The Ostrava Concert Hall, designed by Steven Holl Architects, has just broken ground in the Czech Republic. Commemorating the start of construction, the concert hall “promises to be an inspiring venue for both locals and internationals who cherish Ostrava’s rich music heritage.” Designed for the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, it creates a dramatic contrast between old and new, aiming to create a cultural landmark.
Located in Mexico City, the municipality of Iztapalapa has some of the most densely populated areas within the metropole. Serving a population of 1,800,000 people, many of them with lower incomes, the municipality struggles to provide sufficient public spaces and amenities. In an effort to correct this, the administration set out to take underutilized and abandoned plots of land and transform them for public use. Utopia Estrella is one of these initiatives. Located near Mexico City’s largest water treatment plant, the project combines a socially engaging architectural program with a pedagogical approach to the role of water infrastructures in the larger ecosystem. Designed by Cano Vera Arquitectura, the project has been recognized as the Gold Prize Winner of the Holcim Awards 2023 for Latin America. In a video interview for ArchDaily, Juan Carlos Cano of Cano Vera Arquitectura discusses the impact of this project, its goals, and the unique conditions that led to its development.
The UIA, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, has revealed the finalists for the first stage of the second edition of the UIA 2030 Award. Celebrating architecture that contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda, this biennial award honors built projects that demonstrate design quality and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The regional finalists will now proceed to Stage 2, where they will submit a three-minute video demonstrating their projects in action and explaining in detail how they align with the relevant SDGs and meet the eligibility criteria. During stage 1, the finalists were evaluated regionally, representing the five UIA regions: Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and Africa. Winners in each of the six will be awarded a medal. The awards ceremony will be taking place in Cairo, Egypt, at the twelfth session of the World Urban Forum from November 4-8, 2024.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced that Chris Williamson has been elected as the next RIBA President. One of the highest positions in UK Architecture, RIBA is a professional body for architects established to promote excellence and provide support and resources to architects and architecture students. As RIBA’s 2025 President, Chris Williamson will take up office as President-Elect from September 2024, followed by a two-year presidential term taking over from Muyiwa Oki beginning September 2025.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) has just announced Thandi Loewenson as the winner of the 2024 Wheelwright Prize. The prestigious $100,000 grant is dedicated to supporting innovative research in contemporary architecture with a global perspective. Loewenson’s project, “Black Papers: Beyond the Politics of Land, Towards African Policies of Earth & Air,” explores the social and spatial dynamics in modern Africa.
ArchDaily, part of DAAily platforms, is thrilled to announce an exciting transition. After nearly two decades of pioneering leadership, ArchDaily’s esteemed founder and current Editor-in-Chief, David Basulto, will be stepping down. Born and raised in Chile, David founded ArchDaily in 2005 and has been instrumental in shaping it into the globally recognized platform it is today.
Christele Harrouk, who has been an integral part of our team since 2019 and has served as Managing Editor since 2020, will step up as the new Editor-in-Chief of ArchDaily starting August 2024. Having worked closely with David over the years, Christele brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective that will guide ArchDaily’s editorial team into an exciting future.
ArchDaily’s teams look forward to the editorial vision Christele will bring and invite you to join in welcoming her to her new role.
At the initiative of the Surf Ghana Collective, architects Glenn DeRoché and Jurgen Strohmayer, the co-founders of DeRoché Strohmayer, set out to transform a small waterfront plot in Busua, a surfing hotspot on Ghana’s western coast. The result is a dynamic community hub, complete with amenities for local surfers, but also providing spaces for the entire community to gather in and off-season. The project has been recognized as the winner of the Gold Prize of Holcim Awards 2023 for the Middle East and Africa commended for the profound local impact and the resourceful approach to construction techniques. In a video interview for ArchDaily, architects Glenn DeRoché and Jurgen Strohmayer discuss the development of this initiative and the innovations that shaped it.
