Late last November, we published the winners of the second open call for graduation projects in Colombia, also known as theses, receiving 70 entries from 14 cities and 29 universities. Ultimately, nine projects passed the three stages of evaluation, standing out for addressing pressing systemic issues, developing deep research analyses, and posing both urban and rural challenges, just like in 2016.

In this feature, we take an in-depth look at "BHP: Bioclimatic Multi-Family Housing Prototype," developed by Natalia Carrero and Juan Celis (Universidad Santo Tomás, Bucaramanga campus) and selected for the 2017 edition of Archiprix International.

Eduardo Souto de Moura, the 2011 Pritzker Prize laureate, is perhaps, alongside Álvaro Siza, the most influential Portuguese architect today, with a consistent body of work marked by projects that demonstrate an impressive attention to local specificity.

The mismanagement of water in a city built on a former lakebed—as is the case with Mexico City—has become a daily and cyclical struggle over the years. Consequently, various authors have studied different ways to address the cataclysmic impact of denying a site's geographical history. However, Mexico City's water crisis is not limited to constant flooding; it also involves a drinking water supply that is often insufficient and unequally distributed across different areas. This is due to an inefficient underground distribution system, adding further complexity to an issue that remains a constant challenge in urban planning and infrastructure.

This article was originally published as 'Solving Mexico City's cataclysmic cycle of drowning, drying, and sinking' in Quartz.

Nodes or gathering zones are the key points in urban dynamics, as they facilitate interaction between citizens and the architectural object. Many buildings seek to capitalize on the opportunities provided by their context to connect the architectural design with the landscape, thereby strengthening and introducing new approaches to understanding and viewing urban relationships and architecture from a different perspective.

As an axis connected to the city, a building must understand the relationship between architecture and the urban environment. It should be generous, opening its constituent spaces to the city and its residents to create shared areas for participation, thereby enriching the experience of the city and its surrounding environment.

For this reason, we have selected 5 projects that integrate urban dynamics, providing spaces for civic gathering.  

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Few names fit the label of “cult writer” as perfectly as Raymond Queneau, who boasts a fanatical following of near-militant devotees of the cause: literature as a very serious game. From the outset, and even upon the most cursory reading, Exercises in Style, written by the French author in 1949, is radically different from conventional literature. The book positions itself—or pretends to—in a kind of no-man's-land between literary theory and practice, giving the impression of having been crafted based on the chapters of a style manual. Queneau rejects any preconceived schema that might have grouped the “exercises” by theme, gradual complexity, or simple alphabetical order. He does not even work from a single baseline text. At times, he opts for a purely mechanical game of textual transformation to produce a sense of sheer nonsense.

It is no wonder that this seven-decade-old book still feels revolutionary and remains an essential manual in literary programs. What Queneau showed us then—that playful, mocking creative freedom—remains difficult to match today. For this reason, such an exercise in variation, of refusing to set limits on the imagination, is and must be compatible with the craft of architectural model-making. What Queneau demonstrated, starting with an unremarkable text and transforming it 99 times, is precisely what any architect should attempt to translate into their model-making. It is the art of variation and accumulation—“difference and repetition,” as Gilles Deleuze would say. It means working 99 times on the same idea, watching it transform until, at some point, we are able to recognize its ultimate synthesis.

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The curatorial proposal for the Mexican Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale emphasizes the geographical, imaginary, and cultural weight of Mexican architecture. The pavilion responds to the theme Freespace—set by the Biennale's Artistic Directors, Irish architects Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara—and establishes the connections expressed through interaction with the intangible and the integration of cultural heritage in
architecture.

The Mexican Pavilion in Venice not only highlights the echoes between the territory and architectural thought of 21 participants, but also the voice and vision of those whose careers have listened to and captured the understanding and vulnerability currently represented by the morphology of a challenging territory for architecture.

On October 20, 2017, KAR Properties LLC—a New York-based real estate investment and development firm—celebrated the opening of the showroom for the new 2000 Ocean residential development.

The private event was hosted by developer Shahab Karmely and the marketing team from Douglas Elliman Development who fielded questions and discussed the amenities, vision, and design of the project.

Guests included world-renowned architect Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos, who is responsible for the design of 2000 Ocean; international representatives from Minotti; Howard M. Lorber, President of Douglas Elliman Realty LLC; Jay Phillip Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman Florida; as well as prospective buyers, real estate brokers, and the press.

Emilio De la Cerda, director of the School of Architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile since 2014, has been chosen to assume the newly created position of Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage in the South American country's new Ministry of Culture, the Arts, and Heritage, an institution that began operations on March 1st.

