Archi News

The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art (Suzhou MoCA), designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, is nearing completion along the Jinji Lake waterfront in Suzhou, China. Conceived as a cluster of twelve pavilions beneath a continuous, ribbon-like roof, the 60,000-square-meter complex reinterprets the traditional garden architecture that has long defined Suzhou's urban and cultural identity. Commissioned by the Suzhou Harmony Development Group and developed in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc., the project is expected to open officially in 2026. The museum will debut with "Materialism," an exhibition curated by BIG that traces a material journey from stone to recyclate.

At home in the city, in the country—A pioneering project that speaks of the harvests of everyday urban life. In the transition zone between city and country, on a site in Munich's Freiham urban development area, a residential project has been completed that offers rooms for different intensities of communal living—from individual apartments to housing communities with shared living rooms, and to cluster apartments.

Tirana, the capital of Albania, is experiencing a rapid transformation driven by the long-term urban strategy outlined in the Tirana 2030 (TR030) Master Plan. Developed in 2017 by Stefano Boeri Architetti, UNLAB, and IND [Inter.National.Design] through a competition organized by the Ministry of Urban Development, the plan's objectives include increasing urban density, improving public infrastructure, and integrating green spaces and open areas into the urban fabric. It is in this dynamic setting that MVRDV has won the international competition for Tirana's new Asllan Rusi Sports Palace. Conceived as a mixed-use development, the project, named The Grand Ballroom, combines a 6,000-seat arena for basketball and volleyball with residential apartments, a hotel, and ground-level retail. With its spherical form exceeding 100 metres in diameter, the design adds a distinctive landmark to Tirana's growing collection of ambitious architectural projects.

The Pritzker Architecture Prize has released a special video honoring Liu Jiakun, the 54th Laureate of the award. Filmed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the ceremony celebrates Liu's architectural vision, characterized by a deep engagement with civic life, cultural continuity, and the human condition. The film captures moments from the event and offers insight into Liu's broader practice, emphasizing architecture's capacity to reconcile tradition and modernity while addressing social and environmental challenges. The release of the ceremony video marks the culmination of the 47th edition of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The 2026 Laureate will be announced in March, continuing the award's legacy of recognizing architects whose work advances the discipline and its role in shaping human experience.

Biodiversity, defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as the different kinds of life found in an area, is in a state of crisis all across the world, with declines in the numbers of organisms and many species declared as at risk of extinction. All types are affected, from plants and fungi to large mammals, and there is a clear link to human activity being the cause. Although farming methods and climate change due to greenhouse gases play a major role, cities and buildings can play a small but important role in countering this decline.

A Space for Reflection, Dialogue, and Discovery - Ismaili Centers around the world serve as ambassadorial buildings, welcoming people of all backgrounds to explore the intersections of faith, culture, and civic life. Each embodies the Ismaili community's commitment to peaceful pluralism, ​​intellectual engagement, and shared humanity, offering a place for spiritual reflection, cultural exchange, and public dialogue. The Ismaili Center Houston continues this tradition, envisioned as a living home for the mind and spirit – a place where programmes in education, art, music, performance, and conversation come together to foster understanding among people of all backgrounds.

Choosing to remain in this coveted pocket of North Fremantle, our clients sought to expand rather than relocate – a challenge made intricate owing to the site's strict heritage controls. The brief called for additional floor space, including a new master bedroom suite and a versatile space to serve as either a study or second living area. Drawing on the client's distinct Mediterranean sensibility, our role was to translate this relaxed approach to contemporary living with the home's existing heritage character.

Water is the foundation of life. It shapes landscapes, regulates climates, and sustains every living organism. Yet on the only known inhabited planet, this essential resource faces a growing crisis: although 70% of Earth's surface is covered by water, less than 1% is actually available for human use. Most of it is consumed by agriculture and industry, while in households, activities like bathing and flushing use vast amounts of drinking water for non-essential purposes. The bathroom, therefore, has become a key space for innovation, where technology and design can help redefine how we use and reuse this vital element.

Historic Heritage and Gengxue — Within the broader context of Rural Revitalization, a triangular plot next to ChunYangTai Arts and Cultural Centre was selected for the Langtou Gengxue+ Education Centre. Together with ChunYangTai, it forms a comprehensive cultural and educational cluster, injecting new vitality into the cultural tourism development of the Langtou Ancient Village.

