This guide covers a workflow that moves from project parameters to generated floor plans, 3D perspective views, exterior design exploration, and site context visualization, using AI tools in place of preliminary CAD and rendering work.

ConArq is the first National Congress of Architecture organized by students in Argentina. It stems from the desire to discuss, listen to, and propose architecture across the country's different schools, aiming to strengthen student education and make significant contributions to the practice of the discipline, ultimately creating a space for debate.

Architectural academia is becoming increasingly aware of the contemporary and territorial challenges facing local communities. Universidad del Norte presents this series of six thesis projects by its students, exploring the coastal region of northern Colombia through architectural recycling, regeneration, and urban renewal.

This article by Cristian Yarasca Aybar was originally published in the 11th issue of revista rita_ under the title "El problema de la distancia: las plataformas multisectoriales “tambos” como una oportunidad proyectual sistemática para el territorio rural peruano" [The Problem of Distance: "Tambo" Multisectoral Platforms as a Systematic Project-Design Opportunity for the Peruvian Rural Territory]. The research aims to identify the design potential of the "National Tambo Program" in Peru from a systematic vision of the national territory.

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TEN Arquitectos is an architectural firm based in Mexico City, New York, and Miami, founded by Mexican architect Enrique Norten. With 33 years of experience designing from a global perspective, the practice brings a consistent international sensitivity to every new space it creates. This body of work has been recognized with numerous national and international awards, including the Mies van der Rohe Award for Latin American Architecture, honors from the national American Institute of Architects (AIA) and various US chapters, Architectural Record, Architect Magazine, Architizer, and Biennials in Mexico, Argentina, and Ecuador, as well as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), among others.

This article by Paula Jaén Caparrós and Enrique Azpilicueta Astarloa was originally published in the 7th issue of rita magazine under the title "Reversible Architectures of Japan: The Houses of Shirakawa-go" as part of a joint publishing collaboration. The following text invites reflection on the design and construction principles found in these traditional Japanese houses, which could be recovered and applied to contemporary proposals that integrate disassembly, recovery, and relocation of the entire built object as key elements of sustainable architectural design.

Bulla is an Argentine landscape design, urban, and territorial planning studio that has dedicated over a decade to "inserting a landscape agenda into the public and intellectual scene." To explore their beginnings, purpose, methods of working, reflecting, and exploring, as well as their vision for the future of landscape architecture in Argentina, we interviewed Ignacio Fleurquin, founding partner.

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As part of the annual collaborative efforts of the Design Week team in Mexico City, the "Inédito" exhibition opened on October 9 at the Espacio CDMX Arquitectura y Diseño gallery. It marks the sixth consecutive edition of this open call, which aims to support, promote, and showcase utilitarian design projects across several categories: social impact, environmental impact, innovation, function, aesthetics, concept, user experience, materials, and processes. The exhibition is divided into three categories—professional, student, and digital—where, far from competing, participants gain exposure to opportunities in both national and international markets for outstanding design with commercial and production viability.

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The National Social Distancing Campaign (Jornada de Sana Distancia) in Mexico began on March 23, 2020. However, a couple of weeks earlier, despite the federal government's recommendation to continue normal activities, people on social media were already choosing to replicate the European model of self-isolation. Some architecture firms immediately decided to close their physical spaces and transition to remote work, while others took a few more weeks. Still, this period of social and physical (spatial) distancing is experienced differently in every household. The months of this pandemic have exposed not only inequality regarding basic needs in dense urban areas, but also the fragility of our social order. Whether at a macro or micro scale, all these experiences are shaped and influenced by the built environment, making architecture both a judge and a party to the equation. 

Have you ever had to alter an original design due to construction difficulties or budget overruns, yet never because it negatively impacted the environment? 

That is why we want to give our readers the opportunity to openly express their views on this matter. If we were fully aware of the environmental costs of materials today, or their potential future consequences, or the real, global challenges that arise during construction, would it change the way we select and create our designs? Would it be easier for us to advocate for our projects to others and fellow professionals? 

Architect Cristián Boza Díaz, known for designing the Parque Fluvial de la Familia, the Centro de la Justicia, and the Universidad San Sebastián in Santiago, Chile, passed away today at the age of 76 following a liver disease that afflicted him in his final years.

MAD’s Beijing office is currently seeking talented professionals to fill several open positions.

