In line with the United Nations agenda of climate neutrality by 2050, the Rome City Council has announced the establishment of a Laboratory titled “Laboratorio Roma050 – il Futuro della Metropoli Mondo", a project proposed and led by Italian architect Stefano Boeri, which aims to draw up an ecological vision for Rome in 2050. The urban regeneration project consists of 12 young architects and urban planners under the age of 35, along with 4 renowned architects as mentors, who collectively have specific experience in terms of studies and research regarding the Italian capital.

“Sick Architecture” opened on May 5^th at CIVA in Brussels. Co-curated by Beatriz Colomina, the exhibition investigates the intrinsic relation between architecture and sickness. The architectural discourse always weaves itself through theories of body and brain, constructing the architect as a kind of doctor and the client as the patient. Architecture has been portrayed as a form of prevention and cure for thousands of years. Yet architecture is also often the cause of illness, from the institution of hospitals to toxic building materials and sick building syndrome. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted this topic.

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What is the story that your city's public space tells? Who are the people honored in monuments scattered throughout it? Issues like these have led to a series of insurgencies in recent years in several cities. The notions of memory and representation have expanded the reflection on which narrative we build in our spaces, a fact that has triggered an urban question for the future: after all, what do we want to remember (or forget) through the symbols that we rise (or destroy) in cities?

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Architect, researcher and teacher Marina Tabassum was elected winner of the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. Marina is the first person from the global south to receive the honor, joining Denise Scott-Brown from the USA (2019 winner), the French duo Lacaton & Vassal (2016), Kenneth Frampton from the UK (2013), Álvaro Siz from Portugal (2010) and Vittorio Gregotti from Italy (2007).

UN-Habitat has just released its annual World Cities Report during the eleventh session of the World Urban Forum, which took place in Katowice, Poland from June 27 until June 30, 2022. Titled “Envisaging the Future of Cities”, the 2022 release highlights insights on the future of the urban realm, based on “existing trends, challenges, and opportunities, as well as disruptive conditions, including the valuable lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic”. In fact, it seeks to present cities with ways to be prepared for future challenges and address current issues.

As the global population living in urban areas is set to rise from 56 percent in 2021 to 68 percent in 2050, mainly in Africa and the Middle East, transforming our cities in order to achieve a better future should be a global interest. Urgently needing “innovative solutions for urban areas to respond to this triple C crisis of COVID, climate and conflict” as stated by UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the 2022 World Cities Report calls for greater commitment by national, regional and local governments, and encourages the further adoption of innovative technologies and urban living concepts.

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The construction industry is one of the largest producers of pollutants and waste globally in its daily operations. To put this into perspective, in the mid-1990s in Great Britain, construction processes generated nearly 10 million tons of post-industrial waste. Approximately a decade ago, over 3.5 billion new bricks were used annually, while around 2.5 billion were demolished; of that total, only about 140 million were reused, with the rest sent to landfills.

Following two years of legal disputes, 2020 AIA Gold Medalist Marlon Blackwell and HBG Design have reached a settlement to their infamous Saracen Casino case. The award-winning firm claimed that it was responsible for the design of the Saracen Casino in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, however, HBG Design, a Memphis design firm who Blackwell brought into the project as architect-of-record was taking credit for it instead. After performing extensive design work from 2017 to March 2019 then being abruptly fired from the project, MBA sued HBG for "copyright infringement, attribution, tortious interference, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment".

Although the case was settled, the battle is yet another incident in the ongoing debate of intellectual property in architecture, and the legal implications between design architects and architects of record. 

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Japanese digital consultancy Gluon plans to preserve the Nakagin Capsule Tower Building in Tokyo, one of the most representative examples of Japanese Metabolism by Kisho Kurokawa. The “3D Digital Archive Project” is using a combination of measurement techniques to record the iconic building in three dimensions and recreate it in the metaverse. The tower is currently being demolished due to the structure's precarious state and incompatibility with current seismic standards, as well as the general state of decay and lack of maintenance.

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Rugs are not items that usually go unnoticed in residential environments. In addition to warming the environment and making them more cozy, when used correctly, rugs connect the furniture and give unity to the decor. Here are some tips on how to properly size and choose this item in your home.

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Taipei Performing Arts Center designed by OMA has opened to the public. The project jointly led by Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten is located at Taipei’s Shilin Night Market. The contemporary performance theatre generated debates among architects when it was first announced in 2009 due to its unusual shape. Morphed by a series of programmatic operations, the form intersects three types of theater in order to accommodate a variety of performances. Now this place for cultural creatives is open, allowing the public to explore new possibilities in performing arts and experience different aspects of the theater.

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According to the World Happiness Report, Denmark has continually topped the survey of happiest countries for years. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is known for its brightly colored waterfront buildings and radical contemporary architecture, both reflecting the joyful ethos of the city. The maritime metropolis is an urban designer’s favorite case study with its carbon-neutral infrastructure, pedestrian and bike-friendliness, and thriving public realm. Danish designers have cracked the code to build happier cities, leaving plenty of models to learn from.

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As the climate crisis intensifies and the lingering effects of the pandemic remain evident in daily life, topics like sustainability and health are more relevant than ever. This explains the rise of biophilic design, a trend characterized by connecting architecture—and, by extension, the user—with the inherent benefits of nature: comfort, calm, and well-being.

