Project implementation: Portugal
Project development: Portugal

The proposal to replace the collective housing blocks in the Bairro D. Leonor neighborhood (1951/1953) represents a turning point in the way we think about and design collective housing in the city of Porto. Housing is essentially "shelter" as a functional possibility, but it cannot neglect its dimension as an open and universal communicational "work." It is necessary to focus on architecture as use and function while simultaneously understanding its grammatical representation as connotation and topology.

The construction of the New D. Leonor Neighborhood (2015-2019) was also an opportunity to deepen and validate participatory methodologies implemented during the rehabilitation operation on Ilha da Bela Vista (2013-2017).

Residents, architects, and social scientists, working together in a collaborative convergence strategy and supported by a determined and motivated developer, were the effective formula for bringing this project to fruition. It should be noted that the project arose from a public tender for a public/private partnership to build a municipal neighborhood, granting construction rights on surplus land to one of the parties. It is within this unique context that the project was organized in the former Bairro D. Leonor neighborhood. The team, organized around the community and the developer, secured the right to land and decent housing for each of the families resisting the political will that imposed relocation on them.

This new operation ensured all residents and families the right to decent housing in the same location and community. Housing was designed with families' needs and expectations in mind.

The proposed model contradicts the morphological models and the hygienist and bureaucratic relocation processes, based on inquiries and rational and bureaucratic regulations, applied by public entities in the housing sector. The only exception is related to the SAAL operations during the revolutionary process that took place in 1974 and 1975.

The program developed and implemented was extensively discussed with the community and the developer, taking into account a minimum housing program defined in regulations by the municipal entity. The flexible nature of the program allowed for considerable freedom of conception and collaborative design with this community. The result was a new neighborhood with a territory connected to the street space, with vertical and horizontal relationships of great visual and social interaction. Residents were housed in homes designed and allocated specifically for them through a participatory process, and public infrastructure is at the service of the community and the city: gardens, sidewalks, free parking areas, and open, welcoming streets for street dwellers. With this architectural and urban solution, we avoided segregation, the duality between insiders and outsiders, and negative or positive gentrification.

Rodrigues, Fernando Matos; Fontes, António Cerejeira; Fontes, André Cerejeira – Magazine “Supernova nº 3” – Dona Leonor Neighborhood Community with Participating Project, pg. 49-51, April 2024

Project implementation: Germany
Project development: Germany

Firmitas, Utilitas and Venustas in Our Times
BY PHILIPP VON MATT, ARCHITECT

Firmitas:
Is it presumptuous, in a place like this, which has witnessed so much destruction, obstruction, and devastation, to dream of the old Vitruvian creed of Firmitas (solidity), Utilitas (usefulness), and Venustas (beauty), that is, the very opposite of what has happened to this city?

With this in mind, we envisioned a home that would serve as a natural place for art and life and their symbiotic experience, much in the spirit of Remy Zaugg's "The Art Museum I Dream of." Dreams are stronger than destruction because they survive in lived memory. Therefore, in this place, we are manifesting a home for our dreams, a lived dream, and a place to preserve our dreams.

Located on the Berlin Wall, in the former East Zone, at the point of tension between West and East, we found a plot of land in the middle of life. Surrounded by prefabricated buildings with residents who belonged to the GDR cadre, Kreuzberg on the other side of the former wall with a predominantly Turkish population, and right between two occupied houses with residents who call themselves autonomous anti-fascists, we, artist Leiko Ikemura and I, decided to build an artist's house.

The location called for a resilient and robust building that could not only withstand the environment but also challenge it. Integrated into this social fabric, we realized our universe by coexisting with a wide variety of cultural circles that can be found daily in the nearby supermarket. East German political figures with captain's caps in their shopping carts share the space with punks with mohawk haircuts, and Islamic women in hijabs and bearded men coexist in a multilayered population diversity.

It is the base for our activities worldwide and offers inspiration, contemplation and security in the bustling city of Berlin.

Utilitas
Oikonomos, the "house rule," is what we now call sustainability—implementing what is economically necessary in an environmentally sound way. Our benchmark was to achieve this not only within the realm of possibility, but in a way that would inspire others.

To avoid disproportionate costs and effort, we decided not to build a basement on the water table. The building's mass, made of mineral building materials and brick, is inexpensive, durable, recyclable, and stores energy.

The room temperature is maintained warm in winter by natural influences, such as solar radiation—passive solar energy—and by actively utilizing the sun through rooftop collectors for heating and hot water. In summer, the building is cooled by the stone mass of the structure, providing ideal conditions for quiet work in the cool rooms.

Venustas
All materials are left in their natural state, allowing the material to communicate with the space and the people within it. Siberian larch wood is used for the windows and frames, filling the atmosphere with warmth.

