The controversial "sun tax," a measure implemented several years ago by the Spanish government, has been eliminated thanks to the new Royal Decree-Law 15/2018 on energy transition. Approved by the Council of Ministers, this measure comes at a time when Spain remains far from meeting the targets set by the European Union in this area.

Among other measures, the Royal Decree establishes the right to self-consume electricity free of charge; recognizes the right to shared self-consumption (multiple users sharing a single installation); simplifies administrative procedures; limits electricity bill prices; and introduces measures to promote electric vehicles. 

The Chilean firm TALLER25 has launched the first edition of the des_VINCULADOS workshop in Santiago. This project-based academic initiative addresses an emerging theme in Chilean practice: middle-class architecture. To this end, students were assigned a specific design intervention—extension, renovation, or new construction—and a budget estimated by the original clients: five middle-class families living in Santiago's inner ring and periphery.

"Currently, projects built for the vast majority of the country's population tend to be the result of architectural practice treated as a mere commercial service, rather than an opportunity to contribute to the discipline, improve the users' quality of life, or build a more equitable context," explain Fabiola González, Yair Estay, and Jessica Torres, the organizers of the workshop, which is part of the Encargos Comunes academic research project.

In partnership with the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Chile, and with ArchDaily as a media partner, the first edition of the workshop involved 43 students from across Santiago. They developed the following proposals after a series of sessions that included a panel discussion and five thematic sessions: practice, regulations, budget and construction, and market.

Gentrification is not only a timely topic, but a widespread concern. Today, it might make more sense to speak of touristification, or perhaps the phenomenon itself has evolved. Nevertheless, the term gentrification can broadly encompass all these concepts related to the displacement of a neighborhood's "original" inhabitants, who are replaced by residents with higher purchasing power or by vacation rentals.

This is an issue that interests people from all walks of life, not just professionals in urban planning or architecture. It draws the attention of citizens who, like myself, set out to find explanations or try to gather clues about what the future may hold under this trend.

From my perspective as an engineer—but above all as a Madrid resident—I decided to research the data published by the City Council on the city's commercial premises to see if it was possible to draw any conclusions on the matter. The purpose of this study was purely exploratory, conducted without any external commission. I had no preconceived hypothesis or goal beyond identifying certain neighborhoods as gentrified; the analysis simply grew from there, keeping all possibilities open.

In September, we launched the third edition of our open call in Colombia, inviting architects to submit their graduation thesis projects (as final degree projects are known there). In this edition, the call received 94 submissions from more than 10 cities and 22 universities across the country, representing a 34% increase in proposals compared to 2017.

Following a thorough evaluation, six graduation theses were selected as winners by our editorial jury (Fabián Dejtiar, Mónica Arellano, José Tomás Franco and Nicolás Valencia). Built works, historical research, and master plans make up our selection: from a rural residential prototype to a comprehensive study of the Edificio de Renta (rental building), a popular residential format in Bogotá between the 1940s and 1970s.

Additionally, for the first time we included a high-level external jury tasked with selecting the Grand Winner 2018. The jury comprised Lina Toro (Madrid), Carlos Cano (OPUS, Medellín), and Jorge Noreña (Ruta 4, Pereira). "While architecture requires rigor, dedication, and communication skills, it also demands strengthening connections with urbanism and landscape, as well as with professions that make transformative ideas viable," Cano commented during the jury's evaluation.

According to the Madrid City Council, the proportion of homes dedicated to tourist use in the Spanish capital is 0.54%. However, this figure rises to 6% in the Centro district, meaning that 23 times more tourists overnight in this area than in Madrid's other 20 districts combined.

To address this, last January the Governing Board of the City of Madrid approved the drafting of a Special Plan for the Regulation of Tourism in the City of Madrid (PEOTMad), alongside a one-year moratorium on licensing for all forms of tourist accommodation in properties currently used as residential housing across all neighborhoods in the Centro district.

Prompted by the invitation of the upcoming OH! Stgo 2018—taking place this September 8 and 9—architect Sebastián Gray uses striking data to launch a reflection on the challenges facing contemporary Santiago. For this edition, various figures were called upon to think about the city currently being built, the role that individuals and communities assume in this construction, the major urban issues of the past year, and the challenges projected for the future.

The video captures conversations that reflect the life and dynamics of our cities today. Other participants include architect Jorge Lobos, who addresses current migration processes and how they shape the urban landscape; journalist Soledad Onetto, who highlights the high costs affecting residents; and Paola Jirón, who delves into mobility systems, among others.

