Articles by Camilla Ghisleni

In July 2023, around one-third of the 45 beds at the Phoenix, Arizona Burn Center were filled with individuals who had sustained severe burns from falling on the city’s asphalt streets. Public alerts were issued to caution residents about the hazards of extreme heat, leading to temperatures of up to 82°C on a summer afternoon, just below the boiling point, affecting asphalt, concrete, and sidewalks. The hospital director emphasized the rapid occurrence of severe burns, explaining that a mere fraction of a second of contact with these surfaces could lead to injury. Such burns resulted from both accidental stumbling on the streets and fainting induced by the intense heat.

In several cities in Brazil, the amount of rainfall has already surpassed the total accumulated for the rest of the year. Flooding, inundations, and landslides are commonplace news in regional newspapers. In this chaotic scenario, a study presented by the National Confederation of Municipalities states that, amidst the rains in the south and drought in the north, 5.8 million Brazilians have been directly affected by disasters in 2023, whether by loss of lives, displacements, or significant economic damages.

In the global context, the first factories emerged in the latter part of the 16th century, primarily housing typographic workshops. Over time, their purposes expanded to include carpentry, tapestry, and porcelain workshops. However, the recognizable form of industrial buildings we see today only took shape in the 18th century, closely tied to the transformations brought about by the Industrial Revolution. The shift from human labor to machinery fundamentally altered the scale of these structures, turning them into expansive warehouses.

A home is a sacred realm, a place that embraces and honors a variety of emotions and sensations. As Gaston Bachelard asserts, it serves as our refuge in the world, our initial universe, a true cosmos in every sense of the term. Its intricate symbolism transcends mere functional aspects like room count or bathroom size. Entire universes find their place within its walls.

The term “rede” in Portuguese traditionally conveys the idea of an interweaving of wires. In a contemporary context, it takes on a broader meaning related to connection, collaboration, and integration, whether among ideas, people, or processes. Not coincidentally, these are the core principles of Rede Arquitetos, a collaborative architecture studio founded in 2011 in Fortaleza, Ceará, by architects Bruno Perdigão, Epifanio Almeida, Igor Ribeiro, and Bruno Braga. Presently, the team is led by Braga, Luiz Cattony, and João Torquato, with their main approach emphasizing collective work and valuing encounters over the domination of ideas as a strategy for achieving the best solutions.

In 2019, as the world was on the brink of facing one of the most significant pandemics in recent history, Ailton Krenak, a Brazilian indigenous leader, environmentalist, and philosopher, published a book titled Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. This brief booklet, comprising slightly more than 80 pages, came into circulation at a critical juncture, providing both reassurance and a cautionary message to humanity during a time when it observed the rapid evolution of history.

Imagination and policy development go hand in hand. Before we can create policies that bring about a desirable future, we must first envision what that future looks like, which is particularly significant in Architecture because we see the future as an integral part of the design process. This familiarity with envisioning the future carries a responsibility for us to create guidelines and regulations that can either support or obstruct the direction our planet takes.

A few weeks ago, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) named the recipient of the RIBA Norman Foster 2023 travel grant. Martha Pomasonco from Peru was awarded for her outstanding project titled “Barrios Mejorados.”

If you follow BIG, you have probably already seen Bjarke Angles talk about hedonistic sustainability and how this concept permeates the most daring projects of the Danish office.

The issue of gender discrimination in architecture is receiving growing attention and discussion. Many instances, including salary discrepancies, disrespect by male employees in construction sites and team management, and the historical oversight leading to women’s lack of recognition are detailed and illustrated. These demotivations mean that, despite being the majority in architecture courses worldwide, only a few women manage to consolidate and gain prominence in the profession.