Archi News

Located in Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province – a remote mountainous area in Central Vietnam – Nuoc Ui School serves an ethnic minority community scattered across challenging terrain and harsh weather conditions, with storms and heavy rains occurring almost every year. The project is primarily funded by the Midas Foundation, with doors and windows sponsored by Tostem, and designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. Its goal is to provide a sustainable, friendly, and locally adapted learning environment.

As part of the experiential context, the concept of exhibition in architecture is closely tied to perception. Understanding the user's journey, recognizing the properties and characteristics of each element, and revealing the methodology behind their operation are all vital aspects of the design and development process for these spaces. From equipment, furniture, and artworks to construction materials and technologies, architecture and interior design demonstrate an increasingly significant creative potential to develop solutions that merge historical, landscape, and social perspectives.

"Merryda Wiki World • Secret Camp" is a forest retreat camp created by United Investment Merryda Hotel Management Group in collaboration with Wiki World. Located on Cihui Street in Dongxihu District, Wuhan, this project is set within a metasequoia forest inhabited by migratory birds, where over a dozen treehouses are discreetly nestled. It is a magical project—each treehouse seems to have evolved from the birds themselves, each one a friend to the birds perched among the treetops. On ordinary days, you can come here to chirp and chatter along with the birds, keeping them company. This project is also part of the "Wiki Building School" co-building with nature initiative, representing another attempt by our team to explore the diversity of living spaces.

In Shanghai, discussions about urban street avant-garde often evoke a diverse array of visual styles and spatial experiences. Imagine a space that is not designed for loud display but instead exists as a "container" quietly waiting to be discovered. When visitors push open the door from the bustling street, it feels as though they are stepping into a buffer zone, a place apart from reality. The space itself transforms into a hidden narrative, unfolding silently within.

 Alba Thermal Springs & Spa is an enduring 15-hectare tourism venture with rejuvenation at its heart.

This project presents the spatial design for PLEATSMAMA's second flagship store, a pleated knit bag brand that pursues sustainability through natural circulation and eco-friendly materials. Located within Gwangjang Market, the oldest traditional marketplace in Korea, the design reinterprets the vibrant everyday scenes of the market through a contemporary spatial language under the concept "Meeting neighbors while strolling through the marketplace."By transforming the space from one that is merely seen into one that is experienced, the design embodies the brand's sustainable spirit in a tangible and enduring form.

The commission arises from a client who, emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, decides to sell their central apartment and move to a gated community in the northern area of Greater Buenos Aires. 

Studio DERA has transformed a former school swimming pool into a sustainable multi-purpose learning and wellbeing space for Waltham Forest College. With the college rapidly expanding its student body, finding new ways to accommodate educational and extracurricular needs was a priority. Studio DERA had already run a sustainable materials workshop for WFC students while building a hempcrete and timber community center and nursery in nearby Higham Hill. College Principal & CEO Janet Gardner then invited Studio DERA directors Max Dewdney and Marcel Rahm to reimagine the long disused swimming pool site and do a feasibility study.

In the west of Berlin, nestled between the historic Grunewald forest and the old AVUS route, lies the Eichkamp estate, designed by Bruno Taut - a residential neighborhood that was conceived as a forest estate in the early 1920s. The plot is one of the last undeveloped plots in this unique ensemble. The special character of the estate, characterized by old deciduous trees, small detached houses, and an almost village-like atmosphere, despite its proximity to the ICC, can still be clearly felt here. The immediate neighborhood is heterogeneous, combining public buildings such as daycare centers and schools with private single-family homes from different eras. A new residential building has been created in this evolved context, which blends in respectfully and only catches the eye at second glance.

This article introduces our new Opinion section, a format for argument-driven essays on critical questions shaping our field.

With Palazzo, Benthem Crouwel Architects completes the Paleiskwartier in Hertogenbosch – a robust, warm, and open residential building that literally embraces the city. Commissioned by BV Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij Paleiskwartier, Palazzo marks the culmination of more than thirty years of urban development around the Central Station – an area where living, working, and meeting converge. Palazzo brings the whole together and gives new life to the district. The building deliberately faces the city, creates space for the square, and invites people to connect.

The Temple of Darkness Bakhoor Bakhoor by Bunga Design Atelier is an outdoor experiential installation – a contemporary temple born from smoke, scent, and silence. Inspired by the ritual of burning bakhoor, where fragrant wood releases sacred fumes into the air, the piece reimagines the temple as a space of reflection rather than worship, of darkness rather than light.

"We approach the construction of the academies as an opportunity to reactivate community culture. The proposal seeks not only to mend the existing spatial fabric of the city but also trace and reveal the valuable cultural threads embedded in its surroundings. We hope to 'nourish' the future of the district, weaving a more generous urban space and a richer urban life through the architectural design of two new schools." Meng Yan.

The Hortensia Herrero Art Centre is located in the former Valeriola Palace in the city of Valencia, Spain, an emblematic Baroque-style building dating back to the 17th century that has served various purposes throughout its history, undergone various interventions, and, in recent decades, been unused and abandoned.

Atelier Jeumeu is a stay project located in Jeumeu Village in Gangneung, whose name means "the village where the sun sets." Conceived as a refuge from the city, the project invites visitors to step away from urban speed and embrace a moment of stillness.

Forest House was born from a deep dialogue between architecture and nature, with native trees that reinforce the environmental character. The 350 m² residence was designed to accommodate a family of three siblings and their father, based on a concept that unites affection, comfort, and respect for the original land.

The housing is located on the top floor of a building from the 1970s. Like most penthouses in the city, it is a residual space despite being the most coveted apartment. By retracting the facade, the unit is positioned above the secondary spaces of the lower floors, with narrow frames and numerous obstacles such as downspouts or ventilation ducts. The goal is to camouflage these defects and through a process of subtraction, leave its structure exposed. Three main spaces are created beneath the original layout.

Set within a sloped, wooded site overlooking the Connecticut River, House in the Woods by Tom Lontine Architect is a 4,400-square-foot residence designed for a pair of hardworking professionals seeking a quiet home to age in place. Low-slung and clad in dark-stained cedar, the house is embedded into the hillside to minimize its visual impact and heighten the sense of immersion in the surrounding forest.

Across South America, architecture is increasingly being understood as a collective act. Rather than imposing external views, many studios and designers are building with and for communities, learning from their local practices, materials, and ways of inhabiting. These projects are repositioning the architect's role from an author to a facilitator, transforming design into a participatory process that centers collaboration, care, and mutual respect.

The project stems from the European University's initiative to establish its new urban campus in Valencia in a location that reflects the institution's values, principles, and objectives: to train professionals committed to the future while preserving the legacy and knowledge that precede them.