Rafael Viñoly Architects’ Tokyo International Forum has been honored with the prestigious AIA Twenty-five Year Award. Celebrating its “distinctive transparent character and capacity to engage with the public in the largest metropolitan area in the world.” Rafael Viñoly Architects was first selected to design the structure through Japan’s first international design competition facilitated by Kenzo Tange, the architect of Tokyo’s City Hall and the first Japanese laureate of the Pritzker Prize.
David Basulto stands behind one of the most important and influential media outlets for architecture enthusiasts worldwide – ArchDaily. Founded in 2008, the portal has become an integral part of the daily lives of architects, interior designers, and design enthusiasts. At this year's Salone del Mobile, Basulto visited the booth of OMNIRES, one of the leading manufacturers in the bathroom industry in Europe. During our visit to the booth of the debutant Polish brand in Milan, we discussed the latest trends, innovations, and challenges facing the world of architecture with representatives of OMNIRES.
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) at the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology has announced the shortlist of 53 Outstanding projects. The 5th cycle of awards celebrates built works completed in North, Central, and South America in 2022 and 2023, striving to bring visibility to those projects that best address the demands of our time and work towards building resilient communities.
As part of public ‘open house’ sessions with local communities and agencies, Foster + Partners and Arup have revealed the design for the first 4 stations of California’s High-Speed Rail. This is part of an extensive project, as the new Central Valley stations will serve as models for the design of the next stations planned along the 500-mile-long Los Angeles/Anaheim to San Francisco rail system. The open house sessions represent an opportunity for the public to explore the project, talk with California High-Speed Rail Authority planning experts, and learn more about the high-speed rail infrastructure. The project is under construction, with the first operable line scheduled to be completed between 2030 and 2033.
3XN has just won an international competition, which they were invited to participate in, to design the Chungnam Art Center in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. Designed in collaboration with SIAPLAN and MDA, the new art center aims to serve as a key destination for creative expression. Drawing inspiration from the dynamic movements of art, the center seeks to create a space where everyone can both experience and participate in the arts.
The Enscape 4 All - Architectural Real-Time Visualization Award, a collaboration between ArchDaily and Enscape, has spotlighted the most outstanding and innovative real-time renders produced using the Enscape 4 Real-Time Engine. This award recognizes excellence in four distinct categories: Interior, Exterior, Landscape, and Conceptual. The jury, composed of ArchDaily Editors and Enscape specialists, assessed submissions based on creativity, technique, and the innovative use of real-time rendering. Submissions poured in from all over the world, highlighting the global reach and appeal of this competition.
In 2020, the French Minister of Culture approved an extensive renovation program for the Centre Pompidou with the purpose of resolving the building's technical issues and ensuring the long-term viability of the iconic structure. Designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in 1971, the museum was conceived as a "living cultural machine," sparking controversy due to its unusual architecture. To ensure an efficient renovation process, the building will be fully closed for a period of 5 years, from September 2025 until 2030. French architecture studio Moreau Kusunoki has been commissioned to lead the renovation project, collaborating with Frida Escobedo Studio and AIA Life Designers, who are entrusted with the technical component of the project. The architects have been selected following an international competition, with Renzo Piano as one of the jury members.
With just one month to go until the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris, the city is in a final push to ensure that the landscape and infrastructure are ready for the world’s largest sporting event. Set to start on July 26 and continue until August 11, 2024, the Paris City Council has approved numerous initiatives to transform the city. Aiming for a greener, healthier, and more mobile Paris, the city has undergone massive changes to showcase its modern advancements and rethink the structure of the Olympic Games.
The Spanish city of Barcelona, one of Europe's top tourist destinations, has announced a plan to ban apartment rentals to tourists by November 2028. The move, announced by Mayor Jaume Collboni, aims to alleviate the long-standing housing crisis, lower prices for residents, improve livability, and increase the city’s affordable housing stock. Over the past 10 years, the rise in short-term rentals has driven rents up by 68%, and the cost of buying a house by 38%, contributing significantly to a cost-of-living crisis.
