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.

The design for the Fiat factory in the Lingotto district of Turin, Italy, was developed by engineer Giacomo Mattè-Trucco in 1915. Construction began the following year and was carried out in stages until its completion in 1923. Inspired by Fordism, a manufacturing model that emerged in the United States in the 1910s, the factory was designed with an upward-moving assembly line. Upon reaching the roof, the completed cars were ready to be tested on a track approximately 1 km long.

Many authors address the importance of the street to vitality in urban space. Streets are public open spaces, typically bordered by the buildings that shape them. We rarely realize it, but it is through this open space that we appropriate the city, and where the experience of walking takes place.

Real estate speculation is undoubtedly the greatest villain singled out by those who study, inhabit, or are simply interested in cities today. It gets blamed for practically every urban problem: whether a city is too dense or too sprawling, choked with traffic or prohibitively expensive; whether local politics are corrupt or the poor are marginalized to the periphery; whether corporations profit from public investments or public infrastructure lies idle; whether historic heritage is destroyed, new buildings alter the cityscape, or informal settlements are burned down. The list is endless.

What if you could send a WhatsApp message and a bright green van delivered native tree saplings directly to you? In Salvador, the local government does exactly that. Painted with the image of a biodiverse Brazilian forest, this green van is part of the "Disque Mata Atlântica" (Atlantic Forest Hotline) program. Since its launch in 2017, the initiative has delivered 4,500 trees to residents wishing to plant them at home.

The Bamboo Experimentation Laboratory at UNESP - Bauru has shared with us the work developed by architect Roberval Bráz Padovan, who researched bamboo construction joints. In addition to analyzing various connection possibilities, Padovan concludes by proposing a joint component for space trusses. The thesis was presented in 2010 at the School of Architecture, Arts, and Communication of UNESP - Bauru, advised by Prof. Dr. Marco Antônio dos Reis Pereira and co-advised by Prof. Dr. Paula da Cruz Landim. Read the author's abstract below.

A successful interior design must be paired with a proper lighting design. It is responsible for ensuring that the quantity and wattage of the bulbs are suited to the space based on its dimensions and use.

Currently, until August 16, the second public consultation on the new Urban Intervention Project (PIU) for the city's central sector is open on the municipal government's website. The project involves the necessary revision of the Centro Urban Operation, a law enacted in 1997 whose alignment with the regulatory framework established by the 2001 City Statute had been expected since the passage of the last Master Plan (Law 16,050/2014).

The so-called “right of protocol” is a legal anomaly today, as it allows private real estate developers to choose which legislation applies to their projects. This mechanism was established in the 1970s, prior to key democratic advancements, particularly those concerning the social function of property and rights to an ecologically balanced environment, housing, and cultural heritage. Today, maintaining this “right” of protocol delays the implementation of changes envisioned by new urban planning laws designed to correct the everyday dysfunctions of the city, such as flooding.

The real estate market and construction industry in São Paulo, which had been booming since the mid-1960s thanks to the creation of the National Housing Bank, allowed for broad architectural experimentation, such as a novel program: vertical multifamily housing. Nevertheless, as early as the 1950s, Revista Pilotis was already calling for architects to take a stance on the issues generated by this new program:

Recently, the population of Mozambique suffered a devastating tragedy caused by Cyclone Idai, which left a massive number of people dead, injured, and homeless. To support the affected communities, the Architectes de l'Urgence Foundation is calling on architecture and engineering professionals to help rebuild one of the hardest-hit areas. Read the official statement below.

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The Arquiteturas Film Festival (AFF) is returning to Lisbon soon and has already set its dates. From June 4 to 9, the 7th edition takes over Cinema São Jorge, centering the debate around the theme "Human Nature." Over the course of six days, the 2019 program will feature 62 films—90 percent of which are Portuguese premieres, alongside several world premieres. There will also be various parallel activities, including workshops, masterclasses, children's workshops, guided tours, collective meetings, and more.

Residents of Jardim Lapenna, in São Miguel Paulista, in São Paulo's East Zone, have created a participatory neighborhood plan in the state capital. Out of 32 urban actions planned in areas such as lighting, security, and paving, seven were selected as priorities and are currently being incorporated into the annual budget bill (PLOA) for 2019.

