This article by Miguel Paredes Maldonado was originally published with the title "House, City, Territory: A Collective Investigation into the Transformations of Contemporary Urban Living" in issue No. 31 of Dearq journal on September 1, 2021 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq31.2021.02).
The article explores the interscalar relationships recently established between the domestic realm of housing and the collective spheres of the city and territory, viewed through the lens of developing new “urban commons.” This exploration is framed as a collective research project based on participation in architectural competitions and developed within a pedagogical framework at the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom) between September and December 2020. Its findings highlight the pronounced infrastructural basis of contemporary urban living and identify the primary processes of transfer between the domestic and collective domains across a series of urban housing scenarios.
We present this article as part of a joint collaboration to help disseminate the research, analysis, and opinions developed by the national and international academic community on architecture, urban issues, and related fields.
What do we mean by heritage? This is one of the main questions raised by Alejandro Orellana, director of Relatos de Barrios—a Chilean project that seeks to reclaim the heritage and historical value of housing complexes, highlighting the community dimension behind the lives of their residents.
A documentary and a book are the results of their experience with the “CCU Worker Housing” in La Serena, later renamed the “Rengifo Housing Complex.” Designed in 1957 by architect Carlos Feuereisen Polanco and built in 1958 by Negochea and Vergara, it represents a characteristic housing typology of the city.
This article by Maya Orzechowska was originally published under the title "Five Principles for a Vulnerable and Intimate Architecture: Drawing Alternative Boundaries and Openings to the Home and the Self" in the 31st issue of Dearq journal on September 1, 2021 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq31.2021.04).
This article investigates how the boundaries and openings of the home are not separate from one another; rather, they play an active role in the politics of bodily and social health. For an increasing number of people, both the idea of the home and the reality of housing fail on a daily basis; therefore, this article seeks alternatives to the narrative of the home, of a utopian internal intimacy that endorses withdrawal, and of a non-responsible relationship toward the public realm. It suggests that the result is dystopian, concealing and exacerbating vulnerability and its resistance to change. In contrast, a vulnerable and intimate architecture focuses on the vulnerable body, drawing the uncanny, repressed, and emotional into the home.
We present it below as part of a joint collaboration to contribute to the dissemination of research, analysis, and opinion produced by the national and international academic community on architecture, urban issues, and related fields.
This article by Hugo Mondragón López and Bárbara Rozas Reinecke was originally published under the title "Contra el Olvido: La voz de Montserrat Palmer y el discurso de la arquitectura contemporánea en Chile" in issue 23 of Dearq magazine on July 1, 2018 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq23.2018.02).
Architect, professor, researcher, editor. Montserrat Palmer Trías was an authoritative voice in Chile's architectural and cultural scene between the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Through her editorial leadership of ARQ magazine, she shaped disciplinary debates while introducing a group of Chilean architects—whose renown was forged in the pages of the publication—to the international stage. Although she nurtured the myth of a woman operating purely on intuition, it is impossible to overlook her rigorous work as a researcher. Paradoxically, a decade after stepping down as the magazine's editor-in-chief, both her figure and her contribution to post-dictatorship Chilean architecture risk falling into oblivion. This article is an attempt to prevent that from happening.
The following is presented as part of a joint collaboration to help disseminate research, analysis, and opinions produced by the national and international academic community on architecture, urban issues, and related fields.
https://www.archdaily.com/1132333/against-oblivion-montserrat-palmer-and-the-discourse-of-contemporary-architecture-in-chileHugo Mondragón López y Bárbara Rozas Reinecke
Exacerbated by the pandemic, the housing crisis has become a global phenomenon. Rising prices, lack of access, and poor housing policies have resulted in greater scarcity and precarious conditions. Chile is no exception. Indeed, according to the latest reports issued by the Chilean Chamber of Construction (CChC), there are “more than 700,000 families experiencing overcrowding and irreparable housing, in addition to 81,000 families living in informal settlements.”
Recognizing the essential relationship between development and nature, Barranquilla aims to become Colombia's first biodivercity. Over the past 14 years, district administrations have committed to urban transformation through blue and green infrastructure projects, seeking new opportunities for economic, social, and urban development. The Ciénaga de Mallorquín Ecopark is one of the city's most emblematic projects due to its technical and engineering design, serving as a benchmark for infrastructure works.
Cortesía de Manuel Segura, Mariano Segura, Martin Bilevicius y Francisco Tineo
The Municipality of the Villarino District (MPV) and the College of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires, District 10 (CAPBA, D10), launched the National Binding Preliminary Project Competition for the design of the Pedro Luro Bus Terminal. Sponsored by the Argentine Federation of Architectural Organizations (FADEA), the competition's objectives focused on creating a high-quality space for arrivals and departures of medium and long-distance travel, consolidating the site's character to transform it into a new central hub, and creating a new service space for local identity that engages both the local and regional populations, among others.
Set in the heart of one of the world's most arid deserts, the Nasca aqueducts form a hydraulic system that, for nearly two thousand years, has demonstrated advanced geological and hydrological knowledge. This system allows water to be sourced for both human consumption and agriculture, creating fertile oases in the desert. The Nasca Aqueducts represent a unique hydraulic system in the Americas, owing to their distinct design, construction technique, location, and function. They serve as an exceptional testament to the capacity of ancient societies to overcome adverse conditions, offering solutions that could be applied to the climate challenges of our time.
