You have probably heard the term “tactical urbanism.” Though relatively recent, this approach to public space has gained visibility over the last decade, and today there are numerous examples of how to intervene in the city through a short-term, low-cost, and highly socially engaged lens. In episode #70, we chat with Rio-based architect and PhD in Urbanism Adriana Sansão, whose extensive practical work is backed by deep research on the subject. Click here to learn more!
Primeiro Lugar. Image Cortesia de Prefeitura de Conde
The Municipality of Conde has announced the results of the Architecture and Urban Design Competition for the New Gurugi Basic Health Unit (UBS). More than 160 projects from across the country competed to develop an intervention proposal for an area of approximately 600 square meters, with the subsequent commissioning of the Complete Executive Project.
1° Premio - Perspectiva Exterior. Image Cortesia de Arq. Gustavo Robinsohn
The results of the International Ideas Competition for Thematic Pavilions for Expo 2023 in Argentina have been announced. Organized by the Central Society of Architects (SCA) and the Association of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires (CAPBA), and sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architecture Organizations (FADEA), the international competition invited participants to design two pavilions to serve as exhibition spaces for the Expo's themes.
Blind walls, or facades without openings, are rarely the primary design concept in homes, but rather the result of a need for privacy in certain spaces, especially when the setback from neighboring buildings is minimal or nonexistent. However, blind walls can take center stage in a building's overall composition—whether through the contrast between solids and voids, the enhancement of the wall in other ways (such as the application of paint, texture, vertical gardens, etc.), or, finally, by positioning the blind wall on the front facade. This creates a "role reversal" between the side facades, usually resigned to a lack of openings, and the front and/or rear facades, which normally feature them.
Starting tomorrow, April 8, the London city government will implement strict emission rules for pollutants and particulate matter in the central area of the city. The goal is to reduce air pollution levels. According to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the measure could help reduce the incidence of lung disease and premature deaths related to air pollution. Official estimates suggest that around 9,000 people die annually in the city from pollution-related illnesses.
In 1897, the City of Minas Gerais was founded, later renamed Belo Horizonte in 1901. Aarão Reis's urban plan for the capital of Minas Gerais gave rise to the first modern planned city in Brazil. The orthogonal grid defining blocks, major corridors, and distinct urban zones was inspired by other city models, such as Paris and Washington, reflecting modernizing and republican ideals that shaped the territory's spatial hierarchy.
The curatorial team of the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture, comprising architects Vanessa Grossman, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, and Ciro Miguel, has been named a recipient of the competitive 2019 Grants to Individuals from the prestigious, Chicago-based Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. The grant was awarded for the publication of the book Todo dia/ Everyday, the result of the work and research that culminated in the theme of the XII São Paulo International Biennial of Architecture. The bilingual volume will be published by Ruby Press, a Berlin-based publisher specializing in books on architecture, art, and other cultural practices engaged in the production of space in contemporary society.
Festival Provincia aims to create a space open to dialogue and the exhibition of civic issues, emphasizing responsible participation in the architectural development of the provinces. Tuxtla Gutiérrez lacks high-quality urban space, with a notable absence of planning and vision regarding project impacts. Furthermore, there is a constant drain of local talent, driven by a myriad of reasons that foster the belief that success is only possible in major cities through large-scale projects.
The design team composed of the architecture office STVX (Aguascalientes, Mexico) in partnership with María Eizayaga (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Emilio López (Aguascalientes, Mexico) has been announced as a First Place winner (one of five awarded) in an open international architecture competition launched by the Russian Federal Government and organized by DOM.RF and Strelka-KB.
The Open International Competition for Alternative Layout Design in Standard Housing is designed as a testing ground for creating the apartments of the future. The requirements for submissions reflect the principles that define standard housing, including flexibility, usability, and stability. The goal is for the proposed planning solutions to help meet modern citizens' needs for comfort, communication, and personal fulfillment.
https://www.archdaily.com/1121192/stvx-plus-maria-eizayaga-plus-emilio-lopez-win-first-place-in-the-open-international-competition-for-alternative-layout-design-in-standard-housingArchDaily Team
As a tribute to Mexico's rich and diverse chromatic palette, the Museo del Objeto del Objeto (MODO) presents its new temporary exhibition: “Mexico in Color,” curated by Ana Elena Mallet and Mariano Marroquín. The exhibition offers a cultural review of color perception in Mexico and its impact on art and design. One of the first experiences visitors will encounter is the conceptualization of color in folk art to forge identity. Subsequently, this element is adopted as a defining feature in the arts and, ultimately, as a driving force for the country's modernization.
Following the social crisis in Chile, ArchDaily began a series of conversations with various urban and territorial specialists to understand its impact on our cities and the contribution of our discipline. On this occasion, we spoke with Chilean geographer Juan Correa, research coordinator at Fundación Vivienda and guest academic at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile.