Plaster, or untreated plaster surfaces, give the rooms character, while concrete floors and ceilings create an archaic sense of space. Visitors are welcomed into a stone hall above which a spiral stone staircase rises elastically upward.

The encounter between the observer and the architectural soul of the house creates Venustas, the perception of beauty, in the mind and memory.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

BUILDING AS A CONNECTION – WOODEN STRUCTURE AS AN ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION

Currently, the IAU is housed in a two-story building constructed in 2008. The first, consisting of three floors, houses administrative functions, research and faculty offices, and support spaces (we will call it the Administrative Block); and another ground-floor building, which currently houses the five teaching studios. There is also a metal-framed roof connecting the two buildings, known by the nickname "postão."

The Renovation and Expansion project includes a series of partial interventions in the existing buildings and the construction of a new building (Teaching Block), which will house the design studios, classrooms, auditorium and support spaces.

During the project development process, we were aware that we were designing spaces for a School of Architecture. Therefore, the design choices, the development of structural systems, the selection of materials, and their technical performance are part of the architectural discourse and are presented to provide students with a living experience of construction. Therefore, the building itself is envisioned as a support for concepts developed in the classrooms and studios. Throughout the process, presentations were given to IAU students, faculty, and staff, and discussions with the community also informed the choices presented here.

To accommodate the IAU's program, the complex will consist of three independent buildings, connected by walkways and stairs. The idea is that the existing buildings and the new construction, while formally and aesthetically distinct, form a single, integrated ensemble, in which the spaces between them also acquire program and meaning, such as garden areas, communal areas, or contemplation areas.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

AMAZON FACE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH BASE – Amazonas, Brazil

Located 80 km from Manaus, this vertically designed scientific research base adopts concepts of passive sustainability. The living areas, with varying heights, minimize deforestation and respect the surrounding forest, providing connections with the forest at various heights.

With a prefabricated structure produced in Manaus, the clean construction will generate little waste. The minimal foundation minimized impact on the soil and tree roots, preserving the integrity of the forest.

The brushed and polished aluminum reflects the vegetation, subtly blending the house into the trees. The project's rotation allows for an alternation between indoor and outdoor spaces, fostering social interaction and a unique experience with nature.

—

AMAZON FACE RESEARCH STATION – Amazonas, Brazil

Located 80 km from Manaus, this vertically designed scientific base embraces passive sustainability concepts. The communal areas, with varying heights, minimize deforestation and respect the surrounding forest.

With a prefabricated structure produced in Manaus, the construction will be clean and generate minimal waste. The minimal foundation impacts the soil and tree roots, preserving the integrity of the untouched forest.

The brushed and polished aluminum reflects the vegetation, subtly blending the house among the trees. The rotation of the design allows for an alternation between internal and external spaces, fostering social interaction and a unique experience with nature.

—

Client: AMAZON FACE Project (INPA (National Institute of Amazon Research) + UNICAMP)
Scale: 825 m2
Year: 2023 – now
Architecture:
TROOST + PESSOA Architects – Laurent Troost, Victor Pessoa, Mitzi Sa Motta, Roney Holanda
Images: FlywithMob
Status: In development

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil, Italy

The project is the result of a design process closely shared between the client and architects, aimed at creating an architectural structure capable of embodying the Franciscan charisma, founded on prayer and hospitality, while simultaneously responding to the challenges posed by Salvador's tropical climate. The project stems from the rules that characterize monastic life—prayer, work, and sharing—and reinterprets the classic convent typology, traditionally introverted and organized around a single cloister, fragmenting the buildings and articulating the complex into five green courtyards. Thus, each building establishes a direct relationship with the open space, taking advantage of the natural ventilation generated by the wind constantly blowing off the ocean.

The autonomous and functionally distinct buildings are united under large roofs that perform a dual symbolic and bioclimatic function. Elevated above the building envelope, they facilitate the flow of hot air and contribute to the comfort of the spaces. Sunshades, permeable walls, and openable pivoting panels allow cross-ventilation, reducing the need for mechanical cooling systems.

The tectonics of the material becomes a central element of the project. The wood weaves are sometimes used as a load-bearing structure, sometimes as a closure or bioclimatic element, giving the complex a unified character while simultaneously differentiating the buildings. The wood filters, protects, and structures the space, alternating transparency and opacity according to function and location.

Each building preserves its own identity within a unitary structure. The church is conceived as a large three-dimensional latticework that creates a natural cross on the back wall: a symbol and fulcrum of the liturgical space. The refectory, permeable and flexible, is open to the community and can also host collective events. The library, suspended on wooden pillars and clad in translucent polycarbonate, transforms into a luminous lantern at night. The barracks, made of prefabricated reinforced concrete and surrounded by a wooden exoskeleton, house the cells and ensure shade and cross-ventilation.

