The Van der Driesche House, designed by Spanish architects José Antonio Martínez Lapeña and Elías Torres Tur—winners of the 2016 National Architecture Award—has narrowly escaped demolition, avoiding yet another loss of contemporary Spanish architectural heritage to cultural insensitivity.
On Tuesday, September 18, the Island Council of Ibiza approved a decree suspending the demolition of the Van der Driesche House for up to three months. Because the building is currently neither listed nor declared of cultural interest, the next step is to take the necessary measures to preserve its cultural value, preventing any work or intervention that could alter the complex's original features.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113923/spanish-architects-unite-in-defense-of-the-van-der-driesche-houseJavier García Librero
On the occasion of the recent edition of the Latin American Social Workshop in Chucuito, Peru —XV TSL Puno—, ArchDaily en Español and the Latin American Coordinator of Architecture Students (CLEA) invited all participating students to reflect on their personal experience in a recent call for articles. The text, originally titled "Construyendo Lazos" (Building Bonds) by Indira Fernández and Diana Hernández—members of the Puma Workshop led by Lucio Torres and students at the Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico—was selected as the winner of this open call.
Indira and Diana focus on the challenge that the TSL has faced in recent years: it is no longer merely a construction workshop, but also a platform for future architects to practice different methodologies of citizen participation and integration during the design process, while simultaneously discussing the challenges and threats facing so-called social architecture.
Being part of a team dedicated to understanding emotions, traditions, and cultures is deeply rewarding, but it also prompts you to question the ultimate purpose of practicing architecture. What could we expect from a social workshop in a country other than our own, Mexico? What can be learned from a community located 3,870 meters above sea level? What can we, as students, contribute?
In any profession, it is common for children to follow in their parents' footsteps, motivated by the environment they grew up in and inspired by a passion for the craft. Architecture is no exception. Growing up surrounded by sketches, floor plans, and coffee seems to spark the desire to pursue the same career.
In celebration of Father's Day, observed in Brazil this coming Sunday, August 12, we have compiled a list of architects who followed in their fathers' footsteps. Read on below:
When there is a balanced combination of complementary activities in a given neighborhood (meaning a mix of housing, workplaces, commerce, and services), a significant portion of its residents' daily trips can remain short and walkable. Diverse uses, with different peak hours throughout the day, help keep streets busy and safe for longer, stimulating pedestrian and cyclist activity and promoting a lively human environment where people want to live. This also helps balance public transit demand, resulting in a more efficient and sustainable operation over longer periods of the day. People of all age groups, genders, and income levels can safely interact in public spaces.
On August 30, the press conference for the 2018 Beijing Design Week - 751 International Design Festival was held at the Geyuan space in Beijing's 751D·PARK. Wang Yudong, General Manager of Beijing Design Week, and Zhang Junyuan, General Manager of 751D·PARK Cultural Development Co., Ltd., delivered opening remarks. The event was attended by Per Boesgaard, Sector Counselor for Sustainable Urban Development at the Royal Danish Embassy, Bart Hofstede, Cultural Counselor of the Dutch Embassy, and over 40 Chinese and international media representatives.
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.
The Accademia Adrianea di Architettura di Roma has awarded the 2018 Piranesi Award to Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza for his outstanding professional career in relation to historic heritage.
The Piranesi Award is a prestigious international recognition, sponsored by the Accademia Adrianea, the Ordine degli Architetti of Rome, and the Casa dell'Architettura, which honors the quality of an architect's work and their approach to the classical.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113921/alberto-campo-baeza-receives-the-2018-piranesi-rome-prizeJavier García Librero
The Agisa Todeschini Ideas Competition brought together architects and students of architecture and urbanism to select and award the three best free-design concepts utilizing one or more habitable modules as an interactive space for the beneficiary institution. In addition to a cash prize, the competition winner will design a furnished habitable module to be built and donated to Lar Infantil Sol Amigo—an organization supporting vulnerable children in Curitiba—to serve as an educational and interactive space.
Until a few years ago, childbirth was the leading cause of death for women in the municipality of Tenejapa, located in the Highlands region of Chiapas (Los Altos de Chiapas). Faced with this situation, coupled with a lack of medical services in the region, traditional midwives from 22 communities joined forces to combat the issue. They formed the “Un solo corazón A.C.” Midwives Network, an organization that has succeeded in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates to zero while attending 98% of births in the area.
Villa-Lobos Park Library in São Paulo competes for the award granted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Photos: Reproduction / BVL. Via Haus
The Villa-Lobos Park Library (BVL), in the western zone of São Paulo, is one of five finalists for the best public library award from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the industry's most prominent international organization. The Villa-Lobos Park Library was built on the site of a former open-air landfill. The revitalization of the area led to the creation of a free-entry, open-access reading space, modeled after the São Paulo Library in Youth Park (Parque da Juventude), which has also competed for another international award.
Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, along with Patricio Mardones, are the curators of the exhibition CLOUD '68 - PAPER VOICE, which will be on display from March 14 to May 18, 2018, at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Hönggerberg in Switzerland.
