This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

Dear readers,

As the end of the year approaches, we would like to thank you all once again for making 2018 our best year yet. Thanks to your continuous support and our close connection with our readers, we now reach far more architects around the world, inspiring them to create better urban environments.

Recently, CCTN Design released renderings of the renovation scheme for the Shougang No. 3 Blast Furnace Museum. The architects have carefully preserved the iconic blast furnace of the original Shougang steel plant, including core industrial structures such as the main body of the No. 3 blast furnace, the hot blast stoves, the gravity dust catcher, and the dry dust collector. By opening up the original main control room that previously blocked the furnace on the west side, the design establishes a clear dialogue between the No. 3 blast furnace complex, the Xiuqi Lake to the west, and Shijingshan Mountain. Below, the design approach for the industrial heritage revitalization of the Shougang Museum is explained through three dialectical relationships.

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Since 2016, we have joined forces with Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform. Since then, we have created our own playlists for those moments in every architect's life. At the same time, we have invited architects from Latin America and Spain to share the music that inspires them, or even better, the sounds that have shaped their careers.

To mark Women's Month, we have prepared a series of special articles: we highlighted 15 Mexican women architects who are building the future of their country, featured 5 outstanding Colombian women architects in design, research, and teaching, and presented a selection of the best biographies published by Un día | Una arquitecta.

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We interviewed Gabriela Etchegaray (curator) and Jorge Ambrosi (exhibition designer) about the participation of the Mexican Pavilion in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. They describe the geographical, imaginary, and cultural weight of Mexican architecture; responding to the theme of Freespace—proposed by the Biennale's Artistic Directors, Irish architects Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara—this pavilion grounds the connections expressed in the interaction with the intangible and the incorporation of cultural heritage into architecture.

The Ruin Experience project, developed by architect Sergio Navarro García, proposes an intervention in the ruined buildings scattered across the countryside of Lorca, Murcia (Spain), where the local population gradually abandoned these robust houses to move to the city. The project offers an alternative approach to intervention, engaging directly with the environment and leveraging its resources to create sensory complexes where people interact with nature through architecture.

El Mesillo, the site selected for the intervention, is a unique, hidden enclave in the municipality of Lorca, defined by a direct and deep-seated relationship between its inhabitants and nature through agriculture. Historically, this bond was even closer, giving rise to the creation and use of entirely natural creams and treatments. Water, soil, air, sun, essential oils, homemade lotions and concoctions, fruits, vegetables, and, of course, a proper siesta, served as home remedies for minor ailments and daily stress.

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The cities of Bucaramanga (Colombia) and Cipolletti (Argentina) are the winners of the second edition of the international competition “City for People,” organized by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The award ceremony, held in Buenos Aires, recognized the Argentine city in the Sustainable Mobility category for its proposal to implement a sustainable mobility plan designed for youth. Meanwhile, the Colombian city won in the Reviving Cities category with the renovation of the Patio de los Edecanes, a late-18th-century structure in downtown Bucaramanga. 

Writing for the ARKRIT Collective, architect Carmen Espegel presents an article that exemplifies how the home can serve as a simple refuge for the essence of life—defined by the survivor's austerity, voluntary renunciation, and a rejection of the bourgeois lifestyle.

In Bogotá, CEMEX Colombia hosted the 12th edition of the 2018 CEMEX Building Award (Premio Obras CEMEX), celebrating the best of Colombian architecture and construction—projects "capable of creating solutions that promote the social and economic development of countries and, of course, contribute to protecting the environment," explained Ricardo Naya, president of CEMEX Colombia, during the ceremony held at the C. Vilar Auditorium.

Composed of Carlos Campuzano, Rafael Esguerra, Eduardo Rocha, Francisco de Valdenebro, Argelino Durán, and Lorenzo Castro, the jury presented awards in four categories—with the Infrastructure category declared vacant—along with three special prizes for outstanding achievements in Sustainable Building, Construction Innovation, and Social Value. The universal accessibility category was also declared vacant.

The winning architects in each category will travel to Mexico in November to represent Colombia at the international CEMEX Building Award ceremony.

Originally published as Collaborative Design of Public Space: The Triple Dimension, this new collaboration by Paisaje Transversal proposes a specific methodology for both evaluating the quality of public space and facilitating urban design "if we want to transform public space into a living fabric," the authors explain.

Public space is the fluid that unifies the city, the fabric that stitches buildings together and weaves social, economic, and environmental relationships. It shapes issues as crucial as mobility, coexistence, and a community's cultural exchange, as well as the environmental quality that directly impacts everyone's health.

Public space shapes our daily lives, either offering or depriving us of spaces for socialization. Consequently, it is a priority, both for the sustainability of the city and the lives of its inhabitants—a matter that demands the involvement of not only urban design professionals but also the general public. To achieve this, citizens must understand the factors that determine the livability and functionality of public space, just as they recognize the characteristics of decent housing.

How many children do we see daily playing in the streets, interacting with elements of urban spaces, running in parks or plazas, or riding their bikes? These scenes can say a lot about a city—not only about how it is caring for its younger generations, but also about the quality of life it offers families; which is to say, for everyone.