The entire complex combines constructive simplicity, passive strategies, and low-tech solutions with contemporary technologies such as photovoltaic panels and rainwater harvesting, achieving a high degree of energy autonomy. The result is a resilient architecture, rooted in the context, that doesn't pursue innovation as an end in itself, but rather draws on established knowledge capable of responding to the climate, resources, and rhythms of the community. An architecture that looks to the vernacular, not to imitate it, but to understand its profound logic and project it into the present with conscious design choices.

Mixture

Mixtura is a Rome-based architecture studio founded by architects Maria Grazia Prencipe and Cesare Querci. The studio explores contemporary space in its formal, social, and aesthetic dimensions, adopting an approach grounded in an understanding of the specificities of the contexts in which it operates.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

On the eve of its centennial, the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) embarks on a new phase of university expansion, guided by planning guidelines and perspectives aligned with contemporary challenges. The plan for a new campus on a farm that represents a green oasis for the city of Pedro Leopoldo, in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region, is being developed. The Pedro Leopoldo Model Farm Master Plan is guided by the principle of minimal intervention and conscious use of the land and its resources, articulated around the duality of urbanity and sustainability.

This new campus, proposed as an inter- and transdisciplinary platform to address major contemporary issues, is based on an analysis of the territory's physical, environmental, landscape, historical, and cultural structures, recognizing and valuing three notable landscapes: the remaining large trees, the agro-pastoral structures connected to watercourses, and the architectural remains of historical and cultural significance, given that it is a farm with approximately 100 years of occupation. To ensure maximum preservation while simultaneously establishing an initial structure to support university activities, conventional urbanization is avoided and a linear, elevated building is proposed that articulates and integrates the farm's fragments into a spatial design of condensed urbanity that combines architecture, infrastructure, and landscape. Recognizing the multi-scale complexity of the territory and engaging with the urban-rural interface in which the site is located, the Plan, more than defining uses, seeks to establish favorable conditions for a still unpredictable future occupation. In its symbolic and practical dimensions, this project seeks to represent the embodiment of a new paradigm for teaching, research, and outreach spaces: an open, green, and transdisciplinary campus, whose occupation supports practices of coexistence and production based on reconciliation with nature. Pedro Leopoldo's sustainable and advanced Green Campus, therefore, reaffirms the University's role as an agent of transformation, illuminating new modes of occupation that are kinder, more inclusive, qualified, articulate, and conscious.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Built in 1988 to house the activities of the Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism at UFBA (PPG-AU), the Iansã Module of the Faculty of Architecture at UFBA (FAUFBA) followed the model of the two-story schools in reinforced mortar designed by the architect João Filgueiras Lima, Lelé, for Salvador, within the scope of the Community Equipment Factory (FAEC).

In addition to the characteristic structure of reinforced mortar beams and pillars, it has special frames and other unique values.

In the early 2010s, it faced more acute difficulties in carrying out its maintenance, expansion and renovation, due to the construction system outside the production line, suffering a gradual emptying.

Maintenance and research actions on the building have been carried out since 2019, together with the recognition of the original FAEC forms carried out with DESAL, a process that involved the mobilization of the technical staff of FAUFBA and the Superintendence of Environment and Infrastructure of UFBA (SUMAI) and the Pro-Rectory of Research and Postgraduate Studies (PRPPG/UFBA).

Along with maintenance actions, damage and pathological diagnosis activities were carried out, as well as studies of construction systems, through research projects by professors and students (FABER and Project, City and Memory groups).

The project aimed to transform the Iansã Module into the Construction Laboratory and Experimental Site of the Faculty of Architecture of UFBA, an experimental space with a multi-user character to meet the demands of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Its reuse included adaptations for the installation of the School's carpentry and metalwork shop, and was made possible by the resumption of the manufacture of reinforced mortar parts for the building's roofing system by DESAL, based on the recovery of the original metal forms, found after a joint effort by its technical team and FAUFBA professors.

The intervention replaced roof beams, tiles, and sheds, restoring the building's rainwater drainage capacity, as well as improving airflow and ventilation by increasing the number of sheds and removing partitions. Other spatial and construction interventions were carried out to repair defective reinforced mortar elements, modernize general facilities, and rearrange the previously subdivided spaces into rooms capable of housing educational activities involving constructive experimentation.

The expectation for the future is that the construction laboratory and experimental site can contribute to strengthening teaching in the field of construction within the new architecture and urban planning course, being a bridge for extension interactions at FAUFBA and serving as an example of recovery and conservation of the work of João Filgueiras Lima, Lelé.

Project: Faculty of Architecture of UFBA and SUMAI/UFBA
New reinforced mortar pieces: DESAL – Salvador
Build: PC Best
images 01 and 02 - Paula Mussi, 03 - Sergio Ekerman

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

The Jorge Machado Moreira Building (JMM), designed in 1957 and inaugurated in 1961 as the headquarters of the then National Faculty of Architecture, is one of the most important examples of modern Brazilian architecture, having won an award at the 4th São Paulo International Biennial that same year. Throughout its history, the building has undergone several transformations resulting from successive occupations and lack of adequate maintenance, compromising both its architectural integrity and its functional performance. The 2016 fire, which occurred on the eighth floor, intensified this process of degradation, causing structural damage and the isolation of significant areas of the building.

