The inequality that shapes our society is reflected in urban space. Consequently, fully experiencing the city is a reality for only a fraction of the population, challenging the notion of public space as a genuinely democratic realm.
This reflection underscores the urgent need to introduce proposals for more welcoming cities into contemporary architectural and urban planning debates.
Earth, straw, and wood are some of the construction materials used by a rural community in the Republic of Cameroon. Beyond being low-cost, the project's main asset is its respect for the local landscape, building homes in harmony with their surroundings.
Called Warka Village, the hamlet is based on vernacular architecture. This means traditional construction techniques and locally available materials, such as stone, bamboo, and natural fibers, are used.
Warsaw, Poland, has become the second city to receive public art projects that, in addition to beautifying the landscape, clean the air. Painted by local artists, the massive mural uses special, sun-activated pigments capable of filtering the air.
The mural was produced with titanium dioxide, which attracts pollutants and transforms them into harmless nitrates thanks to a sun-activated chemical process. Through this process, the artwork can purify its surrounding air, an action equivalent to the work of 720 trees.
São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima is a film with a complex and profound approach to São Paulo, crafted with a sensitive and distinct 1960s perspective by those who lived through a moment of urban and socioeconomic renewal in the metropolis. Capturing this unique social transformation, the film became a cinematic landmark of the era, tracing an intense relationship between character and urban space. It contains multiple layers of interpretation that dissect the meaning of the modern, the urban, the scenographic, and the architectural, using these concepts as tools to express a historical period lived and experienced by its population, capturing the transformations of both the city and its society.
Humans spend most of their lives inside buildings, whether to live, work, or play. COVID-19 further highlighted this issue during lockdown, underscoring the need to design healthier and more comfortable buildings.
This article presents several tips for designing healthier projects, highlighting the importance of a systemic approach that integrates diverse disciplines—including architecture, engineering, materials science, mechanics, physiology, and psychology.
Dia a dia is a three-part mid-length film miniseries developed by the Urban Policy Commission (CPU) of CAU/RJ. Each episode is dedicated to one of the three pillars proposed within the theme of the right to the city—sanitation, mobility, and housing—through the perspectives and daily lives of three women living in completely different areas of Rio de Janeiro: Realengo, Barra da Tijuca, and the Santo Amaro community (Catete). The first episode, which premiered on August 21 and addresses housing, is available online.
Hollow elements such as cobogós and mashrabiyas are commonly used to protect a building's interior spaces from direct solar radiation without blocking ventilation—a particularly favorable feature in predominantly tropical climates like Brazil. While their use in interiors is less common, in these cases, hollow elements offer flexibility in dividing indoor spaces without completely isolating them.
CAU/RJ has launched the eighth edition of its Cultural Sponsorship Program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the program will only consider projects featuring remote activities. Applications will also be submitted virtually.
Many factors influence people's well-being, but few have power as great as the quality of sleep. Adults spend, on average, a third of their day (and their life) sleeping. In the case of young children, this proportion is even higher. According to a study published by the WHO in 2019, babies (4 to 11 months) should sleep between 12 and 16 hours/day; and children up to 4 years old should sleep between 10 and 13 hours/day.
Quality sleep acts directly on the child's brain development, especially during his first and second childhood (from birth to 12 years old). During the rest period, the body releases the hormones necessary for growth and learning, and this is directly related to physical, motor, emotional, and cognitive development. It is also known that the environment where one sleeps interferes with the quality of that sleep, and some important aspects must be considered when designing sleeping spaces for children and babies.
Cities have been implementing temporary bike lanes to enable safe commuting during the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent public transit users from switching to cars and motorcycles. Gradually, this practice is gaining ground across Latin America, including Brazil. This represents a golden opportunity to boost bicycle urban mobility—but to succeed, emergency interventions must incorporate road safety best practices.
Architecture and Urbanism education, as with all other fields of knowledge, was heavily impacted by the pandemic. Forced to stay home, students and teachers faced a tremendous challenge imposed by physical distancing: how to maintain the quality of teaching practices?
Most federal universities suspended in-person activities, but made their facilities, faculty, and researchers available to combat the pandemic. Research and academic advising were adapted to remote formats, and extracurricular activities were planned to offer alternatives to the abrupt halt of in-person education. Those programs that chose to continue their traditional academic calendars had to migrate content and rethink long-held convictions to adapt to virtual learning environments in a very short period of time.
The Vale do Anhangabaú, or simply Anhangabaú, is the area of São Paulo that separates the so-called Centro Velho (Old Center) from the Centro Novo (New Center). True to its name, the Valley is the region bordering the stream of the same name—a somewhat ominous moniker that in Tupi-Guarani means “river or water of the evil spirit.” And indeed, judging by the various unsuccessful ways the space has been used over time, the “curse” embedded in its name seems to linger to this day.
In August, the city of Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais, signed a public-private partnership for a "smart city" project, setting in motion plans to become Brazil's first historic smart city. The contract entails an investment of R$ 10 million and establishes an administrative concession for the Ouro Luz consortium to operate Ouro Preto's public lighting network and telecommunications infrastructure for 25 years.
