Keeping the memory of Brazilian architecture alive in a country that undervalues the profession and has systematically dismantled cultural promotion and preservation institutions can be a thankless task. Yet, this is precisely the challenge taken on by the firm aflalo/gasperini arquitetos, which has just launched a digital archive to celebrate its 60-year history.
The Mexican project Casa de Música, designed by Colectivo C733, and the Bío Bío Regional Theater in Chile, by architects Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, and Eduardo Castillo, have been jointly awarded the Grand Prize at the Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito BAQ 2022.
I remember clearly when I began to question the types of images and architecture we consumed and debated at university, contrasting them with the actual built environment of the city I live in (CDMX). This is a type of architecture that seeks to delineate certain biased, curated aesthetic principles, disseminated through academia, digital platforms, magazines, books, and real estate developers, among others.
Considering focal points, biomes, and resting spaces, creating rhythm alongside architecture, and facilitating the maintenance and enjoyment of spaces are just some of the challenges of landscape design. Today, rather than serving merely as an element of spatial composition, the relationship between landscape architecture and the built environment is increasingly valued as we understand how the presence of nature benefits the health and comfort of humans and other species. Consequently, thinking about and designing the landscape has become an increasingly complex and valued endeavor.
Against the backdrop of a global culture steeped in consumerism, every aspect of our lives is being consumed. As the physical medium of consumer behavior, commercial architecture is undeniably a vital link in this consumer society. "Insta-worthy" spaces—embodying trends, spectacle, and the culture of the gaze—are a direct manifestation of this influence. Yet, looking back at architectural history, we must also acknowledge that the rise of consumerism has largely driven architectural development. The influx of capital and the keen interest of real estate developers have, in some ways, granted architects more opportunities to realize their creative ideals within commercial projects.
Whether in cities or rural areas, "consumer architecture" functioning as public space often serves as the most prominent gathering point. To explore how to create comfortable, inviting commercial spaces, this article presents a curated collection of the best "consumer architecture" of 2021, offering design inspiration for your next project.
Academia has much to contribute to the fields of architecture and urbanism. Inspiring visions emerge through its research and proposals, sparking critical debates on how we perceive, occupy, and design the built environment. With this in mind, we hold an annual call for final graduation projects open to all Portuguese-speaking countries to showcase a panorama of themes and projects that we believe stood out over the past year.
Looking back at 2021, two pivotal developments exerted a transformative influence on the architectural design community.
The first was the passing of High-Tech pioneer Richard Rogers (Richard Rogers). German art historian Hans Belting once remarked: "When people call for a new art, it is architecture and design that step forward as a symbol of a new society, carrying the hope of changing living space. And as people envision changes to their living space, they themselves change as well." Rogers was among the first to step forward at the close of the 20th century. His bold, rebellious, and iconoclastic design approach unlocked a new paradigm for the urban landscape. Having practiced continuously until his retirement last year, his career was a constant testament to the critical importance of design direction. In turn, one cannot help but ask: as the giants of our era gradually depart, are we prepared to shoulder the true mission of architecture?
The second was the controversy surrounding architect Tao Lei's design on the television show Dream Home. A 1.32-million-yuan red-brick house designed for an elderly client was met with widespread online backlash, laying bare the deep friction between architectural aesthetics and daily life. It prompts us to ask: Is the aesthetic pursued by architects truly aligned with the expectations of everyday people? Can architectural design reshape public aesthetic perception? Does social class dictate design outcomes? And should a project be dismissed based on sensationalized, fragmented headlines by those who have never actually experienced the space?
"Despair, like hope, is but vanity." ArchDaily’s keyword for this year is: Cultivating internal strength and external reach. Internally (Platform Responsibility): Providing tools, inspiration, and knowledge gathered from all directions to continuously overcome, triumph, and transform, building a broader "design universe." Externally (Communication Responsibility): Stepping outside the architectural "comfort zone" to center public needs, delivering clearer insights and evidence-based processes, and crafting more creative architectural content.
