If you are a regular reader of the blog, you probably know that I have been vacationing in Punta del Este since I was a child. I used to stay at my father's place every new year's, but this year I decided to change things up and rented a house in Montoya with the bf and the dog. We were thinking of staying in Jose Ignacio since we both love it there, but I didn't want to be too far from my family, so staying in Montoya seemed like the best solution. I promised myself to take as much as a break from work as I could, and didn't turn on the international data plan on my blackberry on purpose so that I could take a break from getting emails all day long or being tempted to twit pictures from the beach. I did take, however, pictures of a few of the homes by the beach, and posted some of them after the jump. I absolutely love the architecture here.

Via Wallpaper.

A record breaking number of Brazilian entries has been shortlisted for this year's Emirates Glass LEAF Awards. Isay Weinfeld Arquitetura has been nominated in three categories, including Residential Building of the Year (Single Occupancy) for the Santo Amaro house in São Paulo (pictured above), Commercial Building of the Year for the Midrash Cultural Center in Rio, and International Interior Design Award for Bar Numero in São Paulo. Brazilian design firm Studio MK27 also got a nomination in the Residential Building of the Year (Single Occupancy) category for the Rado house, a confidential project.

The LEAF Awards honors the architects designing the buildings and solutions that are setting the benchmark for the international architectural community, and are open to all individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the world of architecture. The ceremony will take place on September 10 in London.

Idea! Zarvos, one of my favorite developers in São Paulo,  is launching a new project for an office building at João Moura 1144 in the Pinheiros neighborhood. I received the folder for the project a few weeks ago, and the renderings look amazing. Make sure to check out more pictures and floorplans at the building's website. There is no word yet on when construction will be finished.

• An extra dose of Evandro today: photographed by Richard Phibbs for the NYT. Expect to see even more Evandro soon in the fall ad campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana and Guess, and in Lady Gaga's Alejandro video.
• Watch the Armani Exchange neon campaign video with Marlon Teixeira. Super hot.
• Marc Jacobs' much talked about Bang campaign, and a lunch interview with the designer in the Financial Times.
• Alessandra Ambrósio lands the cover of Vogue Nippon. Read an interview with her in Portuguese at iG Gente (did you know her favorite band was Pearl Jam?).
• The 2010 Casa Cor opens tomorrow in São Paulo.
• Watch Robyn's video for Dancing On My Own.
• Ipanema by Jannis Tsipoulanis.
• Reynaldo Gianecchini, where did your six-pack go?
• Loving all the twitpics of the magazine.
• Neonico, a new fashion site catering to the Brazilian boys, launched last week. Make sure to check it out.

A summer home in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, designed by renowned São Paulo architect Marcio Kogan, won best new private home design in Wallpaper's 2010 Design Awards issue. View more pictures of the house here.

And another Brazilian also made it to Wallpaper's list this year: Arthur Casas won best new restaurant design for Kaá in São Paulo. I haven't eaten there yet, but I will make sure to post pictures on twitter as soon as I manage to get a reservation.