Senior Architect | Design Direction

This article by María José Pizarro and Óscar Rueda was originally published in the 3rd issue of rita journal under the title "Ernesto N. Rogers y la 'Preesistenza Ambientale' en las Escuelas Nacionales de Arte de La Habana" and is part of a joint collaborative dissemination effort. The present text seeks to delve into the influence of Rogers' theoretical corpus on three of his outstanding students: Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti, and Roberto Gottardi, and how this thinking informed the design of their first and most significant work: the National Art Schools of Havana.

Scattered throughout cities and standing as landmarks in the landscape, what do these statues represent, having driven humanity around the world to pay such singular attention to their size? 

Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the sixth edition of the Concéntrico International Architecture and Design Festival has been postponed, with new dates set for September 3 to 6, 2020.
The postponement is accompanied by an innovative online coverage initiative called the "Concéntrico Marathon," which will take place during the originally scheduled dates, from April 29 to May 3, 2020.

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One of the most critical factors in architectural design is the site's specific climate. While this can present challenges in extreme conditions—requiring insulating materials to adapt to shifting environments—Mexico's privileged climate works in the architects' favor. It allows them to create microclimates and spaces that blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors.

This year in Mexico, the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit) launched the Seventh Student Competition 2020, proposing the study of issues at different scales to develop housing, environmental, and locational strategies and solutions for the country's most troubled housing developments. The competition seeks new ideas as well as an academic dialogue, offering participants the opportunity to interact with users and their surrounding habitat to understand, analyze, and propose practical transformations through empirical research and interdisciplinary professional guidance.

In the introduction to the book La casa es una idea, architects Llosa and Cortegana present their professional credo, drawing on several quotes from notable architectural and cultural writers. The tone of this introductory essay persists throughout the brief texts that complement the graphic presentation of 40 houses designed by the firm between 2002 and 2017. All of these were drawn specifically for this publication by José Luis Villanueva, the book's third author, who first explains his analytical work through graphic and three-dimensional representation.

As in most cities, modern architecture left behind landmarks that endure today as exemplary icons shaping the urban landscape and defining each city's identity. One such case is the Torres de Marco Fidel Suárez, designed by architect Eduardo Arango and located in the city of Medellín. Architects and researchers Diego Andrés Agámez Berrio and Daniel Muñetón Muñetón have published a study through the Universidad de San Buenaventura and Editorial Bonaventuriana, investigating the architectural and design compositions of this landmark *paisa* project. 

The world is changing; it always does, only faster and faster. With it, our profession as architects is also changing, and new market horizons are opening up before us. A new definition of what it means to “be an architect”—one that is both necessary and long-awaited by many—is beginning to take shape, and in this article, I want to help open your eyes so you can join this exciting movement of independent architects.

The year 2019 was one of the most prolific for public design competitions in Bogotá, particularly within the education sector. Recently, the results of the public architectural preliminary design competition for the Hipotecho School were announced, with the winning proposal submitted by the joint team of AR-AR (Martínez Arquitectura) + Fiallo Atelier + MEC arquitectura.

If we could travel back in time one hundred years and organize an ideas competition to visualize what Bogota would look like in 2020, the proposals would be far from the reality of the urban landscape experienced today in the Colombian capital. Back then, little was known about the events that would later shape history, such as the Bogotazo, which led to the rebuilding or remodeling of most of the buildings that served as architectural landmarks of previous centuries.

The uncertainty of a distant future is perpetual. Yet, this does not stop the imagination from creating utopian or dystopian scenarios of that urban dimension for 2120. This was the main goal of the rendering competition organized by the Student Collective of the Colombian Society of Architects (CESCA) of the Bogota and Cundinamarca chapter.

For the first time, the Colombian Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, organized by the Colombian Society of Architects (SCA), will be held virtually. In its 27th edition, over ten days, more than 60 lectures, 9 panels, and 4 forums will be available. Explore the full schedule of the main room below. Meanwhile, the parallel room will showcase the Biennial's finalist projects.

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As part of an event held for the thirteenth consecutive year, a showroom opened in October featuring spaces designed by various architects and designers to showcase the new ColorLife TRENDS 2021 palettes by the Comex brand. Participants included Adrián Marfil, Alexia Ulibarri, Andrés Gutiérrez, Arlette Salas, Cristina Grappin, Jorge Ballina, Luis H. Muñoz, Mauricio De la Garza, Moisés Hernández, Penélope De la Madrid, and Rodrigo Noriega.

Academic architectural practice must push students and faculty toward constant adaptation and exploration. First-semester students at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana built an intervention of ephemeral architecture using wood as a structural material in the arts building (prior to the state of emergency). This gave future architects the academic experience of hands-on construction during their very first semester in the department.