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The renowned architecture firm Zaha Hadid Architects has announced its first exhibition in Latin America, which will take place at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The exhibition, titled Design as Second Nature, will showcase several projects by architect Zaha Hadid through models, audiovisual materials, paintings, and photographs, exploring the creative process of her practice and highlighting the importance and complexity of design as the central axis connecting form and construction in her work.

In their classic setup, with a classroom consisting of a blackboard, a standing teacher, and seated students, the interior spaces of a school can easily be mistaken for prisons. Now consider the outdoor, public areas of most educational institutions in Brazil: how often can a place be recognized as a school simply by looking at it from afar?

Mexican architect Enrique Norten will receive the Fine Arts Medal in Architecture, the highest honor awarded by the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Mexico's art and culture. With this award, the Institute celebrates his career and his contributions to the country's culture.

Born in Mexico City on February 27, 1954, Norten was drawn to the world of design and determined to pursue creative work early on. At the age of 20, he began his architecture studies at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

“Adonde vas Chiloé” is a platform created by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile. Conceived as a space for impartial, timely information focused on the local territory and its culture, the initiative has evolved over its three years as a radio program. Today, it serves as a platform to promote and showcase architectural work across the Chiloé Archipelago, aiming to establish itself as a national benchmark for professional association initiatives and a specialized medium for architecture, culture, and territorial development initiatives.

The team led by Oscar Luengo and Álvaro Parraguez won first place in the Pasarelas San Borja competition in Chile. The main objective of the competition was to recognize "the best urban design ideas that contribute to defining intervention criteria and generating proposals for the San Borja Neighborhood."

Titled Corredores San Borja, the winning proposal "proposes the walkways as connecting spatial corridors between towers, plazas, and peripheral activities, allowing for fluidity and articulation between the complex's disconnected interior and exterior spaces."

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Walking is the most common form of transportation in the world and a basic human right. It connects us directly with our surroundings, does not pollute the city, and offers numerous health benefits, such as reducing chronic diseases, obesity, and diabetes. This is the message that the ITDP and Streetfilms convey in the film The Right to Walk, released this year.

If walking is so beneficial, why is it so difficult to do in urban environments? Rapid urban growth and car-centric planning have increasingly restricted space and respect for pedestrians. Every year, 1.3 million people are killed in traffic, half of whom are pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists. Furthermore, traffic accidents result in 20 to 50 million hospitalizations annually, making them the leading cause of physical disability worldwide. More than 90% of traffic fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries like Brazil, which has the highest number of traffic deaths per capita in South America.

The small sovereign state of Luxembourg has a population of about 560,000. However, its vehicle count is disproportionate to its size: 662 for every thousand people, according to The New York Times. This represents the highest car-to-population ratio in the entire European Union. To address this issue, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, reelected for a second term, promised free public transit for all residents.

The work of Patricia Golombek is an architectural study developed from different perspectives, analyzing structural elements and design solutions by various architects from around the world.

An architect by training, the artist uses her work to highlight the language through which architects communicate and the creative process behind their designs.

The 6th Arquia/Próxima Festival: Relevant Practices in Madrid has announced the winning projects of this edition. Aiming to provide visibility to Spanish architects during their first ten years of practice, the Arquia/Próxima cultural program focuses on disseminating, promoting, and highlighting their achievements and professional principles.

The biennial's theme, defined by its curator, Iñaki Carnicero, invited reflection "on the paradox produced by the international success of Spanish architecture, which does not correspond to the volume of architectural production in recent years, but nevertheless reflects work that is more relevant than ever," the organization explained.

The following awards were presented during the festival:

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In 2017, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl and RSAA/Büro Ziyu Zhuang were commissioned by Guangdong Zhuguang Group Co., Ltd. to create an ecologically transformative urban design and waterfront landscape along the northern bank of the Pearl River in Guangzhou's CBD. The planning phase of the project spanned nearly a year.

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Since 2014, the School of Architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic has developed several editorial projects. For this fourth initiative, students, alongside professor and architect Alex Martínez, have produced the inaugural edition of 'Statu Quo,' a publication examining the advanced deterioration of the country's modern heritage buildings.

The Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile (CA) has selected the curatorial team that will lead the XXI Chilean Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2019. After two editions at the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso, the biennial returns to Santiago in the Matadero Franklin neighborhood.

CITIC Tower in Beijing, designed by KPF, has entered the final stages of construction. Upon completion, the 528-meter-tall skyscraper will be the tallest building in Beijing, the tallest building in a high-seismic zone globally, and a prominent addition to the ranks of the world's tallest megatall buildings. Also known as "China Zun," the tower was designed by KPF in collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Arup, and PBA, alongside specialist consultants including ALT, Altitude, BPI, RWDI, and MVA.

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CAU/BR recently launched the book Commentary on the Code of Ethics and Discipline of the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil, which helps clarify professional conduct issues based on the Code of Ethics and Discipline for Architects and Urbanists, also published by the council.