Photographer: Federico Cairoli | ArchDaily

Above Water, Slope, and Forest: Elevated Architecture in Latin America

Daniela Andino — Tue, 05 May 2026 07:30:00 +0000

In Latin America, the ground is rarely just a surface to build on. It can be a river edge, a steep slope, a humid forest floor, a floodable landscape, or a territory under ecological pressure, and in many cases, it carries a history of communities that already knew how to respond to it, building on stilts, on platforms, over water, long before contemporary architecture asked the same questions.

La Florida II House / Lezaeta Lavanchy

Valentina Díaz — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 15:00:00 +0000

The La Florida Reservoir was the chosen location for this small summer retreat. Its proximity to a small pine forest was a decisive factor among the options presented for this project.

Compass Bonfire / messina | rivas

Valeria Silva — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Perhaps the space of fire is the first space: around it, bodies, time, and words are organized. The new design transforms the bonfire into a compass: a rose of winds materialized on the ground. There are twelve supports marking the directions, like a sundial that teaches time through the movement of light. A stage is oriented to the south, pointing directly to Pedra do Baú — a geographic landmark of the region and a constant reference in the landscape.

Legacy in Matter: Material Traditions in South American Architecture

Daniela Andino — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Across South America, architecture endures through the materials it uses, those that persist over time. Bamboo, brick, wood, and concrete appear across regions, connecting climate, labor, and culture in ways that ensure their persistence through generations. Their continuity does not depend solely on preservation or heritage. It depends on use.

Pavilion in El Durazno / Nicolás Oks

Valentina Díaz — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Situated on the mountain slopes, just meters from the El Durazno River, the pavilion emerges in an environment of Jesuit stone walls surrounded by native vegetation of molle and espinillo trees. Facing north, the mountain range of the Sierras Grandes unfolds, where the Champaquí Peak can be glimpsed in the distance.

Introducing the 75 Finalists of the 2026 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards

Daniela Porto — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Two weeks and over 85,000 nominations later, the finalists of this year's Building of the Year Awards are in. The selection is much like the ArchDaily audience that chose it: diverse in geography, generous in ideas, and precise in intent. With projects from 46 countries, in a variety of typologies and scales, they present a beautiful snapshot of the current architectural moment.

A Forest in the House / Equipo de Arquitectura

Valentina Díaz — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

“When the phrase ‘the trees prevent us from seeing the forest’ is repeated, its exact meaning may not be understood. Perhaps the mockery behind the phrase backfires on the person who utters it. The trees prevent us from seeing the forest, and thanks to that, the forest exists. The mission of the visible trees is to keep the rest latent, and only when we realize that the visible landscape hides other invisible landscapes do we feel ourselves to be inside a forest.”— Meditations on Don Quixote. Depth and Surface — José Ortega y Gasset (1914)

Environmental Comfort as an Interior Condition in South American Architecture

Daniela Andino — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Across South America, environmental comfort is understood not as an interior condition, but as one shaped through space. In regions marked by heat, humidity, intense sunlight, and seasonal variation, architecture has long relied on spatial decisions to moderate climate and support daily life. Comfort emerges from how interiors are opened, shaded, ventilated, and inhabited over time.

New Port House / Lezaeta Lavanchy + Tomás Tironi

Andreas Luco — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000

This wooden house is located at the boundary between an extensive green plateau and a coigüe forest that descends steeply towards Lake Ranco, in southern Chile.

Services Pavilion / VDV ARQ

Valentina Díaz — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 03:00:00 +0000

In our practice, the pavilion is not a closed typology, but rather an open way of being in the territory. An architecture that does not seek to impose itself, but to enable relationships. Between the inside and the outside, between the collective and the intimate, the pavilion is always a porous structure, available, in dialogue with its surroundings.

AHS Reininghaus Secondary School / j-c-k

Valeria Silva — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Urban planning. A secondary school for 1000 pupils was to be founded and built for the newly developed Reininghaus district. The 4-storey development of the AHS Reininghaus extends in an L-shape along the streets Am Steinfeld and Margarethe-SchütteLihotzky-Straße and forms the noise-protecting, north-eastern end of Quartier 12. The central stepping towards the south-west fragments the compact, L-shaped building mass, creating a striking sequence of terrace incisions.

From Legal Constraint to Local Craft: Four Adaptive Projects by messina | rivas in Cunha

Susanna Moreira — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 07:30:00 +0000

The municipality of Cunha, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, is a region known for its inland landscape, hilly terrain, and, especially, a major production of nationally renowned ceramics. It is within this context that the office messina | rivas has been working since 2017, with a set of projects located on a farm. Their work, which integrates design and construction in an indissociable manner, results in interventions that reveal a sensitive approach to pre-existing conditions and their surrounding environment.

House for two DJs / Atelier Matteo Arnone

Hadir Al Koshta — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +0000

The project by Atelier Matteo Arnone for Quinta do Álamo represents a dialogue between past and present, between the memory of the winemaking tradition and the modernity of a house designed for two DJs. Located in Carnota, in the municipality of Alenquer, just 40 minutes from Lisbon, the Quinta is surrounded by vineyards that tell a long history of wine production, offering a unique natural and cultural setting.

Community-Centered Architecture: Redefining the Role of Architects in South America

Daniela Andino — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Across South America, architecture is increasingly being understood as a collective act. Rather than imposing external views, many studios and designers are building with and for communities, learning from their local practices, materials, and ways of inhabiting. These projects are repositioning the architect's role from an author to a facilitator, transforming design into a participatory process that centers collaboration, care, and mutual respect.

Sewing Atelier Studio / Atelier 77 + Matéria Base

Susanna Moreira — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Located in the historic neighborhood of Santa Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, this sewing studio occupies a platform surrounded by a stone retaining wall, built over 200 years ago, according to local reports. This pre-existing structure establishes the architectural concept, serving both as a physical boundary and structural support for the new intervention.

Main House / messina | rivas

Valeria Silva — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:00:00 +0000

The design of the Main House is located in the valleys of the Serra do Mar near Pedra da Macela, a tourist spot in the region of Cunha, where it is possible to see the sea, the mountains, and the city of Paraty.

Newbery Urban Homes / Dieguez Fridman

Valeria Silva — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Movement always represents a way of life and the role of life is always to introduce indeterminacy inside matter. Henri Bergson.

Jardim Paulista House / Messina Rivas

Valeria Silva — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 15:00:00 +0000

The project is located in the Jardim Paulista neighborhood, where we faced the challenge of accommodating a complete program, three bedrooms, garden, swimming pool, terrace, integrated kitchen, comfortable service area, and parking, on a compact 180 m² plot, previously occupied by a terraced house.