Metropolises in developing countries share the same mobility challenges: low service quality in public transportation, unequal accessibility, high rates of traffic accidents, congestion, and environmental pollution. There is widespread inequity in accessibility, safety, and comfort within transport conditions that reproduces and perpetuates socio-spatial inequality (VASCONCELLOS, 2000). This is a product of the historical urbanization process of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP), which shaped a territory characterized by income-based residential segregation, concentrated job markets, and an uneven distribution of transport infrastructure (VILLAÇA, 1998). Dating back to the 1950s, policies at the federal, state, and municipal levels favored automobile use. Consequently, this resulted in the low quality and inefficiency of road-based public transit and the sluggish expansion of the high-capacity rail system.
https://www.archdaily.com/1132608/modal-transitions-bicycle-parking-at-stations-in-the-sao-paulo-metropolitan-areaDeiny Façanha Costa
The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina are joined by Charles Renfro, Partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, to discuss Charles’ childhood and early interests in architecture, his education and linking ideas of sexual freedom with architecture, joining Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, becoming a partner at his office, his design philosophy, how New York has changed, and more.
Benches with dividers and uncomfortable shapes, sharp stones under overpasses, fences surrounding plazas and gardens, walls with metal spikes, buildings without awnings or with timed water drippers, electric fences, and barbed wire. The elements and materials used to deter people from public spaces are numerous, ultimately shaping how individuals experience cities and interact with one another. Hostile architecture—a term encompassing all barriers and urban designs that seem to say “don’t make yourself at home,” as reporter Winnie Hu of The New York Times defines it—is part of the reality in most cities worldwide, sparking growing debate over the impact of these measures, particularly on social media.
https://www.archdaily.com/1128536/hostile-architecture-when-cities-are-not-for-everyoneSomos Cidade
As one of the primary modes of transport in history, rail transportation has helped move people, raw materials, and products since the Industrial Revolution. Widely used throughout the world, railways had their first trial in Brazil during the 1850s in Rio de Janeiro, expanding across the territory until they were gradually phased out over time. Today, we face a major challenge in keeping their memory alive.
Monte Rosa Hut by Berth Desplazez Architects. Image
If “nature” and “architecture” are commonly conceived as opposing entities, representative of human encroachment on the primordially physical image of the world, under which conditions do these two fundamental factors form a strong liaison and which is the ensuing by product? Can this often ignored bond between culture and nature be unearthed and put to light by the use of photography?
With the goal of getting to know the architects, projects, and stories behind landmark Portuguese architecture, Sara Nunes, from the architectural film production company Building Pictures, launched the podcastNo País dos Arquitectos, in which she speaks with prominent figures in contemporary Portuguese architecture.
In this week's episode, Sara talks with architect João Carlos Santos about the project for the Royal Treasure Museum (Museu do Tesouro Real). You can revisit previous interviews from the podcastNo Pais dos Arquitectos and read the transcript of the interview with Santos below.
Adaptive Reuse is an important aspect of managing a sustainable existence. Buildings contain massive amounts of embodied energy and the more we can adapt and repurpose them, the better. Buildings are also repositories of collective memories and histories. As we modify them, these layer in new and interesting ways. This video explores the topic through the case study of ‘The Plant,’ a food incubator in Chicago housed within a former pork processing facility. The building’s location and existing infrastructure made it a perfect candidate for its new purpose. John Edel, the founder of the Plant, has also made every effort to showcase the building’s history and to honor its heritage throughout the process of adaptation.
In the face of an unprecedented climate crisis, green roofs are increasingly establishing themselves as a global architectural trend, providing multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits in urban areas. Following the example of pioneering models like Copenhagen's, cities around the world are replacing gray roofs with green ones in an effort to move toward a more sustainable and healthy future. As a result, integrating green roofs has become a recurring practice in projects aiming to address the inherent challenges of the contemporary city.
Biodiversity has become ubiquitous in project descriptions as yet another mark of the design's environmental accomplishments. The increasing focus on sustainability, the standard inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, prompts a deeper understanding of what biodiversity in urban environments means and how can architecture and urban design actively contribute to it. With species extinction rates soaring and urbanization over natural land continuing, cities become an essential factor in sustaining biodiversity, and the following explores how the built environment can foster multi-species habitats.
After being selected by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to design the new hospital of its Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights in 2020, Herzog & de Meuron and HDR revealed new images of their design, featuring a 15-storey structure clad with terracotta across a 84,000 sqm plot. The proposed design aims to change the traditional concept of hospitals and provide members of the community with a healing space that puts in place “a holistic healthcare environment that fosters wellness and recovery by combining efficient facilities with human experiences, connected to nature and the community”.
In December, the European Commission adopted several proposals that put the transport sector on track for a 90% reduction in carbon emissions, moving a step further in implementing the European Green Deal. The initiatives seek to increase rail transport, encouraging long-distance and cross-border rail travel, support the roll-out of charging points for electric vehicles and alternative refuelling infrastructure and further develop multimodality.
With a production inspired by the legacy of Sérgio and Claudio Bernardes, from Rio, Bernardes Arquitetura is “fruit of a history that spans three generations with more than a thousand projects”. Created in 2012 by Thiago Bernardes, the office has over 7 partners and branches in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Lisbon.