The Skidmore Owings & Merril (SOM) two-tower development in Downtown Chicago has just started construction. Situated at the intersection of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, the new residential development seeks to redefine Chicago’s skyline. Composed of 635 residential units in its first phase, 20% of which are designated as affordable housing, the scheme also outlines the design of DuSable Park. Phase one of the project has officially commenced, occupying the last undeveloped waterfront parcel in the Streeterville neighborhood.
This June, the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo is hosting an exhibition titled "Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss." Designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu, the display presents the 78-year legacy of the renowned Miss Dior perfume, which was launched alongside Dior's revolutionary "The New Look" in 1946. Organized as a journey through seven rooms, the exhibition design features not only the perfume and related memorabilia but also explores the various inspirations and collaborations that have shaped its cultural significance.
C.F. Møller Architects has just been declared the winner of the urban competition to develop the Luna District in Södertälje, Sweden. Their proposal, “The Sky is Our Roof” outlines the transformation of the Luna District, known as Lunagallerian, representing one of the most extensive urban development projects in Södertälje’s history. Set to be reimagined into several open urban districts, the project was selected out of 35 architectural firms.
We are thrilled to announce our upcoming July workshops in collaboration with our ArchDaily Plus partner, Parametric Architecture. These workshops have been thoughtfully curated to empower architects, designers, and enthusiasts by providing them with the latest insights and skills in the dynamic realm of parametric design. Guided by industry experts and visionaries, these immersive sessions will explore cutting-edge techniques, innovative tools, and practical applications, creating an inspiring and dynamic learning environment where participants can take their design expertise to unprecedented levels.
In the mountain valleys of China’s Fujian Province, thousands of large, rammed earth fortresses lay abandoned. Once used for both defense and collective housing, the tulou typology is an integral part of the region’s cultural heritage, with 46 of them being recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Despite this, the rural communities surrounding them have struggled to find new roles and purposes for these buildings. Going beyond the need for conservation, architect Xu Tiantian of DnA_Design and Architecture set out to develop and adapt this heritage to reintroduce it into community life. The Fujian Tulou | Adaptive Reuse project recently won the Gold Prize of Holcim Awards 2023 for Asia-Pacific, recognized for creating “an exemplary model for building conservation initiatives.” In a video interview for ArchDaily, Xu Tiantian discusses the principles that underpin this initiative and the potential outcomes of adaptive reuse in rural communities.
Joining Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona has been named the UIA’s 2026 World Capital of Architecture by UNESCO. This title recognizes the city’s commitment to promoting the values of architecture, urban planning, and sustainability. Outshining Beijing as the other contender for the 2026 title, Barcelona won the bid with its proposal titled “One today, one tomorrow,” with a plan to host a series of transformative events across all its districts and become a research laboratory analyzing the capacity of architecture to transform reality over time.
3XN GXN and landscape architect DETBLÅ have won the commissions for the design of a new Centre for Coastal Nature and Sport Fishing in Assens, Denmark. The proposal features a subtle oval structure to showcase local stories of the natural environment. The building aims to enhance public awareness and appreciation of the marine environment, reflecting a growing understanding of the need for better marine stewardship. It will also act as a hub for knowledge exchange about the impact of humans and climate change on the sea.
The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is an annual portfolio competition for early-career practitioners in North America. Established in 1981, the competition is entered around a yearly theme. This year, the 2024 Young Architects + Designers Committee proposed the theme “Dirty,” prompting designers to “look beyond their presentations of professionalism, respectability, and expertise” and reject the sanitized ways of working.
The original work of the six winners of the 2024 League Prize for Young Architects + Designers is now on view in an online exhibition. The installations created for this occasion showcase the wide variety of responses and interpretations of the overarching theme. The projects presented online and in some instances also locally on-site, challenge traditional architectural practices and offer an immersive introduction to the works of the winners. In addition to the installations, a diverse program of lectures has been scheduled to develop the theme further.
