Undoubtedly, 2018 has been one of the most important years in the history of ArchDaily México. Through both our existing and newly introduced tools, we have succeeded in providing inspiration, knowledge, and tools to architects currently facing the challenge of designing the future, aiming to improve the quality of life for those living in the world's urban centers.

This year, we connected more closely with our readers through various tools that fostered dialogue, participation, and the work of our Instagram community, aligning more closely with your interests. This community now consists of 71k followers who actively participate daily to discuss the present and future of architecture.

The American Planning Association (APA) recently announced that Sasaki’s 2006 Vision Plan for Beijing's 798 Art District has been honored with the organization's highest accolade, the Pierre L’Enfant International Planning Excellence Award. Today, the 798 Art District in Beijing is a thriving, mixed-use district that welcomes over three million visitors annually, earning a reputation as the city's third most popular destination after the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The district's success has set a benchmark for the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and is internationally recognized as a model for industrial regeneration.

As ride-hailing services like Uber continue to gain popularity and draw attention for their impact on traffic congestion and other urban ills, cities around the world, from Washington, D.C., to São Paulo, are moving toward the inevitable next step: targeted fees.

This comes as no surprise. Recent research shows that these services are contributing to declining public transit ridership and an increase in private vehicles on the streets. However, new taxes and fees should do more than just raise revenue. They have the potential to make cities more livable and transport more sustainable. If ride-hailing services are taxed, this revenue must be allocated carefully, in ways that improve urban mobility as a whole.

The need for both physical and mental reconstruction opens the door to various interpretations, highlighting the human capacity to adapt despite adversity: resilient individuals facing challenges in remote territories once constrained by armed conflict, oppression, and fear.

Post-conflict architecture is one of the major contributions to rebuilding a country that needs greater social awareness in this peace process. Redefining territories, preserving memory, and fostering a sense of ownership are the essential characteristics shaping these architectural spaces and reclaiming areas once marked by violence. Today, their symbolism plays an important role within many communities that find identity through architecture, proving that these remote locations in Colombia are now examples of unity and coexistence.

In light of this reality, we have selected five projects that have fostered a deep connection to the territory, offering flexible spaces that support new ways of building social fabric.

Adolf Loos, Joaquín Vaquero Palacios, Fernando Moreno Barberá, Norman Foster, and the bicentennial of the Museo del Prado are just some of the key names and milestones set to take over Spanish museums in 2018.

Here are 10 highly recommended architecture exhibitions for the new year that offer a rich and compelling cultural lineup. They span Spanish and international architects, iconic buildings from Spain's architectural history, and the profound impact of emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality—on the field of architecture. 

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The exhibition "Women Architects XIX-XX" on the role of women in the history of the profession, installed at the University of Beira Interior (UBI) in Portugal, was vandalized between last Friday night and Saturday morning. Held by the Integrated Master's in Architecture of the university's Department of Civil Engineering, the exhibition occupied the building's lobby and was destroyed, likely by punches and kicks, according to an article published by the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.

Aiming to reflect on how "the visibility of women architects in the context of established architectural history is minimal and does not do justice to their actual and real presence in building cities and architecture," the exhibition, organized by Patrícia Santos Pedrosa, showcased the results of research on the production and presence of female architects over the past two centuries who contributed to expanding "the way we make, think, and question architecture."

Closed for renovations since 2010, the Sesc branch on Avenida Paulista now has an official opening date: April 29. Designed by the firm Königsberger Vannucchi Arquitetos Associados, the renovation project transformed the former Sesc Paulista space, creating three auditoriums, workshop rooms, exhibition areas, rehearsal and fitness rooms, as well as the traditional services offered by all Sesc branches, such as a café, restaurant, and shops.

Focused on performing arts and body movement, the program of Sesc Paulista is spread over 17 floors, featuring a rooftop café and an observation deck overlooking the avenue. 

The Sebrae Sustainability Center (CSS), designed by architect and urban planner José Portocarrero, won the BREEAM Awards 2018 for best sustainable building in the Americas, as well as the popular vote category. Inspired by indigenous dwellings, which are benchmarks in bioclimatic design, the building in Cuiabá (MT) stands out for its thermal comfort and maximum use of natural light. Its double-shell roof enables internal cooling and rainwater harvesting, which is filtered and stored for garden irrigation and floor washing.

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Opened on April 29, Sesc Avenida Paulista featured an installation designed by architect and designer Guto Requena at its opening.

The project, titled Empatias Mapeadas, consists of an interactive parametric sculpture featuring pulsing lights and speakers that mix and broadcast the heartbeats of the participants who touch the piece.

Joaquim Manoel Guedes Sobrinho was a Brazilian architect and urbanist who graduated in 1954 from the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP)—as part of the institution's third graduating class—and was a leading figure of the so-called “Paulista School.” A prominent aspect of his professional practice was his partnership with his wife, Liliana Marsicano, with whom he established a lasting collaboration on a series of projects until 1974.

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Nearly a year after an earthquake struck Mexico City and several Mexican states on September 19, 2017, we are beginning to see the fruits of the many efforts that arose in response to the slow—and at times nonexistent—government reaction, with citizens taking it upon themselves to organize and help. Various associations, foundations, and collectives joined the cause, and the architectural community was no exception.

