There is no doubt that the construction of the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe was designed to reaffirm the Modern Movement. This "icon" of the movement, deeply embedded in the architectural imagination, was built to be ephemeral. At the end of the International Exposition, the pavilion was dismantled; however, it was reconstructed 54 years later, sparking a debate within the architectural field regarding the authenticity of this replica.
On Tuesday, November 15, the public announcement of the finalists for the BAQ 2022 Competition (Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito) took place at the National Theater of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana.
During the event, jurors Nuno Grande of Portugal and Carla Hermida of Cuenca announced the selections for the Publications Award, which was an open call for books and magazines—both print and digital—produced throughout the Americas during the four years prior to the event. Read the full list below.
The Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito (BAQ2022) will take place at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana until November 18. Organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos del Ecuador, Provincial de Pichincha (CAE-P), the biennial has been held since 1978, aiming to foster dialogue, exchange, and reflection on architecture and the contemporary city. This edition's theme, "Inflexions: Looking Back," aims to provide a space for discussion and debate on architecture surrounding turning points in history.
On Wednesday, November 3, work began on the redevelopment plan for Plaza Baquedano and its surroundings in Santiago de Chile. It is worth noting that Plaza Baquedano—traditionally known as Plaza Italia and recently referred to as Plaza de la Dignidad—is the convergence point for both celebrations and protests. These events have often been marked by social unrest and, particularly following the events of October 18, 2019, have left their mark on the public space. What does the future hold for this site of immense social and political significance?
In the early 19th century, in a Paris on the verge of having its medieval fabric torn open by Haussmann's grand boulevards, novelist George Sand dressed as a man to walk the streets. According to her journals, "in trousers and boots I could fly from one end of the city to the other, regardless of the weather, the hour, or the place." No one paid her any attention, no one guessed her disguise, and no one stared or criticized; she was just another "atom lost in that immense crowd." Thanks to her male attire, Sand experienced fearless incursions and solitary wanderings like a true flâneur—experiences that would later become fundamental to crafting her successful narratives.
After a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Peruvian Architecture Biennial resumed, organized by the Architects' Association of Peru (CAP) based in the Cusco region. Held during the month of October, the biennial focused on the theme "Building the Heritage of the Future," addressing the social responsibility of architects regarding the legacy being built for future generations.
On November 15, the finalists for the Social Habitat and Sustainability Award of the BAQ2022 Competition (Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito) were announced. The winners, along with those of the National Award and Pan-American Award, will be announced on Friday, November 18, during the closing and awards ceremony at the National Theater of Ecuador.
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 highly intriguing country in this professional field, and its architectural output far exceeds its demographic and territorial scale.
In this episode of the fourth season, Sara talks with architect Pedro Bandeira about the Rotating House (Casa Rotativa) project and the essential synergy between architecture and engineering required to develop this residence, which actually rotates around a vertical axis. Listen to the conversation and read an excerpt of the interview below.
On Friday, November 18, the winners of the XXVIII Colombian Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BCAU 2022) were announced across nine categories: Architectural Project; Interior and Ephemeral Architecture; Urban Design and Landscaping; Dissemination; Social Habitat; Heritage Intervention; Research, Theory, and Criticism; Urban and Regional Planning; and Single-family, duplex, and triplex housing.
Combining art, nature, and architecture, Barcelona-based practices Mendoza Partida (Héctor Mendoza and Mara Partida) and BAX studio (Boris Bezan) have joined forces to design Art-Sauna, an experience conceived as a continuation of the emotional journey at the Gösta Serlachius Museum of Contemporary Art in Mänttä, Finland. With a subtle, intimate, and domestic scale, this new space joins the complex, harmonizing the dialogue between these three variables and integrating the building into the journey by merging it with the terrain and making it part of the landscape.
Among the various problems stemming from the excessive use of cars in large and medium-sized cities, traffic congestion and time lost in transit are undoubtedly those that receive the most attention from the media and society.
Drivers tend to overlook other issues, however severe, such as traffic fatalities and tragedies, air pollution, the stressful noise generated by motorized vehicles, urban sprawl—which makes cities dysfunctional, expensive, and far-flung—or the hydrological problems caused by the excess of asphalt and concrete dedicated to cars. Generally, these issues are ignored or seen as inevitable, whereas gridlock is highly visible, instantly perceived as a nuisance demanding immediate solutions.
Archiplan S.A. has won the Industrialized Social Housing Competition organized by Chile's Ministry of Housing and Urbanism. Part of the government's Housing Development Plan, the initiative includes the construction of 60 homeownership units in the Lo Espejo district and 103 fair-rent housing units in the Renca district.
