"What characterizes and gives meaning to Brasilia is a game of three scales... the residential or everyday scale... the so-called monumental scale, in which man acquires a collective dimension; the urbanistic expression of a new concept of nobility... Finally the gregarious scale, in which dimensions and space are deliberately reduced and concentrated in order to create a climate conducive to grouping... We can also add another fourth scale, the bucolic scale of open areas intended for lakeside retreats or weekends in the countryside." - Lucio Costa in an interview with Jornal do Brasil, November 8, 1961.

Photographer Joana França shared with us an impressive series of aerial photographs of the national capital of Brazil, Brasilia. The photoset is divided into four sub-series each presenting a scale: residential, monumental, gregarious and bucolic.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennale announced as the winner of the fourth edition of the Début Award the São Paulo office Vão, formed by Anna Juni, Enk te Winkel and Gustavo Delonero. The office is known for a transdisciplinary practice that seeks to dilute the boundaries of the professional field in order to enhance architectural reflection. In previous editions, the award recognized the work of Bonell+Dòriga (Spain, 2019), Umwelt (Chile, 2016) and Jimenez Lai, from Bureau Spectacular (USA, 2013).

There are two ways to get to Cape Verde, by sea or sky. Either way, we are surprised by the landscape of immense rocky masses sprouting from the Atlantic’s navel before setting foot on land. Unpopulated until the middle of the 15th century, the volcanic archipelago is made up of ten islands, nine of which are currently inhabited, with unique characteristics in each one of them — some more touristy, like Sal, others more rural, like Santo Antão — and a version of Kriolu Kabuverdianu, which is not the official language (Portuguese occupies this place), but which is by far the most widely spoken.

São Vicente is the second most populous island in the country and makes up the northern insular group called Sotavento, along with Santo Antão, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal and Boa Vista. Its largest city, Mindelo, has a port vocation and has historically been the point of departure and arrival for people and goods. Marked by traffic, the city is a place of passage and intense cultural exchanges. It is also home to the first museum built in the country, the National Centre for Art, Crafts and Design — CNAD.

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The Lisbon Architecture Triennale has released the list of finalists for the Millennium bcp Début Award. This year, ten offices from four continents reach the final stage of this award, which celebrates and encourages the creative, intellectual and professional growth of emerging talents at a crucial and transformative stage in their careers.

The list of finalists includes Atelier Tiago Antero – ATA (Portugal), Atelier Tropical – Valerie Mavoungou (Congo), Ben-Avid (Argentina), messina | rivas (Brazil), Nana Zaalishvili (Georgia), Rohan Chavan (India), Savinova Valeria (Russia), Spatial Anatomy (Singapore), vão (Brazil) and Vertebral (Mexico). The winner of the current edition will join a select list of winners that includes Bonell+Dòriga, from Spain (2019), Umwelt, from Chile (2016) and the American Jimenez Lai, from Bureau Spectacular (2013).

Architect, researcher and teacher Marina Tabassum was elected winner of the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. Marina is the first person from the global south to receive the honor, joining Denise Scott-Brown from the USA (2019 winner), the French duo Lacaton & Vassal (2016), Kenneth Frampton from the UK (2013), Álvaro Siz from Portugal (2010) and Vittorio Gregotti from Italy (2007).

Few other materials can convey architectural atmosphere as well as the glass. A to-go choice for the modernists, due to its transparent nature, glass still holds a solid place within the material palette for architects around the globe. Such unique element is the subject of Archiving Flux / Stasis, a photographic exhibition by Erieta Attali hosted by the Greek Ministry of Culture in Casa Romana, Kos Island, Greece, set to open its doors in July 21st.

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Agriculture and the food industry seem to have little in common with architecture, but it is precisely the overlap of these three areas that interests Ghanaian-Filipino scientist and architect Mae-ling Lokko, founder of Willow Technologies based in Accra, Ghana. Working with recycling agricultural waste and biopolymer materials, Lokko searches for ways to transform the so-called agrowaste into building materials.

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For varied reasons, architects have been driven away from professional practice. Sometimes, however, they continue to design buildings in other media and support. Vinicius Libardoni is an Italian-Brazilian architect and artist who migrated from Autocad to metal engraving, passing through woodcut, and has been building imaginary architectures ever since.

Manhattan's dense landscape has just received another skyscraper, this time designed by a Portuguese Pritzker Prize Winner. At 137 meters high and with 35 floors, 611 West 56th Street, Álvaro Siza's first building in New York, was just completed, on the outside. The luxury apartment complex, which is also Siza's first work in the United States, has several facilities for its residents, such as a swimming pool, a spa, a gym, a playground for children and rooms for events.

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Located amidst the vegetation, almost invisible to those who see it from the street, a jewel of modern Brazilian architecture is hidden in the São Paulo neighborhood of Jardim América. Casa Zalszupin, designed in 1960 by the Polish architect based in Brazil, Jorge Zalszupin, combines traces of local modernism with influences that the architect brought with him from Europe, notably Scandinavian architecture. In a recent photo series, Paul Clemence sought to capture through this house, "the architect's and designer's essence". 

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Videos

Led by architectural designers Khensani de Klerk and Solange Mbanefo, Matri-Archi is a collective based between Switzerland and South Africa that aims to bring African women together for the development of spatial education in African cities. Through design practice, writing, podcasts, and other initiatives, Matri-Archi — one of ArchDaily's Best New Practices of 2021 — focuses on the recognition and empowerment of women in the spatial field and architectural industry.

ArchDaily had the opportunity to talk to the co-directors of the collective on hegemonic space, informal architecture, technology, local idiosyncrasies, and the future of African and global cities. Read the full interview below.

The act of designing implies not only drawing, but building. It carries – or should carry – with it the same rigor and complexity as the execution on the construction site. That's what Francisco Rivas and Rodrigo Messina believe, partners at messina in | rivas, a São Paulo-based firm that has already gained national and international recognition, also selected among the best new practices of 2021 by ArchDaily.

Formed by a Brazilian and an Argentine who met in Paraguay while working at Gabinete de Arquitectura, the office is known for works such as The Chapel Ingá-Mirim, finalist for the Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Prize 2020 and the Oscar Niemeyer Prize 2020, and São Roque Sauna. More recently, it was elected the winner of the competition for the Maritime Museum of Brazil with the Argentine office Ben-Avid.

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