Cities can be considered humanity's major economic, social, technological, and cultural centers, given their diverse functions and importance to their citizens' quality of life. According to United Nations data (2017), currently, more than half of the world's population lives in cities or urbanized centers, and this figure is expected to grow to around 70% by 2050. Furthermore, in late 2015, the United Nations (UN) launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by all countries by 2030. Given the importance of cities, SDG 11, "Sustainable Cities and Communities," is dedicated to this agenda, seeking to ensure that cities and human settlements find ways to be inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Last week, we announced the 15 finalists for the 2020 Obra do Ano, an award celebrating the best of Lusophone architecture by inviting our readers to choose their favorite projects built in Portuguese-speaking countries. Today, it is time to reveal the winners of ODA 2020.

Escola da Cidade is once again hosting its Seminar on Culture and Contemporary Reality as open, public livestreams. In today's episode, Guilherme Wisnik welcomes Giselle Beiguelman for a conversation inspired by the series Coronavida, published in seLecT magazine.

On the first of this month, São Caetano do Sul (SP) implemented free fares on municipal buses through its "Zero Fare Program." Far from an isolated initiative, the measure aims to encourage public transportation use, providing direct savings to residents while improving air quality.

The ten cities selected to compete for $9 million in the Sustainable Cities Challenge, a global mobility initiative by the Toyota Mobility Foundation in partnership with Challenge Works and the World Resources Institute, have been announced. The list of selected cities includes Fortaleza, Brazil, as well as cities in Colombia, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The climate emergency manifests itself in Brazilian cities in various ways: floods in the South, coastal surges in Rio de Janeiro, storms causing power outages in São Paulo, wildfire smoke in Manaus, droughts in Amazonian rivers, and heatwaves in the Midwest. Therefore, integrating the fight against climate change into public planning is crucial.

The COVID-19 pandemic is characterized by the vast territorial scope of its contagion. This is not an epidemic confined to a single specific location. Instead, transmission spreads rapidly, exploiting the highly urbanized world we inhabit. The virus spreads through gatherings in public spaces and private service facilities, transit terminals and stations, precarious settlements lacking sanitation, and, ultimately, the intense national and international flow of people and goods across the global network of cities. Airports acted as the primary gateway for the virus worldwide. Yet, the network of informal workers who roam city streets delivering goods during the pandemic—keeping commerce alive—represents one of the most vulnerable dimensions of this risk. However, while urban life has facilitated transmission, certain urbanization patterns can also help combat it.

Brazilian architect Marcelo Ferraz, founder of the firm Brasil Arquitetura, is the first guest on Studio Casa, an interview series produced by Casa da Arquitectura - Portuguese Center for Architecture.

How can you protect yourself from the coronavirus on the street, upon arriving home, and inside your own home? The 'Urbanistas contra o Corona' (Urbanists Against Corona) network has developed a guide to instruct the public in each of these situations. The illustrated publication lists prevention measures and categorizes contamination risks when on the street (high), returning home (medium), and within the private space of the home (low).

In response to a request from the Council of Architecture and Urbanism, Banco do Brasil has announced a package of measures with special conditions to support architects, urban planners, and companies in the sector during this period of economic impact caused by the coronavirus.

This article offers an observation and analysis of the diverse forms of land occupation and use within informal or self-built urban fabrics on the outskirts of Luanda, examining their relationship with the Angolan capital's consolidated urban core.

Modern architecture has taught us lessons that remain highly relevant today. To this end, one of the movement's core tenets was the use of extensive glass facades to dissolve the visual boundaries between interior and exterior. As a result, what was previously grounded in mystery and privacy gave way to glass boxes that fully revealed indoor life—as exemplified by Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion and Farnsworth House, and Lina Bo Bardi's Glass House. Today, however, driven by the social media boom, a spirit of voyeurism seems to fuel our desire to observe the lives of others. Architecture, in turn, reinterprets this practice through subtle design details, utilizing transparency as a key element.