The International Solicitation for the Urban Design of the Center Area of Western China (Chongqing) Science City has officially launched! We warmly invite outstanding design teams from around the world to participate.
International Solicitation for Urban Design of the Center Area of Western China (Chongqing) Science City is now open for pre-qualification! Design teams from home and abroad are welcome to participate.
With the coronavirus pandemic, the issue of housing has taken on even greater urgency. What was already a highly relevant concern in low-income territories—where acquiring homeownership means workers are effectively recognized as integral parts of the city—gained magnitude, since the lack of minimum living conditions can be a matter of life and death, making access to adequate, well-located housing with proper infrastructure more essential than ever.
From September 21 to 25, the Mextrópoli Festival + the XII Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism took place in Mexico City. As part of the event, ArchDaily sat down with 2014 Pritzker Prize laureate Shigeru Ban to discuss the theme "Inhabiting at the Margins." This topic seeks to explore solutions addressing the growing social, environmental, and economic demands at the fringes of the architectural system.
The Experimental Center for Affordable Housing (CEVE) is a research, experimentation, development, and transfer center for construction technologies and comprehensive management, focusing on the social production of habitat. Founded around 1967 by architect Horacio Berretta within the Faculty of Architecture of the Catholic University of Córdoba (UCC), CEVE is jointly affiliated with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the Affordable Housing Association (AVE).
Architecture and the spaces that surround us, much like art, fashion, food, and so many other aspects that support the physical and social construction of a society, play an essential role in maintaining the moral and cultural values established within it. Among built spaces, housing has perhaps played the primary role in producing and reproducing power relations both within and beyond the private sphere.
From a gender and sexuality perspective, it is within the domestic environment that we most explicitly observe the use of architecture as a moral vector, aiding in the construction of specific roles for female and male figures, and in establishing the nuclear family as the foundation of Western society.
A carbon-neutral concrete prototype has just won the 2022 Obel Award. The solution aims to mitigate the environmental impact of the construction industry, which is responsible for 38% of all energy-related CO2 emissions, according to a UN report.
Dubbed Seratech, the material was developed by two PhD students from Imperial College London, Sam Draper and Barney Shanks. They discovered a simple way to eliminate concrete's CO₂ footprint: replacing part of the concrete's cement content with a type of silica created from carbon dioxide (CO₂) captured from factory smokestacks.
What are the primary urban challenges facing African cities? What similarities do they share with the reality in Brazil? What role does UN-Habitat play in addressing these issues?
To address these and other questions, as well as share their experiences with African urbanism, the Caos Planejado podcast hosts Jeiza Barbosa, UN-Habitat National Officer for Cape Verde, and Evandro Holz, an international technical advisor for UN-Habitat.
The awards ceremony for the Preliminary Design Competition for the expansion of the Country Club Villa – Chorrillos branch in Lima has taken place. The Lima Region of the Peruvian Association of Architects was invited by the institution to organize the competition, the first to be held following the guidelines of the National Competition Regulations. With 489 registered proposals, 48 formal submissions, 3 finalists, and 2 honorable mentions, the competition sought to provide the institution with design proposals for its new gym, restaurant, and service areas, in line with the club's requirements and high standards of architectural quality.
The Tomie Ohtake Institute has announced the three winning projects of the 8th Tomie Ohtake Institute AkzoNobel Architecture Prize. The announcement was made via a video on the institute's social media platforms, marking the opening of the exhibition featuring the 13 selected projects of this eighth edition. A total of 178 projects were submitted from 18 Brazilian states and the Federal District, with five of them located abroad (Argentina, France, Italy, Madagascar, and Mozambique).
