Architects are increasingly incorporating translucent materials into their facade designs to help control interior light levels, as options like polycarbonate and U-glass, for example, allow only a percentage of natural light to penetrate the building. At nightfall, however, these materials yield an entirely different, striking effect: when illuminated from within, the buildings transform into true lanterns in the urban landscape.

Brazilian architecture and urbanism organizations have published a technical note regarding the failure of the Vale mining company dam in the city of Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, on January 25 of this year. Released last Friday, the document outlines ten points that comprise a preventive action strategy aimed at avoiding further tragedies and "protecting and saving lives." 

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In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the Copan will have its facade transformed into the LGBT flag. The crowdfunding campaign A Bandeira aims to raise funds to install colored lights on the iconic brises-soleil of Brazil's largest residential building.

Five Brazilians die in traffic accidents every hour. While highly critical statistics like this can spark positive reactions, they are not always enough to change reality on their own. However, knowing that in the city of São Paulo intersections concentrate more accidents per kilometer, and that these rose by 5% from 2017 to 2018, provides decision-makers with the concrete data needed to implement measures to reduce these numbers. Acting on the most dangerous intersections will save lives.

The following reflections emerged from SENEMAU, the National Seminar of Model Offices of Architecture and Urbanism, which took place in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, from August 9 to 18, 2019. This national gathering, held since 1997, brought together 12 student collectives from various cities across the country for an immersive experience focused on university outreach and the social and political role of architects and urban planners. The self-managed student gathering hosted an exhibition of works, debates on various themes, and immersive experiences in areas of interest across the city. 

The broad scope of the term Right to the City can make it difficult to grasp, as its complexity demands a broader perspective on urban issues, going beyond the scope of architecture to necessarily encompass social, historical, cultural, economic, political, gender, and racial aspects. The overlapping of these—and several other—variables within the urban landscape can serve as the starting point for understanding the notion of the right to the city.

In the popular imagination, *cortiços* (tenement houses) represented the worst of urban housing in Brazilian cities. Deeply rooted in the national culture and immortalized in Aluísio Azevedo’s classic novel, *cortiços* were depicted as unsanitary, dilapidated dwellings where disease proliferated, the margins of society lived, and landlords exploited tenants with extortionate rents.

A quality public transit system does not depend on buses alone: its overall quality is also directly linked to adjacent elements—such as bus stops. In all cities participating in the QualiÔnibus Benchmarking Group, bus stops were identified by the public as one of the most problematic components. But what can cities do to improve them?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? At first, it may seem strange to imagine that we have not always had windows in our buildings, let alone that they were sealed with a transparent material capable of allowing natural light into dark rooms or creating a barrier against the cold: glass.

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The Pedra Furada School project responds to a demand from an institute operating in Sergipe with the goal of developing integrated solutions between technology and human processes, prioritizing education, public health, and creative economies. The school's mission is to improve educational and economic indicators in the village of Pedra Furada and its surroundings.

One year ago, on September 2, 2018, the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, one of Latin America's most important cultural institutions, was engulfed by flames. A fire caused by a short circuit in the building's electrical wiring destroyed at least 80% of its collection, which focused on natural history and anthropology. One year later, efforts to recover artifacts and clear the debris suggest that some galleries could reopen as early as 2022, three years before the full restoration is completed in 2025.

Architectural representation, regardless of the platform—whether a plan, section, isometric, or perspective—is simultaneously a product and a procedure. As a product, it is the final outcome representing the object, articulating scale, information, and medium. As a procedure, it is the process of defining what and how to represent, dissecting and translating information—understood not only as a graphic product but as a process of analyzing, selecting, and translating from one medium to another, an objective way of thinking through which new truths about the augmented object are revealed. For this procedure and product to be complete, their information must be understood by the viewer. This gives rise to graphic standards and codes that regularize comprehension and typically relate to the constructive logic of the building or city, whether existing or proposed. Ultimately, this graphic product is an abstraction of reality—an idealized, orthogonal translation of the aspects chosen for systematization.

