Last week, we announced the 15 finalists for the 2023 Building of the Year, an award celebrating the best of Portuguese-speaking architecture by inviting our readers to select their favorite projects built in Portuguese-speaking countries. The day has come to reveal the winners of the 2023 ODA.
The 2023 Building of the Year Award is presented by Dornbracht, an internationally renowned brand for kitchen and bathroom design.
This year, first place went to the Rachel de Queiroz Park project in Fortaleza (CE), developed by Architectus S/S. Second place went to Estúdio Trópico for the Arena Castanheiras in Santana de Parnaíba, in the state of São Paulo. Third place went to the Rehabilitation of the former Jordão Theater and Auto Garagem Avenida building in Guimarães, Portugal, designed by Pitagoras Group. Find more details on the winning projects below:
Rachel de Queiroz Park / Architectus S/S
"Because the site is a flooded municipal preservation area, the Rachel de Queiroz Park project adopted drainage as its structuring axis. To improve the water quality of the Cachoeirinha Stream, as well as to create a flood control system, the constructed wetlands technique was used. Following hydrological studies, nine interconnected lagoons were proposed to perform a natural filtration process of the stream's water and rainwater runoff through decantation and phytoremediation. This process is carried out by microorganisms attached to both the soil surface and the roots of the aquatic plants in the lagoons."
"Beyond shaping the park's environment through their landscaping potential, the wetlands are a fundamental strategy for the area's environmental recovery. Alongside this, the implementation of green areas, which involved earthworks and the planting of around 600 trees, was crucial to improving conditions for the development of local fauna and flora. Since this section of the park opened, visitors have already become accustomed to seeing different species of the native ecosystem amidst the urban landscape."
"It is important to contextualize the area where the project was implemented: the west zone of Fortaleza, characterized by working-class neighborhoods that have experienced high population growth in recent years. Despite having large open areas, the region lacked high-quality public spaces until the opening of Rachel de Queiroz Park. All of these factors explain the community's rapid adoption of the park, even boosting both formal and informal commerce in the area."
Arena Castanheiras in Santana de Parnaíba / Estúdio Trópico
"The new building, named Arena Castanheiras by the school, was built on the site formerly occupied by a soccer field, a small volleyball court, and a space for circus classes. Since the students could not be left without space for these sports classes during construction, the idea arose to set up a large circus tent in the school's parking lot."
"The roof structure, initially envisioned in glued laminated timber, was ultimately built in steel. The sawtooth shape was proposed to optimize natural light and ventilation, and the orientation ensured that the skylights faced south. This geometry, combined with the use of thermal panels on the roof and side walls, ensured an excellent result in thermal and acoustic comfort for the space as a whole."
"The roof is made of the same panels as the side cladding, but the system is 20cm thick since it is the element most exposed to direct sunlight. The sawtooth openings are enclosed with multiwall polycarbonate panels, and the ventilated sections feature polycarbonate louvers."
Rehabilitation of the former Jordão Theater and Auto Garagem Avenida Building / Pitagoras Group
"The proposed program—comprising the School of Performing Arts, the School of Visual Arts, the School of Music, and an auditorium space resulting from the conversion of the Jordão Theater hall—is shared by several autonomous entities with similar yet independent activities, which became a decisive factor in the building's new design."
"The autonomous and independent auditorium functionally complements the core programs—the school of music, the performing arts school, and the visual arts school—ensuring independent operation that can host diverse external activities. The auditorium (intended for dance, music, conferences, etc.) was designed as a multifunctional space, allowing for reconfiguration and adaptation to various events."
"The project's ultimate goal is to preserve heritage by placing it within the scope of rehabilitation and conversion. Rather than pursuing the complete preservation of the physical and architectural reality of the Jordão Theater and Auto Garagem Avenida buildings, the project views their transformation as inevitable, assigning a program conceptually linked to the one adopted for the Couros Zone. In this context, rehabilitation means repairing and restoring, while conversion implies transformation."
The ArchDaily Brasil Building of the Year Award is the result of a collective effort by our readers, who voted and selected the 15 finalists and, subsequently, the three winners. ArchDaily thanks you for participating in another edition of this award celebrating Portuguese-speaking architecture.
Project descriptions are written by the respective offices and taken from their project statements.
This article was written by ArchDaily Team. The translation is powered by AI.