This gave rise to ReConstruir México, driven by the determination to put architectural expertise at the service of those most in need, assisting in the reconstruction and conservation of affected heritage by providing technical support and advice, as well as designing and proposing solutions. However, goodwill alone was not enough; a multidisciplinary, integrating entity was needed to channel these efforts into physical housing for the victims. PienZa Sostenible stepped into this role, coordinating the process as a non-profit organization. As a platform for study, analysis, critique, engagement, and implementation addressing Mexico's current situation, PienZa Sostenible promotes outreach and drives projects aimed at improving quality of life, social development, economic growth, and environmental sustainability in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We invited fifteen architectural photographers to share their playlists with us, now available on ArchDaily Brasil's Spotify.

If you want fast rendering, optimize the size of staging assets, textures, and light sources. Learn your rendering software inside out and construct your scenes based on actual resource needs. There is no point in using the largest, most detailed, or highest-resolution assets for every single case; doing so will only leave you frustrated with your computer and software, struggling to navigate the viewport while constantly wishing for the latest processor, graphics card, more RAM, and more money to upgrade your rig—entirely unnecessarily.

Whenever possible, choose a GPU-based renderer, such as Thea Render for SketchUp, which is used in the examples in this article.

Here are several tips to make your rendering workflow faster and more efficient:

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.

Not long ago, we read in one of the winning texts of the National Criticism Competition: “In Chimbote, a city that grew turning its back on its bay, shaped by the pursuit of an economically productive life, there is not much to do, not much to enjoy. And this is not only due to the lack of venues for cultural or recreational activities, but because in the street itself, in the public space, there is not much to encounter. It seems difficult for this situation to change when it comes to building the city (…) in a city that became boring, useful only for a precarious economic production, where the street is merely a transit space, of coming and going without much emotion (…). Hopefully, boredom will not rob us of the ability to imagine new ways of growth for our city.” A harsh and challenging critique of the city's future trajectory.

Today, this project emerges as a response, showcasing alternative ways of seeing, living, and growing for this warm city on Peru's northern coast. It is a way to rediscover a vibrant, colorful Chimbote, and we are thrilled to present and highlight it here: the flip side, the actions taken in response to criticism, or precisely what critical thinking can achieve. Beyond being a breath of fresh air, it serves as a replicable model of small yet significant initiatives that can be carried out in cities across the country, beyond Lima.

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The chapter The Limits of Objects addresses the theme of Walls of Air at the scale of architectural and urban interventions, in an attempt to measure the capacity of recent Brazilian production to mediate conflicting relationships between the public and private realms.

In contrast to the cartographic approach, which maps the multiple types of barriers that shape the Brazilian territory, this section presents architectural objects that encourage transcending the walls present in our cities. The selected proposals share the motivation of investigating new ways to deal with the limits, divisions, and ruptures of urban fabrics. At the same time, they bring to light the pressing need to use design as a means to transform conditions of exclusion into opportunities to bring people together.

Over the course of five days, 36 third-year students from the UDD Architecture Program in Concepción, Chile, traveled to San Juan, Chiloé, to design and build a lookout for the local community. The main objective of this academic initiative was to connect students with physical materiality, marking the beginning of their professional degree cycle. The project is part of "Experiencia Detonante II" (Triggering Experience II), one of three hands-on experiences students undergo during their studies to engage directly with territory, materiality, and the discipline. Specifically, the Concepción campus, through its Escuela SurSur, fosters this connection to materiality by engaging with remote locations that preserve traditional local crafts.

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Year after year, natural disasters leave thousands of people homeless, forcing them to seek shelter as their only option. In many cases, cities are unable to address these crises due to a lack of resources. Furthermore, providing aid while preserving human dignity has become increasingly complex, rendering traditional solutions completely unviable.

In these moments, innovation and creativity in hands-on construction play a vital role, ultimately yielding faster, more efficient architectural models that can be rapidly replicated following natural disasters.

When designing semi-permanent architecture, certain principles must be followed. Below, we have compiled a set of tips and examples to guide this process.

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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.”

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.

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.

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The concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) shaped 19th-century art movements and influenced several design schools of the era—including the Bauhaus, which brought the term into the modern age. The school's unstructured architectural designs and avant-garde furniture paved the way for fields such as fashion, graphic design, and painting. At the Bauhaus, disciplines drew inspiration from one another, blurring the boundaries between art and industry. When the school closed in 1933, however, many design projects were left unfinished.

To revive some of these interrupted Bauhaus design projects, Adobe has launched the "Hidden Treasures" initiative to recreate five typefaces originally designed by five of the school's masters: Joost Schmidt, Xanti Schawinsky, Reinhold Rossig, Carl Marx, and Alfred Arndt.

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo has put up for sale a limited edition of one hundred crystal easels designed by Lina Bo Bardi. Originally introduced in 1968 and removed from the museum in 1996, the iconic easels were redesigned by the firm Metro Arquitetos and brought back to the MASP gallery in 2015. Each unit costs R$ 10,000, and the proceeds will support the museum's activities.

Almost two years ago, South America was hit by a public health crisis that affected hundreds of thousands of women. In Brazil, more than 2,600 children were born with microcephaly—a congenital condition in which the skull is smaller than normal—and other complications resulting from the Zika virus infection. Brazilians quickly became accustomed to the unfamiliar name of the disease, which rapidly spread through the northeastern region of the country and crossed borders into Colombia and Venezuela. However, as the disease became an international concern, it also became clear that it was a much greater problem for some groups than for others.