In modern architecture, designing involves analyzing, predicting, and determining spaces and functions with precision, leaving no room for error. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, this rationalizing character, driven by maximum efficiency, was harshly criticized, and "erring"—in the sense of wandering, roaming without aim or destination—became recognized as an inevitable part of the human experience.

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As part of the programming for the exhibition Infinito Vão, Casa da Arquitectura invited a group of architects from different generations featured in the exhibition on 90 years of Brazilian architecture for a series of talks hosted at the Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo. Architects Ruy Ohtake and Marcos Acayaba participated in this event, moderated by one of the exhibition's curators, Guilherme Wisnik. 

The Council for Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR) has decided to deny professional registration requests from Architecture and Urbanism graduates of distance learning (EaD) programs. The resolution, dated March 29, was based on the fact that the field of Architecture and Urbanism is directly linked to the preservation of life and human well-being, the safety and integrity of property, and the preservation of the environment, with direct impacts on individual and public health. 

The City of Jundiaí, in partnership with IABsp, organized an ideas competition for the Jundiaí River Valley with the goal of promoting a new design proposal for the site, considering both the regional context within the urban agglomeration and its relationship with the life of its immediate surroundings.

In another episode of the Architecture and Cinema series, Arquicast brings the film Paris, I Love You to the discussion. In addition to the usual podcasters, the episode features advertising professional and journalist Janaina Pereira, who holds a postgraduate degree in Cinema and contributes to various entertainment outlets. Janaina previously participated in episode #58 on the film Her. Another returning guest on Arquicast is cinematographer and cinephile Kiko Barbosa, who always brings engaging insights to our conversations.

This week, the São Paulo municipal government resumed the bidding process for the concession of six public parks to the private sector. Suspended since July of last year due to disagreements with the state government, the project was revived by current mayor Bruno Covas.

In addition to Ibirapuera, the city's largest park at 158 hectares, the bidding process also includes the concession of Lajeado (east zone), Eucaliptos (south zone), Jacintho Alberto (north zone), Tenente Brigadeiro Faria Lima (south zone), and Jardim Felicidade (north zone) parks.

On flat terrain, where the horizon is visible in every direction, buildings with over forty stories rise across different areas of the city. Recently, a fifty-story building was completed; at 191 meters (626 feet) high, it is the tallest in the country. While some criticize this development model for its impact on the landscape, in a capital with rapid population growth, one would expect the cost of housing to rise steadily, along with the housing deficit. This, however, is not the case in Goiânia.

While steep slopes present a challenge, they also offer an opportunity to explore vertical relationships between spaces. Whether adapting to or subverting the natural landscape, these designs gain a powerful expressiveness and a strong sense of place. Negotiating the slope is a constraint for many program types, but in residential design, it often takes center stage, driving the core architectural strategy. Below is a selection of 25 Brazilian residences that exemplify the diverse approaches to addressing sloped terrains.

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Students, faculty, and staff of the Faculty of Architecture & Urbanism & Design of Alagoas, led by professors Adriana Capretz Borges da Silva Manhas and Josemary Omena Passos Ferrare, alongside student Cecília Oliveira do Nascimento Rossé, have organized an online petition to award professor Zélia de Melo Maia Nobre the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from UFAL (Federal University of Alagoas).

Although more than 1.35 million people lose their lives in traffic crashes every year, these fatalities do not receive the same attention from politicians and the media as airplane, train, or ship disasters. Some believe that deaths from vehicle crashes are simply a part of daily life or inevitable—but they do not have to be.

Boxing Boxes is a project resulting from two years of architectural research by Carlos Ortega Arámburo and Daniel de León Languré that combines boxing, as a tool for self-discipline and violence control, with a structure that activates civic space in marginalized areas. For this year's Lisbon Architecture Triennale, the Mexican architect, along with a local interdisciplinary team, installed the equipment in the Portugal Novo neighborhood, in Olaias, Lisbon.

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Urban densification and the demand for urban land have, among other things, led to a reduction in lot sizes in cities. Large parcels of land once destined for single-family homes have made way for multi-family buildings that, depending on their location, feature commercial establishments and services on their ground floors. Building a house in major urban centers is no easy task, largely due to the scarcity of available plots, or their reduced dimensions when they can be found.