Through built projects of varying scales and territories represented by more than four generations of architects, the book aims to showcase the finest works of contemporary architecture in Peru over the last decade.

Born in Quito in 1947, Guadalupe Ibarra settled in Cuenca during her adolescence due to her father's military career. It was there that she decided to study architecture, enrolling at the University of Cuenca in 1963. An outstanding student, Ibarra earned her degree in 1970, becoming the first Ecuadorian woman to graduate as an architect in the country. 

In November 2022, the Network of Latin American Architecture Biennials REDBAAL will mark its first ten fruitful years, celebrating this milestone by launching the Fourth Edition of the Oscar Niemeyer Award for Latin American Architecture, the prestigious ON-04 Prize. This August, the jury's decision was announced, revealing the top three winners and recognizing the work of architects from Brazil and Mexico.

The first woman to receive an architecture degree in Argentina was Filandia Pizzul in 1928 from the University of Buenos Aires, more than 50 years after the program was first established. Starting in 1874, the architecture program operated independently of the Department of Sciences, where these studies had been housed since 1865. She was a pioneer in several fields, also becoming the first woman to complete courses at the Civil Aviation Directorate in 1928, earning pilot's license No. 181.

Paint is synonymous with color, even when it is white. It is the simplest way to restore and correct imperfections on any surface, whether interior or exterior. Without detracting from this significant aesthetic benefit, paint also possesses composition-based properties that turn an attractive, well-finished project into a healthy building—one with a lower environmental impact throughout its life cycle.

Fernando Abellanas had already shown us how to take refuge from the city within the city itself, with an installation that invited shelter in the interstitial spaces of an existing bridge. This time, he presents Urban Macroparasite: a habitable and connective structure created during the UIT Urban Festival in Tartu, Estonia.

This mobile installation adapts to achieve structural parasitism, prompting us to rethink how we occupy the inert and hidden spaces that make up our cities.

Today is the day to discover the finalists of ODA2022: the award for the best Spanish-language architecture. Our expert jury—meaning you, our readers—has selected 15 of your favorite projects from nearly 1,000 architectural works built across Latin America and Spain.

This award has become a true tradition, now in its 14th edition. It is an invitation extended to all our readers to recognize the works published during 2021 that inspired them and represent the identity of their local contexts in a globalized planet, shaping the way architecture is made in Latin America and Spain within an increasingly heterogeneous and multicultural world.

Starting today, and until next Wednesday, March 30, at 11:59 PM (GMT -3), you can explore each of the finalists in detail and vote for the work that best represents the Spanish-language architecture that inspires us, defines us, and leaves a mark on us. Discover all the finalist projects below.

The 2022 Obra del Año Award is brought to you by Dornbracht, renowned for its leading architectural designs, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens.

For its 43rd edition, the Grand Jury of the 2022 Konex Awards has selected the 100 most outstanding figures of the last decade in Argentine Visual Arts, spanning the period from 2012 to 2021. Honoring five individuals in each of the 21 established disciplines, the awards and diplomas of merit will be presented on Tuesday, September 13.

The 2022 Shenzhen Creative Home Design Week (hereinafter referred to as "Design Week") has successfully concluded. Against the ongoing backdrop of the pandemic, ArchDaily partnered with MEFine to present a themed design forum, "One Step Ahead: Contemporary Reflections on Dwelling." Hosted as part of "Design Out Loud"—a forum series dedicated to design and creativity curated by Design Dome—the event has successfully come to a close, leaving behind a wealth of memorable insights.

The Northern Hemisphere is known for its harsh winters, with sub-zero temperatures that stand in stark contrast to the Brazilian summer, often keeping people indoors and making them feel a bit down.

A Brazilian project aims to help counter this by bringing a "second sun" to Winnipeg. Selected in an international public competition, the "Sunset" installation, designed by São Paulo-based architecture firm Democratic Architects, seeks to revitalize the Canadian city during its coldest months, when average temperatures drop to minus 39 degrees.