Systems change. Transformation. Deep transition. These terms are used so frequently that they risk becoming buzzwords, obscuring their actual meaning.
Yet, to curb rising global temperatures, conserve nature, and build a fairer economy that benefits everyone, we indeed need deep change across all aspects of our economies—at a pace and scale never seen before.
The Chilean project Bío Bío Regional Theater by architects Smiljan Radic, Gabriela Medrano, and Eduardo Castillo, along with the Mexican project Music House designed by Colectivo C733, have been jointly awarded the Grand Prize at the Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito BAQ 2022.
The illustration above is a famous image by the artist Imperial Boy (帝国少年), who works in the anime industry. I sometimes claim that the entire *solarpunk* genre was inspired by this image. That is an exaggeration, of course—some people have thought very seriously about *solarpunk* design principles—but the influence and appeal of Imperial Boy's design are undeniable. Moreover, other *solarpunk* art, though often lovely, tends not to immediately resemble the kind of cities you would actually want to build; it is either an image of a high-tech farm, or some variation of "slap a tree on the side of every building."
Young people from the Quebrada Agroecógica collective received the ImaGen Ventures award during COP-27, the world's largest climate change summit, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The collective brings low-cost mini-cisterns to informal settlements and low-income communities.
Mired in a housing crisis for about a decade, New Zealand has modified its zoning laws to allow more medium-density housing to be built in the nation's largest municipalities.
The initiative comes in response to a shortage of housing units, soaring property values and rents, and is aimed at narrowing the widening “chasm” between household incomes and housing costs, as detailed in a report by The Guardian.
Hostile architecture's days may be numbered in Brazil. The Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that prohibits public authorities from using any material, equipment, or construction technique that deters people or restricts access to public spaces. Bill PL 488/21, named the Padre Júlio Lancelotti Law, now goes to President Jair Bolsonaro for approval.
In cinematic works, the architecture chosen and designed to compose the frame can communicate with the viewer in many ways. Buildings and cities can establish the setting through well-known monuments or specific building types adapted to certain climates, as well as indicate the historical period through tectonic aesthetics. Fantasy works offer an endless creative field for architectural composition and interior design.
Viña del Mar Moderna is an investigation into the modern architecture that took root in the 1950s and 1960s in the city of Viña del Mar, Chile. Developed by Karla Silva, a designer from UVM, alongside historian Daniel Briones, the research surveys 10 residential buildings constructed as part of the resort city's urban planning. The result of this project is an engaging publication accessible via a digital platform and an open-access book, both presenting historical analysis and context of Latin America, Chile, and the Modern Movement.
Escola da Cidade hosted journalist Juca Kfouri for a conversation on the relationship between society, politics, and soccer. Juca spoke about the presence of soccer in society and how it also serves as a political medium, emphasizing that it is a cultural, economic, and educational force. He also addressed topics such as the recent events at Pacaembu and the significance of the Maracanã.
“If I said that Brasília is beautiful, people would immediately see that I liked the city. But if I say that Brasília is the image of my insomnia, they see this as an accusation; yet my insomnia is neither beautiful nor ugly — my insomnia is me, lived, it is my astonishment.” — Clarice Lispector
In 2020, Brasília turned 60. The anniversary almost slipped by, but in times of isolation, I recalled the walks I had the opportunity to take there last year — walks that opened my eyes to the beautiful, the unbeautiful, and the “unobvious” in this famous modernist city. That said, I would like to share my astonishment in exploring this machine-city on foot.
Juliana Terra, Fernanda Sakano, Danilo Terra, and Pedro Tuma are not typical Paulistano architects. At least, not to the extent that the recognition of the firm they lead—Terra e Tuma Arquitetos Associados—might suggest. Rejecting the figure of the genius and dispensing with that of the entrepreneur, the quartet runs the firm as craftspeople shaping the object. "We see ourselves as a craft-based practice," says Danilo, who explains the design process as a continuous remaking, free of hierarchy, involving four heads and eight hands.
The public can now experience the virtual version of the traveling exhibition 7 Povos – Retratos de um Território. This is a restaging of the exhibition that has already taken place in person at three venues across the country: the Memorial do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre (RS); the Sítio Arqueológico de São Miguel Arcanjo in São Miguel das Missões (RS); and the Paço Imperial Cultural Heritage Center (CCPPI) in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). With the launch of the online version, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) aims to bring the exhibition to an even broader audience, both in Brazil and internationally.