What could be more familiar to any human being than food? Food connects landscape with culture, emotion, history, and overall planetary health. Sharing food and cooking for others is a fundamental act of care and a way of expressing generosity and hospitality, reminding us of how much we depend on one another. Food allows us to think simply about the complex relationships of our habitat, providing a common ground for people to connect just as they would in their own homes: around the kitchen table.
As part of a new collaboration, DF Arquitectos and Taller MRD have unveiled a new project set for the coast of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. The proposed 11,300-square-meter multi-use convention center aims to create a space where key cultural and community activities representing the State of Oaxaca can converge.
The event featured two main award categories for built works and projects—national and international—with a selection jury composed of Ivo Renato Giroto (Brazil), Martin Padrón (Venezuela), Fabián Dejtiar (Argentina/Chile), Roberto Ameneiro (Spain), and Carlos Álvarez (Costa Rica). On the final day of the event, the winners were announced; you can view them below.
Florencia Rodríguez, the new director of the School of Architecture at the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts. Photo by Pablo Gerson. Image via University of Illinois Chicago
The School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) has appointed Argentine editor and curator Florencia Rodríguez as its new director, effective August 2022.
Trained as an architect and founder of the magazines PLOT and -NESS, she has dedicated her career to editing, writing, and teaching. Throughout her career, she was a Loeb Fellow and taught architecture at Harvard GSD. Through her work, which focuses on disseminating new narratives and exploring alternative forms of design criticism, she has fostered and strengthened architectural discourse across the Americas.
How do we experience cities? What moves us? What do we remember about them? Monuments? Museums? Are we merely tourists, or do we live the city as an experience? Art is part of the urban fabric—a way to create new paths, lifestyles, and reference points that lead us to identify the unique spaces and moments experienced within it. Art is not confined to museums; it is in the streets, on the walls, and on the buildings that shape the city. Public space dialogues with artistic expression, engaging people, neighborhoods, cities, and an interconnected world to create new modes of community within a culture that is attentive to and understands our contexts and ecosystems.
Although the construction industry has spent years making strides in new fields such as biomaterials, nanotechnology, and 3D printing, it simultaneously remains one of the slowest to adopt new technology. Many of these innovations never progress past the experimental stage. How can this situation be reversed?
Teresa Moller, José Cubilla, Solano Benítez & Gloria Cabral were honored today with the 2021 Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, organized by the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, a French institution dedicated, among other initiatives, to organizing events focused on heritage and architectural education.
As in previous years, Chile's Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage has organized the exhibition of Testimonial Spaces, the country's most recent national pavilion presented at the 2021 Venice Biennale, in the lobby of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Parque Forestal (Santiago), making it accessible to the local public.
Although the ministry's open call for each biennale typically focuses on the design of a pavilion, the brief specifies that the selected curator will be responsible for developing both a curatorial concept and an architectural proposal. Certainly, in a contemporary context, the notion of a pavilion is a highly malleable category, making the distinction established in the guidelines particularly intriguing: while a curatorial concept should clearly be associated with some relevant architectural framework, it is not necessarily an architectural proposal in and of itself.
Pedro Pitarch Architectures & Urbanisms, a Madrid-based architecture office, has recently designed a project for the Special 40th Anniversary Section of the ARCO Fair called "ARCO 40+1." This exhibition space commemorates 40+1 years of the art fair. The exhibition, where nineteen galleries present their works, was curated by María Inés Rodríguez, Sergio Rubira, and Francesco Stocchi.
“What's color? for architects and designers” is an exhibition by the artist Claudia Valsells. Curated by Julia Ruiz-Cabello and Gonzalo de Benito, the exhibition brings together testimonials from architecture practices on the use of color in their projects. It took place from December 10 to 14, 2021, at the Pavilion space of the architecture firm PLANTEA, in Madrid. The exhibition design, mirroring the studio where the artist has worked for more than two decades to create her own color chart, shapes the space.
Designed to energize the neighborhood and local organizations, the La Guardia Civic and Cultural Center opened its doors on Saturday, April 9, in Plaza de la Paz in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Barcelona. Its construction was carried out by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), while the project was funded by the Sant Vicenç dels Horts City Council and the Barcelona Provincial Council.
Peru, a country of rich heritage and ancestral wisdom, won two awards at Expo 2020 Dubai for the Peru Pavilion, which captivated visitors through the concept of "Timeless Peru." First, the trade publication Exhibitor presented the pavilion with the World Expo Award in the People’s Choice Awards category, following an online vote where people from around the world selected their best overall experience from the expo.
Additionally, on March 30 of this year, the Peru Pavilion won the Gold Award at the BIE Day Awards in the Self-built pavilions – Category B (between 1,750m2 and 2,500m2) category. The award recognized three key aspects: architecture and landscape, exhibition design, and theme interpretation.
As part of the cultural agenda for Art Week 2022 in Mexico City, guadalajara90210—in collaboration with Michan Architecture and Luis Young—presented the exhibition "YACIMIENTOS," featuring works by 53 artists and architects. The venue, a building currently under reconstruction in the Condesa neighborhood, hosted the exhibition from February 12 to 20.
This mobile installation adapts to achieve structural parasitism, prompting us to rethink how we occupy the inert and hidden spaces that make up our cities.
As part of the ideas competition organized by the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (ITBA), Aisenson Arquitectos, together with associated firm MGHS, won first prize for the design of the institution's main headquarters building, to be located along the central axis of the Innovation Park in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
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