Consequently, demand has shifted toward objects and materials capable of bringing nature indoors, whether through decorative elements, vegetation, or wall and floor tiles. However, to ensure functionality within an interior space, these products must ideally combine a natural aesthetic with practical qualities such as durability and low maintenance.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have announced the selection of Foster + Partners and U.S.-based multi-disciplinary design firm A. Epstein and Sons International Inc to reimagine the city's state-of-the-art Midtown Bus Terminal in Manhattan, the busiest bus terminal in the world. The project aims to expand the terminal's accommodation capacity, replacing the aging 72-year-old bus terminal with a new world-class facility. The new terminal will be designed to provide a best-in-class customer experience that serves the region’s 21st century public transportation needs, while enhancing the surrounding community and allowing for the removal of intercity buses from local streets.

Architecture firm Goettsch Partners have recently won the design competition for a new eight-building complex in the Pudong area of Shanghai. The 244,500 square meter site is one of the last underdeveloped parcels in the area. The Shanghai Lujiazui Roncheng Changyi Project features two office towers, five residential towers, and a cultural/office building. The development also includes retail spaces and various amenities. Construction is scheduled to start in December 2022 and completion is anticipated in December 2025.

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Nowadays, the integral reform of flats in Barcelona is one of the most common activities for both freelance architects and local architectural studios. This is not surprising in a city with more than 4,000 years of history in which there is a lot of buildings and little room for new construction.

For sixty years, Le Corbusier used a wide variety of media to explore the themes and forms of his art, ranging from drawing to urbanism and including painting, architecture, and sculpture. He first discovered tapestry in 1936, in response to a request from Marie Cuttoli, who was then commissioning artworks woven in a factory in Aubusson from modern painters. However, it was twelve years later that he expressed his interest in producing woven artworks based on his drawings and found his way to this city in central France, where a true renaissance of tapestry had begun, at the initiative of Jean Lurçat and Jean Picart Le Doux.

In the 1970s, in Berkeley, California, a group of disability rights activists called the Rolling Quads began dismantling curbs and improvising sidewalk ramps, demanding access for wheelchair users. But what people did not expect was that wheelchair users would not be the only ones to benefit from the intervention. Soon, pedestrians with baby strollers, heavy suitcases or simply with reduced mobility started using the ramps. Likewise, a gender-inclusive city works better for everyone. A city where all gender minorities of different ages and abilities can move around easily and safely, participate fully in the workforce and public life, live healthy, sociable and active lives, is a city that improves everyone's lives.

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Over the years, interior design has evolved in response to changing needs, and above all, to the experiences it seeks to evoke for the user. Over the last two years, we have witnessed a radical shift and a heightened interest in this field, as the pandemic forced us to pay closer attention to how we configure the spaces we inhabit. This has brought about much more holistic designs aimed at user well-being, combining colors, sensory experiences, technology, and natural elements that promote health.

Is there only one way to inhabit the coast? The Pacific coast, the largest ocean on earth, is a vast territory with a great diversity of temperature, winds, and topography, among others. Consequently, it has a great variety of ecosystems, ranging from the freezing point near the poles, vast deserts and forests, to the hot tropical rainforest. Such majestic diversity is no stranger to architecture, responding to the different contexts in which it is placed. As a result, there is a great variety of architectural works, all of which share in framing the views of the sea.

The following list shows 30 residential projects along the Latin American Pacific coastline, revealing the diverse architectural approaches that exist along the coast.

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In a new interview episode, Arquicast speaks with one of the most renowned and established practices in Brazilian architecture. In 2022, aflalo/gasperini arquitetos celebrates 60 years of a practice that has evolved alongside the nation's architecture. A commitment to building performance is central to their work, as is their pursuit of the most advanced technology to support sustainable design—an approach validated by several of their older projects that have gone on to receive international certifications.

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Is there a future for our cities if we do not adopt a sustainable way of life? For some time, urban sustainability has been approached more from the perspective of climate change than from a holistic vision that integrates society and how we live as a community.

What new ways of living are we experiencing amidst today's social, economic, and ecological shifts? We must bring to the table the various reference cases emerging around the world to understand the latest trends in how we inhabit our cities.

Recycling and reusing in civil engineering is extremely important, especially when considering the amounts of waste production and energy consumption involved in the processes related to the construction site. Creating construction elements by re-designing the role of old objects or materials represents an objective approach to upcycling, as a path towards a more sustainable and responsible future.

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An ideal address implies convenience, meeting basic needs for goods and services within a short walk. Breakfast at the base of the building, a quick run to the pharmacy, pulling a cart overflowing with fruit, heading down on Saturday for a haircut, walking the dog in the corner plaza. The health of a city depends on the presence of people walking in public spaces, fostering a sense of community, safety, civility, and the capacity to meet basic consumption needs. And the street-level storefront along this walk is a vital catalyst.

Yesterday marked the opening of the seventh International Festival of Urban Interventions in Lima, Peru. The opening day featured a series of events at the Lugar de la Memoria, aiming to shape the agenda, stimulate public debate, and highlight diverse efforts from multiple fronts striving to build a better city for everyone.