No País dos Arquitectos is a podcast created by Sara Nunes, who is also behind the architectural film production company Building Pictures. The podcast aims to profile the professionals, projects, and stories behind leading contemporary Portuguese architecture. With just over 10 million inhabitants, Portugal is a fascinating country when it comes to this professional field, and its architectural output far exceeds what its population or territorial scale might suggest.

In this episode, Sara talks with Sofia Couto and Sérgio Antunes of Aurora Arquitectos, curators of the Open House Lisboa 2022, which is themed "The Rebellion of the Invisible.” Listen to the full interview and read an excerpt of the conversation below:

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History shows that when struck by crises and disasters, cities generally recover and emerge stronger and more resilient than before. The Great Chicago Fire famously gave rise to skyscrapers. Contagious disease outbreaks contributed to public health policies and modern sanitation practices. The devastation of World War II catalyzed unprecedented investments in housing and infrastructure.

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In January of this year, a legal framework for distributed micro- and minigeneration of energy was established under Law 14,300/2022. The text ensured that the sector's previous rules would be maintained until 2045 for existing solar installations and new customers within a 12-month window. Now, with only three months left in the year, the topic is back in the spotlight, as the deadline to secure benefits like exemptions from certain tariff components is fast approaching.

The centennial celebrations of the Modern Art Week have already begun. Over the past week, articles and press coverage on the subject have filled various media outlets. After all, one hundred years ago, a group of artists gathered in pursuit of an art that looked to the future and stood against the past, proposing a new way of exploring Brazilian identity in music, poetry, painting, and dance. To understand how the event shaped new directions in Brazilian culture and remains relevant today, we have compiled a guide to several spaces that celebrate the Week of '22!

A recent study revealed that, since 2014, marine heatwaves have become “the new normal.” The climate crisis is no longer a concern for the distant future. Extreme events are increasingly common; one only has to follow the news. While it may seem that public officials are being caught off guard, scientists have long warned of the need to focus on sustainable development.

Good examples are still few and far between, but they do exist. At COP26, a comprehensive guide featuring proven strategies to achieve urban cooling was launched.

The award-winning Children Village project in Canuanã was developed by architecture firms Aleph Zero and Rosenbaum between 2016 and 2017. Located at a rural school that has been operating for nearly 40 years in Formoso do Araguaia, Tocantins, the complex serves approximately 842 boarding students. The architects were commissioned to redesign the accommodation—which consists of two identical villages, one for girls and one for boys, each designed for 270 students—and to devise an architectural solution to reorganize the students' living spaces within the school grounds.

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As one of the most prominent economic topics on the agenda in several countries before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, legislation restricting the supply of new real estate in municipalities has negative impacts on both local growth and the population, whose options for housing, job access, and mobility are severely affected. Adopted by most Brazilian cities, zoning regulations—which establish criteria for land use, the size of developments that can be built in specific locations, and environmental preservation zones—also drive up property prices, as housing supply fails to keep pace with demand.

The FIFA World Cup is one of the world's largest events, bringing together fans of all nationalities. Having previously been hosted across various continents, this year's tournament will take place in Qatar, a country on the Arabian Peninsula with a population of about 2.7 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim. Alongside the host nation, 31 other countries will compete for the title of world champion.

Beyond its status as a sporting event, the World Cup is also an opportunity to observe, learn about, and experience other cultures—especially for the host country. Divided into eight different groups, the first to play, from Groups A and B, will be Qatar, Ecuador, England, Iran, Senegal, the Netherlands, the United States, and Wales. Below, explore some examples of architecture from these countries. 

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A few days ago, I had the opportunity to speak with Emilio Hernández from the Centro de Imaginación Oaxaca, one of the participants in Cocina CoLaboratorio. Our conversation touched upon topics such as collective participation, the social management of habitat, altruism, racism, and many other social issues. During our chat, we addressed the nuances, highlights, and shadows surrounding welfare dependency and “aid” to communities, as well as how counterproductive and violent it can be to act from a position of privilege and top-down hierarchy.

No País dos Arquitectos is a podcast created by Sara Nunes, who also runs the architectural film production company Building Pictures. The podcast aims to introduce the professionals, projects, and stories behind benchmark contemporary Portuguese architecture. With just over 10 million inhabitants, Portugal is a highly intriguing country within this professional field, and its architectural output far outstrips its population and territorial scale.

In this episode of the fourth season, Sara talks with architect Diogo Brito from the firm OODA about the conversion project of the former Campanhã Industrial Slaughterhouse in Porto, co-designed with Kengo Kuma.

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Videos

To celebrate its tenth edition, Open House will open the doors of more than 160 spaces and buildings of great architectural, cultural, and heritage value in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires on October 1 and 2, 2022. As it does every year, this architecture and urbanism festival will offer the public the opportunity to rediscover the city's architecture and urban design, as well as its people, stories, and anecdotes, through free activities, visits, gatherings, and tours.

Founded in 2013 in São Paulo, this young transdisciplinary practice focuses on architecture, urbanism, and fine arts. Influenced by visual arts, music, theater, and everyday urban life, the firm translates these lived experiences into projects across diverse scales, briefs, and contexts.

Named after a term with multiple meanings in Portuguese—in architecture, *vão* represents the void or span between structural elements, a space to be occupied and activated by social, political, artistic, and various other interactions—the firm was founded by Anna Juni, Enk te Winkel, and Gustavo Delonero. Throughout its nearly ten-year history, it has maintained a small team, alongside occasional collaborations with friends and colleagues on specific projects.