In this episode of “Behind the Scenes”, where we showcase the work of visionary photographers and ask about their experiences beyond what is seen by the public, we present Pablo Casals Aguirre, an architect, professor, photographer, and filmmaker based in Santiago, Chile. Here, he shares his methodology, which he developed with references to cinema, and highlights his intentions of translating the best architectural works into imagery - be it still or in movement.
The problem with being a deliberative writer is that pretty much everything has already been penned by the time you’re ready to write about something. Such is the case with the 2021 ChicagoArchitecture Biennial (CAB): The Available City. There have been several well-written, insightful essays about the CAB by Zach Mortice, Anjulie Rao,Marianela D’Aprile, and others, so it would be foolish to travel the landscape they have so expertly traversed. Instead, I’m offering a trip through this edition of the CAB, which concluded a successful and significant run on Saturday, down a road less traveled.
https://www.archdaily.com/974746/breaking-the-dead-paradigm-for-design-exhibitionsCraig L. Wilkins
Photomontage based on the work "Invisible in the Visible: Five Essays for São Paulo." Image courtesy of Luiz Sakata.
Every year, we host a call for submissions for final graduation projects from our audience, open to all Portuguese-speaking countries. In doing so, we aim to select the projects we find most compelling, presenting inspiring visions and sparking debates in the fields of architecture and urbanism.
Collective Architectures Meeting - Sant Pere de Torelló 2009. Image via LFDTV Archive
Arquitecturas Colectivas defines itself as “a network of people and collectives interested in the participatory construction of the urban environment.” Looking at this network in perspective, two things stand out. The first is that it seems quite sensible for a group of people and collectives to organize to tackle urban transformation projects with a bottom-up philosophy, collaboratively developing the necessary tools. The second is that this does not happen more often.
How to spark productivity through technology in the digital age? Recently, XKool Technology, a leader in AI applications for the architecture industry, held a new product launch of "Plan Deep" to kick off a new round of evolution in architecture technology capabilities.
Information about XKool's newly released intelligent design products is included in this article, as well as the upcoming DigitalFUTURES Tutorial Session to be presented by XKool on January 8, 2022, where you're invited to experience the collaboration between architecture and technology up close.
Documenting diverse architecture and design studios, Goodwin captured 13 different office spaces in Berlin, including Hesse, LAVA, JWA, Tchoban Voss, Richter Musikowski, Barkow Leibinger, FAR frohn&rojas, studio Karhard, Jasper, Kleihues + Kleihues, Graft, Bundschuh Architekten and Sauerbruch Hutton.
Architecture grows from context. In campus planning, an institution or organization outlines a strategy for longer term land use and the immediate context. As SCUP outlines, campus design can be nurturing, inviting and stimulating. "It can be the physical manifestation of an institution’s mission, a reminder of the promise and potential waiting to be unleashed." Today, campus design encompasses integrated approaches bringing open space, buildings, circulation and utility together.
Ferdinand Heide Architekt have been selected to develop a high-rise complex in Frankfurt, Germany, following an international design competition. Titled “Millennium Areal”, the winning proposal features two twisted glass towers with a large public space at the ground level, responding to the particularities of the dense site, which include maximization of green areas and unobstructed views for apartments and offices. The project is expected to be complete in 2030 and upon completion, will be Frankfurt's tallest structure.
Intense integration between the built environment and its natural context: this is the premise that surrounds the projects of Jacobsen Arquitetura, from Rio de Janeiro. Founded 45 years ago, the office emerged from the union between architects Paulo Jacobsen and Cláudio Bernardes, who worked together until Bernardes' death in 2001. After that, Paulo joined forces with Thiago, Cláudio's son, starting a new office. The partnership with Thiago Bernardes fell apart in 2012, giving rise to the formation of Jacobsen Arquitetura, whose partners are Paulo and Bernardo Jacobsen (Paulo’s son) and Edgar Murata.
The firm Alexandre Furcolin Paisagismo has been selected as the winner of the national design competition for the Historic Center of Casarão Gallotti in Tijucas, Santa Catarina. Organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil – Santa Catarina Department and the Tijucas Municipal Department of Culture, Youth, and Tourism, the competition aimed to "stimulate the preservation of the landscape and urban heritage of the city" and "humanize the open spaces of the historic center."
Below, see the winning proposal, accompanied by the project description provided by the design team.
With the aim of generating a significant impact on the responsible and sustainable consumption of resources and energy in the construction industry, ETH Zürich in collaboration with FenX AG is using foam 3D printing (F3DP) to manufacture geometrically complex formwork for the construction of special elements in concrete.
Categoría Viviendas PRO.CRE.AR - Mención: Vivienda en Arturo Seguí. Image Cortesía de Ezequiel Spinelli
The CAPBA Award in Argentina represents an opportunity to showcase the achievements and innovations of architects across their various professional fields. Works located both inside and outside the province of Buenos Aires, completed within the last 10 years, were eligible to enter. Organized by the Association of Architects of the Province of Buenos Aires, the jury for each category evaluated the submissions and awarded first, second, and third prizes, along with several honorable mentions.