The "Single-Family Home" Architectural Design Workshop, organized by the architecture firm Cota Paredes Arquitectos, concluded its fourth edition, inviting recent graduates and final-semester architecture students to develop a single-family housing project over four weeks, either in person or online.

The project involved designing a home for a small family within a gated community in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. The proposal also had to comply with the building regulations of the "Los Robles" development, incorporating essential guidelines to achieve a single-family home design based on the concepts of introspective architecture.

This week, Congress approved the creation of 231 positions for the office of the federal interventor in Rio de Janeiro and the Extraordinary Ministry of Public Security — to fund these new roles, positions will be eliminated at the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan).

Of the newly created positions, all of which are appointed roles, 67 will be allocated to the office of the interventor, General Walter Braga Netto, and 164 will be chosen by the Extraordinary Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann.

Architecture and urban planning is a field that constantly evolves in tandem with technological advancements. This is true for heavy machinery used in construction, building materials, and design tools alike. Today, this evolution is closely tied to BIM technology.

BIM stands for Building Information Modeling. It is a workflow that gathers, through digital tools, all information regarding the construction of a building. 

Like any other discipline or science, urban planning is dedicated to the empirical study of planning and organizing cities and territories. It faces not only the challenges of designing agile mobility, planning accessible residential fabric, allocating land for economic activities, and efficiently managing environmental and energy impacts, but also the ultimate goal of making the resulting cities as livable as possible.

Named after Arturo Soria, Arturo is an algorithm trained by citizens and designed to determine which urban variables make our cities more livable. Much like Arturo Soria himself—whose commitment to livability was evident in projects like the Ciudad Lineal—the algorithm aims to turn livability into a measurable parameter, into objective data. To achieve this, it relies on the input of thousands of citizens to build an accurate picture of what makes a city livable.

A few days ago, the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation presented the design for CaixaForum Valencia, a project led by Enric Ruiz-Geli and his studio Cloud 9. The foundation's ninth cultural venue in Spain will be located inside the Ágora in the City of Arts and Sciences, designed by Santiago Calatrava.

CaixaForum Valencia will have an area of 6,500 square meters, housing two exhibition halls, a 300-seat auditorium, two multipurpose classrooms, a bar-restaurant, a bookstore, and a family and educational space called CaixaForum Familia, as well as reception areas, offices, storage, and technical zones.

On this occasion, we present the proposal by MIAS Architects, a firm led by Josep Miàs and one of the nine offices invited by the foundation to participate in the competition. “The new CaixaForum [must] actively engage with the Ágora building, establishing a relationship that is not only volumetric but also perceptual,” the architects explain.

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On July 17, the Council of the Arq. Marcelo Zambrano Scholarship selected architect Nuria Benítez Gómez as this year's winner: “The Arq. Marcelo Zambrano Scholarship is an initiative through which CEMEX reaffirms its commitment to Mexican architecture, promoting the professionalization of the construction industry by training highly talented young architects,” stated Juan Romero, President of CEMEX Mexico. “I recognize the important work of the Scholarship Council in choosing the winner during this year's deliberations, which, as in every year, has been highly enriching and now even more challenging due to the high level of competition and quality of work among the applicants.”

Architect Rafael Pina Lupiáñez, writing for the ARKRIT Collective, reflects on the single-family house as an experimental manifesto of the modern architect—a space where the designer's theories, trends, and concerns materialize through a close, collaborative relationship with the client. By comparing two houses built in Quito, Ecuador, by architects Daniel Moreno and Sebastián Calero, this article illustrates how housing can serve as the perfect stage to unify design experience, client participation, environmental awareness, the reuse of waste materials, and other contemporary ethical approaches.

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On Thursday, October 11, a new space named Design House opened in Mexico City, showcasing a series of interventions that blend design, architecture, and interior design. Over the past nine years, the event has presented cutting-edge proposals from 100 participating firms across various venues. This is done in collaboration with showrooms along the Ruta del Diño (Design Route), which provide the furniture and accessories featured in the various spaces.

For this year's edition, Design House features 24 renowned architecture and interior design firms. Guided by their unique visions, they have transformed different spaces, drawing inspiration from prominent personalities across various social spheres in Mexico.

One of the first courses I took in the introductory cycle at the School of Architecture was Design Studio. Around 100 young students gathered in the studio, where an architect warmly welcomed us and spoke about the course syllabus. She happily explained that she had recently become the course chair. At the time, I was not aware of academic hierarchies, but I understood it was significant. Over the years, I noticed that most courses were led by men. Therefore, what that architect had achieved was uncommon: she had shattered the glass ceiling by reaching a position of leadership and authority.

