English: Architect from the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of the University of Buenos Aires (FADU-UBA). Collaborator at ArchDaily. Her interests involve projecting and thinking about urban planning and architecture from people. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Instagram: @agustinainiguez_
The interior design of gastronomic premises is becoming increasingly important due to the demand for improvement in the areas of competition, customer experience, and brand identity. The ability to adapt to current trends and needs is a point that Argentinian architecture and interior design professionals have been facing with innovation and flexibility in the use of materials, colors, and textures.
What role does landscaping play in contemporary housing? In what ways can architecture and landscaping be integrated into a whole? Considering the incorporation of landscaping from the beginning of the architectural project has become a defining aspect and even a challenge for many architects, aiming to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants and contribute to the protection and care of the environment.
On numerous occasions and within the Latin American setting, nature appears as a protagonist or founding principle of the proposed architectural design, involving reasons related to promoting the relationship with the surrounding environment, incorporating native species of the site, and enhancing the connection between the interior and exterior, among others. Although there are different ways of planning, organizing, and arranging the layout of environments in contemporary housing, the dialogue between architecture and landscape can collaborate with the uses, activities, and circulations determined based on the needs to be met or the users to be accommodated.
In Spain, the implementation of integrated kitchens in homes has become increasingly common in contemporary architecture. Although there are various configurations and designs that are applied according to the customs and cultures of societies, as we saw in Argentina or Uruguay, the essence of conceiving the kitchen space as a hub of activities and a gathering space among its inhabitants and visitors is a common factor. This has led architects to try to find innovative ways, technologies, or materials that achieve an aesthetic and harmony capable of providing functionality, spaciousness, and flexibility to homes.
How narrow can a space become without losing its habitability? What are the minimum dimensions that a dwelling must have to ensure the comfort of its inhabitants and the correct performance of their daily activities?
Addressing diverse scales, users, and themes, Rafael Viñoly has been involved in numerous architectural projects ranging from museums and educational facilities to airports and skyscrapers. Beyond the economic, geographic, technological, social, or cultural variables he has faced, the wide range of works he has left us as a legacy is the fruit of a trajectory that we propose to go through from his beginnings in the profession to his most controversial and most recent projects.
Although the circular economy involves other principles such as the regeneration of natural systems, the reuse or recycling of materials plays an important role in contributing to the reduction of waste generation by giving a second useful life to elements that could be considered waste. Wood, metal sheets, bricks, and stones, among others, can be reused, bringing sustainability and efficiency criteria to the projects, helping to consolidate this concept that still has a long way to go.
Within the Latin American territory, many architecture professionals have proposed to apply in their design and construction processes the implementation of strategies that collaborate with the use of resources, either by reusing, recycling, or restoring different materials and elements in search of satisfying the needs and concerns of those who inhabit the spaces.
The process of materializing architectural ideas involves taking into account various construction and economic factors, among others, which in one way or another will have an impact on the quality of life of its future inhabitants or users. Achieving the highest thermal comfort in interior spaces and achieving the lowest possible environmental impact are just some of the objectives that architecture professionals set for themselves when designing and defining the materials that will accompany their projects.
The proposal "EN OPERA. Future Scenarios of a Young Forestry Law" by INST/MAPA + Carlos Casacuberta has been selected to represent Uruguay at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, to be held from May 20th to November 26th, 2023.
Foster + Partners and Uruguay-based firm Ponce de León Arquitectos have unveiled The Edge, a residential project comprised of eight apartments in Montevideo's coastal landscape in Uruguay.
The search for outdoor spaces in dense city dwellings has become for some a necessity and for others a requirement to be fulfilled. In short, it is one of the most sought-after commissions that architects around the world receive on a daily basis. Beyond the fact that this phenomenon has been accentuated during the Covid-19 pandemic, since their origins, these expansion spaces have been conceived not only to increase the use of natural lighting and ventilation but also to promote the indoor-outdoor relationship, giving the possibility to accommodate various uses and functions even when square meters are scarce or when the connection with nature is glimpsed far over the horizon.
Once again in its eighth edition, the Prix Versailles 2022 awards have honored the best achievements in contemporary architecture. A total of 24 projects from different parts of the world have been highlighted paying tribute to innovation, creativity, the reflection of local heritage, eco-efficiency, and the values of social interaction and participation upheld by the United Nations and aligned with the principles of intelligent sustainability considering the ecological, social and cultural impacts that surround the projects.
Sanmartín Guix, an architectural firm based in Barcelona, aims to enhance the value of the built heritage through rehabilitation and adaptation according to the needs of new generations, providing comprehensive architectural services as well as real estate advice. In this way, the conditions and aesthetics of the buildings are improved, seeking to adapt them to the requirements of all those who wish to visit or inhabit these spaces.
Felipe Escudero, founder, and principal of Quito-based Estudio Felipe Escudero (EFE), has unveiled Crystal City, his latest metaverse design for LEDY, one of the discipline's leading developers, and Decent Amusements, the district manager. In addition to a high-rise observation deck, an ice-covered marketplace, and a packed snow gallery, this new metaverse destination will feature Decentraland's tallest multi-purpose tower, Crystal Tower.
Now in its eighth edition, the Prix Versailles awards are presented to honor the best achievements in the field of architecture and design worldwide, promoting architectural production as a vector of intelligent sustainable development and considering ecological, social, and cultural impacts.
"History of the villas in the city of Buenos Aires. From the origins to the present day" is the book by Valeria Snitcofsky that reconstructs the historical background of the villas in the city of Buenos Aires based on research that began in 2003 and whose advances were expressed in a bachelor's and a doctoral thesis. It is framed within the objective of the Tejido Urbano Foundation, which is focused on promoting research and the generation of knowledge on the problems of habitat and housing.
The Dutch firm OKRA landschapsarchitecten has been awarded the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2022 for its project to restore the Catharijnesingel canal in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Being an initiative of the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), this eleventh edition received 326 projects from 35 different countries showing those problems that European cities must face and proposing some solutions in the framework of a post-pandemic context focused on climate change and how to make cities more livable.
One of the great challenges that architects have to face every day when designing begins with the conditions of the site where the architectural project is to be implemented. This involves the analysis and study of a series of factors ranging from sunlight, topography, surrounding vegetation, context, and others, all variables that are capable of guiding and/or defining the direction of the architecture to be developed.
The 24 shortlisted international projects for airports, university campuses, stations, and sports facilities competing for the Prix Versailles 2022 Awards have been announced. The global finalists in the Shops, Shopping Centres, Hotels, and Restaurants category will also be announced shortly.
