Architecture reveals the realization of a society's cultural processes at a specific moment in history, reflecting in its elements both the modus operandi of an economy and the dominant values governing its organization. The conceptualization of an architectural project sparks an intense, interdisciplinary process of formal development and technical verification for each construction component and its execution procedures. Architecture is tasked with transforming these diverse languages into a gestalt, or a formal reality that articulates and tests vital properties of reality.
Numerous factors introduce distortions into the architectural process in different regions of the globe. The state of architecture depends directly on the quality of professional training, interdisciplinarity, and available resources. A given context's culture and economy determine what architecture can do—and how it can operate.
In practicing their profession, Brazilian architects often find themselves operating in isolation, forced to compensate for various systemic shortcomings, such as limited skilled labor, technical resources, and services. They also contend with the public sector's difficulty in integrating disciplines and planning instruments, which forces them to navigate a tangled web of legal requirements on their own.