The International Competition for the Urban Design of the Core Area of Changping New Town East Zone was hosted by the People's Government of Changping District, Beijing, and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources. Located on the east bank of the Dongsha River in Changping District, Beijing, the project encompasses a 9.1-square-kilometer planning study and ecological development plan, alongside a 1.5-square-kilometer urban design for the core area. Situated north of Beijing's city center, along the canal and at the foot of Mangshan Mountain, the East Zone of Changping New Town lies on a critical axis for northern Beijing's industrial expansion and ecological network integration. In addition to accommodating the specialized industrial clusters from southern Changping, the East Zone introduces the planning concept of "Green Spectrum," leveraging urban functions and spatial-environmental resources to maximize the synergy between ecological livability and industrial positioning.
For decades, the history of Brazilian architecture has crowned male figures as its primary representatives. In recent years, however, we have seen a growing body of work dedicated to identifying female figures in this field. “Where are the women in the history of architecture in Brazil?” was, and still is, one of the questions most frequently encountered by architectural and urban historians. Often, the answer points to Lina Bo Bardi and Carmen Portinho—fundamental references, to be sure, but we might still wonder: how many other figures built their careers in this field?
Ever since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg renamed his company and announced a larger investment in the so-called “metaverse,” searches for the term have surged considerably. And while it is not a new concept, the technological topics surrounding the subject have exploded in recent years.
Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the overall creation of a virtual economy help illustrate how the metaverse is cementing its place in our daily lives. Yet, the opportunities extend far beyond financial shifts: the metaverse is also proving to be an important space for engineers and architects alike.
weico is a high-profile, emerging design practice founded by a group of highly experienced architects. Its scope of work encompasses architectural design, interior design, urban planning, project programming, and engineering consultancy, with a particular focus on the cross-disciplinary integration of design with technology, industry, economics, and the humanities. Led by principal architect Sun Wei (former partner of HENN China), weico, within less than a year of its inception, has secured and undertaken projects including the T3 Headquarters, Hengli International Headquarters, Hongqi High-End Customization Center, and the Phase II consultancy for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). It has also been shortlisted for the CGN Scientific Research Base and the Bay Area University projects, garnering significant attention within the domestic industry.
On Sunday, May 15, 2022, the closing ceremony of the second edition of BARQ – Barcelona International Architecture Film Festival was held at the Disseny Hub Barcelona. The event was also hosted as part of the recent MODEL - Barcelona Architectures Festival.
During the ceremony, the winning films in the two competition categories, feature films and short films, were announced. Learn more about each of them below.
In early 2015, the Regional Government of Santiago in Chile launched a public competition for the redevelopment of the Alameda-Providencia axis, an 11.3-kilometer-long avenue that serves as the most important mobility corridor in the Chilean capital.
The winning proposal was awarded in October of that same year to a team comprised of the firms Lyon Bosch, Martic Arquitectos, and Groundlab. Although construction was scheduled to begin two years later, in March 2019, the project was canceled by the administration at the time due to budget constraints. They announced that only a segment of the western end of the corridor would be renovated, though no progress has been reported since.
Three years later, on December 28, 2022, President Gabriel Boric, alongside local mayors and authorities, signed a public cooperation agreement to reactivate the recovery and transformation of the Alameda-Providencia axis in its original scope: from Pajaritos Street in the east to Plaza Baquedano, popularly known as Plaza Italia or Plaza Dignidad.
The planet is already 1.1°C warmer due to human-induced climate change, and millions of people are already facing the very real consequences of rising temperatures, sea level rise, more severe storms, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall. Rapidly reducing emissions is essential to limit temperature rise and ensure a safer future for everyone. Equally critical are investments to protect communities from the increasingly severe impacts that will continue to worsen over time.
To mark the tenth anniversary of ArchDaily Mexico, Rojkind Arquitectos + Think Parametric designed an installation for the celebration held at the LAGO/ALGO Cultural Center. Located in the Second Section of Chapultepec Forest, the 810-hectare urban park is divided into four zones and home to some of Mexico's most prominent tourist landmarks.
