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The FAD Awards 2021, one of the most prestigious architecture accolades on the Iberian Peninsula, has announced the finalist projects for its latest edition.

On June 28, during the official opening of the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism BEAU 2021 at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, the winners of the 'Panorama of Architecture and Urbanism Works' call were announced. Out of 581 proposals submitted, 100 projects were shortlisted, 70 became finalists, and ultimately 20 were awarded as the most outstanding examples of Spanish architecture and urbanism from the last three years.

The FAD Awards, one of the most prestigious architectural accolades in the Iberian Peninsula, have announced the winners of their 2021 edition.

The 2021 Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU) has announced the finalists for its "Panorama of Architecture and Urbanism Works" category. Out of 581 submissions, 100 projects were initially shortlisted, with 70 now selected for the final round. Of these, 20 will ultimately be recognized as the most outstanding works of Spanish architecture and urbanism from the last three years.

Pilgrimage is one of the oldest and most persistent cultural practices, a spatial expression of humanity's search for meaning that has taken form across geographies and religions. While traditionally tied to formal belief systems, its definition has expanded in recent decades, reflecting new understandings of what is sacred and where meaning can be found. This shift reveals something fundamental: the act of moving through space remains central to how people construct meaningful experience. Yet most built environments constructed today are designed to be approached at speed from roads, transit corridors, airports, and optimized urban cores. The Camino de Santiago stands as a sustained counterargument to this condition. It is a piece of distributed architecture, refined over centuries, that remains a sophisticated example of design organized around the moving human body.

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Community benefit is among the first terms mentioned when announcing a new public project. This is especially true in the case of sports halls, promising improvements in well-being and social cohesion. At a closer look, two typologies of sports halls emerge, with varying degrees of involvement with community life: on the one hand, there are large-scale venues dedicated to hosting international competitions, often boosting the capacities of thousands of people, taking on the role of modern landmarks alongside stadiums. On the other hand, there are small-scale multi-purpose sports halls, commonly annexed to schools, dispersed throughout neighborhoods, or present in rural areas with limited access to other public amenities. Despite the often-understated presence, these venues embrace and expand their multi-purpose role by offering opportunities to play, connect, organize events, and support diverse community activities.

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As people take greater control over the rituals surrounding their deaths, cremation has become an increasingly popular option worldwide. This shift has prompted the thoughtful design of spaces that address the profound emotions tied to cremation, life and death, and stillness. Architects are increasingly grappling with the question of what role architecture plays in these rituals.

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As revolutionary as the construction sector may seem nowadays, it currently accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, 11% of which are a result of manufacturing building materials such as steel, cement, and glass. Fast forward a couple of years later, after a life-changing global pandemic and indisputable evidences of climate change, CO2 emissions are still on a rise, reaching a historical maximum in 2020 according to the 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction. Although a lot of progress has been made through technological advancements, design strategies and concepts, and construction processes, there is still a long way to go to reduce carbon emissions to a minimum or almost zero in the development of built environments.

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Stating that “design and sustainability are indissociable”, the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award, centered its nominations on social inclusion, sustainability and circularity, and aesthetic research. So far, 40 shortlisted projects are moving to the next level. The biennial contest that gives tribute to works completed within the previous two years in general, will announce the 5 finalist works in February 2022, and the winner in April 2022.

Focused on 3 main titles, "the European city: a model for the sustainable smart city", "defining common European culture while reflecting the diversity of expression" and "an architecture that has social impact and transmits a cultural message", we have grouped the selected projects, nominated by a jury formed by Tatiana Bilbao, Francesca Ferguson, Mia Hägg, Triin Ojari, Georg Pendl, Spiros Pengas and Marcel Smets to give a better understanding of the selection criteria and the architectural situation in Europe. 

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Just as the colors of an abstract painting or photograph can produce a certain mood, so can the colors of a building or room profoundly influence how the people using it feel. Physiologically, study after study has shown that blue light slows the production of melatonin, keeping people more alert or awake even at night. Psychologically, people associate certain colors with certain feelings due to cultural symbols and lived experiences – for example, they might perceive the color red as menacing or frightening because of its connection to blood.

Altogether, the way a room is colored can have complex effects on how its users feel, while a façade can be perceived in dramatically different ways depending on how it is colored. Below, we summarize the emotional associations of every color, assessing their differing effects as each is used in architectural space.

The technical needs of the construction of bridges many times guide the development of the design itself. However, architecture is never put aside, rather the opposite. The aesthetics of bridges that we collect in this article are the result of an intense, demanding, and stimulating dialogue between architecture and engineering, where the search for solutions only ends when both disciplines are fully satisfied.

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Batlleiroig is an architecture firm based in the city of Barcelona, whose extensive portfolio encompasses urban projects, landscaping, buildings, and interior design. We spoke with Joan Batlle Blay, Architect & Landscape Architect and partner at the firm, about the innovations and challenges in his work. According to him, “In our office, we think that R+D (research and development) is the company’s main tool to innovate and evolve our work method into an absolute creed for the planet.” See the full interview below:

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The progressive departure of factories from cities, often due to environmental regulations, noise ordinances, or the price of real estate, has left many urban manufacturing facilities abandoned and out of use. As these urban factories are left empty, many adventurous developers are taking advantage of the plentiful space, light, and flexible functions that they offer, leading to a residential revitalization in many of the world's defunct manufacturing facilities.   

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Widely used in infrastructure, gabion walls are structures made of mesh metal cages filled with stones. These permeable walls use galvanized steel wire to withstand outdoor conditions. 

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As users of ArchDaily demonstrate certain affinities and greater interest in particular subjects, these topics emerged as trends. Inclusive Architecture was one of the most searched concepts on ArchDaily in 2018.