Given that 90% of cities are built without architects and urban planners, who are the real architects imagining and building the world we want to live in? What modes of production, materials, and forms of relationship and social reproduction are practiced by these collectives, pointing the way toward possible, inclusive, diverse, just, and ecological futures? What architectures exist to foster freedom, collaboration, co-responsibility, and care—for oneself, for others, and for the spaces we inhabit?
The winning project creates an intuitive pathway between the complex's different spaces. Image: reproduction/Figueroa
Casa Lacerda, one of the main architectural heritage sites in the Lapa region (Paraná), will soon be revitalized. Currently operating as a museum and Heritage House—with rooms styled to recreate the home of a traditional local family—the space will be expanded with the construction of an annex. On Wednesday (18), the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) and the Paraná Department of the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB-PR) announced the winning proposals of the national design competition for the new building.
For three years, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) has dedicated its program of exhibitions and seminars to annual themes. In 2016, the museum presented Histories of Childhood; in 2017, Histories of Sexuality; and in 2018, Afro-Atlantic Histories, which drew record attendance and was named "Best in Show" of 2018 by The New York Times.
In 2019, however, MASP is focusing on women with Women's Histories, Feminist Histories. The year began with two solo exhibitions by female artists, Lúcia Laguna and Sonia Gomes, at the intersection of both themes, closing the cycle of Afro-Atlantic Histories and launching Women's Histories.
Illustrative photo. Credits: Agência Brasília on Visual hunt / CC BY
Starting November 5, bus riders in Vargem Grande Paulista will be exempt from paying fares. The city is the first in the São Paulo metropolitan area to offer free public transit.
Public authorities must make use of planning instruments available by law to promote coordinated land management and, thus, guarantee access to the city for all. Photo: Mariana Gil/WRI Brasil
From the ground up, we build our cities. The places where we live, work, walk, and spend our lives are all built on the same surface. Land is one of a city's most valuable assets, and promoting the coordinated management of this territory is essential to ensuring that everyone has their place and that it is equitably distributed.
BONDUKI, N. G. Os Pioneiros da Habitação Social - Inventário da Produção Pública no Brasil entre 1930 e 1964. São Paulo: Editora UNESP, 2014.. Image Cortesia de PC3 - Pensamento Crítico e Cidade Contemporânea
The complex is located on Santa Cruz Street in Vila Mariana, near Gregori Warchavchik's Modernist House, and consists of 23 three-story blocks sited on a triangular plot of 61,900 m². Most of the blocks were oriented with their facades facing east-west, spaced to ensure adequate sunlight for the apartments.
https://www.archdaily.com/1122821/collective-housing-with-a-hybrid-language-santa-cruz-residential-complexPC3 - Pensamento Crítico e Cidade Contemporânea
Social housing in Acre. Via: Agência de Notícias do Acre, Flickr. License CC BY 2.0. - photo by Sérgio Vale
The National Secretariat of Housing of the Ministry of Regional Development and the Council for Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR) agreed, during a meeting this week in Brasília, to create methods that will allow architects and urban planners to participate directly in real estate financing throughout the country. However, the agreement has not yet been finalized, and the procedures will be developed jointly with financial institutions.
The offices AUÁ arquitetos and Estúdio Itinerante were awarded third place in the national competition for the new headquarters of the Association of Engineers and Architects of Sorocaba (AEAS). Read the full project description and proposal below.
Modernist House on Santa Cruz Street. Image via Blogspot Holodeck
The 44th edition of the Itaú Cultural Occupation program honors Ukrainian architect Gregori Warchavchik. A naturalized Brazilian, he was responsible for building the first modernist work in Brazil, the Casa Modernista, located on Santa Cruz Street in São Paulo's Vila Mariana neighborhood.
In Helsinki, Finland, a law requires transport companies to open operational data to enable MaaS. Photo: hopkinsii, via Flickr, license CC BY-NC 2.0
We plan our daily commutes by considering multiple factors: time, cost, comfort—and, just as importantly, the ease of connecting between different modes. While the car fleet continues to grow, those who rely on public transit try to bypass deficient mobility by making smarter choices. Offering integrated solutions that move people from one point to another with maximum convenience is a path toward more humane and sustainable cities, widely recognized by mobility experts around the world.
https://www.archdaily.com/1122812/from-modal-integration-to-mobility-as-a-service-pathways-to-sustainable-transportationPaula Tanscheit, Fernando Corrêa, Guillermo Petzhold e Francisco Pasqual
One year after the tragedy caused by the fire at the Wilton Paes de Almeida Building, we share this text originally published in 2018 in the newspaper "A Escola e a Cidade," produced by the publisher of Escola da Cidade.
https://www.archdaily.com/1122848/of-the-force-of-money-that-builds-and-destroys-beautiful-thingsIsadora de Andrade Guerreiro
The Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) program was a cornerstone of federal housing policy under recent administrations. By financing new affordable housing, MCMV incentivizes developers to build in areas far from urban centers. This occurs because performance metrics focus solely on the number of units delivered, creating a strong economic incentive for developers to build far from downtown areas, where land is cheaper. Consequently, many of these developments are distant from job opportunities and basic services, as well as isolated from public mass transit networks, which are structurally unsuited to serve low-density peripheral areas.
