The global reference for architecture

Following over two years of systematic destruction of life, habitat, and essential facilities in the Gaza Strip, a new front of war in Southwest Asia was announced on February 28th, 2026. Since then, US-Israeli military attacks have had a human and infrastructural impact on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. In the months since, the attacks have only intensified, reaching the deepest ground advance into Lebanese territory in 26 years and leading to mass displacement in the southern part of the country. This latest stage of the conflict marks the sixth Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978, resuming a nearly 50-year history of Israeli military interventions in the country. While a ceasefire agreement was supposed to take effect on 27 November 2024 and expire on 2 March 2026, evidence of the destruction of towns and World Heritage Sites shows that it was never truly respected. UNESCO has consistently issued condemnations of "unlawful attacks against cultural property," the latest one responding to the "ongoing escalation of hostilities" on May 29th, 2026.

+ 1

Western philosophical tradition has long placed culture in opposition to nature. This dual thinking has shaped the canon of the sciences and humanities, and architecture was not left aside. Under that logic, everything that is not human exists to be exploited by them and is named "natural resource". This extractivist mindset has shaped the development of many parts of the world in the last centuries, leaving deep—sometimes irreparable—marks on the planet. Nevertheless, other ways of living have always existed. From West-African religious practices based on animism to the herbal sciences of the masters of the Sacred Jurema in Brazil; from indigenous communities in India whose life rhythm mirrors the monsoons, to the Arctic's Inuits who can see dozens of shades of white: humans and nature bear no distinction, what exists is life.

Contemporary authors bring this discussion to the realms of philosophy and, more specifically, architecture. Donna Haraway, Antônio Bispo dos Santos, Achille Mbembe, and Beatriz Colomina are only a few whose work has helped expand the narrow Western perspective, shedding light on alternative ways of living together—with other humans and more-than-humans—on this planet.

Most people rarely remember a passage. They remember the classroom, the apartment, the gallery, or the plaza at the end of it. Passages are usually designed to disappear into the background, guiding movement from one destination to the next. Yet some of architecture's most memorable experiences happen while moving through a place rather than arriving at it.

Circulation is often treated as one of architecture's most practical elements. Corridors connect rooms, galleries provide access, and walkways organize movement through a building. Their purpose seems straightforward: to help people get from one point to another. Because of this, circulation spaces have long been considered secondary to the programs they serve. Attention tends to focus on destinations, while the spaces in between remain largely unnoticed.

+ 13

Before we rationally understand a space, we perceive it sensorially. Light, proportion, texture, color, and materiality all influence how the body interprets an environment, shaping whether it feels welcoming, cold, intimate, or impersonal. Visual and chromatic elements can directly affect the perception of depth, atmosphere, and scale within interiors, particularly in contemporary buildings characterized by large spans and continuous surfaces. Among the architectural elements that shape this experience, the ceiling may be one of the most underestimated, despite its profound influence on how space is perceived and inhabited.

+ 30