Archi News

Since 1895, the Venice Biennale has invited the world to witness the evolving landscape of contemporary art. In 1980, the event expanded its reach with the launch of the Architecture Biennale, which quickly became one of the discipline’s most influential global platforms. Today, alternating annually between contemporary art and architecture, the Biennale affirms itself as a space where disciplines and ideas intersect. Always timely and provocative, it fuels essential debates on the role of art and architecture in the contemporary world. Among its most recent editions are the 17th Architecture Biennale, themed How Will We Live Together? (2021), curated by Hashim Sarkis; The Laboratory of the Future (2023), by Lesley Lokko; and Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective (2025), curated by Carlo Ratti and open to the public until the end of November.

The project by Atelier Matteo Arnone for Quinta do Álamo represents a dialogue between past and present, between the memory of the winemaking tradition and the modernity of a house designed for two DJs. Located in Carnota, in the municipality of Alenquer, just 40 minutes from Lisbon, the Quinta is surrounded by vineyards that tell a long history of wine production, offering a unique natural and cultural setting.

Are living spaces getting smaller? As cities densify and the global population continues its steady migration toward urban centers—projected to reach around 70% by 2050—domestic space is becoming increasingly compressed. Rising land prices, high construction costs, and a surge in single-person households push developers toward smaller units and tighter floor plans. At the same time, cultural shifts toward resource efficiency and minimal living support this move. Shrinking living spaces require fewer materials, consume less energy, and encourage people to live closer to their means.

The 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.," curated by Carlo Ratti, closed on 23 November 2025 as the most visited Architecture Biennale to date. The exhibition recorded 298,000 visitors, in addition to 17,584 preview attendees, surpassing previous editions despite the temporary closure of the Central Pavilion for restoration. Bringing together 303 projects and 758 invited architects, along with 66 National Participations and 11 Collateral Events, the edition extended across the Giardini, Arsenale, and multiple sites throughout Venice.

The world's first upcycle timber high-rise and Denmark's tallest timber tower, TRÆ, is a 78-meter beacon of circular construction, showing that large-scale architecture can combine reused materials, biogenic resources, refined aesthetics, and high performance without compromise.

Back in April 2022, Abu Dhabi unveiled the first images of a new Natural History Museum designed by the Dutch practice Mecanoo. Three years later, on November 22, 2025, the museum opened its doors to the public, presenting 13.8 billion years of science and discovery with a special focus on the Arabian region. Covering more than 35,000 sqm, the design is intended to resonate with natural rock formations. Geometry acts as the unifying theme, with pentagonal shapes referencing cellular structures. Water and vegetation, symbols of life in the desert, also play an important role in the design. Located in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, the building houses rare meteorites, dinosaur fossils, and reconstructions of the region's prehistoric landscapes, combining natural history, storytelling, and immersive environments. Through interactive exhibitions, special events, and community-science programmes, the museum seeks to encourage audiences of all ages to engage with the natural world.

The future of cities has long been defined by intelligence: networks of sensors, data, and engineered systems. From traffic-flow algorithms to climate dashboards, the smart city promised to make urban life optimized, measurable, and predictable. Yet amid this technological abundance, something essential feels absent: sensitivity. Cities are becoming increasingly equipped to process information but less able to perceive atmosphere, emotion, or care.

The new Xi'an International Football Centre has hosted its inaugural international matches with China's National U-23 team facing teams from Australia, Timor-Leste and Northern Mariana Islands in the Group D qualifying matches of the 2026 Asian Cup finals that will be held in Saudi Arabia. Xi'an International Football Centre's 60,000-seat stadium and training grounds are integral to the ongoing development of football in China. Initiated by the Chinese Football Association and China's national sports development organisations, the new football centre provides facilities of the highest standards to nurture the sport across all levels—from international competition to grassroots community leagues and youth training academies; enabling all generations to gather, play and celebrate football's unifying spirit.

The site lies in a semi-rural neighborhood where land has been reorganized into a patchwork of houses and rice fields. The client, an avid gardener, envisioned a home where they could enjoy planting greenery, requesting a calm and tranquil atmosphere.

Can academic projects explore new directions and contribute to public discourse on global and local issues? The 2025 Politecnico di Torino Architecture Students Award aimed to address these questions, showcasing how architectural research, training, and experimentation can be integrated into a school curriculum.

Cheng Tsung FENG's artistic practice has long been intertwined with endangered traditions, vanishing techniques, and fading cultural memories. Among them, the traditional bamboo theatre — once a vital part of temple festivals and folk celebrations across Taiwan — holds a special resonance. Built entirely with bamboo scaffolding, these temporary performance stages embodied the ingenuity of communities, combining practicality with ritual and festivity.

THE KYEOL Clinic is conceived as a modern interpretation of Korean aesthetics, offering a calm and refined atmosphere through natural materials, restrained details, and a focus on spatial stillness. Located within a 58-pyeong (191 m²) interior, the clinic was designed for a client seeking a space that expresses Korean identity without relying on luxury or ornamentation. The site required a balance between functionality as a dermatology clinic and the brand's desire to create a serene, culturally rooted environment. The main challenge was to build a contemporary medical space that still conveyed traditional sensibilities while maintaining openness and simplicity.

This tenant office building stands just steps from a subway station in the Ichibancho district of Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward—an area near the Imperial Palace (the former Edo Castle), steeped in history and culture. Conventional tenant office buildings generally house multiple companies within a single structure, yet their facades fail to reflect the diversity within. On top of this, they lack a sense of connection with the surrounding community and contribute little to the streetscape or the character of the local neighborhood. This project addresses these problems by creating a building that connects people to the surrounding urban environment while accommodating increasingly diverse work styles and values. To achieve this, two key architectural elements were incorporated: interior spaces defined by projecting bay windows and an open exterior space.

The commission consisted of a house that would function as a second home in a secluded area in the hills of Papudo, municipality of La Ligua. The landscape of gentle hills and shrub vegetation with views towards the northern mountains was to be a key element in the conception of the project.

Located in Macau, in the Haut-Médoc region, Château Cantemerle is one of the oldest wine estates in Bordeaux. The estate extends over twenty-eight hectares of wooded parkland.

Designed as an off-grid, net-zero family relaxation destination, this project presented the opportunity for a young Toronto-based family to rekindle nostalgic childhood memories by designing a cottage on the lake they had spent their summer months as children. Given the isolated nature of the site, our team knew the project would be logistically complex.

The Oren is a welcoming retirement development that seamlessly integrates architecture with its verdant setting on the edge of London's Hampstead Heath.

Located on West Tai Lake in Changzhou, Tian An Clubhouse originally served the surrounding villa community for over a decade. As residents' lifestyles evolved, the building required renewal. HATCH Architects was commissioned to redesign the clubhouse with an architectural language that bridges Oriental philosophy and contemporary comfort—reviving a sense of harmony between nature and order.

A.K House is a compact townhouse project located in a quiet residential neighborhood with lush greenery. Situated on a modest 70m² plot with an angled layout deviating from the main street, the design challenge was to optimize the living space under spatial constraints — ensuring privacy while maximizing access to natural light and ventilation.

"INHERIT" explores how architecture can retain and extend the invisible layers of a place — its history, its memories, and the quiet spirit that lives within the land.