This exhibition commemorates the 50th anniversary of the social revolution of May 1968, paying tribute to radical European thought and its architecture from 1950 to 1970, which generated diverse perspectives of expression and design forms.
As part of Zaha Hadid Architects' first exhibition in Latin America, the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City is hosting an experimental structure that pays tribute to Mexican architect and engineer Félix Candela. "Design as Second Nature" showcases several projects by architect Zaha Hadid through models, audiovisual materials, paintings, and photographs, exploring her practice's creative process and highlighting the importance and complexity of design as the articulating axis of forms and construction processes in her work.
‘The smell of smoke mingled in the air, like poison,’ these captivating opening words already foreshadow a tragic end. The result of an unusual sequence of events, they demonstrate that the threads of fortunate—and unfortunate—circumstances are far more complex to weave and comprehend than a casual observer might think. The chain of stories sequenced by Daniel Merro Johnston in Casa sobre el Arroyo by Amancio Williams —published by Ediciones 1:100— does not merely outline a process and its parallel events; it highlights the singularity of the construction itself, serving as a testament to the complexity, the timelines, and the unforeseen circumstances involved in creating a ‘good’ work of architecture.
The film of the “Lake Pavilion” by depA, produced by Building Pictures, reveals the project's magical side, making viewers feel as though they have stepped into a landscape from the Brothers Grimm's fantastic stories.
However, the landscape is not German, but Portuguese. The project was built on the lake in Serralves Park and remained open between July 2017 and May 2018. It was commissioned for the exhibition “Live Uncertainty: An Exhibition from the 32nd São Paulo Biennial.”
Offering a perspective unusual for locals, Instagram user Deensel photographed Santiago by drone during a visit to Chile. The results feature bucolic sunsets over Santa Lucía Hill, cool summer nights in the city's dense downtown, and unprecedented views of the so-called Sanhattan district, crowned by the Costanera Center —the tallest skyscraper in Latin America— and the Titanium Tower.
Vista de un espacio colectivo en la actualidad. Image Cortesía de Ninoska Nazor
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?
https://www.archdaily.com/1113963/inequality-is-elemental-ideological-conjectures-for-a-critique-of-quinta-monroyFabián B. Di Giammarino
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.
Few neighborhoods possess a collection of modern residential architecture of such high caliber as Higienópolis. Works by Vilanova Artigas, Artacho Jurado, and Rino Levi, among many other prominent architects, coexist with historic mansions along its tree-lined streets. The planned subdivision was the first in São Paulo to feature gas lighting, street trees, streetcar lines, and water and sewage networks. Furthermore, because it is located mostly on higher ground, it did not suffer from flooding and was less prone to diseases such as yellow fever, typhus, and malaria. Originally settled by São Paulo's aristocracy, the neighborhood remains highly valued and sought-after today. Particularly between the 1940s and 1950s, numerous plots were developed with modern buildings characterized by outstanding design, construction quality, and generous spaces.
The illustrations were developed by Fabrizio Lenci, architect, illustrator, and partner at Vapor 324, for the newspaper *A quadra*, based on a selection curated by André Scarpa. Below, discover a brief history of each of the illustrated buildings:
Whether you are collaborating on a project with peers, entering a design competition, starting a new firm with a friend, or simply entering the workforce: regardless of your current academic or professional stage, sooner or later you will have to face the collaborative reality inherent to our discipline.
Teamwork offers many positive facets and learning opportunities that working alone simply cannot match. However, if not managed properly, it can lead to awkward moments, heated arguments, fractured friendships, and other risks, both major and minor. Therefore, whether you are working with your best friend, your partner, a studio classmate, or an office colleague, there are certain guidelines you should always keep in mind.
Imagen exterior Casa Vallet. Image Cortesía de Servicio Histórico COAM
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.
https://www.archdaily.com/1113962/coderchs-vallet-house-remains-at-risk-of-demolition-due-to-a-lack-of-heritage-protectionJavier García Librero
Earlier this year, the full list of nominees for the 2018 Oscars—selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—was announced, and anticipation is building to see which films will take home the top honors in this edition.
The construction of a four-tower housing complex just steps from the historic center threatens Cartagena (Colombia)’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The community is currently awaiting a judicial ruling on the Aquarela case, the name of the multi-family social housing (VIS) project.
According to statements by the Bolívar Business Council (Consejo Gremial de Bolívar)—the organization tasked with promoting competitive development in the city and department—the situation is delicate, as the advanced stage of construction complicates potential decisions. Given that the city is one of Latin America's primary tourist destinations, the lack of oversight from national and local authorities—who failed to act in accordance with the planning principles outlined in Article 2 of the Colombian Constitution—is difficult to explain.
Opened in August 2017 and setting attendance records, Sesc 24 de Maio—the second-to-last branch of the network to open, succeeded by Sesc Avenida Paulista—was designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha in partnership with the office MMBB Arquitetos, who retrofitted a former department store, remodeling its interior spaces within the existing structure and creating a new central structure to support the rooftop swimming pool.