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Architects: Some Thoughts
- Area: 100 m²
- Year: 2023




When we conceive an architectural project, it is crucial to transcend mere aesthetics and consider all aspects of our material decisions. The spaces where we live, work, and interact should not only be visually pleasing but also contribute to our safety and comfort. What if, in addition, they could improve air quality and reduce the amount of pathogens on surfaces? This is why the selection of materials plays a fundamental role, and architects and specifiers need to strive to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the materials and systems they incorporate into their projects.

The tenth edition of the MPavilion opens in Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. The structure was designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Tadao Ando, marking the architect’s first built project in Australia. The pavilion follows his signature use of geometric shapes in harmony with the natural landscape and the precise use of exposed concrete. On November 16, 2023, the official opening inaugurates the space with a public celebration and a wide array of art commissions selected by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. The MPavilion will remain free and open to the public from 16 November to 28 March 2024, inviting visitors to engage with its diverse cultural program and find opportunities for contemplation and tranquility in its spaces.

Global Architecture Development (GAD) has presented the New Tashkent City master plan, shortlisted in the Master planning category at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2023. This comprehensive vision hopes to propel Tashkent, Uzbekistan, into a new development phase through their design strategies. The New Tashkent City master plan attempts to carefully examine critical aspects of traditional city planning, setting up lasting development goals for the design. In fact, it includes efforts to strengthen infrastructure, support economic growth, improve community involvement, and enhance environmental services. Overall, the design hopes to raise the city’s overall livability.

As tragic as they may be, crises often foster adaptability and resilience. In architecture, they challenge professionals to adapt their production to smaller and less frequent orders. That is the case of Diogo Aguiar Studio, a Portuguese studio based in Porto founded in 2016, in the recovery from a profound economic crisis, which, since its emergence, has been forced to reinvent ways of operating within the field of architecture.
Interested in varied scales and typologies, the studio works between the fields of architecture and art, carrying out small-scale architectural projects and spatial installations, temporary or not, for public spaces. Formed by Diogo Aguiar, Daniel Mudrák, Adalgisa Lopes, João Teixeira, Cláudia Ricciuti, and Marta Bednarczyk, the studio bases its practice on the belief that "there are no small projects and, above all, that there are no smaller projects." The ability to respond inventively to diverse demands and contexts earned the studio a place on ArchDaily's 2023 Best New Practices list.
The Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 opened on November 11, 2023, with a wide program focused on the overarching theme of The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. While on-site in Sharjah, the ArchDaily team had the chance to sit down with curator Tosin Oshinowo and discuss her curatorial view, the development of the main themes of the program, and the larger principles and intentions behind the event. Informed by her experience growing up in Lagos, Oshinowo has focused the Triennale on the celebration of places that thrive under conditions of scarcity and the alternative models that the Global South can provide in working towards a more equitable and livable future.