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The call for entries for the European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention (AHI), aimed at professionals and associations linked to architectural heritage, is open until March 17, 2023. Its primary objective is to recognize high-quality interventions in built heritage across all its dimensions. In doing so, the award aims to contribute to their dissemination and establish itself as a catalyst and observatory for the new challenges that contemporary architectural globalization poses to the conservation and intervention of built heritage.

In collaboration with the publisher gestalten, we have recently published our first book: The ArchDaily Guide to Good Architecture. This milestone was an opportunity to look back at the more than 40,000 projects curated over the last 15 years, drawing out their contributions to answer an ambitious question: What is good architecture?

We wanted you—our dear readers—to also confront this question through an open call for opinions. After reading through a vast number of responses from construction professionals, students, and architecture enthusiasts alike, it was surprising to find a widespread consensus: above all, good architecture does not forget why and for whom it exists. Read some of the key responses below.

During the International Union of Architects (UIA) 2020 International Forum, “Affordable Housing Activation: Removing Barriers,” the Higher Council of Spanish Architects’ Colleges (CSCAE) developed the first dynamic atlas on access to housing. The platform aggregates over 4,000 economic, urban, and development indicators into a single interface, making them easy to analyze and interpret. The data is sourced from major international organizations, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Health Organization.

The National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) has launched the 35th edition of the Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade Award. The award recognizes outstanding national initiatives in the preservation and promotion of Brazilian Cultural Heritage. This year's theme is the Socioeconomic Sustainability of Cultural Heritage, and submissions are open until July 11.

Keeping the memory of Brazilian architecture alive in a country that undervalues the profession and has systematically dismantled cultural promotion and preservation institutions can be a thankless task. Yet, this is precisely the challenge taken on by the firm aflalo/gasperini arquitetos, which has just launched a digital archive to celebrate its 60-year history.

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The Mexican project Casa de Música, designed by Colectivo C733, and the Bío Bío Regional Theater in Chile, by architects Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, and Eduardo Castillo, have been jointly awarded the Grand Prize at the Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito BAQ 2022.

I remember clearly when I began to question the types of images and architecture we consumed and debated at university, contrasting them with the actual built environment of the city I live in (CDMX). This is a type of architecture that seeks to delineate certain biased, curated aesthetic principles, disseminated through academia, digital platforms, magazines, books, and real estate developers, among others.

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Considering focal points, biomes, and resting spaces, creating rhythm alongside architecture, and facilitating the maintenance and enjoyment of spaces are just some of the challenges of landscape design. Today, rather than serving merely as an element of spatial composition, the relationship between landscape architecture and the built environment is increasingly valued as we understand how the presence of nature benefits the health and comfort of humans and other species. Consequently, thinking about and designing the landscape has become an increasingly complex and valued endeavor.

Against the backdrop of a global culture steeped in consumerism, every aspect of our lives is being consumed. As the physical medium of consumer behavior, commercial architecture is undeniably a vital link in this consumer society. "Insta-worthy" spaces—embodying trends, spectacle, and the culture of the gaze—are a direct manifestation of this influence. Yet, looking back at architectural history, we must also acknowledge that the rise of consumerism has largely driven architectural development. The influx of capital and the keen interest of real estate developers have, in some ways, granted architects more opportunities to realize their creative ideals within commercial projects.

Whether in cities or rural areas, "consumer architecture" functioning as public space often serves as the most prominent gathering point. To explore how to create comfortable, inviting commercial spaces, this article presents a curated collection of the best "consumer architecture" of 2021, offering design inspiration for your next project.

Academia has much to contribute to the fields of architecture and urbanism. Inspiring visions emerge through its research and proposals, sparking critical debates on how we perceive, occupy, and design the built environment. With this in mind, we hold an annual call for final graduation projects open to all Portuguese-speaking countries to showcase a panorama of themes and projects that we believe stood out over the past year. 

Looking back at 2021, two pivotal developments exerted a transformative influence on the architectural design community.

The first was the passing of High-Tech pioneer Richard Rogers (Richard Rogers). German art historian Hans Belting once remarked: "When people call for a new art, it is architecture and design that step forward as a symbol of a new society, carrying the hope of changing living space. And as people envision changes to their living space, they themselves change as well." Rogers was among the first to step forward at the close of the 20th century. His bold, rebellious, and iconoclastic design approach unlocked a new paradigm for the urban landscape. Having practiced continuously until his retirement last year, his career was a constant testament to the critical importance of design direction. In turn, one cannot help but ask: as the giants of our era gradually depart, are we prepared to shoulder the true mission of architecture?

The second was the controversy surrounding architect Tao Lei's design on the television show Dream Home. A 1.32-million-yuan red-brick house designed for an elderly client was met with widespread online backlash, laying bare the deep friction between architectural aesthetics and daily life. It prompts us to ask: Is the aesthetic pursued by architects truly aligned with the expectations of everyday people? Can architectural design reshape public aesthetic perception? Does social class dictate design outcomes? And should a project be dismissed based on sensationalized, fragmented headlines by those who have never actually experienced the space?

"Despair, like hope, is but vanity." ArchDaily’s keyword for this year is: Cultivating internal strength and external reach. Internally (Platform Responsibility): Providing tools, inspiration, and knowledge gathered from all directions to continuously overcome, triumph, and transform, building a broader "design universe." Externally (Communication Responsibility): Stepping outside the architectural "comfort zone" to center public needs, delivering clearer insights and evidence-based processes, and crafting more creative architectural content.

The International Solicitation for the Urban Design of the Center Area of Western China (Chongqing) Science City has officially launched! We warmly invite outstanding design teams from around the world to participate.
International Solicitation for Urban Design of the Center Area of Western China (Chongqing) Science City is now open for pre-qualification! Design teams from home and abroad are welcome to participate.