Given this situation, the JMM's recovery has been slow and gradual, marked by initiatives that combine institutional resilience and low-cost solutions. One example is the reoccupation of the 8th floor by the School of Fine Arts, following the closure of the Pamplonao studio, in a collaborative effort with the FAU. The proposal, considered a pilot project, is based on the reuse of existing materials, the reversibility of interventions, and the pursuit of low-cost renovations.

In April 2022, renovations began on the hall located in Block B of the building. The space, which had served as a ceremony room and the headquarters of the Dom João VI Museum throughout its history, had been closed for almost two decades until it was designated as the EBA-FAU-IPPUR Integrated Library, in line with Jorge Machado Moreira's original program, which was never fully implemented.

The initial inspection revealed its dilapidated state, but the original design's sectoral clarity, open floor plan, and structural modulation supported the decision to convert it into a library. The renovation, conducted under severe budget constraints, adopted austerity criteria, maintaining existing elements whenever possible and reinterpreting others in more accessible materials, such as granite for the floor and alveolar polycarbonate for the ceiling.

The result preserves the compositional simplicity and modern character of the hall, now equipped to house collections, consultation, and study. In July 2024, for the first time since the JMM's inauguration, a full library began operating on site, housing one of the largest collections in Latin America in Architecture, Urbanism, Visual Arts, and Design.

These recent initiatives are part of the FAU Project, which treats the building itself as a field of research and practice, articulating heritage conservation, sustainability, and teaching. In this context, the Reuse Laboratory, a subject in the FAU UFRJ advanced cycle, explores the reuse of materials and the disassembly and adaptation of components as a pedagogical exercise, connecting with the FAU Project. Thus, the JMM not only regains its institutional function but also reaffirms its role as a teaching instrument, a laboratory for modern architecture, and a space for experimentation in sustainability.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

As in a collection, where objects are selected and preserved, the fragments of an existing construction—concrete, steel, aluminum, glass—are preserved and reassembled. The ordered form is dissolved to be reworked from its rubble. In this rearrangement, the collected fractions of matter leap from what was once merely opacity, becoming sparks revealed by light—by its reflections and its openings.

The collection of fragments is stacked on white concrete slabs, delimiting the garden like a microcosm. Within it, a suspended enclosure of the same fragments forms another space, housing the office, gallery, and suite.

A staircase, a wooden pillar, and a work of art support the structure that suspends the enclosure amidst the garden. Wooden and steel slabs and beams form the floors and serve as support for the façade elements. The balance of the complex is achieved by a precise interplay of irregularly distributed weights and traction. Above this, two horizontal planes form a small pavilion, which straddles the virtual boundary between the new and the existing.

Organic forms interact with the amorphous nature of the light, creating diaphanous volumes that pierce the floors and organize the internal space of the new proposal.

Transparent and atmospheric, these bodies of light bring the presence of the outdoors inside, with the full oscillating spectrum of their hues. Singularly, they seem to disorient the perception of interior and exterior, confusing built and unbuilt, and rendering the experience of inhabiting a garden latent. An essential counterpoint to the house next door—a 2000s renovation by Ruy Ohtake.

Project implementation: Mexico
Project development: Mexico

Within the Anáhuac Mayab University Campus, as part of the educational and technological growth and updating, the Innovation Laboratory and the expansion of the classroom building of the School of Architecture and Design were created.

These spaces are created as an extension of the Engineering and Design Division, integrating with existing classrooms, which will become more open and dynamic rooms.

The extension of the Innovation Laboratory is planned parallel to the existing building, generating a new facade that continues the existing route marked by the walkways of the campus buildings.

The expansion project follows this same principle of correctly oriented linear buildings, which seek to capture uniform light from the north and block and protect against sunlight from the south.

A large space generates and articulates this extension. The extension is this new, open, and spacious space. A space where common activities and study are carried out freely. A system of co-work, co-study, and co-learn, where the space flows freely, activities intertwine, and actions within the space are suggested. These are actions within the space that can be planned, but can also be proposed, or allow others to produce diverse activities and even different exhibitions, events, and celebrations. A dynamic, innovative space.

This large space is structured through the management of light. A series of prefabricated pieces allow light to pass through and create a scale and ascending rhythmic treatment. It assumes the scale of the existing building and unfolds toward the access garden. This is a gesture of continuity with the existing buildings on the Campus, all of which are allusions to pre-Columbian architecture.

