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Pfaall Foundation, Montreal, QC (2026)

06/04/2026

Herzog & de Meuron, Arena do Morro, Mãe Luiza, Natal, Brazil.

Project: 2011-2012
Realization: 2012-2014

Partners: Jacques HerzogPierre de Meuron, Ascan Mergenthaler (Partner in Charge), Markus Widmer

Project Team: Tomislav Dushanov (Associate, Project Director), Mariana Vilela (Project Manager), Edyta Augustynowicz, Daniel Fernández Florez, Diogo Figueiredo, Melissa Haesun, ShinKai Strehlke (Digital Technologies)

Client: Ameropa Foundation, Centro Sócio Pastoral Nossa Senhora de Conceição

Mãe Luiza is not a typical “Favela” – its identity and character have been formed both by the unique natural setting and the creativity of the people of this strong community. Mãe Luiza is nestled between the protected natural zone of the dunes of Natal and the commercially developed oceanfront.

Our urban study identifies the missing and underdeveloped urban activities in the neighbourhood, traces available space within the densely built fabric, and distributes new activities within the areas potentially available for development. The proposal includes a spine (passarela) of new buildings and interventions that will form a sequence of public activities perpendicular to the main street of Mãe Luiza and extending all the way to the ocean.

The pioneering architectural project within this proposal is the gymnasium, containing a sports field with tiered seating for 420 people, multipurpose rooms for dance and education, a terrace with ocean views, as well as changing rooms and public restrooms.

Text source: Herzon & de Meuron

Photos ©Iwan Baan

©2026 Herzog & de Meuron. All Rights Reserved.

06/02/2026

Eletres Studio + Carrera de Arquitectura UCSG, Pabellón Horizonte, Campus de la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2024.
studio ucsg

Authors: Danerix Cardenas () & Luis Albino Reyes ()

At the highest point of the city, a bird lands after a long flight; among hills and rocks, it seeks to observe the great metropolis in awe… A pavilion that invites contemplation and discovery from within, framing unique views and spaces that can only be appreciated from great heights. A place to pause and delight in the urban landscape, a unique formal element where light, structure, and geometry merge: “A temporary space for prolonged memory.”  
The 4.5-meter-high pavilion is organized using underground anchoring systems and constructed primarily of large-section circular metal tubes, joined by a lightweight, translucent, open-structure roof whose geometry is based on a catenary. The overall configuration of the pavilion is a modular design composed of ten M-shaped support units, fixed to ground anchors and metal angles at the top to join the edges and maintain the roof. To ensure the integrity of the pavilion, a circular profile extends horizontally, supporting all the elements. 
Text source: Divisare

Photos © Eletres Studio, Emily Chérrez, Marco Pocomucha, Luis Albino Reyes

©2026 Eletres Studio. All Rights Reserved.

05/30/2026

After Comfort, Kleine Stadt Farm, Vienna, Austria, 2025, Vienna University of Technology.

Research Associate:

tuwien

A week-long design-build workshop led by Jakob Sellaoui and Valentin Burtscher, involving 20 participating students, took place on the grounds of the Kleine Stadtfarm (Small City Farm) in Vienna, a community-run urban agricultural site.

Building on Daniel Barber’s text After Comfort, the students analyzed thermal comfort from various perspectives. How does it influence our body awareness and well-being? How much discomfort can we tolerate in our homes, offices, schools, and institutions? Comfort is not only a matter of well-being, but also of resource utilization.

The students constructed a sauna from repurposed materials. The structure was made of wood, with hay bales serving as natural insulation. The centerpiece was a self-built sauna stove that heated stones directly in the fire. In the winter cold and the intense heat of the sauna, the participants rediscovered their physical limits and questioned their notions of comfort.

The result was not only a place for collective sweating, but also a realization: discomfort is not the enemy of architecture, but rather a tool for rethinking spaces.

Participating students: Charlotte Bardenz, Finn Blindow, Chang Dang, Martin Dobmeier, Jacques Ernzer, Charlotte Eybl, Elisa Geiser, Pauline Guéry, Eugen Halbhuber, Victoria Hofböck, Vanessa Jäger, Benjamin Kislich, Martin Kohlbauer, Karolína Kolencíková, Ana-Elisa Kresitschnig, Magdalena Maurer, Ina Pfeuffer, Benedikt Schauerte, Marlies Weidinger, Julius Wolf

Photos © Gili Merin

©2026 Studio Jakob Sellaoui, Vienna University of Technology. All Rights Reserved.

05/29/2026

TAKK, Vitra Vertical Sauna, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 2024.

Prototype for an Outdoor Sauna

Architects: TAKK, Mireia Luzárraga + Alejandro Muiño  Collaborators: Roger Monfort, Berta Ribaudí, Julia Fraolini  Client: Vitra Design Museum
 
Photos © José Hevia

©2026 TAKK. All Rights Reserved.

05/28/2026

TANAT | PEMO | CARLOS GARCÍA NORIEGA, CASA ÍNSULA | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, 2026.

Arquitectura: TANAT | PEMO | CARLOS GARCÍA NORIEGA:
Diego Rivero Borrell
Daniel Pereira
Carlos García Noriega
Mariana Estrada

DRY CAUSTIC

Mérida knows how to consume itself, especially if we look away for a while.
Sometimes there is a desire for this place to remain like this. Without windows, without furniture, ready to take another course, a less domestic one, where the rain may finally flood it, plants silently pierce through the floor until they claim the walls, and, within a few years or half a lifetime, birds begin to cohabit in shifts with a family of bats, until the falling drops carve the limestone and connect with the underground water.

Does a house end when it is inhabited or when it is named? For now, this space keeps other becomings open: a ruin, an observatory, a microcosm, a cenote, a landscape enclosed by walls of concrete that perspire with the desires of a jungle trapped within the city.

When is architecture ever truly finished?
The unfinished is also possibility.

Text provided by the TANAT, and translated from Spanish.

©2026 TANAT | PEMO | CARLOS GARCÍA NORIEGA. All Rights Reserved.

05/27/2026

Tumu + Meaningless Arch, Pomegranate Garden Micro Building, Nanping, China, 2025.

A wall prototype seeks a balance between structure and form, creating a resting space beneath a cantilevered roof. Each unit is a small pavilion. The village is home to old rammed earth houses and aging craftsmen.

Bamboo is abundant in the area, and bamboo factories are a local industry. Concrete, wooden formwork, and steel are readily available and sustainable materials. The design prioritizes materials, creating a symbiotic dance of diverse materials.

Concrete piers lift the rammed earth walls, which in turn lift the bamboo beams and columns. The bamboo, concrete beams, and steel poles stabilize the earth walls, and then lift the steel beams and wooden arches. The arched crown cantilevers outward, creating a delicate balance. Each component is a structural element, providing appropriate force and form.
The heaviness of concrete, the thickness of rammed earth, the lightness of bamboo, the fineness of steel, and the thinness and bulk of wood create visual tension through their interplay.

Text provided by the architects, source: ArchDaily

Photos ©Jiaojiao Miao

©2026 Tumu & Meaningless Arch. All Rights Reserved.

05/25/2026

Mesura in conversation with PFAALL Magazine.
eu

First image: Aesop Diagonal, Barcelona, Spain.
Photo © Maxime Delvaux

“Architecture does not always need to announce its critical position in order to be meaningful. Sometimes the most relevant work happens at the level of restraint—what is not changed, what is left open, or how a space allows different uses over time.So yes, architects inevitably operate within ideological systems, but we are not sure the goal is to resolve that contradiction. Perhaps the more relevant task is to remain aware of it, and to work in a way that keeps space for ambiguity, use, and reinterpretation rather than closing them down.”. 
Read the full conversation in our website.

Thank you .eu! it has been a pleasure and a great joy to experience your work through your critical perspective. Thank you for sharing your ideas with our community.

Casa Balma Murada Photo © Rory Gardiner
Casa IV Photo © Teddy Iborra
Casa Ter Photo © Salva Lopez

© 2026 PFAALL FOUNDATION. All Rights Reserved.

05/23/2026

Atelier Vrac, Făgăraș, Fest Installation, 2024, Sebeșu de Sus, Sibiu, Romania.
vrac

Designed by atelier VRAC (.badescul & .elena.f)

Result of a competition organised by

The temporary installation “It’s oh so quiet” is the result of an ideas competition organized by Conservation Carpathia during the Făgăraș Fest, held in Sebeșu de Sus, Romania, in 2024. fest

Nestled within the landscape of the Făgăraș Mountains, the competition highlighted two essential themes: the urgent need for the conservation of this unique natural environment and the importance of a responsible approach to design by utilizing local natural resources. Positioned slightly apart from the main festival, the installation bridges the event and its surroundings, functioning as an organic extension of the natural landscape. Oriented toward the mountains, it encourages visitors to step away from the bustling festival and engage in moments of retreat, contemplation, or spontaneous interaction.  Over the course of the festival, the installation evolved into a prominent feature of the event. It became a lively focal point for festival-goers, serving as tiered seating for relaxed gatherings, shaded areas for rest, a playground for adventurous exploration, and even a setting for intimate nocturnal conversations.
Text source: Grupo Finca

Text source: Divisare

Photos ©Cristian Bădescubadescul

©2026 Atelier Vrac. All Rights Reserved.

05/18/2026

Eduardo Mediero, principal at Hanghar LLC, in conversation with PFAALL Magazine.

Madrid, España, 11/25.
llc

Read the full conversation, in our website.

All images © HANGHAR LLC

© 2026 PFAALL FOUNDATION. All Rights Reserved.

05/11/2026

The Natural Materials Lab: Kitchen Recipes in Messy Transformations.

Lola Ben-Alon, Assistant Professor at Columbia University GSAPP, Director of the Natural Materials Lab for PFAALL Magazine.

First image: Earthen Rituals, 2025. Lola Ben-Alon and the Natural Materials Lab. For the 19th . Photography: Alessandro Terranova.

“At the Natural Materials Lab at Columbia GSAPP, we often say that we run a dirty laboratory. In an architectural world increasingly organized around dematerialization and industrial cleanliness, we choose to work with the unruly, the damp, the muddy and the living.

We operate at the intersection of raw earth, plant fibers, and the bio-based waste that society has forgotten. Our vision is not just about decarbonizing the building sector. It is about a fundamental metabolic shift. We view architecture as a continuous flow of geology, biology, and energy.

We believe that as our world becomes increasingly reliant on the digital, a return to the sensory, tactile, and transcorporeal nature of bodies and earthly beings has never been more vital.”

Read the full story in our website.

Thank you for sharing with us and our community the amazing research you are developing!

©2026 PFAALL FOUNDATION. All Rights Reserved.

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