In an effort to promote and disseminate scientific activities in Argentina, the National Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MINCyT), together with the Central Society of Architects (SCA), launched a National Preliminary Project Competition to design the buildings that will make up the "City of Science." This initiative is in conjunction with MINCyT, the Cultural Center of Science (C3), the IDI Agency, CONICET, and the Max Planck Institute Argentina, which currently comprise the Scientific and Technological Pole. Proposing an "Innovation Ecosystem," the project will be located in the Palermo neighborhood of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, specifically across two blocks of the former Palermo Railway Yard.

On November 15, the Guatemala Architecture Biennial 2023 opened at the Miguel Ángel Asturias Cultural Center—one of the country's most important performing arts venues. While the previous 2021 edition recognized the importance of the city, architecture, and urban planning under the theme 'Mobility,' this latest iteration focuses on 'Public Space' under the slogan 'The City, Without Walls.' Over three days, this new approach will highlight public space as one of the most vital elements in urban planning, with a significant impact on citizens' social, psychological, and physical well-being.

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While multidisciplinarity is one of the most compelling virtues of an architect and urban planner's education, it can lead to a certain imprecision and deviation regarding the practical possibilities of the profession when interpreted too generically. From time to time, it is crucial to reiterate the nuances of the broad spectrum that the word "design" encompasses in this field, as these specifics yield distinct bodies of knowledge and professional niches that can and should be occupied by architects.

The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change, natural resource depletion, and waste generation. Consequently, the way we conceptualize cities, buildings, and their various components must change. This requires transitioning from a linear mindset to a circular model—one that increases resource efficiency while reducing waste and pollutants, ultimately making cities and their buildings more inclusive, socially equitable, and sustainable. 

Wood parquet floors, or simply parquet, are made from assemblies of solid wood rectangular blocks, which can be installed in graphic patterns such as diagonal, herringbone, and checkerboard, among others. These diverse designs, combined with the varying textures and colors of the blocks, open up countless compositional arrangements through the application and repetition of identical units.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): an infectious disease caused by a newly identified virus in humans, resulting in a respiratory illness characterized by symptoms such as fever, cough, and, in more severe cases, respiratory failure. Highly contagious, the virus is known to be transmitted through respiratory droplets or nasal discharge. Consequently, the primary means of prevention is frequent sanitization.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been managed differently across countries. In Brazil, several states and municipalities imposed restrictions on freedom of movement. These measures led to a sharp decline in economic activity and in the volume of vehicle and pedestrian traffic in cities. Google released data on changes in mobility patterns, and in the Brazilian case, there are striking differences.

Awarded second place in ArchDaily Brasil's 2020 Building of the Year, the Romanesque Interpretation Center, designed by Portuguese firm spaceworkers, draws the eye with its pleasant confusion of concrete forms and volumes, punctuated by subtractions and connected by a web of glass and metal that only becomes fully clear from inside the building.

Once the period of lockdown and widespread contamination of the epidemic is over, we will no longer be the same. This phrase has been repeated time and again, and indeed, global society will never be the same. Work relations are likely to change, and labor laws may adapt to allow technology to become an ally in employer-employee relations, ultimately yielding a positive impact on mobility, the environment, and energy consumption. 

Vigo and San Fernando have been selected as host cities for the third edition of the TAC! Urban Architecture Festival by Spain's Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA), where temporary pavilions will be built to accommodate an extensive cultural program. Widely considered a benchmark for emerging ephemeral architecture, this edition of the festival seeks to showcase projects that highlight the potential of architecture, innovation, experimentation, and young talent.

From November 23 to 25, "SP/Amazon Connection: Climate Action" will host a seminar on communication, art, and climate urbanism, featuring free workshops, debates, lectures, and exhibitions at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil São Paulo (CCBB SP). To conclude the event's programming, an art installation will be on display on the exterior wall of the CCBB Annex until December 25.

Conceived by Novo Acordo Verde (NAVE) and the Fervura platform, "SP/Amazon Connection: Climate Action" strategically uses artistic expression and the occupation of urban public space as tools to amplify information. It aims to connect the general public with topics like the climate crisis and the essential solutions needed for humanity and the environment to overcome history's greatest challenge.

The awards ceremony took place at the Palacio de Minería Museum in Mexico City to announce the 11 winning projects of the 2023 Interceramic Architecture and Interior Design Award across their respective categories, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award in Architecture, presented to architect Gonzalo Gómez Palacio.