Juliana Coelho is an architect and urban planner with experience in the humanitarian, public, and private development sectors. For the past three years, she has been working in this sector with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. During this period, she was involved in the planning, design, and implementation of 21 temporary shelters, transit centers, and reception/documentation centers for refugees and migrants in Brazil. She also participated in drafting a contingency plan and upgrading spontaneous settlements and donated spaces, providing technical support to Operation Welcome (Operação Acolhida)—the Brazilian government's response to the influx of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to Brazil, which in 2020 also included emergency response measures to COVID-19.
The growing presence of Information and Communication Technologies, known as ICTs, in daily life is driving profound transformations in society, shaped by new forms of interaction based on the intensive production and use of information. In a society where information is an essential raw material, the term big data has taken center stage across corporate, governmental, and academic spheres. Big data inherently refers to the vast, varied, and fast-moving volumes of data constantly being generated.
This "Data Revolution" is certainly palpable in Brazilian cities. But how can it help us move toward a better understanding and planning of our urban areas? The opportunities opened up by big data for exploring innovative questions about urban phenomena and dynamics—especially those involving real-time analysis—are undeniable.
Associated with the architectural imagery of the 1980s, glass bricks—or blocks—are building elements whose sculptural potential has once again been recognized and revisited by contemporary design. First patented in 1907, this product was developed to meet the demand for light in building interiors; however, it is sought after today primarily for the visual effects produced by its translucency and texture. Currently, it is being used in diverse contexts, from bathrooms to residential partitions, and even entire facades of bars, stores, and restaurants.
Across much of Brazil, the climate allows for the daily use of outdoor spaces. From the simplest backyards to backyard annexes equipped with barbecues and ovens, outdoor cooking is deeply rooted in the local culture. This practice has become even more prominent in light of the lessons learned from the pandemic, as open-air spaces tend to be safer. With this in mind, we have compiled twelve outdoor kitchens—or kitchens that open up completely to the outdoors—to provide design inspiration for this type of space.
We have compiled a list of our best articles, projects, and products on natural and artificial lighting in architecture.
Between January and December 2018, addressing the housing demands of Indigenous communities, Grupo ][ Fresta initiated a technical architectural consulting project for the Guarani and Tupi ethnic communities located in the state of São Paulo, in the municipalities of São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo, Mongaguá, Praia Grande, and Itanhaém.
This work was developed within the framework of a Basic Environmental Plan (PBA), a prerequisite for the environmental licensing of developments located in Indigenous territories.
Discussing the history of cities and architecture in Latin America requires an exercise in deconstruction. The dominant official narrative focuses on understanding the consequences of the colonization of the American continent – North, Central, and South – by European colonizers, overlooking the diverse cultures, techniques, and economies that for over fifteen hundred years shaped lifestyles and spatial production through distinct building traditions. These practices remain highly relevant to the multifaceted context of the world's most “vertical” continent, which spans more latitudes than any other.
Architecture is one of the most beautiful professions—there is an undeniable romance in building the spaces where human beings dwell. It is also one of the oldest: if considered as an activity that organizes space, some form of architectural thinking can be identified dating back at least hundreds of thousands of years. Its beauty, however, is partially eclipsed by widespread frustration within the professional field in Brazil. A general lack of awareness regarding its importance to society, difficulty securing contracts, fierce competition, scarce opportunities in public projects, low-paying jobs, and a willingness to work without fees all contribute to the precarious state of architecture and urban planning.
When imagining a building's roof being put to use, single-family homes are rarely the first thing that comes to mind. Utilizing the top level of a building is not always considered or prioritized; as a result, the opportunity to create spaces for contemplation and gathering—which foster a stronger connection to the outdoors and the climate—is often missed. Here, we gather 13 examples of terraces in Brazilian houses that demonstrate how this space can be utilized, regardless of its size.
A city is a shared space where individuals seek to realize their desires and goals. Streets, sidewalks, and public spaces foster encounters and connections among diverse groups, strengthening the sense of community. Urban mobility plays a fundamental role in the social and economic development of cities, particularly in citizens' quality of life. It is not just about transportation, but about how people move through the city, impacting the time and energy expended by residents, as well as migration, communication, the formation of personal social networks, traffic flows, housing, health, and the spatial distribution of diverse points of interest. According to Ole B. Jensen, “contemporary cities and places are defined by mobility and their flows.”
“WHERE DO WE FIND OURSELVES?” is the title of the installation produced by Estúdio Mangava for feverestival 2020 (Campinas International Theater Festival). It was exhibited during the second week of February, about a month before we went into quarantine. The festival's organizers challenged the studio to represent the edition's theme through an interactive installation, which aimed to reaffirm its present, revisit the past, and project the future: what do we want to build from here? What do we want to reinvent? What kind of world project are we seeking? What are our desirable futures?
.jpg?1598540198 "Villa Deca / Studio Guilherme Torres. Image © Denilson Machado – MCA Estúdio")
.jpg?1598995537 "Cortesia de ACNUR")
.jpg?1599230293 "© Otávio Sasseron")
