RSAA / Büro Ziyu Zhuang has unveiled the design for the "Linpan Guesthouse" in Chengdu. Located in Chongzhou, a county-level city under the administration of Chengdu, the project sits in a region with a rich history and deep cultural heritage that has inspired the poetry of literary figures like Lu You, Du Fu, and Wang Bo, preserving the ancient style, charm, and character of western Sichuan. The "Linpan Guesthouse" scheme integrates western Sichuan's historical residential spatial typology with local climatic conditions, cultural characteristics, and the living habits and lifestyles of the local population. It aims to overlap and reorganize the *linpan* (traditional forest settlement) archetype with the multi-point perspective of traditional Chinese painting on a spatial level. This approach seeks to enrich the spatial dynamics and narrative possibilities of both the interior and exterior architectural experience. The project is currently under construction.

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Thirty-three years ago, the Association of Architects of the State of Jalisco (Colegio de Arquitectos del Estado de Jalisco A.C.) established the Jalisco Architecture Prize to recognize the work of established architects and to encourage and motivate architectural professionals in the State of Jalisco. The award also promotes the state's long-standing tradition of excellence and innovation, which has produced numerous outstanding professionals, including the one who lends his name to the lifetime achievement award: Luis Barragán. This year, the award ceremony took place at the Teatro Degollado, where the jury announced the final verdict and named the following winners:

Far from over, discussions on race and gender in architecture are only beginning to gain momentum. One of their outcomes is the emergence of projects and initiatives that seek to map and identify Black architects who, despite their numbers and prolific activity, are rarely cited—or published.

Still rare and absolutely necessary, these initiatives represent an important step toward fairer, more egalitarian recognition in the field of architecture. Below, we present four investigative projects that aim to identify and shed light on these professionals and their work. 

It is time to say goodbye to 2018 and look back at everything we have achieved. What captured our interest? What surprised us? What made an impact?

After presenting the best architecture of 2018, we decided to round up and highlight some of the Argentine projects that generated the most engagement on our social networks. Goodbye 2018, hello 2019.

The video TEMPO: Reabilitação da Quinta do Bom Pastor, produced by Building Pictures, depicts the rehabilitation process of Quinta do Bom Pastor, transformed into the Headquarters of the Episcopal Conference of Portugal, a project by architect Nuno Valentim.

The video's story begins with the estate already rehabilitated. We are confronted with the question: “What if time turned back?” and the video unfolds by defying the old Portuguese saying, inviting the viewer to take a journey back in time through the construction process to the moment when the building lay in ruins. In the end, a passing train brings us back to the present, leading us to learn more about the rehabilitated project.

Videos

The exhibition Vkhutemas: The Future in Construction 1918-2018, currently on view at Sesc Pompeia and curated by Neide Jallageas and Celso Lima, introduces the public to the Soviet pedagogical experience of Vkhutemas — the Moscow School of Arts and Techniques, founded in 1920. Despite its brief existence, closing in 1930, the school's teaching and production methodologies exerted a profound influence on the 20th-century global art scene.

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The proposal is part of a Master Plan that includes 32 experimental rural housing prototypes designed by different architecture firms invited to reflect on rural housing production across the country, as well as a welcome center designed by MOS Architects.

The project by Dellekamp Arquitectos, located in Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico, spans a total area of 1,465 square meters across two levels. It aims to enhance the duality between the welcome center and the central prototype area—which is framed by the two linear volumes—thereby strengthening the overall urban complex.

The Gustavo Capanema Palace will officially serve as one of the venues for the 27th World Congress of Architects – UIA 2020 Rio. The authorization agreement for the building's use was signed on Thursday, September 20, during an event marking the completion of the restoration work on the building's facades. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture; the president of Iphan, Kátia Bogéa; the president of the IAB, Nivaldo de Andrade; the UIA Vice President for the Americas, Roberto Simon; the president of UIA2020RIO, Sérgio Magalhães; as well as the presidents of CAU/BR and CAU/RJ, Luciano Guimarães and Jeferson Salazar, respectively.

When designing a building, a recurring thought is often how long it will endure. Once construction is complete and the building opens its doors to users, its lifespan begins, and it gradually establishes its legacy. This raises the question of how it will be remembered, of what imprint the building will leave on our minds: architectural memory. And like human memory, architectural memory is fickle. Buildings are forgotten just as memories fade.

Madrid's architecture makes excellent use of memory. Styles characteristic of its historic heritage remain standing today, fully functional. The Neo-Mudéjar style, for example, took root at the end of the 19th century; today, numerous surviving examples remain vital urban hubs, housing uses such as hospitals, universities, schools, care homes, cultural centers, and museums.

Closed for more than two years for renovations, the Altino Arantes Building, affectionately nicknamed Banespão by locals, will reopen to the public tomorrow in celebration of São Paulo's 464th anniversary. Built in 1947 to house the headquarters of the State Bank of São Paulo (Banespa), the 161-meter-tall skyscraper offered visitors access to its observation deck with panoramic views of the city.

Now, the downtown icon will feature a series of attractions including a museum on the building's history, art exhibitions, a skate park, and a loft available for rent on Airbnb.