The Institute of Architects of Brazil - São Paulo Department has announced the winners of the IABsp 2019 Awards. Divided into 17 categories that cover social housing, commercial and cultural projects, urban design, and restoration—both built and unbuilt—as well as publications, photography, ephemeral architecture, and student projects, the IABsp 2019 Awards aim to identify the advancements and challenges in contemporary national architecture and urbanism. The initiative recognizes ingenious and significant proposals, particularly those that effectively contribute to the development of technique, knowledge, and the built environment in dialogue with nature, society, economy, and culture.

The Bamboo Experimentation Laboratory at UNESP - Bauru is one of the leading centers for bamboo research in Brazil. The group of researchers associated with the lab has produced a vast portfolio of research and products ranging from orthopedic prosthetics, furniture, and shoes to building components. In this thesis, engineer Marco Antônio dos Reis Pereira, the laboratory coordinator, presents the Bamboo Project, which is the result of his academic and research work conducted since 1994. The thesis was presented in 2012 at UNESP - Bauru to obtain the *Livre-Docente* degree in the discipline of Bamboo Design and Construction. Read the author's abstract below.

Architect and illustrator Matías Kim has shared with us a series of drawings featuring some of Oscar Niemeyer's most iconic works. With simple, precise lines, Kim explores the plasticity of the modern architect's works through static and moving images, revealing the interiors of projects such as Casa das Canoas and the Cathedral of Brasília.

It is essential that offices, workshops, and studios are attractive not only to clients but also to employees, who spend an average of one-third of their day in these environments. A poorly designed workspace can make the workday exhausting and discouraging. To prevent this, architectural design decisions can energize the space and promote team integration, even when the footprint is limited.

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The Reasons Offsite, an exhibition on modular and prefabricated architecture, was created in Portugal by the studio SUMMARY and is traveling around the world. The exhibition has been shown in Albania (at Tirana Architecture Week, in September 2018) and in the United States (at the Salt Gallery of the Boston Society of Architects, in March 2019). It now has two more editions confirmed for this year, in Edinburgh and Weimar, the latter as part of the Bauhaus centenary celebrations.

For the fourth time, we are giving our readers the responsibility of recognizing and awarding the projects that have had the greatest impact on the profession through the ArchDaily Brasil Building of the Year 2020 Award. By voting, you become part of an unbiased network of jurors recognizing the most relevant projects of the past year.

Over the next three weeks, the collective intelligence of our readers will filter through hundreds of projects from Portuguese-speaking countries—Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe—published in 2019, selecting the best built works in Portuguese-speaking territories.

On Wednesday, October 9, the 21st Brazilian Congress of Architects (CBA) began. Organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB) since 1945, this year's edition runs through October 12 in Porto Alegre, inviting professionals and the public to discuss its theme, Space and Democracy, through events held across various locations in the city's Historic Center.

Architect Manoel Ribeiro, author of several projects for Rio de Janeiro's Favela-Bairro favela-upgrading program, was invited by the government of Cape Verde to develop a pilot plan for informal settlements in the country. The project aims to overcome Cape Verde's urban, social, and economic challenges and will be developed in the city of Mindelo, the main urban center on São Vicente Island.

Landscape design is a fundamental component of various architectural typologies, particularly for integrating buildings with their surroundings and establishing connections between spaces. While vegetation is most commonly found outdoors, incorporating indoor gardens can completely transform a project's atmosphere.

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Emmanuel leaves home with his two daughters at 5:00 a.m. every morning. They take a minibus from their home in Awoshie, a residential neighborhood in Accra, Ghana, to the business district where Emmanuel works. The round trip usually costs $0.90—equivalent to about 20% of the average daily wage in Accra—and takes well over an hour. When traffic is heavy, the cost doubles. To save on a bus fare, Emmanuel sometimes sits one daughter on the other's lap.

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Through its Seminar on Culture and Contemporary Reality, Escola da Cidade invited Pedro Abramovay, Eduardo Ferreira Valério, and Paula Santoro to discuss social rights and the city. This topic has become increasingly urgent and sensitive when discussing any possibility of a democratic and empathetic city. In this video, the panel discusses some of the historical roots and contemporary issues surrounding this theme.

Rio is the World Capital of Architecture. The title was awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday morning, January 18, during a ceremony held at the organization's headquarters in Paris, and stems from the hosting of the World Congress of Architects in Rio in 2020. This is the first time a city has received this designation—established last year through a partnership between UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA).