Architectural grafting, a concept recently popularized by Jeanne Gang inThe Art of Architectural Grafting, presents a transformative approach to urban regeneration and sustainability. Drawing inspiration from botanical and horticultural practices — where new growth is added to existing plants for enhanced resilience — this architectural method integrates new structures with existing ones, allowing them to coexist and adapt. Rather than pursuing demolition, grafting prioritizes adaptation, extending the life of buildings while safeguarding their cultural and historical significance.
While Studio Gang has played a pivotal role in advancing this method, architectural grafting embodies a broader principle that architects have long used to enhance sustainability, conserve resources, and honor heritage. Across scales — from individual buildings to urban landscapes —grafting reshapes the relationship between past and present, adapting existing structures for contemporary needs while addressing environmental demands. By reimagining historic buildings for modern use, this approach fosters a sustainable evolution of cityscapes.
In this roundup, ArchDaily consolidates this year's transformative updates in cities worldwide, organized into thematic clusters that capture the evolving nature of urban design and policy in 2024. Projects like the extensive renovations of Barcelona's La Rambla and the preservation efforts around Chicago's historic skyscrapers highlight preservation of urban heritage, while initiatives in Venice and Los Angeles respond to overtourism and housing pressures, balancing livability with growth. Meanwhile, ambitious master plans have been announced, including the revitalization of industrial sites in Tallinn and Connecticut, reflect how cities are reimagining their urban fabric. Finally, post-disaster rebuilding in Kharkiv and Türkiye underscores the urgency of resilience-driven design, ensuring that cities can endure and evolve even in challenging times. Together, these updates offer a glimpse into the global forces reshaping urban landscapes
WXCA Architectural Design Studio has unveiled its design for a new museum aiming to honor the 1918-1919 patriotic uprising and victory of the people of Greater Poland. Situated near the historic St. Adalbert's Hill, home to an 800-year-old church, the museum is set to become a significant cultural and historical site. In addition to its preservation of history, the museum aims to offer the people of Poznań a contemporary public space to highlight this collective heritage. WXCA architects won the 2019 competition for the museum design and urban concept. The project began construction in early 2024 and is expected to open to the public in 2026.
The middle of the Twentieth Century saw the independence of most countries on the African continent. Those euphoric times brought forward-looking sentiments and a wish to break with the past. As an architectural movement, Modernism was ideal for the day, and newly independent countries had extensive building programs to assert themselves as fully functioning nations.
Hotels are one type of building that illustrates the complex architectural and political history of the times. Some were built specifically to host international delegations, others to boost tourism, while some were built as strong leaders' wishes. Although a marginal building type, several hotels across Africa stand as physical records of important parts of their respective country's history. Following an exploration of the histories of West Africa's Modernist Hotels, this second article turns to East Africa to uncover the ways in which this understated typology relates to larger histories of independence and national identity.
The Tamayouz Excellence Award has announced George Arbid, Lebanese architect and educator, and the founding director of Beirut's Arab Center for Architecture, as the recipient of the prestigious Mohamed Makiya Prize for Architecture 2024. Also known as the Middle Eastern Architectural Personality of the Year Award, this accolade honors Arbid's efforts in documenting, researching, and advocating for the modern architectural heritage of the Arab region. The Mohamed Makiya Prize, established in 2014 to honor the eminent Iraqi architect Dr. Mohamed Saleh Makiya, celebrates those who have profoundly influenced architecture and the built environment across the region.
The middle of the Twentieth Century saw the independence of most countries on the African continent. Those euphoric times brought forward-looking sentiments and a wish to break with the past. Modernism, as an architectural movement, was ideal for the day, and newly independent countries had extensive building programs to assert themselves as fully functioning nations.
Hotels are one type of building that illustrates the complex architectural and political history of the times. Some were built specifically to host international delegations, others to boost tourism, while some were built as strong leaders' wishes. Although a marginal building type, several hotels across Africa stand as physical records of important parts of their respective country's history.
Perspective drawing of the Lower Manhattan Expressway / City Corridor project (unbuilt), New York ca. 1967–72. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of the Howard Gilman Foundation (1290.2000). Image Courtesy of The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a major exhibition focused on the diverse and innovative career of Paul Rudolph, a second-generation Modernist architect whose work stands alongside luminaries such as Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei. Titled "Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph," the exhibition is on display from September 30, 2024, to March 16, 2025, covering a wide spectrum of Rudolph's architectural contributions, from his experimental houses in Florida, through civic projects, to visionary urban megastructures and mixed-use skyscrapers.
Danish architecture firm Cobe has announced a new project to transform the historic 'Krulli' steelworks, a large-scale former industrial site in Estonia's capital, into a mixed-use city district. The strategy for the project is developed to optimize for material reuse, as materials, components and even entire buildings have been evaluated for their potential to be reintegrated into the scheme. This way, the decommissioned industrial area provides the foundation for an innovation hub, maintaining its history while adapting to the necessities of modern workspaces and city life.
Sanderling Beach Club, Photograph by Francis Dzikowski, Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.. Image via the Paul Rudolph Institute of Modern Architecture, under policy of fair use
The Wayfarers Chapel, known locally as "The Glass Church," was designed by Lloyd Wright, the eldest son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Located in the Palos Verdes peninsula in Los Angeles, its design aimed to blend the lines between architecture and nature, with large-span glass panels opening up to space toward the redwood canopies. Last year, the structure was designated a national historic landmark. Now, due to “accelerated land movement” in the area, the structure, which has been closed off to the public since February, was announced to be disassembled to protect it from further damage.
On April 10, 2024, the New York Landmarks Conservancy bestowed the Preservation Leadership Award to author and urbanist Roberta Brandes Gratz. A longtime preservation activist, Gratz served on the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. She also led the successful effort to restore the Eldridge Street Synagogue, now the Museum at Eldridge Street. The following is a slightly edited version of the speech Gratz delivered at the 34th annual Lucy C. Moses Preservation Awards.
Rehabilitation involves repairing, renovating, altering, or reconstructing any building or structure. It addresses the need to significantly improve a building's failing features, primarily through strengthening or replacing elements to restore the structure's optimal performance. The impact of building rehabilitation on the physical environment is significant. It is a sustainable strategy for preserving the built environment and mitigating the construction industry's impact on climate change.
However, its social impact is also considerable when viewed as a fundamental framework for sustainable outcomes. Rehabilitation can serve as a model that brings community members together for inclusive repair and restoration of structures. This positively affects communal life quality, social integration, environmental sustainability, and community perception of local architecture.
Architecture has always centered on permanence and ephemerality. Defined by material conditions, how we build is closely tied to what we preserve and how we conceptualize the future. Furthering international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences, and culture, UNESCO is an organization that continues to examine the relationship between history and growth, preservation, and change. As architecture, landscapes, and cities become threatened by the climate crisis and unrest, cultural context becomes paramount.
Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2022. Image Courtesy of Armin Linke
Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, stands as one of the most populous cities in Central Asia. Situated in the northeastern part of the country, near the border with Kazakhstan, Tashkent has been profoundly shaped and influenced by diverse cultures throughout its history. The most significant transformation of its urban landscape occurred during the Soviet era when the city was rebuilt as a model Soviet city, following the 1966 earthquake that caused substantial damage. During this reconstruction, architects from various regions of the Soviet Union collaborated with local experts, resulting in a unique form of architectural modernism that harmoniously integrated elements of Islamic architecture, indigenous creativity, and cutting-edge engineering achievements of that era. At that time, Tashkent held the esteemed status of a prominent international city in the East.
There is often an intricate relationship between architecture and the environment. Each part of the world has defined its own architectural techniques based on its unique climatic conditions. However, environmental concerns in the 21st century provoked new techniques, implementing solutions to preserve natural resources and provide thermal comfort. While some opted for a futuristic approach with mechanical and technologically-advanced solutions, others decided to go back in time and explore how civilizations protected their people, architecture, and environment when they had nothing else to resort to but the environment itself. In this article, we look at how Musharrabiyas found their way back into modern-day architecture as significant vernacular features.
George Smart is an unlikely preservationist, almost an accidental one. The founder and executive director of USModernist, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and documentation of modern houses, Smart worked for 30 years as a management consultant. “I was doing strategic planning and organization training,” he says. “My wife refers to this whole other project as a 16-year seizure.” Recently I spoke with Smart about his two websites, the podcast, the house tours his organization conducts, and why documentation is such a power preservation tool.
Boston City Hall. Image Courtesy of Reed Hilderbrand
It’s true that all trends are circular, and what was once seen as old and outdated becomes new and modern again- in fashion, music, art, and especially architecture. From the mid 20th century, brutalist architecture rose in popularity before reaching its peak in the mid-1970s, when it was disregarded for being too stylistic and non-conforming to the needs of clients who wanted their buildings to feel timeless. But the love for these concrete beasts is facing a resurgence, and a renewed appreciation for this architectural style is on the rise.