¡Houses, Houses, Houses!. Image Cortesía de Santiago Miret
Architecture, as a design discipline, relies heavily on visual communication. The advent of new technologies and the exploration of new digital graphic representation techniques reflect architects' growing interest in expressive fields. The need to convey a message and embody ideas, narrating the values and reflections that structure an architectural project, places graphic communication tools in a position of particular relevance.
If this intrinsic need to convey information exists within the architectural field, could comics, as a narrative medium, serve as a useful tool for design communication?
Álvaro Siza and Carlos Castanheira have unveiled the design for another major structure in Asia, this time for the Haishang Museum, located in the Jiading District of Shanghai, China. The proposal comprises a museum building and three smaller structures—a pavilion, a tea house, and a bridge.
This article was originally published on May 23, 2019.
‘Appearance Stripped Bare’ is the exhibition that opened on May 19 at the Museo Jumex. It establishes a parallel fold right in the middle of the twentieth century, bringing face-to-face some of the most representative works of Marcel Duchamp and Jeff Koons—key figures in global contemporary art—to address concepts of objects, commodities, and the artist's relationship with society.
Hospital Venado Tuerto. Foto Gustavo Frittegotto. Image Cortesía de Mario Corea Arquitectura
The Dr. Gutiérrez Hospital and the Specialty Outpatient Medical Center of Santa Fe (CEMAFE) recognize the work of Mario Corea and his team, having received the ex–aequo Award from the Central Society of Architects of Argentina, the First Prize ARQ FADEA 2018, and the ORO Gran Premio Nacional.
Utilizing a new typological system, the projects accommodate potential future transformations without altering the buildings' intrinsic characteristics, such as circulation and structure. Flexibility, sustainability, the rational use of resources, and environmental impact assessments are among the core design premises of these evolutionary hospitals.
Learn more about the projects in the authors' own words.
The exhibition Victims: A Work by John Hejdukmaterializes the unbuilt work of the New York architect, presented here for the first time by the Leopoldo Rother Architecture Museum at the National University of Colombia. Alongside the scale model of the project, the 67 figures are accompanied by narratives, illustrations, and a short film titled Structures of a Wound.
ArchDaily spoke with Spanish architect Flavio Tejada, director of the Master in Real Estate Development at IE University and associate director at Arup, about the ongoing urban transformation of our cities. "The digital economy is transforming our urban environment," he notes.
The 12th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, on view at the Centro Cultural São Paulo until December 8, includes in its program the screening of two documentaries and a performance that reveal the struggle for housing in São Paulo, focusing particularly on the history and tragic fate of the Wilton Paes de Almeida Building, which collapsed after a fire on May 1, 2018.
“On Growth and Form”, written by biologist and mathematician D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson [1860-1948], is considered the greatest work of prose in twentieth-century science, highlighting the role of physics and mechanics in determining the form and structure of organisms. The book immediately became a classic for exploring natural geometries in the dynamics of growth and physical processes. Thompson reveals himself to be a great scientist, sensitive to the fascination and beauty of the natural world, writing in a style that led the specialized press to call his work “as much good literature as science; a discourse on science as if it were a matter of humanity.”
The results of the international student competition to design the Czech Republic Embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, organized through a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Department of Architecture at CTU (Czech Technical University) in Prague, were recently announced. The Brazilian team, comprising Augusto Longarine, Luiz Sakata, and Teo Butenas Santos from FAU USP, was named a finalist among 281 proposals from 38 different countries.
Children playing on Paulista Avenue on a Sunday. Photo: Eduardo Augusto de Carvalho.
The theme of children's absence in the contemporary city, and the search for solutions that enable their mobility with greater autonomy and playfulness, guided a study of about 130 children, aged 7 to 12, from different social backgrounds, residing in the Consolação district of São Paulo. After walking, talking, and drawing with the children to map an ideal route between the local square and school, an intervention proposal [2] was developed, weaving together the Vila Buarque and Higienópolis neighborhoods, aimed at bringing children out to play in groups, outdoors, every day.
The 5th edition of Portugal's PNAM (National Wood Architecture Prize) was awarded on November 8 at the Monastery of Alcobaça. Organized by the Association of Wood and Furniture Industries of Portugal (AIMMP), the Portuguese Chamber of Architects (OA), and the Portuguese Construction and Real Estate Confederation (CPCI), the biennial award is open to Portuguese architects who choose wood as a primary material for their projects.
Cortesia de Bruno Cabral Arquitetura, RGB Estudio e Jakelyne Martins Arquitetura
The firms Bruno Cabral Arquitetura, RGB Estudio and Jakelyne Martins Arquitetura were awarded second place in the national competition for the new headquarters of the Association of Engineers and Architects of Sorocaba (AEAS). Discover the proposal below, accompanied by the project description.