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.
Rounding up the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, a special focus is placed on the architectural language and phenomenon that transformed the city for its Olympic and upcoming Paralympic venues. Spread across the city and surrounding areas, Paris integrated iconic landmarks and modern facilities to host a diverse selection of Olympic sports. Beyond the sports venues, the interventions also included unique visitor centers and athlete's accommodations that will serve a purpose beyond the summer's events.
Madrid, the vibrant capital of Spain, offers a blend of tradition and modernity, reflected in its diverse architectural heritage. This rich past is etched into the old façades, expansive public spaces, and historic religious institutions that define much of Madrid’s character today. The city’s continuous architectural renewal, reflected in both respectful restorations and innovative new constructions, highlights Madrid’s commitment to preserving its heritage while embracing modernity.
In the 20th century, Madrid embraced modernity, influenced by movements such as Rationalism, the International Style, and Brutalism. Today, Madrid is a showcase for contemporary design, where contemporary projects by renowned architects coexist with its historical legacy. Structures like the CaixaForum by Herzog & de Meuron and Jean Nouvel’s Reina Sofía Museum exemplify the city’s interest in architectural explorations
As major cities continue to develop, we face intriguing challenges regarding the preservation and adaptive reuse of significant buildings, sites, and artifacts. This poses a complex question that involves political history, architectural theory, and cultural significance. Adaptive reuse extends beyond architectural and spatial designs; it allows cities and communities to reflect, reevaluate, and reinterpret their history from different perspectives. However, unlike books and words, buildings may not withstand the test of time themselves and serve as firsthand evidence of the stories they tell. How should we question ourselves on what to preserve and demolish? How can communities be involved in the active restoration or adaptation of historic buildings?
Skyscrapers are iconic symbols of modern urbanization and technological advancements all over North America. These structures are a sign of economic prosperity, urban density, and the capabilities of humanity’s ambition. In major cities across the continent, they shape the skyline and give identity to these metropolises. Cities like New York City, Toronto, and Florida utilize these cutting-edge designs to showcase power beyond their physical stature.
In general, skyscrapers are characterized by their remarkable height and pioneering engineering capabilities. They use advanced materials such as steel, glass, and concrete and serve as multifunctional spaces, ranging from housing to hotels and offices. Architects all around the world continually push the boundaries of architectural creativity, design, sustainability, and functionality while crafting these buildings. The structures allow architects to maximize land use in new ways, tackling densely populated urban areas.
For cities, hosting an Olympic event represents both an honor, an important opportunity for growth, and a significant challenge. With over 200 nations taking part in the Games, the Olympics are the largest sporting competition in the world. Adapting the public and sporting infrastructure to accommodate this sudden influx of people and the scale of these events runs the risk of misunderstanding the cities’ needs after the closing ceremony, often producing “white elephants” that struggle to adapt to the rhythm and necessities of everyday urban life. Urban transformations are often cited as an advantage of hosting the Olympic Games, as cities are incentivized to invest in their traffic infrastructure, housing, and public spaces. One such example is the city of Paris, which introduced its first metro line on the occasion of hosting the second edition of the Olympic Games in 1900.
When it comes to the venues, however, the issue of adaptive reuse becomes a pressing one, as the architecture is challenged to find solutions to transform, accommodating thousands of people during the Olympics, then scaling down to become a financially sustainable part of a city’s sporting offering. Across the world, several Olympic venues have managed to extend their usability after the closing of the games, opening themselves to the local communities and welcoming a more diverse programming of sports and leisure events. While the high construction costs are often difficult to justify, these venues have become markers of local identity and attractive tourist attractions, extending their use decades after welcoming the Olympic crowds.
This year's Milan Design Week brought together designers, architects, producers, and key figures from the design world. The events were divided between the Salone del Mobile at Rho Fiera, a trade fair with over 1950 exhibitors, and Fourisalone, featuring various events across Milan. With numerous installations throughout the city and a wide range of events, conferences, and debates, Milan Design Week stands as one of the most significant design-focused events worldwide. For architects, this represents an opportunity to not only exchange ideas but also to actively contribute through collaborations and explorations across disciplines.
This year, many internationally recognized architects have entered collaborations with furniture and light design companies, exploring the intersection of design and architecture. Despite the change in scale, many of these products reflect the recognizable architectural language of their designers, offering an insight into the principles that guide their practice. In addition to aesthetic explorations, many of the products selected are tackling important themes of interest, from the need to develop more sustainable materials with a reduced carbon footprint, to the potential impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
As cities grow and evolve, the question of preserving, rehabilitating, or adapting historic sites arises. The intervention in such buildings requires a delicate balance between honoring their heritage and meeting contemporary demands. Often, the most innovative and radical solutions emerge when architects attempt to renew a building while maintaining its original footprint and as many features as possible. They then create modern extensions that either harmonize or contrast with the original structure. This approach not only revitalizes the building but also celebrates the synergy between the past and present, including materials, construction technology, architectural movements, stories, and overall building quality. The layering of both old and new elements through harmony or contrast requires an intelligent and sensitive approach that gives the building a unique aesthetic and a new meaning.
Qatar Museums has released renderings showcasing the future Lusail Museum, designed by Swiss architecture office Herzog & de Meuron. The museum will house one of the largest collections of Orientalist art, exploring the movement of people and ideas across the globe and over the centuries. The new institution also strives to provide opportunities for high-level study for scholars, academics, policymakers, and curators. Consequently, the building is conceived as “a vertically layered souk, or miniature city contained within a single building,” aiming to encourage conversations, debates, and meditation on global issues.
Herzog & de Meuron has revealed the design for the Seoripul Open Art Storage, a collective archive space that will serve three museums in Seoul: the Seoul Museum of Art, the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, and the Seoul Museum of History. Going beyond the archive program, the proposal aims to open up the building to visitors, transforming the art storage into a dynamic civic space. Located on the Eastern Border of Seoripul Park, the building is characterized by a pyramidal glass structure set in a garden that functions as a secluded outdoor space for Archive/Museum visitors.
Chris Bosse started LAVA, Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, with his partners Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck the year Watercube, the Aquatics Centre for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics was completed. Bosse was one of the leading designers of Watercube when he worked at PTW Architects in Sydney. Now LAVA employs about 100 people in four offices in Ho Chi Minh City,Sydney, Stuttgart, and Berlin. There are also two satellite offices in Honduras and Parma, Italy, led by former associates. Projects range from furniture to houses and hotels to master plans, urban centers, and airports in the Middle East, Central America, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam.
Ahmadreza Schricker is an architect whose journey was shaped by his work with Herzog & de Meuron and his time with the well-renowned OMA. His studio ASA North, is well known for its award-winning adaptive reuse of the Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Center, a former distillery that was awarded at the 2020-2022 Aga Khan cycle. It is a testament to the work ASA North does, bridging gaps between past and future, traditional and contemporary. The interview also goes beyond ASA North, looking into its sister company, ASA South. Based in the virtual world, ASA South challenges conventional boundaries and reimagines architectural practice in the digital age.
Vectura CampusF / Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. Image Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects _ By WAX
Exploring unbuilt projects can offer insights into the design process and leading strategies employed by contemporary architecture practices, revealing unexpected solutions, experimental approaches and innovative design concepts. This week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights designs submitted by established architecture practices. From a fjord-side regeneration project and oceanography research center to a headquarters building shaped to reflect company’s main focus or a restaurant adapted to extreme conditions, the compilation of unbuilt projects presents the variety of concepts, design philosophies and programs put forward by prominent global architecture studios.
Featuring internationally recognized offices like CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, Herzog & de Meuron, OODA, KCAP, and Aedas, this selection showcases worldwide interventions that illustrate architectural and civic interventions across diverse scales and programs. Whether tackling the restoration of monuments, interventions in public spaces or the transformation of a city’s waterfront, each of these projects aspires to deliver a fitting response to the spatial, functional, social and ecological requisite of its context.
London’s architectural history is a rich tapestry that weaves together styles of various periods and influences. In the post-war era, the city experienced a surge in modern architecture, becoming a canvas for experimentation. New stylistic movements saw their expression crystalized through buildings such as Richard Rogers’ Lloyd’s Building, one of the most representative examples of High-Tech architecture, or the Barbican Estate, a large-scale housing estate that became the iconic structure for Brutalist architecture.
London’s contemporary architectural landscape continues to evolve, in part through the works of internationally-recognized architects such as Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, and Thomas Heatherwick. This varied blend of styles, and ways of expression reflects the city’s ability to embrace architectural movements of global significance. As a center for innovation, London continues to attract established and emerging architects who shape its skyline and contribute to its international architectural discourse, with each new building offering a glimpse into the ever-changing nature of London’s urban fabric.
As you make your way through the symphony of wooden colonnades, leafy screen walls, and unfurled roofing, towards the converging veins of flooring and ceiling ribs leading to the light, it feels like a space that was always meant to be there. Part of the park, the pavilion complements the nature around it, reflecting its patterns, and illuminates a main interior feature: a concentric set of tables and stools that inspire people to sit at the moment, hold conversations, and connect with each other. This narrative tells the tale of this year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh.
Titled, À table, It draws inspiration from the designer’s connection with nature growing up and is reminiscent of the French call to sit together at a table, share a meal and enter a dialogue. It foregrounds the table as a laboratory of ideas, concerns, joys, connections, and essentially brings people together. It further reflects on the architectural ideals that can provoke and welcome moments of collective conversations.
Tour Triangle . Image Courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron
The city of Paris has officially reinstated a rule that limits the height of new buildings in the French capital to 37 meters, or 12 storeys. Among the factors for the decision was the controversy surrounding the construction of the 180-meter-tall Tour Triangle, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, which began in 2021 after more than a decade of legal battles and backlash. The new urban planning regulation is introduced as part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo's Local Bioclimatic Urban Plan, which aims to reduce Paris' carbon emissions.
Herzog & de Meuron has been honored as the 36th Louis I. Kahn Award winner by the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia. The annual award, founded in 1983 in memory of Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn, celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of architecture. Jaques Herzog, one of the two founders of the Swiss-based architecture firm, will present a talk on behalf of this office during the official award ceremony, to be held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology and Archeology at 6:30 pm on May 31, 2023.
