This July 11 marks World Population Day, an annual event established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990 to raise awareness of global demographic issues. This is a critical issue today; not only is the global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, but the latest UN-Habitat reports estimate that, by then, two-thirds of the world will live in cities.

Every year, World Population Review assesses urban growth and the number of residents living in metropolitan areas to understand global development trends. While the list of the 20 most populous cities in the world features recurring Asian hubs like Tokyo, Delhi, and Shanghai, it also includes several Latin American metropolises such as Sao Paulo, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. Consequently, we have compiled a list of the ten most populous cities in Latin America to understand their growth and role in the global context.

The Venice Architecture Biennale is an event organized by the Italian State that brings together some of the world's most prestigious international architecture exhibitions. The Giardini and the Arsenale serve as the event's main venues. These spaces have hosted various exhibitions, national pavilions, and collateral events spread throughout Venice.

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It is well known that since its inception, the field of architecture has been predominantly composed of white, cisgender men, who to this day continue to occupy some of the most prominent positions in both architectural practices and prestigious awards. For this and many other reasons, the struggle to bring visibility to women in architecture has always been present, responding to the specific demands of each era and winning increasingly significant battles. However, inequalities persist, making it a challenging profession for women—and even more so for women of color, Indigenous women, Latinas, and those from disadvantaged economic backgrounds.

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Today, August 13, commemorates two pivotal events in Mexico's history: the approximate founding of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Mexica civilization, around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico; and the fall of this empire in 1521 to the Spanish army led by the conquistador Hernán Cortés.

These are just a few of the many events that shape today's Mexico City, making it nearly impossible to summarize them all. Nonetheless, revisiting some of these milestones helps us understand the very ground we stand on and, above all, reflect on the future of our actions as architecture professionals: from the pre-Hispanic period, colonization, Independence, and the Revolution, to the foreign influences of the Modern Movement and the diverse interpretations that culminate in what we recognize today as contemporary architecture.

As the philosopher Byung-Chul Han states: every age has its signature afflictions. These illnesses have represented some of the most significant challenges in human history, bringing drastic changes not only to the healthcare sector but also to economic and political spheres, revealing humanity as a complex network negotiating its daily existence through actions that have reshaped our ways of living and relating to one another.

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The remodeling project for the Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo) in Mexico City was completed in 2018. The design is the result of a competition launched by the Government of Mexico City and the Ministry of Public Works of Mexico City, covering an area of 46,800 square meters.

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For years, Mexico City has been what many authors call a "living organism"—built day by day and choreographed in diverse ways. In recent years, the work of Mexican photographer Santiago Arau has portrayed a city where time passes, a city built by its inhabitants, spanning from aerial shots to the daily perspective of a commuter on public transit. Yet, what has happened over these past few months as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe?

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In Latin America, the concept of emergency architecture refers to spaces that serve as temporary shelter in the face of adverse circumstances, such as earthquakes, floods, and migration. Various countries, including Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Panama, have faced events that required redefining emergency housing according to each nation's specific needs.

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As part of the feminist demonstrations that took place last weekend in Mexico, a group of Mexican women architects organized to join the march held on Sunday, March 8, in various parts of the country. The march aimed to 'take back the city' to demand direct state action to reverse the wave of violence and historical bias against women in Mexico, where numbers have reached 10 femicides a day.

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Forty-seven years after construction began on the El Rosario housing complex—the largest housing development in Mexico at 350 hectares—the Azcapotzalco borough of Mexico City, in coordination with the city's Social Prosecutor's Office and the ICA Foundation, inaugurated the photographic exhibition “The City within the City: El Rosario” on March 25 at Plaza El Parián. The exhibition aims to show residents and visitors the evolution this complex has undergone over time.

The history of light has undergone various transformations over the centuries; its intrinsic relationship with architecture itself has sparked expressions and critiques that, beyond serving as a tool to illuminate the inhabited world, directly influence how we perceive it and how the built environment is produced. Every lighting project is directly tied to its own understanding of quality, class, interpretation, intention, and meaning. 

The project consists of approximately 200 photographs taken between 2015 and 2023, aimed at exploring the heritage of the Valley of Mexico—its geography and culture—and representing the current state of that heritage. The narrative begins with the volcanoes of a city surrounded by and built upon them. Beyond featuring well-known peaks like Popocatépetl, this personal quest led Santiago to discover others that have been assimilated into the urban environment. The images reveal craters that now house soccer fields, farmland, landfills, and even dwellings.

This article was originally published on September 20, 2019.

At first glance, the outlook—both global and national—is not very encouraging; indeed, it seems as though the world is spinning out of control¹… simply turning on the news or checking social media brings us face-to-face daily with complex issues such as corruption, war, and violence. The truth is that the evidence is clear: among global afflictions, the consequences of natural disasters top the list. In this context, how society behaves as a whole in response to emergencies is well worth analyzing²…  this raises the question: how does the collective human consciousness respond when its survival is put to the test? Is it possible to find qualities like solidarity in this day and age? Let us examine two perspectives on this issue from globally renowned authors.

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The history of the former official presidential residence "Los Pinos" dates back to 1935, when President Lázaro Cárdenas decided that Chapultepec Castle was too ostentatious to live in during his six-year term, choosing instead to move to the "Los Pinos" ranch. This set a precedent for subsequent administrations to embrace the idea of residing there and, over time, constructing much larger facilities to better accommodate official functions. 

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The Federation of Associations of Architects of the Mexican Republic, A.C., invited all Mexican architects to participate in the XIV National and International Biennial of Mexican Architecture 2018. This event aimed to identify the country's best architectural works, as well as publications, research projects, and theses, while recognizing their authors and disseminating the most relevant works. Through analysis and criticism, the goal was to foster reflection on responsible contemporary architecture and sustainable solutions. A single Gold Medal was awarded in this biennial, and the projects were classified into 23 categories, which featured various Honorable Mentions and Silver Medals. Read on to discover the winners.

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Santiago Arau is a renowned photographer whose work focuses on aerial shots of the Mexican territory. His lens travels from Ciudad Juárez to Cancún and Holbox, from the northern border to the Mexican southeast, spanning from 5,500 to minus five meters above sea level, from minus 15 to 45 degrees, and covering over 5,000 kilometers. Arau defines this approach as "a different perspective than what we are used to, since seeing things from above situates where we stand; it is a way to calibrate the human, urban, and geographical scale within a territory. The framing possibilities a drone offers are infinite; you can choose the height, framing, and technique to photograph an object, maximizing the power of a camera."

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“Earthquakes are a naturally destructive effect of our earth's constantly changing surface”
-National Geographic, “Latest Earthquakes–and How Earthquakes Work”, February 2018.

ReConstructo is a group exhibition curated by Mexican architects Luis Carbonell and Andres Souto, presented at Zuecca Project Space in parallel with the International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2018. The exhibition offers a multifaceted look at simultaneous and overlapping readings of the actions and agents of destruction that subsequently paved the way for a latent reconstruction following the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico.

As part of The New York Times' documentary series "En los ojos de México" –where six filmmakers present a perspective on their country– Santiago Arau and Diego Rabasa present "Ciudad Herida" (Wounded City), a chronicle of the 2017 earthquake in central Mexico. Through drone footage, the film captures the strength and resilience shown during a moment of crisis.