On Wednesday, February 28, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released the 2018 edition of its annual ranking of the world's best universities. In the field of architecture, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States once again leads the list for the fourth consecutive year.

In Latin America and Spain, the ranking has shifted once again compared to 2017: a Mexican university has broken into the top five, while Spain has expanded its representation at the expense of Brazilian institutions. Furthermore, two universities have entered the regional ranking in this edition. Discover the top institutions below!

On February 10, the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts) in Berlin opened the Spanish photography exhibition UNFINISHED, which won the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Biennale.

Spain is one of the countries where the economic crisis has most severely affected architectural practice. Many publicly and privately funded buildings were under construction when the crisis hit, and a large number of them were left unfinished.

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With a professional career marked by prolific production and research, not only in architecture but across a range of other interrelated fields, Sérgio Bernardes began working at a very young age, founding his first model-making workshop at thirteen. At fifteen—even before entering architecture school—he designed his first project, the Eduardo Baouth residence in Itaipava, Rio de Janeiro, for family friends. Beyond architecture, he also ventured into other fields, such as woodworking.

In 1948, he graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Rio de Janeiro, at a time when Brazilian modernism was gaining prominent international recognition, following the country's participation in the 1939 New York World's Fair and after Brazilian modernist works were exhibited at MoMA in 1943. Even before completing his degree, Sérgio secured his first architectural publication, featuring his Petrópolis Country Club project in the magazine L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui.

Walking the streets of Bogotá, one is inevitably captivated by the mix of artistic currents across every block. The diverse constructions reflecting history, the passage of time, and the survival of houses and buildings in the face of the city's imminent spatial shifts create a sort of architectural palimpsest—where some structures are repurposed and spaces are renovated, yet the imprint of history endures.

Indeed, the Niza Antigua neighborhood was one of the districts declared a cultural heritage site. Designed by architect Willy Drews in the 1960s, its location—at the time far from Bogotá's financial and commercial center—prompted a series of shifts in the lifestyles of its residents, while the absence of fences and the proximity between houses fostered a strong sense of community among neighbors.

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A commemorative coin honoring architect Eduardo Souto de Moura will be put into circulation this week in Portugal. As part of the "Portuguese Architecture" series of thematic coins issued by the Banco de Portugal, the coin, which has a face value of 7.50 Euros, will be available to the public starting this Wednesday, December 12, at Banco de Portugal treasuries and credit institutions.

Bixiga, one of São Paulo's most traditional neighborhoods, has gained significant historical and tourist importance over the years, thanks to its cantinas, street festivals, and vibrant cultural scene. However, many of the neighborhood's other layers and histories are harder to discover and access. Recognizing these numerous attractions, heritage sites, and the overall complexity of the area, and believing in the importance of walking, the NGO SampaPé! has launched the "Bixiga a Pé!" map, which highlights Bixiga's diverse historical and cultural layers for those exploring the neighborhood on foot.

Teresa Novais, co-founder of the firm aNC arquitectos in Portugal, works actively to advocate for professional rights.

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During the recent Architecture Month in Mendoza, we had the opportunity to learn more about the work of architect Adolfo Mondejar and their studio. We were particularly struck by their graphic style and how they use sketching as a communication tool to abstract key aspects of their projects and designs. Axonometric views, the use of color for emphasis, and loose lines shape the visual landscape of the architect's travels and projects.

Located 2,600 meters above sea level is the so-called “green lung” of the city of Bogotá. This is Simón Bolívar Central Park, recognized as the most important and largest in the Colombian capital. Geared toward recreation, sports, and cultural events, this space is located in the locality of Barrios Unidos, making it easily accessible to most residents and tourists. On this day, December 15, 1991, its official inauguration took place.

Museo Jumex presents 'Propuestas para una plaza', a collaborative project by artists Fritz Haeg (United States, 1969) and Nils Norman (United Kingdom, 1966). This temporary installation, commissioned as part of the series 'Ágora: un anteproyecto para la utopía', will invite the public to imagine and participate in an alternative vision of the museum's plaza.

Fernando Guerra, one of the most prolific photographers in the field of architecture, is set to be the subject of a documentary directed by Sara Nunes and produced by Portugal's Building Pictures. The Flying Photographer, the film's working title, is drawn from a dedication by Álvaro Siza, an architect whose works and life Guerra has been extensively documenting.

Videos

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Designed by the Mexican firm RA!, the HXQ Linear Park project is an urban intervention located on the eastern side of the municipality of Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, where three parks are currently fragmented by ravines, streets, and underutilized spaces. The park is divided into three distinct zones—Tecamachalco, La Herradura, and Bosques de Minas—all connected by the high-voltage power lines around which the parks were originally created. Over time, rugged topography and busy roadways have isolated these areas, turning them into desolate, unsafe, and neglected spaces. 

Alfred Willer, a Czech architect who built his career in Brazil, has his story told in the feature-length documentary Red Trees [Red Trees], directed by his daughter, designer Marina Willer. After making its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and opening in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, the documentary will have its national premiere on March 29.

Carla Juaçaba is an architect working in Rio de Janeiro, where she designs diverse spaces through a practice that emphasizes the unique and vibrant Brazilian context.