The School of Architecture Expansion is designed over the existing two-story building, creating a third floor for open-plan workshops and creating a new envelope for the entire existing building. It generates and articulates the entire envelope, culminating in a large truss sloping westward. It is a space where communal and study activities can take place freely, where the space flows, allowing for diverse activities.

Currently, the concept of classrooms has changed, and even more so in terms of design teaching, with greater participation and interaction between students, teachers and consultants.

The large space is structured through inclined consoles crossed by sunshades that allow light to pass through and block the sun. It redefines the scale of the existing building and envelops it, creating an open, free, and flexible third floor. A continuous space with multiple uses, from drawing workshops to exhibition spaces.

The formal treatment is a response to the language that has been generated for 40 years in the Campus buildings.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Coming soon.

Project implementation: Germany
Project development: Germany

ATREEUM Office Building – A work oasis in Frankfurt's Ostend district
The Atreeum office building on Hanauer Landstrasse in Frankfurt is located in a historic commercial area with a perimeter block density typical of exposed brick buildings. The goal is for the new office building to emerge from its surroundings, integrating contextually while simultaneously creating a sustainable and future-proof work environment through a new structure that integrates nature into the living and working space.

The varying heights of the surrounding buildings are incorporated through differentiated stepped heights. This gives the sculptural structure a stepped height development that creates urban high points at the corners and simultaneously allows for optimized lighting of the courtyards. These courtyards are connected to the urban space by large two-story passageways.

The Atreeum's outer skin consists of a clinker facade with a minimalist slatted structure that envelops and protects the building. Inside, the volume dissolves into horizontal layers. The facade is glazed, and numerous balconies and terraces face the interior green spaces, allowing for the use of these landscaped areas.

In this sense, these internal green courtyards, balconies, and terraces form the building's significant heart. The terraces offer special recreation areas with pavilions and workspaces surrounded by greenery.

Using nature as a building material transforms even an ordinary construction project (in this case, an office building) in a primarily industrial and commercial location into a green oasis where people can work. Atreeum blends a dense urban setting with an innovative interpretation of traditional typologies.

The thrilling tension between the compact protective envelope and the green world within, which brings to mind associations with the atrium houses of Ancient Rome and Moroccan riads, crucially links the two poles of civilization and the environment.

Green courtyards, balconies, and terraces create an optimized microclimate within the building and offer significant potential for water retention and storage. At the same time, this spatial structure provides countless opportunities for social gatherings and new worlds of work.
In this way, this building can make a contribution to sustainable architecture. The result is a green workplace oasis in an urban context.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

This project was developed for the Amélias of the Amazon. This community, which extracts andiroba and Amazonian spices, is located in the Tapajós National Forest (FLONA) in the state of Pará. Its name was intended to redefine "the Amélia women," which in the last century was the name given to women who dedicated themselves exclusively to caring for the home. Thus, the Amélias of the Amazon represent the entrepreneurship and protagonism of Amazonian women. Developed in partnership by architects Tales and Taís Kamel, from the Kamel Arquitetura firm, and architect Matheus Vieira. Located in the Tapajós National Forest, in the heart of the Amazon, it combines contemporary architecture, sustainability, and innovation, creating a laboratory in harmony with the forest. The idea stemmed from a contemporary Amazonian architecture project, using wood as a guiding material, readily available in the region. We could use traditional forest labor and construction methods to translate vernacular architecture with low-carbon construction, adapted to the local, hot, and humid Amazon climate. Through the use of shading elements, rich in details characteristic of local architecture, the project highlights the importance of traditional peoples' knowledge. The project strengthens local communities, promoting the development of a sustainable bioeconomy, and extolling the richness of contemporary Amazonian architecture, in harmony with and respect for nature. The forest resists, the forest pulses, the forest lives.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

The collaboration between Metro Arquitetos and Paulo Mendes da Rocha on the design of a 900m² single-family home, used as the basis for this proposal, marks the first year of the 21st century. The climate emergency that the population will collectively face in the next century is an economic fact, and the intervention carried out at Casa AP, located in Jardim Europa, São Paulo, envisions alternatives for collective housing and social justice, under the reversal of a centuries-old logic.

The desire of the century is inversion. To build less, to inhabit what is already built better. Workers can be close to work. The drive becomes a walking route. Approximately 900m² of land occupied by a single family can be used by several.
The workplace becomes a leisure space. Mobilize energy, construction, and design resources that are less burdensome to the planet. Collectivize goods and spaces.

A century can transform social constructs regarding the dynamics of housing and domestic use. Given the changes in perceptions of morality, the division of labor, and the relationship between public, private, and intimate that a hundred years encompass, themes such as the overlapping of spaces, their collectivization, and forms of maintenance are addressed in architectural plans.

