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.

Porto Alegre now has an online guide aimed at preserving the history and memory of its architectural heritage, both historic and contemporary. Conceived by architects and urban planners Rodrigo Poltosi and Vlademir Roman, the Guia Arqpoa brings together texts, photographs, and information on 100 architectural, urban, landscape, historical, and cultural works in the city. The mapping is based on the buildings and public spaces featured in the print publication released in 2017, titled Guia de Arquitetura de Porto Alegre, and allows this initial list to be expanded through the collaboration of new contributors.

Once urbanization occurs, whether legally or illegally, and land is subdivided and populated, it becomes extremely difficult to retroactively reorganize its boundaries—especially property lines—and secure land for basic public needs.

This difficulty stems from two main factors. First, any land reorganization requires displacing existing users, which disrupts their social, cultural, and economic networks—their so-called "social capital"—and also affects the sense of equality and the fair distribution of rights. Second, the value of urban land rises with intensive use, particularly when supply is scarce amid high demand.

To provide greater safety for those wishing to enjoy nature, Urbia has marked 40 circles on the lawn of Praça da Paz in Ibirapuera Park. The concessionaire, which manages the largest park in São Paulo, adopted this measure to encourage social distancing among visitors.

Measuring approximately 4 meters in diameter, the circles were marked using organic waste from the park's own vegetation management, making them entirely sustainable. This allows visitors to remain safe within their own social distancing zones. Additionally, masks must be worn at all times while inside the park.

According to the Brazilian Photovoltaic Solar Energy Association (ABSOLAR), in February 2021, Brazil reached the milestone of 500,000 distributed solar photovoltaic generation (DG) consumer units, with the majority of installations (73.6%) located in residential properties. The association points out that, of the total consumers, small businesses represent 16.6%, followed by the rural sector and industry, at 7% and 2.4%, respectively. To supply these 500,000 units, 400,000 solar systems have been installed.

Today, May 18, is International Museum Day, celebrated under the theme "The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine." Amid the pandemic landscape imposed by COVID-19, some museums have reopened with major restrictions, while many others have remained closed. Regardless, these institutions have begun to reconsider their models and redefine their role in society. In this sense, the pandemic catalyzed a shift in exhibition formats, bringing new solutions and innovations to the public, such as virtual tours.

In 2019, to mark its founding anniversary, Belo Horizonte received a gift in the form of an architectural competition. The national contest sought preliminary technical studies for the requalification of the historic and landscape heritage of Bernardo Monteiro Avenue. 

This heritage site, characterized by a dense grove of large, leafy Ficus trees, was affected by infestations of the so-called "ficus whitefly." This caused defoliation and dried branches, severely compromising many of the trees, damaging the area's historical-cultural identity and public character, and forcing the relocation of the craft, flower, food, and antique markets that once operated there.

Marcelo Ferraz, founding partner—alongside Francisco Fanucci—of Brasil Arquitetura, an office that has garnered numerous national and international awards in recognition of projects that are deeply sensitive to their site, yet essentially contemporary, is this week's guest on Arquicast.

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With the goal of introducing the architects, projects, and stories behind landmark Portuguese architecture, Sara Nunes, from the architectural film production company Building Pictures, launched the podcast No País dos Arquitectos, where she talks with leading figures of contemporary Portuguese architecture.

In this week's episode, Sara talks with Nuno Brandão Costa about the Campanhã Intermodal Terminal project in Porto. You can catch up on other interviews from the No País dos Arquitectos podcast and read the transcript of the interview with Costa below:

Beyond viewing the home as mere shelter and protection, there is now a much greater complexity of functions integrated into the elementary programs of dwelling. We no longer think only of spaces for sleeping, cooking, and bathing, but rather of a series of new programs that demand new spaces and configurations. Among these, leisure emerges as an activity integrated into living, in the form of backyards, swimming pools, and TV rooms. 

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Between the 1950s and 1960s, Lina Bo Bardi was the editor of Habitat magazine, known for publishing articles and research on the cultural and artistic expressions of Indigenous peoples. The publication, which remained in circulation until 1965, was a pioneer of the synthesis between universal modernism and local primitivism—a central element in the mythology of Brazilian modernity. Nearly six decades later, architect and curator Paulo Tavares undertakes a sort of "un-editing" of the magazine, putting this notion of synthesis into perspective in light of contemporary debates exploring the intersection of modernity and colonialism. Recently published by n-1 edições, Des-Habitat utilizes graphic and editorial devices to create a near-facsimile of the original publication led by Bo Bardi, overlaying a new layer—critical, revisionist, and necessary—onto a discussion that continues to reveal new ramifications.

Following the themes of previous editions that addressed contemporary issues concerning the built environment, the Arquiteturas Film Festival, taking place from June 1 to 6 in Lisbon, continues to offer an open forum for discussion through personal, collective, and global audiovisual stories from around the world.

The 8th edition of Arquiteturas explores the theme Bodies Out of Space through an exploration of the social construction of space, connected by a thread running through narratives of domination. These are also narratives about an identity that is often stripped away or forced to represent our bodies. Challenging current assumptions, we view this perceptual paradigm—an epitome of the vision of our times—as fundamentally social, spatial, and bodily.

