The Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) has always been prolific in formulating new and transformative ways of observing our cities. A critical gaze directed at objects we commonly overlook in daily life is also one of its hallmark traits. As part of his final master's thesis for the MBArch program in Barcelona, Chilean architect Javier Toledo Cárdenas brings together these two approaches to studying reality in The Interior of Monuments.

Zuccardi Valle de Uco in Mendoza, Argentina, has been selected for the third time as the world's best vineyard and the best vineyard in South America in the World's Best Vineyards ranking. To mark this achievement, we highlight the winery designed by architects Tom Hughes, Fernando Raganato, and Eugenia Mora. Explore the project below through photographs captured by Estudio García+Betancourt.

As part of the C40 Cities "Students Reinventing Cities" competition, the winning projects from all participating cities have been announced, including Barcelona, Bogotá, Dubai, Paris, and Athens, among many others. Among them, the "Balvanera 2030" project stands out in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This initiative aims to contribute ideas to redesign the Balvanera Sur neighborhood, incorporating ecological and sustainable guidelines that go beyond addressing local issues. Based on the guiding principles presented by C40 Cities and ARUP, the proposal seeks to rethink the neighborhood's current dynamics, ranging from how citizens interact with the site to structural issues like public space and real estate.

Mexican architecture firm gutarqs has been awarded an honorable mention in the International Architecture Competition for the Development of "Coziness Valley" in Murmansk, the largest city in Russia located above the Arctic Circle. Jointly organized by the Government of Murmansk and the ANO Urban Development Center of the Region, the open call invited participants from around the world to develop an ambitious project to transform the 23-hectare area into a major public space adapted to the polar climate, promoting comprehensive development and urban improvement in the region.

We all know that architecture is a complex field that requires input from many disciplines to be realized. While design lies at the core of every project, without technical expertise, many would not be what they are today. What would Brasilia be without Roberto Burle Marx's landscape design? Would OMA's CCTV Headquarters in Beijing stand without ARUP's structural calculations? Would ELEMENTAL's housing projects be the same without the contributions of their future residents?

We want to give you the opportunity to openly share your thoughts and experiences on this particular topic. Tell us what you think multidisciplinary design in architecture is, and share your story. Selected responses will be featured in an upcoming article.

Centro Tierra is a multidisciplinary research group at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú dedicated to the research, implementation, and dissemination of knowledge related to earth architecture and the use of local materials. Based on research centered on earth as the primary building material, the team engages with local cultures in Peru and the Altiplano through their distinct, diverse building techniques. Within this framework, they design sustainable construction proposals focused on rural habitats and built cultural heritage, emphasizing conservation, optimization, and revitalization. In turn, findings from research on bioclimatic and seismic-resistant design are put into practice through participatory processes. These initiatives foster knowledge exchange, weaving together local building heritage with academic technological innovation.

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In the field of urban planning, data collection and management have ushered in a new era in the analysis of urban form, unlocking new resources to understand, evaluate, monitor, and manage the development and evolution of cities. Many countries offer open access to their catalogs and datasets with up-to-date information on their cities, allowing anyone in the world to access records with data on the built environment. Since visual culture has prevailed as a means of interpretation and communication in urban planning, translating this data into graphics and synthesizing the information into visual maps is a task that has been widely embraced by cartographers, urban planners, and architects.

The National University of Rosario, one of the most prestigious universities in Argentina, will award an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) to Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza on June 24, 2021, during a public online ceremony.

The Official Associations of Architects of Castilla y León (COACYLE - COAL) have announced the winners of their 11th Architecture and Urbanism Awards, aiming to recognize and showcase the innovative, imaginative, and cutting-edge work produced each year in the region.

Archivo de Ideas Recibidas is an interdisciplinary research and dissemination project that aims to document and connect the ideas of those contributing to the contemporary creative ecosystem through art, design, and architecture. It is built around conversations between the team and various creators, exploring themes related to memory, academia, cultural context, key influences, and working methodologies.

The Nemesio Antúnez Commission in partnership with the Architecture Directorate and the General Directorate of Concessions of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), held two open calls for national artists and architects to create public art pieces for the "Boulevard Poniente" and "Boulevard Oriente" at the New Arturo Merino Benítez Airport in Santiago, Chile.

Pilar Mackenna, Domingo Arancibia, and Gonzalo Peña have been named the winners for the east sector with their work "Sonitus," a steel volume designed to become a temple of sound. Read on to learn more about the project below.

The latest data from SICCAU reinforces the importance of architects and urban planners during times of crisis and necessity. With the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty and business restrictions caused demand for projects and construction to drop drastically in the first months of last year. However, after this initial shock, the architecture and urban planning market showed a strong recovery. In the final three months of 2020, the number of activities registered by architects and urban planners grew by 12% compared to the same period in 2019. 

In recent years, wood has gained traction as a renewable, versatile, and aesthetically appealing building material. Its strength, ease of handling, and insulating properties give it advantages that other materials cannot match, making it an increasingly popular choice among designers, architects, and builders. However, while it offers multiple benefits, it is also susceptible to degradation and decay, requiring preservation care to withstand the passage of time and other external threats.

Historically, to address these durability issues, there were two options: applying chemical treatments or using tropical hardwoods. While the former generates harmful toxins, the latter drives deforestation in the context of climate change. Consequently—and driven by an increasing demand for the material—alternative methods have been developed to protect it. One of these is acetylation, a non-toxic process that, in addition to offering high performance, significantly reduces environmental impact.

