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Over the last two weeks, the ArchDaily en Español community submitted more than 17,000 nominations, yielding 15 finalists that represent some of the most emblematic architectural works of the past year. Decided by its community, the 2026 Building of the Year Award—the most significant architecture prize in the Spanish-speaking world—exists to recognize the best of architecture across Spanish-speaking countries.

These 15 finalists, chosen by public vote in this 17th edition, showcase the breadth of recent Ibero-American production while highlighting shared shifts in contemporary practice: an architecture that prioritizes clear construction choices, operates within real-world constraints, and understands design as a way of adapting to specific contexts.

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The results of the XIV Yucatan Architecture Biennial have been announced. A total of 17 accolades were awarded, including 1 gold medal, 6 silver medals, and 10 honorable mentions across 15 different categories. The jury comprised architects Edgar Herrera, Manuel Herrera, Felipe Leal, and Carlos Rodríguez. Read on to discover the winners.

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ArchDaily's curatorial team strives every day to present our readers with the most significant, inspiring, and innovative projects, while also ensuring a diverse representation of global architecture.

As part of our 2023 Year in Review retrospective on ArchDaily, we look back and reflect on what was published over the past year. Residential architecture remains one of our most visited categories of built projects, generating immense interest among our users worldwide. With this in mind, we have selected the 50 best houses published this year on ArchDaily en Español, offering a brief showcase of the form and character of residential architecture across the Spanish-speaking world.

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Campeche is a state located in southeastern Mexico on the Yucatán Peninsula, bordering the states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco, and facing the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, Campeche is one of the three states that define the political border with Guatemala. Covering 57,924 km², it is the third least-populated state in the country. Its capital and most populous city is San Francisco de Campeche.

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Videos

What defines the atmosphere of a home? Beyond material palettes and natural light, sound plays a defining role in how spaces are perceived and inhabited. The reverberation of footsteps across stone, the muted calm of a textile-lined room, or the way music carries through an open-plan interior all shape the sensory identity of domestic space. Architecture is experienced not only visually, but acoustically.

The concept of the "soundscape" describes this relationship between people, sound, and the built environment. In residential architecture, sound is more than background noise or technical performance; it influences privacy, concentration, rest, and emotional comfort. Geometry and materiality act as the primary acoustic conductors: while concrete, glass, and stone reflect and amplify, timber and upholstery soften and absorb. Ceiling heights, circulation paths, and room proportions further shape how sound travels and settles across a space.

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Across Latin America, renovation has become less about preservation alone and more about responding to changing ways of living. Rather than freezing buildings in time, many contemporary projects work with existing structures to adapt them to new domestic routines, social dynamics, and spatial needs. Through strategic changes in materials, composition, color, and light, these interventions reinterpret everyday spaces while maintaining a strong connection to their original context.

In this process, houses and apartments become sites of transformation where flow, continuity, and shared spaces are carefully reconsidered. Renovation operates as a precise architectural tool, one that prioritizes natural light, openness, and flexibility to support daily life as it evolves. Instead of imposing new forms, these projects repurpose what is already there, aligning spatial decisions with the habits and rituals of those who inhabit them.

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