On a 900m² lot in Jardim Europa, measuring thirty meters by thirty meters, a single family of four lives in a perfectly square layout. Also square is the layout of the social housing unit designed for CECAP Guarulhos by architects João Batista Villanova Artigas, Fábio Penteado, and Paulo Mendes da Rocha in 1972. It is more than nine times smaller in square footage than CASA AP, for the same number of residents. On a lot in an upscale neighborhood, the elite housing system uses large square footage and low-density occupancy.
A project is a wish.
The desire to reverse how things are now.

In this sense, the project proposal, which is an essay that envisions alternative futures on a planet and in a country marked by income inequality and, consequently, discrepancies in access to the right to the city, social and climate justice.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

The Itaqui Innovation District is a project that combines innovation, education, and entrepreneurship with environmental preservation. Unlike a traditional urban district, the project is anchored in the region's lush natural environment: rivers, forests, and wildlife are protagonists, more than just scenery. Approximately 90% of the total area will be preserved, creating a space where the natural landscape not only shapes the environment but also underpins the ethics of teaching, research, and business.

Located on the edge of the site, the architectural complex was designed to minimize impacts and allow for the regeneration of native forest. This strategy simultaneously ensures integration with the urban environment and functional access to neighboring cities, without compromising the preservation area. Circulation between the blocks occurs via external roads, reducing pressure on internal ecosystems.

The district's program is organized into three main areas: the Academic and Business Center, focused on academic training, research, and student housing; the Hospitality Center, with training, lodging, and community spaces; and the Leadership and Business Center, dedicated to entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and new business incubation. In addition to these centers, the project includes common support areas such as a library, laboratories, restaurants, and community spaces.

The buildings were designed with respect for the topography and adopting sustainable solutions. The volumes are laid out horizontally, taking advantage of existing clearings and avoiding complex vertical constructions. Terraces, overhangs, and open areas ensure thermal comfort, integration with the landscape, and spaces for socializing. The strategically distributed homes directly connect with the forest, creating an immersive experience for students, researchers, and entrepreneurs.

Mobility between blocks prioritizes sustainable and low-impact modes: bike paths, shaded walkways, electric scooters, and slope-adapted routes. This infrastructure ensures accessibility, safety, and efficiency in daily commuting.

More than just a physical space, Itaqui aims to be a model for the future. The masterplan reflects an ethical commitment to social inclusion and environmental responsibility, fostering an environment where innovation, education, and sustainability go hand in hand. The district was created as a hub capable of generating knowledge, leadership, and solutions to contemporary challenges, planting the seed of a world more integrated between nature, society, and technology.

Project implementation: USA
Project development: USA

“Wasted No More” is a self-sustaining desert residence in Pioneertown, California, that prioritizes the recovery of construction waste through the use of “Waste” Blocks—commonly known as bin blocks or concrete retaining blocks. These 6 x 2 x 2 feet blocks are formed from conventional construction surplus, utilizing concrete left over from trucks after pouring concrete for other buildings. This approach offers an economically viable and ecologically conscious prototype that finds lasting value in neglected building remnants. The thermal mass of the massive blocks buffers the desert’s temperature extremes, while the building’s orientation and stepped form naturally mitigate solar heat gain, inviting natural light and cross-ventilation. Powered by solar energy and drawing water from an existing well, “Wasted No More” minimizes its environmental footprint in California’s high desert landscape.

The project is the result of a partnership between the award-winning architecture and research firms Mutuo and There There, both based in Los Angeles. The collaboration stemmed from a shared passion for projects made from waste. During a visit to a recycling plant, the studios discovered the "Waste" Blocks, which became the basis for a repurposed architecture, seeking to give new meaning to neglected materials and methods.

Mutuo, an award-winning design and research firm in Los Angeles, was founded in 2014 by immigrants Fernanda Oppermann and Jose Herrasti. From the outset, they have explored the extraordinary in the use of ordinary materials and methods, striving to create meaningful impact through architecture. To expand Mutuo's reach, their research develops affordable-by-design building systems that aim to simplify the construction process with faster, more cost-effective housing solutions. Their design is rooted in listening to people's stories, seeking collaborations with communities who, like them, navigate identities of "here" and "there" every day.

There There is an award-winning architecture firm founded in Los Angeles in 2022 that challenges conventional ideas through design and research. Adopting a radical "tabula-NON-rasa" approach, the studio unearths layers of physical and intangible information, present and past, that give meaning to places. Their experimental work includes projects in California, Mexico, and Europe, as well as recognized urban design proposals. All of their projects aim to create meaningful experiences and materialize alternative imaginaries.

Project implementation: Argentina
Project development: Argentina

vbrügg is the firm of architect Valentín Brügger, a Córdoba native and graduate of FAUD-UNC. It is a personal space for architectural and artistic production, experimentation, learning, and communication, where he works individually and collectively.

