The “Interior Urbano” project by Argentine firm Paralelo Colectivo has won third place in the Lanzarote Dynamic Square ideas competition for the remodeling of the Plaza de El Almacén, located in the town of Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote, Spain. 

Last December, the Cabildo de Lanzarote, in collaboration with the Rethinking Competitions platform, launched this ideas competition to transform the current “El Almacén” square, aiming to turn this vacant space into an urban hub for culture and social gathering. In line with the competition guidelines, the goal was to create a space for people, not vehicles—a green, shaded area where children can play, concerts can be held, and markets can open. Ultimately, it envisioned a place of gathering, passion, and art: a space designed by and for citizens, a dynamic and more human plaza. 

The competition organized by the website YAC - Young Architect Competition and the Municipality of Favignana was created to transform the Santa Caterina Fortress in Italy into a new center for Mediterranean contemporary art. A place of encounter, culture, and creative research, it is envisioned as a retreat where artists can immerse themselves in a historical context capable of inspiring imagination and introspection. The jury featured renowned architects, including Daniel Libeskind, João Luís Carrilho da Graça, and Manuel Aires Mateus, alongside members of the Italian municipality. A Brazilian team was awarded second place. Below, explore their project and the team members.

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• Architects

  Ben-Avid, JPG.ARQ, MMBB Arquitetos

• Location

  São Paulo, SP, Brasil

• Architecture - Authors

  José Paulo Gouvêa, Marta Moreira, Martin Benavidez, Milton Braga

• Architecture - Collaborators

  Ana Carolina Isaía, Emilia Darricades, Juan Pablo Parodi, Mateo Arjona, Raphael Carneiro, Seizen Uehara, Tomás Quaglia Martínez, Victor Oliveira

• Exhibition

  Guilherme Wisnik, Alexandre Benoit

• Structure and MEP

  Miguel Maratá, Gabriela Trevizan

• Engineering

  afaconsult

• Project Year

  2018

• Photographs

  Courtesy of Ben-Avid + JPG.ARQ + MMBB Arquitetos

The team comprising Colombian firms Arquitectura en Estudio and OPUS has won first place in the design competition for the future Happiness Center (CEFE) in Las Cometas Metropolitan Park in Bogotá, a green area formerly known as El Indio. The winning proposal, titled Pliegues de Cultura y Deporte (Folds of Culture and Sport), is an integral part of the program led by the current District administration for the design and future construction of cultural and recreational facilities, aiming to improve the Colombian capital's infrastructure.

Through a series of adaptations to the site's topography, the winning project is divided into two volumes: the first houses an auditorium, a library, and a food court across its three floors, while the second will house cultural spaces. "We conceive the building as a journey: an itinerary filled with multiple views and landscape experiences," the authors write.

The partnership of the firms PRACTICA and Daroca Arquitectos secured second place in the international competition to design the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros building on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, a new 7,000-square-meter corporate complex with protected historic elements.

"The proposal focuses on preserving and restoring its protected elements, as well as designing new interior spaces that support sustainable operations from both programmatic and environmental perspectives," the authors state.

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Text description provided by the architects. The international competition aimed to select a design to house the new headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in South Korea. The site is situated within a context of ongoing urban redevelopment, where new relationships are being envisioned through zoning and guidelines for future land use and occupation. At the same time, it remains a powerful landmark in the collective memory, shaped by historic uses such as the High School for Girls – Sudo Girls’ High School, the former United States Armed Forces camp – Yongsan US Army Camp, and the presence of Namsan Mountain in the surrounding landscape.

A few weeks ago we shared the results of the design competition for the Biobío Civic Esplanade in Concepción, Chile. Organized by FESUR—a subsidiary of the State Railway Company in southern Chile—the competition was conceived for the land that will be freed up once the city's railway line is placed underground.

This master plan will integrate the existing Plaza España, the Regional Government building, Plaza Bicentenario, Bicentenario Park, and Ribera Norte Park, alongside the Memorial to the Detained and Disappeared, the Biobío Regional Theater, the 27F Memorial, and Chile's second Museum of Memory, whose construction was recently postponed.

Here, we present a detailed look at the winning proposal, “Claro Urbano Explanada Biobío,” led by Chilean architects Álvaro Parraguez and Óscar Luengo.

A chapel defined by its symbolic, flexible, and structurally simple design is the winning prototype of the competition organized by the School of Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, alongside the university's Pastoral department, as part of an institutional construction plan targeting 50 cities across Chile by 2023.

Selected from four finalists, the winning proposal—designed by Chilean firm PARALELA—will become the prototype for Capilla País, the summer volunteer program of the UC Pastoral. According to the competition brief, this initiative involves "groups of young volunteers building chapels on the urban outskirts of Chile to provide spaces for gathering and prayer to the country's vulnerable communities."

Organized through the Chilean university's Public Projects Incubator, the competition marks the beginning of a new construction cycle following a four-year phase that saw 50 chapels built. According to the organizers, the Capilla País prototype must "reflect simplicity and austerity, always focusing on poverty and selfless support for those most in need."

Below, we invite you to explore the winning proposal in detail:

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