Among his responsibilities, De la Cerda will coordinate the activities of the new National Cultural Heritage Service and will "propose policies, and design and evaluate plans and programs in areas related to folklore, traditional cultures, indigenous cultures and heritage, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, heritage infrastructure, and citizen participation in collective memory and heritage definition processes," according to the official regulations for the position.

In just over three months, Érica Oiticica and Sâmyla Souza, students at the School of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), designed a Complete Street project that earned them an award and the opportunity to present their ideas to a global audience at a conference in Tanzania. The “As Cidades Somos Nós” (Our Cities Ourselves) competition inspired the duo to put their best urban planning ideas onto paper to transform a street in Belo Horizonte.

This week, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) released the call for applications for a civil service examination that will open 411 positions across the country. Organized by the Brazilian Center for Research in Assessment and Selection and Promotion of Events (Cebraspe), the selection process was authorized on May 3 by the Ministry of Planning, Budget, and Management (MP) and is the result of a strong national mobilization aimed at highlighting the importance of preserving Brazilian cultural heritage to society.

This article is adapted from a South China Morning Post report titled "China's architecture should focus more on public space." In this interview, Peter Schubert, Design Partner at Ennead Architects, discusses how Chinese cities can achieve a "renaissance" amid today's rapid urban expansion. Below is the full interview:

Today, urban construction in China is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Skyscrapers are mushrooming, while various infrastructure projects and commercial complexes emerge one after another. Indeed, China has surpassed the rest of the world to become the nation with the largest volume, grandest scale, and fastest pace of construction. Monolithic, single-use, supertall buildings define city skylines, symbolizing the modernization and globalization of Chinese society.

Museums are vital sources of knowledge, housing some of the most significant works of architecture in history and bringing learning closer to the curious minds who experience them. On May 18, International Museum Day was celebrated with various activities taking place across some of Mexico's most representative venues. Because the country's cultural wealth deserves ongoing celebration, we have compiled a selection of iconic museums where art and architecture merge to define unique spaces. What are your favorite museums in your city?

The fourth edition of Open House Madrid has come to a close with record-breaking attendance. The open-door events, the Open House Madrid architecture congress, and more than 30 activities held throughout October drew nearly 82,000 visitors.

According to festival co-directors Paloma Gómez Marín and Pati Núñez, these figures confirm the city's interest in the initiative: “Open House Madrid includes a variety of activities that reach highly diverse audiences, from architects, interior designers, and students to residents curious to learn more about their surroundings. We are also seeing a growing number of visitors from outside Madrid who travel here specifically for the festival.”

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The Open Museum is a project designed by Mexican architect Fernanda Canales as part of the Arch Days CDMX and Design Week 2018 activities. It consists of three courtyards of different sizes that extend the museum into the park, creating a new meeting point alongside the Tamayo Museum. The pavilion's shape follows the natural flow of pedestrian paths in the area, introducing a new experience based on linked spaces that frame the existing trees, the sky, and the museum's sloped side wall, which is transformed into a new agora.

At the center of a dispute since the early 2000s, the land adjacent to Teatro Oficina, in São Paulo's Bixiga neighborhood, drew media attention again late last year when CONEPHAAT approved the construction of high-rise residential towers on the plot owned by Grupo Silvio Santos, located on the floodplain of the Bexiga Creek.

In response, and coinciding with the 464th anniversary of the city of São Paulo, the offices Brasil Arquitetura and Urbeflux Engenharia Consultiva released an open letter to the city of São Paulo. The letter outlines guidelines for a "necessary change of direction in the management of urban waters," aiming to resolve the impasse over the land's future "for the greater benefit of its citizens and Brazilian culture."

Tec de Monterrey, in collaboration with the Architectural Association (AA), is launching a new certificate program titled Metropolitan Landscapes / Escenarios Metropolitanos. This program combines Tec's commitment to urban development with the AA's experimental tradition, addressing the emergence of a metropolitan discipline worldwide.

Based in Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey) and the United Kingdom (London), the program explores the visionary role that design can play within the so-called "urban age" and "Anthropocene epoch," given the scale of global urbanization processes. To do so, it utilizes the latest urban, critical, technological, ecological, and landscape concepts to shape the discipline.

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Shifting the street design paradigm that has been applied for decades in Brazil is challenging. Viewing every road through the eyes of someone who thinks first of people, rather than automobiles, is an increasingly necessary and urgent exercise in urban planning. Against this backdrop, the Complete Streets concept seeks to build safer, healthier, and more equitable streets.

To help professionals from various fields understand and implement the principles of Complete Streets, WRI Brasil and the National Front of Mayors (FNP) created the Complete Streets Online Seminars. Eight webinars were held throughout 2018, exploring various topics related to the stages of project development. Hundreds of people from 150 Brazilian cities attended presentations by 17 specialists representing ten different organizations.

