Panamanian Architecture

Understanding the temperature gradient in a building is essential in cold or temperate climates, where airtight enclosures and continuous insulation are used to prevent heat loss. However, this approach is not suitable for tropical areas like Central America, where the climate is marked by a consistent alternation between wet and dry seasons rather than four distinct ones. Factors such as proximity to the sea, elevation, and local topography influence microclimates across short distances, but high humidity remains a common challenge. Sealed, airtight walls with no ventilation can quickly become breeding grounds for mold, making the thermal strategies of temperate climates problematic. In response, local designers have developed alternative approaches that embrace, rather than resist, the outdoor environment, allowing airflow and evaporation to manage interior comfort.

The Latin American territory encompasses a vast diversity of climates, atmospheres, and temperatures across its entire expanse. Amid forested landscapes, jungles, or coastal settings, many architects choose to design cabins immersed in natural surroundings, seeking to foster a deeper connection with nature by distancing themselves from the city. While experimenting with different materials and local techniques enhances a stronger bond with the site's traditions and creates a distinct architectural identity for each region, the integration of technological innovations and new construction materials can offer greater resilience to climate change, improve short- and long-term maintenance, optimize construction timelines, and address other key considerations.

The Latin American Architecture Biennial (BAL), which has gained significant relevance in the contemporary architectural scene, will celebrate its ninth edition next year. This meeting gathers emerging Latin American architecture studios in Pamplona, Spain, to share their work, fostering dialogue and debate about the current state of the discipline, as well as acting as a bridge between the Latin American continent and the Spanish context. In this edition, Costa Rica will be the guest country, accompanied by Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. As part of this invitation, there will be an exhibition and specific seminars dedicated to analyzing the situation of architecture in these countries.

Panama presented its pavilion on "Stories Beneath the Water" at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Aimée Lam Tunon, the exhibition explored themes of division and integration, with a focus on three different areas within the former Panama Canal Zone. It is an analysis that addresses issues of division and integration: Divisive architectural structures and systems; erased identities of submerged communities; and Barro Colorado Island, critically examining and questioning the overlaps between notions of protection and control.

The city of Panama has been experiencing an architectural rebirth. Buildings that have become outdated and deteriorated over time are now being renovated, restored, and modernized - and one of the main offices carrying out this task is Sketch, an architecture studio that defines itself as "energetic, multidisciplinary, and a firm believer that design should be both smart and fun."

Budget Direct and NeoMam Studios, a creative studio based in the UK, have created a series of animated gifs restoring 6 UNESCO cultural sites and showcasing how these ruins would have looked like if they had been preserved. Bringing to life endangered sites, the project includes the recently destroyed ruins of Palmyra in Syria and Hatra in Iraq, demolished by ISIS in 2015.

Vienna, Austria has been ranked as the city with the best quality of life in the world for ten consecutive years. The ranking made by multinational consultancy Mercer is dominated by Western European cities in the highest positions, while Vancouver, Canada reached third place, becoming the highest-ranking city in North America for the last 10 years.

Architectural photographer Marc Goodwin recently visited Panama City to continue on his journey documenting the world's architecture offices. He's already featured an impressive list, including the Netherlands, Dubai London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, the Nordic countries, Barcelona, and Los Angeles. In Panama, Marc photographed a range of work spaces across eight offices, from a studio of five people all the way up to 200. Looking outside and in, he captured both the spaces where designers work and glimpses into the city itself.

The Panama Canal is to soon celebrate another milestone in its long history, with the imminent completion of the what will be the longest concrete four-lane cable-stayed structure in the world. With a 1750-foot (530-meter) central span, the Atlantic Bridge will connect the banks of the canal’s Atlantic Ocean entrance when it opens in early 2019.

Mercer, the multinational consultancy recently announced that Vienna, Austria has been ranked as the city with the best quality of life in the world, for the ninth year in a row. In a ranking that is dominated by European cities in the highest positions, this year Vancouver (5th), Singapore (25th) and Port Louis (83rd) are the highest-ranking cities in North America, Asia, and Africa, respectively.