Camellia is a residential and commercial complex of 6 houses with 2 bedrooms and a commercial area. On a 600 sqm plot located north of the central area of the city of Villa Allende. In a urban environment in constant renovation and mostly residential, its location is privileged due to its proximity to service infrastructure and shops in the city. The housing units have 65 sqm and are developed on two floors, on the upper floor the private area with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom, and the ground floor contains the social area, kitchen, living room, toilet and expansion to the front and rear courtyards.

When I began designing my own house in the center of Amami Island, I never imagined it would eventually be disconnected from the power grid. Yet, as environmental degradation accelerates and extreme weather becomes the norm, that choice became inevitable. The decision was catalyzed by a mountain I purchased three years earlier—a place where I began developing my own micro-infrastructure to live independently, preparing for unforeseen crises while envisioning new forms of resilience in aging, depopulated regions.

In the city of Jerez de la Frontera, wineries sit side by side with the rest of the houses to shape the historic center, establishing a unique city skyline that is closely linked to the wine-making tradition in this part of southern Spain. The “soleras and criaderas” system allows the wine to age in barrels arranged in vertical structures inside a specific type of cellar which needs to be large, dark, ventilated, and cool. These spaces have an unforgettable aroma and are dark save for the occasional ray of light.

Casa Alicia is a contemporary architectural intervention located in the Historic Center of Comitán de Domínguez, Chiapas —a Magical Town in southeastern Mexico— designed as accommodation for the Airbnb platform. It reinterprets vernacular architecture from a modern perspective, integrating bioclimatic strategies that balance efficiency, aesthetics, and low maintenance.

The Folly is an extraordinary architectural project born from a client's desire for a space dedicated to contemplation and meditation, free from any predetermined program. Inspired by conversations around iconic structures like the Jantar Mantar, the step-wells of India, and the Parthenon, the design of The Folly aims to evoke a sense of connection with ancient architectural marvels while celebrating light and the four elements: earth, fire, wind, and water.

Location
- Nestled in a secluded valley in southwest Iceland, the holiday home is situated on a site defined by untouched natural vegetation, including mountain birch, heather, and grass. The terrain slopes gently southward and borders a large lake, offering dramatic views across the water toward distant mountains.

What happens when a city’s industrial past becomes the raw material for its future? In Copenhagen, Nordhavn transforms the old harbor into a living laboratory of sustainable urbanism, where warehouses and docks give way to independent districts, small islands, and canals that redefine what it means to inhabit the city.

A courtyard house in Lomé's Adakpame district built with compressed earth blocks. Initially designed as the home for two brothers on a piece of land in Lomé inherited from their mother, the project transformed into the Adakpame Guesthouse in the course of the design process. This dual purpose of second home and short-term rental property befits the usage of many homes built by the Togolese diaspora, who often build a house in their home country and start splitting their time between two places.

The practice of combining materials to achieve better performance has accompanied humanity since the earliest constructions. One of the first known examples emerged over five thousand years ago, when civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt mixed mud and straw to mold sun-dried adobe bricks. Light and fibrous, straw prevented cracking and increased strength, while mud acted as a binder and protection. This simple yet ingenious invention can be considered the first composite in history, illustrating the ancestral intuition that distinct materials, when combined, can become something stronger and better.

The Studio Museum in Harlem is preparing to open its new purpose-built home to the public on November 15 with a Community Day celebration. Designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, the seven-story, 82,000-square-foot building is located on West 125th Street in Harlem, New York City. Serving as a major institution dedicated to artists of African descent, the museum's new facility marks the first structure in its fifty-seven-year history conceived specifically for its mission. The opening signals a new chapter for the museum's engagement with art, education, and the local community through expanded spatial and programmatic capacities.

Sammontalo is a multifunctional community building that brings together a daycare centre, preschool, comprehensive school, public library, sports and youth facilities, and student welfare services under a single, continuous tile roof, creating a shared civic hub for everyday life. Designed to accommodate around 860 children and supported by a staff of over 140 professionals, the project was realized based on the winning proposal from an open, two-stage architectural competition. At roughly 12,000 gross square meters, Sammontalo is one of the largest timber buildings in Finland.