This situation is particularly striking because this disparity is not reflected in the classrooms of FADU (University of Buenos Aires). In the architecture program, over 60% of students are women, according to architect Carolina Quiroga. Although women hold 45% of teaching positions, according to a report by the FADU Teaching Administration Department, none of the 'Design' studios—the core subject of the curriculum—are led by female tenured professors.

Unfortunately, the academic world is not the only place where this inequality exists.

The open call for projects for the Brazilian Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale closed on Friday, January 19, at 11:00 p.m., after being open to the public for one month. 

The initiative aimed to find projects across Brazil that demonstrate architecture as a tool to mediate conflicts, negotiate transitions between the public and private realms, and articulate connections between distinct urban fabrics. 

Before discussing how and by whom this project is internationally acclaimed, it is important to recognize its regional relevance. Built for the University of Piura, this classroom building is a robust educational project located in the middle of the northern desert. In light of the events of 2017 in various parts of Peru caused by the devastating El Niño phenomenon—where the north was hit hardest, losing many poorly situated buildings made of inadequate materials—this building stands firm. It exemplifies how to intervene with sensitivity, coherence, and respect for the local climate and landscape, serving as a replicable model for national reconstruction. Furthermore, it represents a major contribution to improving the quality of—and investment in—educational spaces outside the capital, promoting decentralization and offering better education and opportunities to students.

Beyond its domestic impact, the project has also garnered significant international recognition:

Over the past five years, Lisbon has attracted significant international attention, driving major changes in the Portuguese capital's urban life. From foreign technology investment to the promotion of cultural initiatives, these transformations are both positive and negative—a complex issue currently debated through the lens of gentrification, echoing developments in other global cities such as Berlin, Portland, and San Francisco.

On the cultural front, the city boasts an impressive diversity of initiatives, ranging from the opening of major, world-class museums—such as MAAT and Coches—to a rich culture of urban graffiti murals. This scene is supported by initiatives like the Underdogs cultural platform, which has worked with artists from around the world since 2013 to bring these paintings to the city's walls.

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What is the manufacturing process of a chair like?

Our partners at Herman Miller opened the doors of their factories and offices in Michigan, United States, to show us the complex yet efficient design and manufacturing process of their various furniture pieces and products. During a three-day tour, we saw that their production involves a high level of detail and craftsmanship, where the experience and skill of their workers are essential.

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The tragic end in early 2017 of the Guzmán House, designed by architect Alejandro de la Sota, seems poised to repeat itself—this time with the Vallet de Goytisolo House, one of three works built in the capital by José Antonio Coderch (1913-1984), a prominent 20th-century Spanish architect, and his partner Manuel Valls.

According to the newspaper El Mundo, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid has issued a report rejecting the designation of this example of modern residential architecture—located at 5 Belisana Street in Madrid's Ciudad Lineal district—as a heritage site.

Here, the ARKRIT Collective presents three hypotheses that stabilize and support the potential liberal logic behind the Quinta Monroy project by the firm ELEMENTAL, in light of the current reality of this social housing complex fifteen years after its construction—a reality that begs the question: did this project succeed in addressing inequality in Chile?

Videos

Fronteira Livre was a process that generated interventions in six stations of the São Paulo Metro Red Line for the 11th Architecture Biennial: Em Projeto. The initiative was collaboratively developed by immigrants, activists, architects, social workers, and artists during a ten-day immersive workshop at CAMI (Immigrant Support Center) in São Paulo.

Established in 1900 following a 19-hectare afforestation effort spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Works and the Intendency of Santiago, Parque Forestal is located on the northern edge of the city's historic center, making it one of Santiago's first linear parks.

Designed by French landscape architect George Dubois, the project revitalized the surrounding urban edges, successfully integrating the Mapocho River and its previously chaotic banks, while providing the city with a new green lung for urban recreation.

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Two young entrepreneurs from Curitiba have developed a technological innovation that brings a long-held dream within reach for many Brazilians: owning a personal power plant. As reported by Tribuna do Paraná, mechanical engineers Felipe Wotecoski (31) and Juliano Rataiczyk (30) have created a device capable of generating electricity in a backyard with minimal environmental impact.

Similar in size to a four-burner stove, the micro-plant can generate up to 720 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month—enough electricity to power three to four homes and feed the surplus back into the grid. According to the engineers, this output translates to savings of approximately R$ 500 per month on electricity bills.