The Court of Justice of Bahia has ordered the payment of copyright royalties and moral damages to an architect and urban planner whose designs were reproduced in 39 projects built across several Brazilian states. The Social Transportation Service (SEST) and the National Transportation Learning Service (SENAT), which used the designs without authorization in Integrated Care and Professional Centers for Transportation Workers (Capits) nationwide, were ordered to pay not only the inflation-adjusted copyright fees for the 39 projects, but also R$ 100,000 in moral damages. Furthermore, they must publish in a major newspaper, for three consecutive days in a prominent layout, the credit of architect Daniel Colina as co-author of the Capits' architectural design.
One of Brazil's most influential designers, José Zanine Caldas would have celebrated his centenary in April this year. To honor his legacy, the municipality of Belmonte, Bahia, plans to open a museum in February next year. The project will be divided into two phases: the restoration of the historic mansion where Caldas was born, followed by an expansion designed by Márcio Kogan.
The School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo (FAU USP), one of the most prestigious architecture schools in Latin America, recently launched its YouTube channel—an initiative that continues efforts to highlight its community's work and democratize knowledge. Featuring student projects, lectures, documentaries, and expert perspectives on a wide range of topics, the channel offers diverse and relevant content.
Following heavy rains that hit Maceió at the beginning of the year, residents of the Pinheiro neighborhood entered a state of emergency as several cracks appeared in the area. Civil Defense authorities state that the neighborhood is at risk of collapse, and the main threat is that the asphalt could sink enough to create a sinkhole and destroy buildings, endangering the lives of over twenty thousand residents.
The film “Melting Souls” by François-Xavier Destors won the Best Documentary award at the 7th edition of the Arquiteturas Film Festival, which took place from June 4 to 9 at Cinema São Jorge in Lisbon.
https://www.archdaily.com/1122792/melting-souls-by-francois-xavier-destors-wins-arquiteturas-film-festival-awardPedro Vada
Inverse City uses the urban morphology of central São Paulo and its adjacent districts as its primary structure and raw material, providing a foundation for the creation of a new space-time. This space-time allows us to explore and deconstruct the city we know.
The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is a 16-member panel (mostly appointed by the governor) that oversees air pollution control efforts in California. In December, the board approved a first-of-its-kind regulation in the US, establishing a statewide goal for public transit agencies to gradually transition to 100% zero-emission bus fleets by 2040.
On Sundays and holidays, vehicle traffic on Paulista Avenue is blocked, turning it into a leisure space. Photo by Sergio Souza, via Unsplash
Most architecture schools in Brazil also focus on the study of the city. This is only logical, considering that architecture and urbanism can be seen as the same discipline viewed from different scales. However, career opportunities at the urban scale may not always be clear. Consequently, Anthony Ling shared an article on ten ways to work in urbanism.
The transparency of the Glass House, the residence where Lina Bo Bardi and her husband, Pietro Maria Bardi, lived for forty years, is the subject of the work Casa de vento, by the visual artist Lucia Koch, native to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Koch is known for employing filters, screens, photographs, and videos in her investigations of light, spatiality, movement, and time, in close dialogue with architecture. Her intervention in Bo Bardi's house is another of her works that aims to shift our understanding of built reality through the superimposition of other layers of reality.
As extreme weather events become increasingly common worldwide, brises-soleil and perforated cladding have become effective options for creating a second skin on building facades, protecting interiors and creating unique atmospheres through the interplay of light and shadow.
Each building and facade orientation requires a distinct solution—whether fixed or operable, and in various materials. However, certain general guidelines can help streamline the selection process. We spoke with the experts at Hunter Douglas to identify the most critical considerations.
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Temporary interventions can transform the landscape and the use of public space (Photo: Victor Moriyama/WRI Brasil)
No one knows a street or a neighborhood as well as the people who live there. Each place has its own peculiarities, potential, and challenges. Consequently, local-scale solutions can be created by citizens themselves, increasing both the efficiency and community buy-in of the project. Cities around the world have been adapting their legal frameworks to establish public policies that facilitate and foster citizen participation in transformative initiatives.