Casa Lelis is located in Los Reartes, a community in the mountains of Córdoba, Argentina, where traditional architecture is characterized by stone walls and lightweight roofs made of twigs and metal sheets. In this context, the project respects local technology and synthesizes its materiality in concrete and white elements. On a 10 x 30 lot, the 8 x 12 house is organized in longitudinal strips that define the ground floor areas: service, living room, and gallery, on which the bedrooms on the upper floor are superimposed perpendicularly.

To the south is the service module, built in cyclopean concrete and of a contained scale. Its stone facade continues toward the interior in the warm areas, in front of the kitchen, in the center of the fireplace, and behind the barbecue. This solid volume has two irregular, faceted perforations, as if they were large quarried stones. One at the back creates a small balcony overlooking the garden, and the other is a mirror that reflects a portion of the mountainous landscape in the facade's composition, allowing observation of the city's hustle and bustle from the kitchen.

On the staircase, the concrete overflows toward the living room, with its first steps emerging from the ground and rising like a light structure of folded white sheet metal floating between the concrete walls. To the north are the other two modules intended for social spaces, featuring tectonic and industrial technology, and material unity through the white finish.

The structure consists of a metal frame arranged every four meters, supporting the roof. This, in turn, is constructed of round twigs, clad internally with wooden planks and externally with corrugated metal sheets. This lightness allows the interior space to flow, integrating the living room with the gallery. The upper floor overlooks both the courtyard and the dining room.

Finally, the house is enveloped by a system of movable enclosures that creates and defines an intermediate space. The various opening configurations regulate the entry of light, defining the interior atmosphere. Thus, the envelope becomes mutable, sensitive to the environment and use. As this is a weekend home, it remains closed most of the time, emphasizing its formal synthesis.
Details such as the entrance door handle made of four Micosa Branca stones, a suspended field stone step on the porch, the intentional changes in scale and a glazed line along the house, which separates the white from the concrete base, aim to reinforce the evident duality between solidity and lightness of the work.

With a carefully directed opening to the mountainous landscape, the house blends harmoniously into its surroundings. Furthermore, the overlapping of different construction techniques reinforces the dialogue between the essential, the lasting, and the ethereal.

Project implementation: Italy
Project development: Italy, France

The ISTAT headquarters is a project based on ethical, strategic, economic, and functional choices, with a focus on space and resource efficiency. By optimizing the design, construction costs are reduced by approximately €6.5 million compared to the competition budget, while ensuring high performance, long-lasting durability, and a representative institutional image. The building is an L-shaped volume of 38,000 m² designed to accommodate 2,000 users, set within an 8,100 m² public park that includes a reflecting pool and sports trails. Local travertine, used as a brise-soleil on the south, east, and west facades and as a ventilated cladding on the north, interacts with natural light and evokes the collective memory of Rome. The building's optimized plan minimizes floor space and costs, allowing savings to be reinvested in advanced energy and environmental efficiency measures, including ventilated envelopes, photochromic and photovoltaic glazing, bioclimatic atriums, rainwater harvesting systems, and green roofs. The interiors are flexible, filled with natural light, and promote organizational well-being, offering unobstructed views of the vegetation and numerous common areas. Atriums and landscaped balconies create inviting breakout spaces, improving thermal comfort and indoor air quality. In addition to functional excellence, the project contributes to the city with a generous landscape: a public maritime pine forest set on a gently undulating, cool, and sheltered site, providing lasting environmental and social value to the urban context.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

KAAN Architecten: Building for People, Nature and Future Generations
Our field is constantly evolving. Architecture is increasingly taking on a deeper social meaning and actively contributing to the well-being of people and nature. We don't just focus on building design, but recognize that each intervention directly impacts our planet's ecosystem and climate. In this way, we are building a future in which architecture makes a real difference to both society and the world around us.

A good building requires more than design skill; it requires awareness of sustainability, social value, and environmental impact. No architect can achieve this alone—it requires collaboration, openness to the community, and input from diverse experts. Advances in materials technology, climate adaptation, building systems, construction methods, and cultural history all play a vital role. Equally important is how a building is received by its residents and users, as valued and appreciated spaces are preserved and passed on, extending their intrinsic useful life and ultimately making them more sustainable.

In our projects, we seek to bring all these factors together and make informed choices. On the other hand, we seek value in obsolete buildings, which often serve as the foundation for their transformation into the future. For us, a good project always begins with a strong narrative, one in which everyone involved believes and in which each participant can offer valuable input.
At the 14th São Paulo Architecture Biennial, KAAN Architecten presents three projects that explore the relationship between architecture, landscape, and memory: the Eco-Museum and Orla Piratininga Park in Niterói; the Marcos Amaro Art Factory (FAMA) in Itu; and the Lagoa do Sino Library at UFSCar in Buri, São Paulo. Different in scale, program, and context, the projects reveal a common approach: understanding architecture as an ongoing process, attentive to the transformations of the territory, cultural heritage, and possibilities for social coexistence.