From the Fundación Arquia Blog, architect María Álvarez García presents an article on the controversial revival of garden cities in England's urban planning, which is depopulating city centers—proposals that lead to an inevitable segregation of uses that is neither sustainable nor conducive to social and economic development.

I have always felt a certain disconnect between the narrative found in popular songs, sociological and anthropological texts, and the actual experience of Carnival in Brazil. It is a gap between the promise of a rich, pluralistic festivity and the reality of someone born in the 1980s, growing up amidst the rise of mass culture, widespread violence, and a dehumanizing urbanization that leads to the abandonment or commercialization of urban rituals.

When we think of architecture in broad terms, certain masterpieces of the past inevitably come to mind—buildings constructed to withstand the passage of time, which have found an ally in the years, cementing their place in human history. Yet permanence is a heavy burden to bear, and architecture that is ephemeral by program should not be dismissed as less important.

Do you often find yourself complaining about a client’s lack of design sensibility? Do you frequently criticize the gap between renderings and reality? Do you often wish your architectural designs were closer to perfection?
How can these issues be resolved before a building is actually constructed?
There is only one answer: VR technology!
It allows clients to experience fully simulated designs, validating your ideas, while enabling designers to experience spaces beforehand to optimize their designs.
But what exactly is VR, and how powerful can it be?

Technological progress and development are increasingly shaping architectural design and representation. Because architecture inherently revolves around spatial experience, it provides a vast canvas for the application of VR technology. As a leading global provider of architectural VR technology, Sheencity has developed its core product, Mars, leveraging VR to allow projects to be immersively experienced and refined, while outputting animations and renderings at breakneck speeds. Directly compatible with the most common modeling software used by architects—such as SketchUp, Rhino, and 3ds Max—Mars instantly converts designs into VR scenes, delivering real-time rendering.

An advocate for architecture closer to the natural environment and focused on people, Toyo Ito is currently one of the world's most influential and award-winning Japanese architects. During a visit to Brazil, Ito spoke to Haus magazine about the verticalization of cities—especially Tokyo—the ethereal qualities of architecture, and the lessons of contemporary Japanese architecture for the world.

Videos

Last May, the Canary Islands International Environmental Film Festival (FICMEC) celebrated its twentieth edition in Garachico, a small coastal town in northern Tenerife. On this occasion, a group of students from the School of Architecture at the Universidad Europea de Canarias participated in the festival by designing and constructing a series of four ephemeral architectural installations that boldly colonized iconic spots along Garachico's waterfront promenade.

Through four interventions, the students transformed the promenade with the dual goal of raising visibility for the festival and increasing public awareness of the impact of our daily habits on the environment.

Explore the proposals below.

The Competition for Urban Space Intervention was created to establish a tradition of developing innovative ideas on contemporary themes through temporary installations in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico. Organized by the Festival Provincia, the event will take place in April 2018, offering locals, national visitors, and international tourists new experiences to reflect on their environment.

It is a frequent observation that Brazilian cities have grown haphazardly, without proper planning. Likewise, it is often said that Brazil's urban legislation is modern, yet translating these best practices into reality remains a challenge. However, few people actually understand how the gears of urban planning work and how these mechanisms can help guide urban centers toward a better, more sustainable future.

After visiting numerous sites that have been the setting for tragic crimes against humanity and violent conflicts, one can make a simple observation: the space of collective memory is not solely confined to a memorial building that commemorates through names and stories. Particularly in Latin America, it is also a place evoked through gatherings and public demands.

Lima has a strong tradition of courtyard houses, which is why we will always find this typology familiar and captivating. We recognize these courtyards as well-contained and distanced from one another, with each having its own time-space within the home.

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The 'Vivienda para Rosario' (Housing for Rosario) project by Rojkind Arquitectos + Dosa Studio arose in response to the events of 19S, when an earthquake with its epicenter in Morelos shook different areas of the country. In response, various organizations such as Reconstruir México, Pienza Sostenible, and Échale a tu Casa stepped in to support affected families by proposing long-term sustainable solutions. Guided by the premise that demolishing to rebuild from scratch was not the solution, efforts focused on promoting the reuse of existing materials and structures to facilitate diagnostic assessments and prevent future disasters.

Overlooking the Río de la Plata, in the quiet of Laguna del Diario, amidst trees and a vast sky, lies Casa Poseidón, an example of modern Uruguayan architecture designed by Samuel Flores Flores in 1978. Unsurprisingly—as private interests and a lack of awareness have made demolition a recurring theme—its quiet existence is being disrupted to make way for yet another casualty of the real estate market.

The announcement of its demolition, justified by the construction of a building complex, has sparked well-founded criticism from the community seeking to protect the country's tangible architectural heritage. What are your thoughts on this?

Espacio Odeón in Bogotá has announced the winning projects for the open call Odeón o de la contingencia. This marks the Colombian venue's fourth exhibition cycle, for which curators Alejandro Martín Maldonado and Estudio Altiplano have organized an architectural competition that explores the spatial conditions of Odeón, as well as its history, present, and future.

According to the organizers, the exhibition "will present proposals that intervene in the building and question—through humor, play, and fiction—its spatial, heritage, urban, and economic conditions, while speculating on new ways of inhabiting, intervening in, and maintaining it."