It is not common to speak extensively about these ideas in architecture, even if we have fallen back on them more than once. Diagnosis, happiness, rehabilitation, void, sadness, fear, health, patient, save... words repeated over and over, integrating ever more coherently as you read, transforming into a discourse that convinces us of these architectural utopias. It is not about who is behind this proposal, but rather about what they achieve for architecture and society through this multidisciplinary union forged from different approaches—be it philosophy, sculpture, or illustration—all of them medicine for the soul. Ultimately, they are a critique wrapped in the high spirits of the 1950s.

Dialogues of space and time converge in these projects: that a building can move from one place to another, that its atmosphere can evoke another era. It is a philosophy based on healing cities through detachment and happiness. No building belongs entirely to a territory; no spirit is inherent to an era in itself. Much like their sculptural projects, one is born in New York, another remains in Peru, and another ends up in Brazil. All of this is delivered with the cheerful 1950s aesthetic they seek to bring back and popularize through their contemporary illustrations. Here, we present DAD's philosophy and three projects that put their principles into practice.

Without further ado, they happily share the details with us.

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If tasked with synthesizing Brazilian architecture into just a few emblematic projects, we would find ourselves facing an exhausting and, in all likelihood, impossible task. The country's continental scale and countless local specificities result in such a vast array of architectural responses that selecting a handful of works to represent a single, assumed national architectural identity becomes reckless—or, at the very least, naive.

In order to shed light on a body of work that is frequently overlooked—knowing that media coverage almost always focuses on the architecture of the Southeast and South regions—we present here a sort of guide, or compilation of architectural projects, from Brazil's North region.

Practice breeds true knowledge. As architectural design is a highly practical discipline, designers must continuously refine their creative philosophies through hands-on experience. With this in mind, the forum was themed “On Practice,” aiming to showcase the extensive creative work of China IPPR’s Third Architectural Design Institute over the past year—highlighting outstanding designs, refining creative methodologies, and demonstrating team vitality. We hope this forum marks a promising beginning, encouraging more architects to step away from their computers, pick up the microphone, and actively participate. By sharing their built works and welcoming diverse dialogues, they can help realize a creative vision where theory and practice complement and enrich each other.

The video “One day at the School,” produced by Building Pictures about the Maternelle du Lycée Français project in Barcelona by b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos, invites viewers to experience daily life at this school.

The firm Estúdio 41 was named the winner of the Paranoá Lake Waterfront Master Plan Competition. The proposal features leisure facilities, restaurants, and observation areas for waterfront users. Out of the 22 projects evaluated by the jury, Thiago de Andrade, Secretary of Territory and Housing Management, explained that feasibility is one of the winning entry's greatest merits, as no major interventions will be needed to implement the plan. “It is very simple and takes the entire environmental context into account. The next step is to hire the winner to finalize the design by the end of the year.”

The winning team will sign a contract to detail the master plan, incorporating feedback from the jury, the Secretary of Territory and Housing Management, the Brasília Environmental Institute (Ibram), and the Federal District population, who will offer input through public consultations. 

Read an excerpt from the winning project's description below.

Sinuous shapes, contemplative spaces, native vegetation. These are some of the characteristics of the gardens of Burle Marx, one of the most prominent architects and landscape architects in Brazilian history. Throughout his 85 years of life, he left his mark on various Brazilian cities, including Recife, where he lived for five years.

To recover this piece of history and promote the appreciation of local heritage, cultural producer Sandro Lins developed the app Patrimônio PE Mobile, launched in early August. The app features 12 squares in Recife designed by Burle Marx and gathers historical information and data about their gardens and themes, compiled by professors Julieta Leite and Ana Rita de Sá Carneiro from the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE).

Videos

Have you ever heard of the term “hostile architecture”? Coined in June 2014 by reporter Ben Quinn in the British newspaper The Guardian, the article originally titled Anti-homeless spikes are part of a wider phenomenon of 'hostile architecture' [1] surprised readers worldwide, who began to notice these practices in their own cities. In the piece, Quinn discussed how urban design influences behavior and social interaction, criticizing how contemporary design approaches seek to exclude unhoused people from urban centers.

Last October, we published the winners of the third call for final graduation projects in Colombia, also known as undergraduate theses, receiving 94 submissions from more than 10 cities and 22 universities.

Our editorial team selected six winning projects, and for the first time, a jury composed of leading Colombian architects was tasked with choosing the 2018 Grand Prize Winner: Lina Toro, Carlos Cano (OPUS, Medellín), and Jorge Noreña (Ruta 4, Pereira).

The jury awarded the Grand Prize to the thesis project Rehabitar la ladera, designed by Daniela Núñez and Roger Escalante, graduates of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín campus. "The project does not limit itself to describing and documenting a housing situation based on that built intuition as a testament to local dwelling; instead, it proposes an open design project that generously and simply outlines the guidelines for intuitive yet regulated growth," Toro noted in the jury's official statement.

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Late last year, Imagen de Chile launched the international campaign "Ask for Chile, A World of Services," aimed at positioning Chile as a competitive player in global services. As part of the campaign, several professionals from the fields of engineering, information technology, and the creative economies were selected to become "Brand Ambassadors." The selection was made through a consensus-based process involving trade associations and public institutions that evaluated leading Chilean experts in the highlighted sectors, with renowned Chilean architect Cazú Zegers among those selected.

In this piece, Daniel Morales Escudero offers a reflection on the Terminal 2 project in Valparaíso, addressing the proposal through the lens of Chile's three legal grounds for abortion.