Architecture has long been understood as a powerful tool for shaping the physical environment and social dynamics within it. However, its potential to foster social equity is often overlooked. Empathy-driven design invites architects to approach their work not only as creators of space but as facilitators of human connection and community well-being. This approach centers on understanding people's lived experiences, struggles, and aspirations — particularly marginalized communities — and responding to their needs through thoughtful, inclusive architecture. It goes beyond aesthetics and functionality, instead focusing on creating spaces fostering dignity, accessibility, and social equity. By prioritizing empathy, architects can design environments that uplift communities, address disparities, and create inclusive spaces that promote positive societal change in a tangible, human-centered way.
Alejandro Aravena: The Latest Architecture and News
Designing with Empathy: Architecture for Social Equity
Days of ORIS 2024: Mary Anderson, Xu Tiantian and Alejandro Aravena
Since 2001, Days of Oris has brought together some of the world's most interesting global architects, in Zagreb, Croatia. This year three global practices bring unique perspective from diverse geographies: Mary Anderson from Assemble (UK), a community oriented practice that does not only focus on the building, but rather on the social impact of their projects; Xu Tiantian from DnA Design and Architecture (China), with a focus on rural China and its communities, delivering an architecture with a strong identity; and Pritzker laureate Alejandro Aravena, whose practice ELEMENTAL (Chile) has brought new perspectives to social housing and public projects across the globe, focusing on the right answer that architecture should respond to.
Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony Video Honors Sir David Chipperfield, the 2023 Laureate
The Pritzker Architecture Prize has released the ceremony video to honor of the 2023 Laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, Sir David Chipperfield. Following the announcement from earlier this year, the ceremony was held on November 14th at the Ancient Agora of Athens, presented and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation. It included the 2023 Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion, where David Alan Chipperfield was joined by Francis Kéré, the 2022 Laureate, and Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, the 2021 Laureates.
Alejandro Aravena Selected to Design a New Space for Architecture, Art, and Design in Mexico
Through a statement from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, it has been announced that the Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena will construct a new facility on the Monterrey campus, named "Aulas 10." This facility will house the School of Architecture, Art, and Design (EAAD) with the goal of becoming a space that fosters creativity and knowledge.
Watch David Chipperfield, Francis Kéré, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal Live at the 2023 Pritzker Prize Laureate Lecture & Panel Discussion
The Pritzker Architecture Prize presents The Role of Practice, the 2023 Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion, today, Tuesday, May 23rd at 3:40 PM EEST, in partnership with the National Technical University of Athens, and with the participation of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Patras and the Technical University of Crete.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize 2023 Laureate David Chipperfield will deliver the lecture, reflecting on architectural practice's role, responsibilities, and opportunities. Moreover, the 2023 winner will explore "how market forces have dominated architecture and become increasingly detached from its place, just as the challenges of the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, and social inequality have heightened the urgency for a more proactive position". Alejandro Aravena, Jury Chair, and 2016 Laureate will introduce the lecture, which will be followed by a conversation between David Chipperfield, Francis Kéré, 2022 Laureate, and Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021 Laureates, as they each "reveal the successes and failures of their respective journeys which effected their architectural philosophies and works, and led them to the shared stage of the present".
Exploring Vulnerable Habitats in the XXII Chile Architecture Biennial
After the interruption of the 2019 edition due to the Social crisis in Chile, the Chilean Architecture Biennial returned to Santiago in January 2023 under the theme of 'Vulnerable Habitats', addressing issues such as "the emergence of the housing deficit in a context in which slums, informality, and illegal land takeovers have increased in recent years" and "the vulnerability and deterioration of public spaces; the urgent protection of tangible heritage; and environmental vulnerability in a context of a climate crisis."
ELEMENTAL and Nissen Wentzlaff Selected to Develop the BIS Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has just announced that the collaborative project designed by ELEMENTAL (Santiago, Chile) and Nissen Wentzlaff Architekten (Basel, Switzerland) is the winning entry of its international competition to develop its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Can Local Architecture Help Cure the Ills of Globalism?
The global pause of the COVID pandemic has provided an opportunity to assess present-day globalism and the architecture that has emerged alongside it. Stemming back to the broad expansion of free trade in the 90s at the end of the Cold War, globalism’s cultural promise was simple and aspirational: integrating markets globally would increase the interaction between and learning of different cultures. By normalizing such experiences in our daily lives, we would become global citizens liberated from our previous prejudices–all well-intentioned objectives.
Alejandro Aravena Designs ‘Elemental House’ in Monterrey, Mexico
As part of a Tec de Monterrey initiative, this year the First Prize of the 213th Traditional Tec Draw is being held with a work by the Chilean architect who won the 2016 Pritzker Prize, Alejandro Aravena. Elemental House, is the second of the Houses of the 75th Anniversary of Sorteos Tec, which is celebrated this year.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize Releases Ceremony Video to Honor 2022 Laureate, Francis Kéré
Honoring the 2022 Laureate, the Burkinabé architect Francis Kére, The Pritzker Prize releases a ceremony video from the recently opened Marshall Building at the LSE, designed by the 2020 Pritzker Laureates Yvonne Farrell, and Shelley McNamara. The documentary includes remarks by the awardee, Tom Pritzker, and previous Laureates such as Alejandro Aravena, Norman Foster, Anne Lacaton, and Jean-Philippe Vassal. This ceremony presents Kéré with the 2022 Pritzker Prize medallion, the highest honor in architecture, certifying him as a Laureate for his extraordinary work with communities and architectural ingenuity.
Is There a Future for Open Source Architecture?
In 2016, Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena announced that his firm, ELEMENTAL, had released the rights to four of their social housing projects, and all documents would be uploaded to their website for public use. Aravena’s goal was to start a movement in which architects would work together to tackle the world’s challenges around housing shortages and affordability, especially with increased migration. The shared drawing sets and a description of the project’s principles provide architects with the necessary documentation for building a low-cost home, encouraging designers to do the same with their work, contractors to assist in building these homes, and governments to shift their thinking of how they can approach mass urbanization. Six years later, how has the concept of open-source architecture progressed, and how has it impacted the architectural profession ever since?
The Commons: Dissecting Open-Source Design
In New Mexico, irrigation channels that have been in continuous operation for three centuries replenish and nourish the wetlands of the American Southwest. These channels are known as Acequias – communally managed water systems built on democratic tradition. Members of the community own water rights, who then elect a three-person team to oversee the channels. In Cairo and Barcelona, Tahrir Square and Plaza de Catalunya have acted as important sites for voicing political dissatisfaction. The Tahrir Square protests of 2011, for instance, resulted in the eventual toppling of an almost 30-year-old government.
OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, and ELEMENTAL to Design Three New Museums in Qatar
Following Qatar's ambitious museum-building project to further promote cultural institutes in the country, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums has announced that OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, and ELEMENTAL will be designing three new museums in Doha that explore the themes of Islamic art, contemporary art, and evolution of the automobile industry respectively.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize Releases Ceremony Video Honouring the 2021 Laureates Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal
The Pritzker Architecture Prize released a special ceremony video honouring the 2021 laureates Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal. Previously held in person, each time at a different architecturally significant venue around the world, this year’s ceremony is the second pre-filmed event in the history of the Prize, following the one in 2020. The ceremony features filmed remarks from various speakers, among which are several jury members, Jury Chair Alejandro Aravena, the 2020 Prize recipients Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, as well as this year’s Laureates themselves. The video also pays tribute to the achievements of Lacaton and Vassal through footage of their built work.