AV Proyectos 125 dedicates its cover to social heritage, a concept that includes the conversion of industrial buildings into civic spaces. As Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats point out in the article that accompanies the section, such interventions aim t

Ricardo Flores, Eva Prats   The new occupation of industrial ruins places us before gigantic structures, of very generous dimensions, where it seems anything can fit, anything can be, and in a total silence. Large volumes of air and amounts of natural light come in through skyl

Productora   Mexico   Laguna was a textile and yarn factory built in the 1920s in Mexico City’s Doctores neighborhood. Carried out by the local firm Productora (Carlos Bedoya, Víctor Jaime, Wonne Ickx, Abel Perles), the project returns the manufacturing facility to its or

Colectivo C733    Mexico   The historical customs building of San Blas, a port city in the Mexican state of Nayarit, preserved its ground level and an old corridor. Commissioned by the Secretariat for Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU), the project aimed to

Lacol   Spain   Raised in 1926, these listed old industrial sheds in Barcelona’s Sants neighborhood were used for building naval ships. After undergoing refurbishment, the one that takes up half the block harbors offices of various entities (including Lacol Arquitec

Arquitecturia   Spain   An old construction on the premises of the agricultural cooperative of Flix – a municipality in Ribera de Ebro, a comarca of the province of Tarragona – has been turned into a cultural center. Counting a built area of 524 square meters, the new spac

ATAMA   Belgium   This industrial-like building, built in 1940 and formerly a fire station, has been transformed into a meeting point for the community. At the base of the tower, now home for a climbing club, the central plaza forms a market hall space that opens up t

Herzog & de Meuron   United States   The Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron was commissioned to restore the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station, built in 1904, and transform it into an art manufacturing hub. In the 1950s, half the original structure – the Boiler House – was demolished. The

Edoardo Narne   “You cannot change the world, but you can do small things that can change someone’s life.” This is one of Renzo Piano’s maxims, so when in 2013 he was appointed Senator for Life by the then Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, he did not hesitate t

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   The Affectivity and Maternity Module is a gathering space that replaces the conventional visiting rooms, anodyne and surveilled, for female inmates. This temporary construction of a family unit recreates the domestic dimension to favor future social

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   Despite being one of the most populated neighborhoods in the city, Commenda Est only has one plaza. The project exploits the potential of several empty spaces to join them and create a quality plaza at the service of the area’s multiple realities...

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   The poor fame of the neighborhood is a direct consequence of the lack of services and public spaces. The project sets out to change this by creating a place where play, leisure, and education become tools to overcome prejudices regarding the suburbs.

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   Being circumscribed by three buildings, the esplanade became a large, abandoned space with no specific use. The new plaza comes to fill the void, stretching a green layer of bay leaf trees interrupted at the center by a circular seating area where ne

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   Though it is a pleasant green space, Parco XXII Aprile is in Crocetta, one of the most conflictive neighborhoods in Modena. This intervention aims to redefine small new spaces for leisure and for reunion that can gradually reactivate social life in t

Renzo Piano, G124   Italy   The lack of facilities and trees had turned Parco dei Salici into a run-down place in disuse. Communication with the neighbors’ association now in charge of its management was an essential part in the redevelopment of the space, where now all so

Enrique Morillo   Where most saw nothing but old industrial warehouses, Elena Fuertes, Ramón Martínez, Álvaro Molins, and Jorge Sobejano discovered a field of opportunities to develop their syncretic imaginary. After coinciding at Taller de Casquería, they set up BURR

EM2N Architekten, Sergison Bates architects, noA architecten   Belgium   In January 1924, industrial designer André Citroën opened the brand’s first foreign branch on Place Sainctelette in Brussels. Years later, in 1933, and following the original sketches drawn by Citroën himself, plans were carried out to include a larg

Luis Fernández-Galiano   On the mythical path of Goethe, Peter Sloterdijk tries out a theory of color. We have dealt with the German thinker time and again in Arquitectura Viva since 2003, examining his texts on ‘atmoterrorism,’ human domestication, and the rejection of mode

RCR Arquitectes   United Arab Emirates   A collaboration between the Catalonia-based firm RCR Arquitectes and the property developer Muraba, the Veil residential skyscraper – 380 meters tall – stands next to Dubai’s main transport artery, Shekh Zayed Road. The slender 73-story tower contain

On view through 10 October at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona is the artistic intervention ‘Suspendre el Cel’ (suspending the sky), by the Brazilian artist Caio Reisewitz, which has been organized with the Prats Nogueras Blanchard gallery

In the context of Festival Open House Madrid 2024, the MINIM gallery is showcasing photographs by Luis Asín until 26 October. Curated by Enrique Encabo and Inmaculada Maluenda, ‘Modern Madrid, Through the Eyes of Luis Asín’ offers a photographic inte

A series of abstract compositions with the personal signature of British designer Paul Smith give shape to the new collection of rugs presented by The Rug Company during the latest edition of the Salone del Mobile in Milan. As much the pieces on dis

Under the creative direction of the designer Silvia Venturini (Fendi) and the architect Ma Yansong (MAD), the iconic Peekaboo ISeeU handbag has been given a rehash with plates of lacquered aluminum placed like bumps on the textile facade and wrapping