Articles by Romullo Baratto

In 2017, ArchDaily Brazil reported that Smart City Laguna would become the first “smart city” in Brazil. With its inauguration scheduled for that same year, the venture opened with 1,800 units in its first phase, and in its final phase, 7,065 units divided between residential, commercial and technological uses.

Concrete may be the material most associated with modern Brazilian architecture; high resistance to compression and, when armed, capable of assuming various forms. Its plasticity has made it a favorite material for some of Brazil’s most expressive architects of the last century.

Today, it is still widely explored in the architectural production of Brazil, either for its structural robustness, ease of maintenance, or aesthetic value.

The first Brazilian project by Safdie Architects has broken ground in Sao Paolo’s Morumbi neighborhood on November 6. The Albert Einstein Education and Research Center is part of the Albert Einstein hospital complex.

It’s been a month since Brazil lost one of its oldest and most representative assets. A fire destroyed and erased more than 200 years of the Paço de São Cristóvão’s architectural history. The building served as a residence for the royal family, and turned a great part of its collection into dust, with many of the items being one-of-a-kind. The National Museum is seeking to rebuild in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Wood is one of the oldest building materials used in architecture. Versatile, it can be used in structural solutions, coatings, partitions, fittings and, very often, in furniture. Another quality of the material is its sustainability – if well managed during planting, cutting, and treatment processes, it can be considered renewable and low carbon, adding value to the completed building.

“Residencial Casa Atlântica” in Copacabana, Zaha Hadid’s first project in South America, was canceled. O Globo reported the cause as “the delay of the city hall to release the work license and the consequent delay of the launch and inauguration of the project.” The luxury residential condominium was designed in 2013 and should have been opened in time for the Olympics.

The mastery of stone is one of the most impressive features of Portuguese architecture. From the precise cut in fittings to beautiful floor designs, Portuguese architecture carries in its womb an almost born talent to manipulate one of — if not the oldest material used in the history of construction.

The unfinished Tripoli International Fair, designed by Oscar Niemeyer for the Lebanese capital, could become a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site. Conceived in the 1960s at the request of the then President Fouad Chéhab, the fair remained a symbol of projected modernity for the country.

The entertainment industry frequently captures unusual architecture from theme parks that explore bygone eras to remote locales in the hills of Las Vegas that often go unseen.

Few residential projects in recent years have attracted as much attention as Ricardo Bofill‘s Muralla Roja. Completed in 1968, the Mediterranean design has benefited from trends of millennial culture, having served as a backdrop for several photographic essays and even music videos.