The Eco-Museum acts as a catalyst for environmental regeneration and social inclusion, serving as a community forum, educational space, and a landmark for valuing biodiversity. This structure is part of the Piratininga Waterfront Park, developed under the leadership of Phytorestore, the largest phytoremediation project in Latin America, restoring 720,000 m² of the lagoon through filter gardens and new public areas.

The renovation of the Marcos Amaro Art Factory revives the memory of an early 20th-century industrial heritage site, listed by CONDEPHAAT, and transforms it into a dynamic cultural hub. The masterplan embraces time: ruins and historical layers coexist with new structures, preserving authenticity and nurturing creative processes.

UFSCar's Lagoa do Sino Library, developed in partnership with Triptyque, establishes itself as the campus's core. Combining a plaza, auditorium, and offices, the building combines traditional construction techniques, such as rammed earth, with contemporary wood solutions. The result is a sustainable, permeable, and socially active space that values local knowledge and fosters community identity.
Together, the three projects highlight the diversity and coherence of KAAN Architecten's practice: from heritage restoration to sustainable innovation, from the territorial to the everyday. All reaffirm the conviction that architecture should foster encounters, strengthen bonds between people and landscapes, and design possible futures based on attentive listening to the present. In this way, together, we are building architecture that is not only functional and aesthetic, but also socially valued and resilient.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Coming soon.

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Inhabiting the Landscape – A modular system for low-impact construction in remote environments

Context and Concept
Cabana Zero is the prototype of a series of 11 shelters designed for a spiritual retreat inspired by the indigenous traditions of the Peruvian Amazon. The proposal seeks simplicity, low impact, and a direct connection between the built space and nature. Located in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, it combines a compact interior space and a dry bathroom, both clad in natural wood, intended for individual seclusion. In contrast, the darkened wooden veranda frames the landscape and intensifies the immersion in the forest.

Design and Construction
The structure rests on six 10x10 cm wooden pillars, echoing the slenderness of the neighboring trunks. Longitudinal and transverse beams, spaced every 1.20 m, define the 2.40 m cubic module of the interior space. A significant portion of the wood was reused from a pre-existing building on the site, reducing environmental impact and connecting the project to the local history. The enclosure features PET fiber insulation, and a secondary roof creates an air layer that reduces the thermal load. Elevated off the ground, the structure uses bolted metal connections and concrete footings, facilitating assembly and disassembly, and minimal disturbance to the site.

Autonomy and Ecology
The cabin operates off-grid: it has no electricity; waste is treated by composting toilets, and graywater is treated by banana tree circles, enriching the soil. The absence of mirrors and glass reinforces the contemplative approach and the disconnection sought during the retreat.

System and Impact
As the first example of a replicable system, the project was designed for hard-to-reach areas, allowing transportation and assembly by small teams without heavy machinery. This approach enabled the construction of 11 additional units in more difficult-to-access areas on the same site, validating the system's adaptability to different logistical and geographic conditions.

Project implementation: Italy, Brazil
Project development: Brazil

As part of the 14th Architecture Biennial, whose central theme is “Extremes,” Studio Arthur Casas, in collaboration with the Arthur Casas Institute of Architecture and Innovation (IACAI), presents a timeline that systematizes architectural and urban projects designed to address the challenges posed by climate change at different scales.

The projects selected for the exhibition span a diverse range of geographic and climatic contexts, from interventions in dense urban environments, such as the Ícaro Building in Curitiba, to initiatives in the Legal Amazon, such as the Moitará Exchange Center, located in the Xingu Indigenous Park, and the MuCA in Belterra, Pará. These works exemplify an architectural approach that prioritizes integration with the bioclimatic and cultural specificities of each location, promoting solutions that combine technological innovation and environmental responsibility.

Based on research into their own practice, Studio Arthur Casas and IACAI selected the following projects:

-Brazilian Pavilion (Milan, Italy, 2014-2015; Naples, Italy, 2025-2027);
-MuCA – Administrative Village (Belterra, Pará, 2018-2028);
-Icarus Building (Curitiba, Paraná, 2014-2019)
-Moitará Exchange Center (Xingu Park, 2024-2026)

The timeline outlined in the exhibition highlights the consolidation of sustainable thinking in Studio Arthur Casas' practice over the past two decades. This journey culminated in the creation of IACAI, a non-profit institution dedicated to research into technologies and innovations geared toward sustainability and industrialization in the construction industry. The institute seeks to identify and address gaps in the development of construction practices, examining the potential impacts of such advances in addressing environmental issues affecting Brazil.

Through the Biennial, Studio Arthur Casas and IACAI reaffirm their commitment to architecture that transcends aesthetic functionality, positioning themselves as agents of socio-environmental transformation. The Biennial exhibition offers an opportunity to discuss and inspire new approaches that integrate innovation, sustainability, and climate responsibility, contributing to the advancement of theoretical and practical discourse in the field of architecture.