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To create a cozier scale in large open-plan spaces or accommodate diverse uses under a single roof, defining areas through custom furniture design has become a highly effective solution. Serving as functional storage or even display units, shelving systems that double as room dividers can generate new perspectives, guide circulation, and foster greater permeability between different spaces.

The Fondazione Teatro dell'architettura has announced the architecture firm Al Borde (Ecuador) as the winner of the 2024 BancaStato Swiss Architectural Award. Founded in Quito by Pascual Gangotena, David Barragán, Maríaluisa Borja, and Esteban Benavides, Al Borde conceives a collective approach to design and construction, paying special attention to climate variables, the involvement of local communities, traditional construction techniques, and innovation. As they state, Al Borde “inhabits the territory of questioning, where certainties about what architecture should or should not be are constantly under construction.”

Architecture is a discipline that connects diverse fields and practices, manifesting in the physical and theoretical conceptualization of strategies for intervening in the human environment. This spatial intervention involves applying artistic, social, and technological knowledge which, when combined, inevitably reflect a given culture or dominant ideology. In this sense, architecture is also an image that conveys meaning. 

Years ago, the construction industry was among the most technologically lagging; today, however, we can confidently say that automation is here to stay.

Crises typically spark shifts in how we move. Post-war prosperity turned the automobile into a household staple and a lifestyle. The global fiscal and oil crises of the 1970s brought a short-lived bicycle boom alongside a withdrawal of municipal funds from public transit. Meanwhile, the 2008 financial crisis paved the way for Silicon Valley venture capital to surge, backing new platforms like Uber and Waze.

The Brazilian Center for Steel Construction (CBCA) has launched its 2021 call for proposals for its Undergraduate Research Scholarship. The nationwide selection process is open to undergraduate students in architecture and civil engineering, who must be supported by an advising professor from the same higher education institution.

A capsule-based transportation system that runs on magnetic propulsion, moving people and cargo at speeds of up to 1,200 km/h using renewable energy, could soon become a reality in Brazil. This futuristic concept is being brought to the country by Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT), which develops and licenses the Hyperloop—the urban mobility technology originally conceived by Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Resembling a wingless aircraft without turbines, the Hyperloop has a capacity of up to 50 passengers and operates in a low-pressure environment, allowing it to travel at high speeds with virtually zero friction.

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Are there more homes without people than people without homes? This recurring claim had already been described as a “myth” by urban planner Nabil Bonduki in 2018, but the persistent suggestion of a simplistic formula for solving the housing crisis deserves to be addressed once again. Recently, an article in Folha de São Paulo by urban planner Alexandre Benoit suggested that the approximately 300,000 vacant properties in São Paulo could be designated to “eradicate the city’s housing deficit.”

To bring together innovative, sustainable social housing architectural designs that reduce energy consumption. This was the goal of the National Competition of Architectural Ideas for Energy Efficiency in Social Housing, organized by the German government cooperation agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

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Videos

As the Covid-19 pandemic altered urban landscapes and drew more people toward active mobility, there is a heightened urgency to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Many cities are now tasked with protecting the most vulnerable users, while also creating safe public spaces that enable economic recovery and allow people to enjoy the outdoors. At the same time, there are long-term reasons to support this transition.

“Walking and cycling are among the most sustainable ways to get around cities – but not if they are extremely dangerous options,” says Claudia Adriazola-Steil, interim director of Urban Mobility and director of Health & Road Safety at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.

Liceu Pasteur is a public institution under private law that is part of the network of French schools abroad, present in 135 countries. In São Paulo, it has been located on Mairinque Street, in the Vila Mariana neighborhood, since 1923, occupying a building designed by Escritório Técnico Ramos de Azevedo, which is listed by São Paulo's municipal heritage preservation agency.

Since 2018, the school has been undergoing a phased modernization project aimed at updating the functional and technical aspects of its spaces. In December 2019, four architecture firms were invited to compete for the Lycée Pasteur expansion project: Bloch Arquitetura, Nucci Pietraroia - NPC Grupo Arquitetura, ReadyMake/Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados, and Triptyque.

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In urban planning, population density is a subject that sparks discussion, doubt, and debate. A common point of confusion, for instance, is conflating built density (the amount of built area in a given location) or even building height with population density (the number of residents in a given location).

In New York, for example, Midtown Manhattan has perhaps the city's highest concentration of skyscrapers, despite having a population density of "only" 18,000 residents/km²—less than half of the Upper West Side, which boasts 44,000 residents/km² with lower but predominantly residential buildings, whereas Midtown has fewer residential buildings. In Brazil, this discrepancy is far more extreme: the densest neighborhoods in major Brazilian cities tend to be the most horizontal, as they consist of informal settlements (favelas) with small housing units, minimal space between structures, and larger families living in (or cohabiting) these units.

A year and a half of the global coronavirus pandemic has—or should have—made everyone realize the importance of national public health systems. Never before has a health crisis and its impact on society, the economy, and public spaces been so widely discussed and reported.

Against this backdrop, to celebrate spaces dedicated to physical and mental health, we have compiled a selection of small- and medium-scale healthcare clinics, medical offices, and therapy centers. These projects, designed for treatment or prevention, prioritize patient well-being above all else.

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