Archi News

Leaving behind the urban fervor of Quito requires a slow decantation, a change of pace where asphalt finally yields to the vegetation of the dry steppe. In the Guayllabamba valley, architecture does not seek to conquer the land but to coexist with it; the House in the Forest arises from this premise, not as an imposed structure, but as a device for inhabiting time. The project is best understood under the logic of the "nest": a structure that weaves intergenerational memories and, instead of settling heavily, decides to levitate over a landscape that it barely disturbs.

One of the many misconceptions that has preoccupied the world of architecture in recent decades is that architecture's noble existence occurs only in the built world.

Bosrijk is a residential area west of the city of Eindhoven, located on a former military defense site. Housing in Bosrijk is designed as 'sculptures in a garden'. For a small plot next to an existing natural rainwater infiltration facility, the office designed a sculpture with five single-family homes, in which the idea of 'living in a forest landscape' was the leitmotif.

Shou Sugi Ban is a traditional Japanese technique for wood preservation that involves charring the surface of timber to create a protective layer. While its origins are rooted in practical durability, the method has been widely adapted into the modern built environment and shapes a unique and distinctive aesthetic. It is a material of contradiction: it remains bold in its visual language due to its dark tones, yet it simultaneously borrows from and complements its natural surroundings, allowing houses to settle quietly into their sites.

Sumayya Vally, Counterspace pays homage to lost gathering spaces across the Muslim world at the inaugural Art Basel Qatar. Architect Sumayya Vally, Counterspace presents In the Assembly of Lovers, an installation commissioned for the inaugural Art Basel Qatar, taking place in Doha from 3–7 February 2026. Curated by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky, the fair explores the theme 'Becoming' – a meditation on humanity's ongoing transformation and the evolving systems that shape how we live, believe, and create meaning.

What matters more: looking to the past or to the future? Recognizing established trajectories or fostering paths still under construction? Perhaps this is not a question with a single answer. Traditionally, architecture awards have operated as devices of consecration, recognizing completed works, established careers, and already tested solutions, most often through a retrospective lens. But what would happen if recognition ceased to be an end in itself and instead began to operate as a catalytic agent, investing less in what has already been done and more in what is still yet to unfold?

Across history, the relocation of capital cities has often been associated with moments of political rupture, regime change, or symbolic nation-building. From Brasília to Islamabad, new capitals were frequently conceived as instruments of centralized power, territorial control, or ideological projection. In recent decades, however, a different set of drivers has begun to shape these decisions. Rather than security or representation alone, contemporary capital relocations are increasingly tied to structural pressures such as demographic concentration, infrastructural saturation, environmental risk, and long-term resource management. As metropolitan regions expand beyond their capacity to sustain population growth and administrative functions, governments are turning to spatial reconfiguration as a means of addressing systemic urban imbalance.

The Corten Houa project emerged from a contextual and site-specific response to the pre-existing conditions of the plot — a former timber factory, now in ruins, with only oxidized steel sheets remaining as traces of its industrial past. The architectural form and layout were meticulously defined in accordance with the site's topography, employing a fragmented volumetry that aligns with the natural contours of the land, thereby minimizing the visual and physical impact of the intervention on the terrain and its surrounding landscape.

Zaha Hadid Architects has released images of its design for the redevelopment of the waterfront along the Zhedong Canal in Hangzhou's Xiaoshan District, China. The Qiantang Bay Central Water Axis project envisions a sequence of landscaped parklands, terraces, and gardens along the canal basin, proposing the transformation of former industrial areas into a green corridor extending toward the city center. The proposal adds to other recent design initiatives in the area, including Snøhetta's Qiantang Bay Art Museum, planned at the confluence of the Qiantang River and the Central Water Axis, as well as Zaha Hadid Architects' Grand Canal Gateway Bridge, a pedestrian bridge intended to connect the firm's 800,000-square-meter Seamless City masterplan on the east and west banks of the Grand Canal.

