Cortesia de Carol Vasques, Diego Saraiva e Pedro Dal Molin.
Text description provided by the architects. New York can be defined as the ultimate symbol of professional progress, dreams, ambition, and innovation. Yet, a city that is the very opposite of monotony still grapples with repetitive and uninspiring workspaces in many of its buildings. This raises a fundamental question: is architecture out of step with the city's image? How can we address this contradiction?
Organized by Archmedium, the “New York Vertical City Pro” competition called for the design of a new mixed-use tower in New York, incorporating offices, temporary housing, and cultural and leisure spaces. The challenge for the designers was to envision a micro-“vertical city” for the 21st century.
Vista aérea do Rio Cocó no Núcleo Esportivo. Image Cortesia de Base Urbana + COTA760
Text description provided by the architects. The following proposal was the winning entry in the National Ideas Competition for Cocó Park in Fortaleza, Ceará. Spanning 1,080 hectares of environmental conservation area cutting through the city, alongside 50 hectares of project area, it is the fourth largest urban park in Brazil. Consequently, it carries the responsibility of promoting the preservation and regeneration of an important mangrove forest, while serving the public as urban infrastructure for socio-cultural, economic, and environmental initiatives. The design proposes comprehensive solutions to integrate the 17 intervention areas requested in the competition with the rest of the conservation zone and its relationship with the surrounding city, fostering a symbiosis between park use and environmental preservation.
The Paraguayan firm TDA has won first place in the design competition for the administrative headquarters of the Banco Nacional de Fomento (BNF) in the historic center of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. The 9,000-square-meter facility will consolidate into a single location the five offices where 300 employees currently work, including a customer service center.
As previously reported by the BNF, the existing building known as Villa Adelara, declared an architectural heritage site of the city, will be converted into a cultural center. According to the organizers, this aims to turn the new project into a "revitalizing element of the Historic Center of Asunción, in line with the principles established in the Master Plan for the Historic Center of Asunción (Plan CHA)."
Organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Mendoza, the competition sought proposals to transform the city's former Zoological Park into an Ecopark. The objective was to reflect the paradigm shift in our relationship with animals, flora, and the environment at large, while also respecting the historic heritage of the site, both in terms of its immediate context and the elements that have shaped its built landscape over time.
The jury awarded first prize to Guillermo Lesch, Leticia Alfaro, and Santiago Belozerkovski, alongside collaborators Axel Tanner, Camila Erbin, and Pablo Vilas. Read on to explore the complete project below.