The National Cultural Heritage Service (SERPAT), with technical advisory from the Ministry of Public Works' Directorate of Architecture and sponsorship from the Chilean Association of Architects and the Association of Architecture Offices (AOA), launched the Los Ríos Regional Infrastructure Design Competition for the Library, Archives, and Collections Repository. The initiative aimed to select the best design proposal to deliver a distinctive and iconic public building for the region while fostering discussion on contemporary local architecture.

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Architect Erich Coufal (1926–2021) traveled from his native Vienna, Austria, to Guadalajara, Mexico, at just 24 years of age, ultimately remaining in the city for the rest of his life. Here, he left a fundamental legacy for Modern architecture in Guadalajara and Mexico. An immigrant who adopted the city as his own, he often said he was born twice: first in Vienna in 1926, and second in Guadalajara in 1950.

The Museum of the Portuguese Language will reopen on July 31, rebuilt after the fire that struck it in December 2015. One of the first museums entirely dedicated to a language, located in the historic Luz Station in the city with the largest Portuguese-speaking population in the world, the museum celebrates the language as a founding element of Brazilian culture. Through interactive experiences, audiovisual content, and immersive environments, visitors are taken on a journey into the history and diversity of the language spoken by 261 million people worldwide. The official opening ceremony on July 31 will be streamed live on the museum's social media channels.

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Established in Shanghai in 2012, atelier mearc is dedicated to delivering exploratory and creative outcomes across architecture, interiors, and installations. The studio focuses on observing daily life, uncovering the deep connections between human behavior and space, and translating them into the genesis of its creative work. It actively explores the unique value inherent in each project, encouraging exploratory research in the early stages while remaining committed to local construction practices during execution. Grounded in design, the studio also prioritizes collaboration with professional consultants to ensure the economic and technical viability of its projects.

This article is a collaboration with Colectivo RE and was originally published on August 2, 2020, in the second edition of Huevo de pato, a publication that aims to share thoughts and experiences as a strategy toward the democratization of knowledge and practice.

Today, April 12, 2021, marked the passing of architect Carlos González Lobo, a leading proponent of social and participatory architecture in Mexico. A 1963 graduate of the National School of Architecture, he went on to earn a Master of Architecture from UNAM's Faculty of Architecture in 1995. That same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Rhode Island School of Design, later receiving a PhD in Architecture from UNAM in 2007.

This article is a collaboration with Colectivo RE and was originally published on August 2, 2020, in the second edition of Huevo de pato, a publication that aims to share thoughts and experiences as a strategy for the democratization of knowledge and practice.

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"Architecture Without Architects" is a project led by Mexican artist Sandra Calvo between 2011 and 2014 in the neighborhood of Villa Gloria—a self-built housing complex in Ciudad Bolívar, a district in southern Bogotá. Working in collaboration with a resident family, the project involved creating a thread structure that reflected their latent aspirations for their own home through design and building practices.

In April 2021, the A8 Design Center in Chengdu presented "2-Kilometer Lakeshore: 2021 Luxelakes Cross-disciplinary Exhibition of Independent Architects from Southwest China." The exhibition invited 31 independent architects to build experimental, interactive, and experiential micro-spaces along the Luxelakes waterfront, offering 31 distinct perspectives on the world. Operating under a tight budget of 30,000 RMB, the architects infused their creations with self-reflection and their own understanding of publicness. By facilitating dialogue among the architects and between the architects and the public, the exhibition sought to further stimulate public engagement with design.

Through the works of these 31 local young architects with global perspectives, we witness the diverse values of a new generation and their multi-dimensional thinking on architecture. Limu Architectural Lab deconstructs architecture into columns, plinths, roofs, and envelopes, dissolving pure form; Uyoung Architects boldly deploys pink walls to establish relationships of "seeing and being seen" and "hearing and being heard" with the environment; Bai Yang uses 70 hemlock logs to support an "iron hat"; TEKTONN ARCHITECTS uses 150 bamboo poles to construct an accessible rest area; Fanzhu Design uses iron to create three continuous arched spaces that offer shelter and passage; 00Group creates an enclosed, mirrored space; MUDA-Architects builds a "periscope" by the lake, featuring a bubble wrap facade that invites tactile interaction.

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Archivo de Ideas Recibidas is an interdisciplinary research and dissemination project that seeks to document and connect the ideas of contributors to the contemporary creative ecosystem across art, design, and architecture. It is built upon conversations between the team and various creators, delving into themes related to memory, academia, cultural context, key influences, and working methodologies.

This article by Valeria Abello Aldana and Miriam Kuehler was originally published under the title "Los inquilinatos en Bogotá: desde la problemática socioespacial hasta una propuesta arquitectónica habitacional" in the 31st issue of the Dearq journal on September 1, 2021 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq31.2021.06).

This article sheds light on the inquilinato (tenement/rooming house) typology as a significant form of housing for the most vulnerable populations. It describes their current situation and socio-spatial dynamics, reflecting on both negative aspects and potential opportunities to propose the hypothesis that inquilinatos are a challenge resulting from economic and social factors manifested in spatial terms. Consequently, if approached through architecture, they have the potential to become a dignified housing alternative. Therefore, the architectural project seeks to validate this hypothesis, sparking a discussion about the inquilinato as a housing solution.

We present it below as part of a joint collaboration to contribute to the dissemination of research, analysis, and opinions developed by the national and international academic community on architecture, urban issues, and related fields.