For decades, heritage has been easiest to recognize from the street. We protect facades, skylines, and monuments because they are visible, stable, and legible as cultural assets. Yet most of what we remember about living is how we eat together, withdraw, argue, care, and rest, which happen far from view. It happens inside rooms. As open plans quietly give way to thresholds, corridors, and enclosures, a deeper question emerges: what if cultural memory survives not in what architecture shows, but in how it is lived?

1. Context – The Stable and the Orange Barn is a residential project located on a narrow flag-shaped plot in Toyohashi, Japan, surrounded by factories, nursing facilities, and suburban houses. Rather than asserting a strong formal gesture, the design began by closely observing the everyday rhythms of a young family and their relationship with the surrounding environment.

Gunawarman 35 stands at a corner in the heart of Jakarta's Gunawarman district — a meeting point of residential calm and urban vibrancy, of heritage textures and contemporary life. The design embraces this duality, creating a dialogue between scale, material, and light.

Wujiang Wedding Hall is located on the northern side of the Chuihong Scenic Area in Wujiang District, Suzhou. Its cultural roots could be traced back to the Chuihong Bridge, originally built during the Northern Song Dynasty. Over the course of a millennium, the site has accumulated a series of significant cultural landmarks, including the ruins of Chuihong Bridge, Huayan Pagoda, and the Ji Cheng Memorial Hall. Together, these elements form a historic landscape shaped by the convergence of Taihu Lake and the Grand Canal, bearing witness to the layered transformations of Wujiang's urban and cultural history. The original project site consisted of a two-story cafe and a gateball court located at the intersection of two streets, which had been vacant for many years. The renovation preserves the existing structural framework while introducing new functions such as a marriage registration office, community-oriented commercial spaces, and public activity areas. Through this transformation, the project seeks to weave together historical context and contemporary urban life.

Fostering a sense of family and accelerating decision-making through a robust workplace – This redevelopment plan for two buildings – the head office and main branch – spans two sites facing the town's symbolic Hamamatsu Castle. It was brought to fruition by Shinkin Bank (credit union) with deep roots in this historic castle town.

The house reflects our proposal for contemporary architecture focused on the integration between interior and exterior, valuing pure proportions, natural materials, lighting, and cross ventilation. The office values formal simplicity and the choice of materials that bring comfort and warmth to the residents. From the beginning of the project, we have considered its materiality and volumetry, the voids and solids, the light and the shadow.

Brown & Crouppen's new headquarters transforms a century-old stove factory into a workplace that competes with the comfort of home while honoring St. Louis' industrial heritage. 

A House shaped and powered by nature - Winkelhaus is the inaugural project of estudio kmmk in Switzerland. The single-family home was shaped by its stunning natural surroundings and by the family's vision of having something specific to their needs. The house forms a harmonious relationship with the adjacent forest and expansive valley.

Coastal development in major cities has long been a terrain of opportunity and contention—shaped at once by the pursuit of capital (premium views, scarce land, and the promise of reclamation), by civic demands for public access and collective waterfront life, and by contemporary aspirations for sustainability and place-defining urban identity. Precisely because these agendas rarely align, extracting the full potential of waterfront sites is never straightforward.

Lei Wa Lakom Library is the second realized project within the Parallel Gives program, led by Architect Mai Al Busairi- Kuwait, demonstrating how modest, socially driven architecture can create enduring cultural and educational impact through climate-responsive and context-aware design.

The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have announced the seven finalist projects for the 2026 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Awards, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. The selection follows the announcement of 410 nominated works in November and a shortlist of 40 projects revealed in early January. Of the seven finalists, five have been selected in the Architecture category and two in the Emerging category. According to the jury chaired by Smiljan Radić, the finalist projects are exemplary contributions to the future of European architecture, demonstrating how the discipline can respond simultaneously to specific local conditions and broader social, cultural, and environmental challenges. The selected works range from interventions in former industrial sites, small villages, and peripheral urban areas to carefully calibrated projects within larger cities. Across these varied contexts, the projects show how architecture can transform overlooked or ordinary settings into inclusive, high-quality spaces for living, learning, and social exchange.