While the founding of Spanish-American cities has always been linked to the availability of water sources, they have not always successfully integrated their urban development with the rivers that run through them. In the case of Córdoba, this is evident in its relationship with the Suquía River, which the city turned its back on during the twentieth century, treating it as an industrial boundary.

Conversely, the partial channelization of the La Cañada stream is perceived almost as an inherent element of the city, becoming a defining feature of the urban landscape both as a structuring, organizing axis and as a major scenic and tourist attraction.

The modernization of Bogotá between 1940 and 1970, captured in urban and architectural photographic reportages, has been documented in various books, magazines, and photobooks of the era, as well as in images from the city's public and private archives. These photographs reveal a deliberate, even critical, approach to how modern architecture reconfigured city centers and put new buildings and urban spaces in relation to the existing urban landscape.

When analyzing the impact of photography on architecture, it is essential to discuss Paul Beer and Germán Téllez. While both captured a wide spectrum of subjects, these two photographers dedicated themselves more specifically to architectural photography. Commissioned by the most prestigious architectural firms of the era, their photographs reveal distinct yet complementary values, relationships, and aspects of modern architecture and the city.

In this edition of Bogotá in the Eyes of 10 Photographers we explore the legacy of Germán Téllez:

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Projects from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil have been selected as winners of the 2018 CICOP Chile Award. This is the fourth national—and second international—edition of the Latin American competition open to graduation projects that develop interventions on buildings, built complexes, or areas of heritage value.

"Acting with sensitivity and technical expertise regarding built heritage helps unite efforts toward conservation and reinforces the contribution that the professional field can make to transmitting heritage values to future generations," explained the organizers of the competition, which received 92 submissions in this edition.

The competition director was Nicolas Iza, while general coordination was led by Marco Antonio Orellana. The jury comprised Arturo López Bachiller and David Avila, representing the firm Luis Vidal + Arquitectos, along with María Inés Arribas, Mabel Briceño, Antonino Pirozzi, and Carolina Vergara, representing CICOP Chile.

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Celebrated globally every year, World Car-Free Day was established to encourage reflection on the excessive use of private cars for daily commutes and its environmental impact. The initiative encourages drivers to leave their vehicles behind for a day, improving air quality and urban life while promoting walking and non-polluting modes of transportation, such as cycling.

The event was officially launched in France in 1997 under the title "Car-Free Day," later spreading across Europe and, eventually, the world. Building on this momentum, European Mobility Week was launched in 2002, featuring an agenda dedicated to discussions and activities aimed at raising public awareness about the negative impacts of car dependency on air quality, the environment, human health, and cities. Urbanists and researchers such as Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, and Jeff Speck, among many others, have long demonstrated that the indiscriminate use of automobiles has severe consequences for urban environments.

Description courtesy of the project team:

Located in the heart of this neighborhood, at Marsella #59, Vitrina was born from the desire to create a design-focused exhibition space that goes beyond commercial interests. Inspired by the window displays of early 20th-century department stores, the space fosters a dialogue between designers, pedestrians, and the neighborhood, exploring recent trends in the design scene and how each creator expresses their vision.

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With Socially Responsible Design as its central theme, the World Design Capital CDMX 2018 program proposes an agenda to establish a forum for connection, reflection, and dialogue on design as a force that shapes material life and ideas to build a livable city.

The agenda for the coming months (April–June) of World Design Capital CDMX 2018 includes official events, academic, cultural, and design activities. The official events, organized under the guidelines of the World Design Organization (WDO), will take place in April; meanwhile, the local program—highlighting the Interuniversity Circuit and the cultural agenda—will run throughout the year.

Notably, the exhibitions, conferences, urban interventions, and educational projects are guided by six cross-cutting themes: inhabitants, mobility, identity, environment, public space, and creative economy. 

The modernization of Bogotá between 1940 and 1970, captured in urban and architectural photographic essays, has been documented in various books, magazines, and photobooks of the era, as well as in images from the city's public and private archives. These photographs reveal a deliberate, and even critical, approach to how modern architecture reconfigured city centers, juxtaposing new buildings and urban spaces with the existing urban landscape.

To analyze the impact of street photography, one must look to Leo Matiz, Armando Matiz and Hernán Díaz. These three photographers captured the people, events, and urban life of Bogotá. From their extensive bodies of work, we have selected and highlighted images of streets, plazas, intersections, and landmark buildings. Whether capturing iconic or anonymous locations, these photographs cement modern heritage in the collective memory, casting architecture and urban spaces as the main protagonists.

In this edition of Bogotá through the Eyes of 10 Photographers, we explore the legacy of Hernán Díaz:

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