Archinect - News

University of Miami's School of Architecture to design smart 'Silica City' concept for booming Guyana

2023-12-12T11:53:00-05:00

The University of Miami School of Architecture has announced its participation in a master planning project that will help develop a smart city in the capital region of Guyana, South America.

Both students and faculty from the school will join with others in UM’s Advanced Study of the Americas program, Herbert Business School, School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science to realize the project, which leverages their expertise in the fields of resilient design, sustainable architecture, climate science, nature systems, technology, and more.

'Silica City' is an 11,000-acre planned community of 60,000 people near the Guyana International Airport with residential plots, a city center, an 'Innovation Village' area, and AI-bolstered infrastructure. Preliminary design work has already begun via a new 12-student studio that was taught in the fall by former School of Architecture dean Jose A. Gelabert-Navia, who said: “You cannot devel...

El Salvador picks Fernando Romero to plan its Bitcoin City

2022-05-13T08:27:00-04:00

The country of El Salvador has picked an architect for his attention-grabbing bid to lure cryptocurrency investment to the small Central American nation.

FR-EE founder Fernando Romero is now in charge of the country’s Bitcoin City development and plans to add a new Pacific airport, according to an announcement made on social media from President Nayib Bukele Tuesday.

All images via Nayib Bukele/Twitter

Somewhat similar to the layout of the new “crypto paradise” private island development in Vanuatu, plans revealed this week display a concentric design with outlying nodes connected to a central plaza, itself forming the shape of a Bitcoin logo. The pop-up city, which includes an airport concept similar FR-EE’s contribution to the abandoned design for a new international airport in Mexico City, will be located at the base of the Conchagua Volcano (also its power source for mining operations) along El Salvador’s southern coast.

All images via Nayib Buk...

Galapagos island to host US military base

2019-06-19T15:15:00-04:00

US aircraft will be able to use San Cristobal airport, Ecuador's defence minister Oswaldo Jarrin has been quoted as saying. The reported deal has prompted concerns over the potential impact on the environment and Ecuador's sovereignty.

The BBC reports that under a new agreement with the government of Ecuador, United States military aircraft will be allowed to use an airfield on the island of San Cristobal to "fight drug trafficking."

The islands are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their rich biological and ecological diversity. The plan has alarmed conservationists and Ecuadorian patriots, alike. The BBC reports, for example, that Ecuador's constitution regards the nation as "a territory of peace" and that the "establishment of foreign military bases or foreign facilities for military purposes shall not be allowed."

The extent of US military operations on the island is not yet known, but Telesur reports that the forces are expected to make "modifications" of some sort to the island, according to Ecuador's defense minister Oswaldo Jarrin.

Grafton Architects' UTEC “vertical campus” wins inaugural RIBA International Prize

2016-11-23T19:02:00-05:00

RIBA awarded their inaugural International Prize today to The Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima by Grafton Architects and Shell Arquitectos. Open to architects worldwide, the Prize is RIBA's very own recognition award for “civil architecture that empowers people and societies to innovate and progress”, RIBA President Jane Duncan said. The grand jury, led by architect Richard Rogers, traveled to visit all six finalist buildings before making their final decision.

Irish practice Grafton Architects and Shell Arquitectos from Lima designed the brutalist vertical campus for UTEC, a 50-year-old engineering university that enables young Peruvians to gain engineering qualifications, and therefore encourage social mobility. The jury praised the UTEC building as a bold, masterful project that depicts Grafton Architects' years of experimenting with space and form.

“The vertical structure provides open circulation and meeting spaces in a succession of platforms that compose th...

Rio mayor admits Olympics were a “missed opportunity”, but believes the city has been unfairly portrayed

2016-07-14T17:49:00-04:00

“This is a missed opportunity,” Paes acknowledged. “We are not showcasing ourselves. With all these economic and political crises, with all these scandals, it is not the best moment to be in the eyes of the world. This is bad.” But he also believes the problems are exaggerated by the press in a way that unfairly portrays Rio to the outside world...“There has never been so much transformation for poor people [in Rio]...The Olympic Games are a great inspiration to get things done.”

What are the world's most violent cities?

2016-03-30T13:11:00-04:00

The thorny task of comparing crime rates across the world is tricky because legal interpretations vary. Sweden's definition of rape is not the same as America’s, for example. Murder however should be easier to record because there is an identifiable victim, something that can be counted. But the way in which this is done in poorer, often more corrupt countries makes truly comparable statistics hard to pin down. Where there are inefficient public health systems or police, it is even harder.

"Latin American and Caribbean countries suffer disproportionately compared with elsewhere, mainly because of inequality, poor rule of law, impunity and corrupt institutions that are infiltrated by drug cartels. Only two countries outside the region feature on either chart, South Africa and the United States (the list’s only rich-world country)."

The article notes the difficulty of accurately ranking cities based on crime statistics; this chart is a revision of an earlier one. But the overall picture remains the same: the world's most violent cities are in the Americas, with the one notable exception being Cape Town, South Africa. The statistics exclude war zones.

For more on crime and the city, take a look at some Archinect articles from the archive:

Medellín wins 2016 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize

2016-03-29T16:34:00-04:00

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2016 is conferred on Medellín, the second largest city in Colombia after the capital Bogotá. Having overcome challenges of uncontrolled urban expansion and years of violence due to social inequalities, Medellín has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades. Through bold leadership, long-term plans and social innovation, the city’s leaders have tackled its most pressing issues and improved the economy...

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize is a bi-annual award give to a city to honor "outstanding achievements and contributions to the creation of liveable, vibrant and sustainable urban communities around the world."

Organized by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Centre for Liveable Cities, the prize comes with a $300,000 check written by the Keppel Corporation.

For more on Colombian urbanism, check out these links: