Architecture in Latin America: Focus on Resilience, Heritage, and Cultural Institutions This Month

Contemporary residential architecture faces pressing issues of global housing shortages and growing urban populations. In practice, architects constantly experiment with new forms of collective housing, striving to create spaces for personal, family, and community development. The six unfinished projects presented here demonstrate various aspects of solving the problem of building density: relationships with existing and planned nature, availability of urban or suburban plots, creation of additional intermediate spaces that support collective life and mitigate the feeling of high density, as well as the possibility of reproducing densification models and connection to the host area.

In this selection, ArchDaily readers are presented with housing concepts from Costa Rica, the USA, Ukraine, Iran, Uzbekistan, and a modular prototype without a fixed location. Analyzing the six unfinished projects, one can find common difficulties in creating a vibrant atmosphere and neighborhood environment, as well as unique responses to climatic conditions, interaction with nature, and the distribution of private and common areas. Three projects were designed for urban densification to maximize the use of available land to integrate more people into the existing urban network. Given the lack of land, one of the proposed ideas expands possibilities through a floating residential complex project, while two other options opt for suburban collective housing, emphasizing a direct connection with surrounding vegetation.

Below are idealized housing solutions developed by six ArchDaily readers, which were submitted as images and brief descriptions.

Nuevo Cuscatlan, Costa Rica

The architectural firm Carazo Arquitectura presented the LTR1 project—a multifunctional residential complex spanning 60,265 m² in Nuevo Cuscatlan, in the San Salvador metropolitan area, El Salvador. The complex integrates over 400 residential units, a commercial zone, and a protected forest within a single hybrid building. The project implements the firm's research line known as Tropical Vertical Urbanism, which studies how dense vertical construction in tropical cities can integrate housing, commerce, ecology, and social life into a single interconnected system.

Kayan Float: Compact Floating Microhome for Urban Rivers / Khaled M. Abu Tam - KMA Atelier

In the rapidly growing city of Austin, rising property prices and constant urban expansion have exacerbated the housing crisis. Many people are forced to move to remote suburbs with limited public transport. The city faces a deficit of over 211,000 social housing units, and regulatory restrictions and high land costs hinder traditional expansion. This situation demands compact and highly efficient housing models that maximize spatial efficiency while minimizing carbon footprint and construction impact. In this context, communities of floating microhomes are proposed as a response to Austin's housing problems, as well as as a compact and reproducible urban prototype for coastal cities worldwide. By transforming underutilized waterways into habitable urban infrastructure, the project introduces a model of efficient microhousing that is affordable and adaptable. Factory planning minimizes material use and costs, while layouts optimize every square meter for integrating living, working, and leisure functions.

Onsen / AVR Development

The concept was built around preserving the pine forest and natural thermal waters, where the idea of daily rejuvenation is integrated into the lifestyle itself. The project is conceived for people who value the balance between activity and tranquility, working in a dynamic environment but needing regular physical and mental restoration without having to leave the city. The central element is the fusion of an urban quarter type (kvartal), suburban life, and a resort: placement within a closed quarter forms a protected inner forest core, while the architecture develops under the tree canopy, not competing with nature. This idea is supported by the Japanese philosophy of onsen—understood as a ritual of silence, water, and balance—expressed in the spa and thermal bath infrastructure and the integration of water into daily life.

Sabat House / Hamed Hosseini Studio

Among the architectural features of arid and hot regions of Iran, such as Kashan, are Sabats—arched covered walkways built along long paths to protect pedestrians from direct solar radiation. Beyond their ecological function, Sabats fostered social cohesion by providing comfortable places for gatherings and neighborly interaction. The Sabat project is located in one of Kashan's most historic urban networks. The plot was formed by combining several small parcels, allowing for more floors than neighboring lots. This vertical imbalance became the main design challenge, leading to the development of two different volumetric strategies to harmonize the building with the surrounding urban context.

SYS Modular Building / Office AT

The SYS modular building is a prototype ordered by Siam Yamato Steel co.,ltd. and designed by the Office AT studio. The project is based on a modular construction system where building components are prefabricated in a factory and quickly assembled on site, ensuring efficiency in both schedule and construction quality. The concept maximizes the potential of modular construction. Each module is designed with independent walls (no shared walls), which enhances natural ventilation and improves internal comfort. The system also offers great flexibility, allowing the building configuration to be easily adapted to plots of different sizes and conditions. The project intentionally remains simple, consisting of only two unit types: Type 1 (ground floor) and Type 2 (duplex). These modules are organized in an alternating and articulated pattern, creating gaps between them that simultaneously serve as terraces and ensure natural light and ventilation enter the building. Furthermore, this arrangement increases the privacy of each unit.

SUPERMAHALLA / LEVEL80 Architects

In a historic Uzbek city on the Silk Road, we reinterpreted high-rise buildings into the form of SUPERMAHALLA—a low-rise complex inspired by traditional mahallas. Four blocks define private courtyards for gatherings, mimicking a patchwork quilt. Seismic joints guide pedestrian routes, and mountain contours are used to maximize apartment placement. White facades contrast with terracotta 'windows', paying homage to the tradition of handmade ceramics, blending historical heritage with modern European style. Underground parking ensures the safety of terraces and children's areas. Comfort amidst urbanization: rooted in place, designed for people.

Displacement, generally understood as the act of people being forced to move from one place to another, has a broader dimension from an architectural perspective. This initial movement can lead to the need for housing reconstruction, relocation of entire communities, or the reestablishment of daily life in a new environment. It is important to note that not everything lost during a displacement can simply be replaced by architecture.

Challenges of displacement in Latin America

This issue is particularly relevant in Latin America because displacement has shaped communities on various scales and under different contexts. What happens subsequently depends on the cause of the displacement, the possibility of return, and what remains of the original locations. Some communities manage to rebuild in familiar settings, while others must start their routine in a new place, and these distinctions define the demands placed on architecture.

Post-disaster reconstruction in Ecuador

Ecuador illustrates the significance of reconstruction after displacement caused by the destruction of homes. In 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake affected the country's coast, resulting in the displacement of thousands of individuals and damage to coastal infrastructure and housing. Even so, in many rural areas, people maintained ties to the land and their social structures.

The Post-Earthquake Rural Housing Prototype, conceived by the firms AL BORDE and El Sindicato Arquitectura, considers these pre-existing conditions. Its basic structure, made of earthquake-resistant plywood, provides a framework that allows for gradual expansion and adaptation to various types of terrain. In Los Horconcitos, the walls are built with split cane (split bamboo) and bahareque (hand-made adobe), with the orientation designed for prevailing winds, privacy, and panoramic views. Thus, the same structural system can adopt different spatial and material arrangements depending on the construction site.

Urban restructuring in Chile

Reconstruction takes on another dimension when the loss of homes affects entire neighborhoods. In Chile, the 2024 wildfires hit residential areas in the Valparaíso region, including El Olivar, where the destruction of houses required permanent reconstruction on a larger scale. Subsequently, the neighborhood was the site of a pilot project by the firm ELEMENTAL, which studied how prefabrication could accelerate this process.

The proposal presented combines prefabricated construction with a new housing arrangement. Four previously isolated residences, such as single-story houses, were organized vertically into a medium-density structure using prefabricated steel modules. Off-site manufacturing reduces construction time, while the new configuration accommodates several families on the same lot. In this scenario, the construction method and the housing typology work together, linking the speed of reconstruction to the organization of the dwellings themselves.

Resettlement in São Paulo and Belo Monte

In São Paulo, the urbanization of Favela Nova Jaguaré forced families living on steep slopes and subject to environmental risks to be relocated to safer areas. This resettlement changed more than just the location of the houses; it altered these people's connection to an established residential environment, characterized by streets, neighborhood, and daily routines.

The Alexandre Mackenzie Residential Complex, designed by Boldarini Arquitetos Associados, responds to this situation by creating a new urban fabric. Apartment blocks and stacked houses introduce different housing models. Streets, alleys, pedestrian paths, and open areas structure the complex and connect it to the adjacent neighborhood. Collective spaces integrate into these circulation networks, expanding residential life beyond the individual unit. Housing becomes part of a larger spatial system that links residences, common areas, daily movements, and the urban surroundings.

In another area of Brazil, the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric complex along the Xingu River caused a distinct type of displacement. Its implementation transformed a territory where daily life was intrinsically linked to the river. Riverside communities were removed from places where housing, fishing, cultivation, transport, work, and social interaction existed within a single territorial system.

The Collective Urban Resettlements (RUCs) relocated families to new homes, altering the relationship between home and territory. The standardized units offered few options for adapting to the specific needs of each family unit. The distance from the river separated domestic life from the activities and relationship networks that previously occurred in an integrated manner with the river. The Belo Monte case demonstrates the limits of treating housing merely as a response to displacement; providing a new dwelling does not guarantee the restoration of ties between home, subsistence, landscape, and territory.

Community adaptation in Colombia

In the city of Pereira, Colombia, the Plumón Alto neighborhood received displaced families from various parts of the country due to internal armed conflict. As they settled there, their needs went beyond simple housing, requiring dedicated spaces for education, culture, and community life.

The Casa Ensamble Chacarrá, designed by the firm Ruta 4 Taller de Arquitectura, emerged in this context as a shared space, built with the active participation of residents, inhabitants, and local groups. The architecture employs a light system of guadua bamboo structures, esterilla (bamboo matting), corrugated zinc tiles, and recycled materials, which could be assembled with limited resources and community labor. The structure creates an open and flexible interior, suitable for educational programs, arts, gatherings, and other collective uses. In a settlement composed of migrants from various regions, Chacarrá provides a common space shaped both by its construction process and the activities it continues to host.

Conclusion: The complexity of displacement

These examples show that displacement cannot be treated as a singular architectural condition. Whether reconstructing after an earthquake, restructuring neighborhoods after a fire, transferring families from risk zones, or relocating communities away from their livelihoods, each situation imposes unique spatial demands. The architectural response must vary according to the circumstances of the displacement and the relationships with the place that can be maintained, adjusted, or need to be recreated.

Architecture can intervene on multiple scales, ranging from construction systems and housing typologies to urban structures, collective spaces, and the relationship with the territory. Designing for displacement requires identifying the point and mode of intervention: whether by adapting a construction system, reorganizing dwellings, establishing connections in a new urban fabric, or creating spaces for collective life. It is also essential to recognize the limits of what architecture alone can restore in the systems that sustain daily life.

During the World Congress of Architects of the UIA 2026, held in Barcelona, the central theme was 'Becoming. Architectures for a Transitioning Planet'. This theme positioned architecture as an area of practice directly linked to environmental, social, and political changes, rather than something peripheral to them.

Andrés Jaque's View on Architecture

Among the participants of this congress was architect Andrés Jaque, founder of the Office for Political Innovation and dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. ArchDaily interviewed Jaque to discuss architecture's capacity to propose solutions, the importance of experimentation in academic training, and the need to view transition as a continuous state, not a final point.

For Jaque, the current relevance of architecture stems from the fact that many of the structures defining contemporary society are being questioned. Instead of seeing the current scenario as a moment of collapse, he interprets it as an opportunity where architects can help plan new ways of organizing community life. Thus, issues such as ecology, social equity, and alternative models of coexistence are not secondary topics, but rather an integral part of the discipline's operational foundations.

Design as a Process of Action

This perspective directly influences the definition of design presented by Jaque. He argues that design transcends the mere creation of forms; it is a process that demands investigation, reasoning, and deep engagement with broader issues. Architecture, in this sense, functions as a mode of action through design, where choices made about buildings and spaces are simultaneously decisions about how collective life will be structured.

Case Studies and Collaboration

When addressing the role of architectural projects, Jaque exemplified how buildings can highlight different possibilities. Referring to the Reggio School project, he clarified that this initiative challenged the notion that schools should protect children from the complexity of the world. On the contrary, the project focused on education as a process that occurs through exposure to variety, constant dynamics, and still developing conditions.

The development of this project also illustrated Jaque's view of architecture as a collaborative effort. He detailed the participation of teachers, families, tutors, and students, while also taking into account the environmental history of the area, including problems such as pollution and loss of biodiversity in the surroundings. In this context, he believes that the architect's role is not just to generate ideas in isolation, but to create the necessary circumstances for diverse views to contribute to the project's conception.

Relevant Issues for the Future

When asked which topics the Congress should prioritize, Jaque indicated concerns already present in modern life. Instead of suggesting a single missing issue, he mentioned themes such as economic accessibility, justice, alternatives to violence and militarism, and lifestyles based on diversity. For him, these debates already permeate daily conversations, activism, and public discourse, giving them great relevance for architects.