Mexican sculptor Pedro Reyes has developed a multidisciplinary practice that spans sculpture, architecture, social engagement, and activism. Trained as an architect, Reyes approaches sculpture as both a material and a collective process, combining traditional stone carving with participatory projects that address contemporary social issues. His work frequently explores transformation, whether through physical materials or community action, positioning sculpture as a tool for reimagining social realities. In a 2025 interview with Louisiana Channel, Reyes discusses the influence of architecture on his artistic practice, the concept of "social sculpture," and the importance of preserving craft traditions in an increasingly automated world.

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The construction of the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Public Science Common, the new venue at Boston's Museum of Science, one of the United States' oldest science institutions, is nearing completion. The 929 m² (10,000-square-foot) building, designed by William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., is expected to open to the public on October 10, 2026, followed by a celebratory event on October 28. The new glazed civic venue overlooks the Charles River with views of the Boston skyline, and features movable walls and retractable seating to shift between functions and programs. The space is designed to support public dialogue around the sciences, using immersive media, production, and livestreaming technology to reach audiences beyond the city.

This week's stories explore how architecture engages with questions of culture, access, and collective life, from new cultural institutions and exhibitions to public spaces and housing. This week, the 2026 NCARB by the Numbers report provided a broader perspective on the profession itself, showing that people of color accounted for 49% of licensure candidates in 2025 and women for 47%, compared with 21% and 28% among the overall architect population. The report offers one perspective on access within the profession, while projects and cultural initiatives further examine how architecture responds to different forms of public and collective life.

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ZHA has been selected to design a new 198-hectare urban district in Baku, Azerbaijan. The project surrounds the existing Baku Expo Center events venue in a pine forest area that is planned to be preserved. The plan responds to the city's population growth over the past decade with a masterplan to organize the provision of a wide variety of residences. This is the firm's second project in Baku, after the Heydar Aliyev Center cultural venue, completed in 2013. On a different scale, the buildings in the new district appear to follow the geometric style inherited from Zaha Hadid, in a series of white buildings with rounded edges that convey an idea of fluid architecture.

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has released the 2026 edition of its annual NCARB by the Numbers report, presenting data from 2025 on architectural licensure and demographics in the United States. The latest figures show a gradual increase in diversity among those pursuing licensure, while the demographic composition of the licensed architect population remains considerably less diverse than the current candidate pool. The report also examines attrition along the path to licensure, revealing differences in who ultimately reaches professional registration.

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The Ukrainian pavilion at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is being designed by the team from CO-HATY, a local volunteer initiative restoring abandoned buildings in the country to transform them into stable homes for internally displaced people. The team is formed by METALAB and relocated members of the Ukrainian Urban Curators agency, who have been developing CO-HATY since 2022. Titled "Pool of Questions," the project poses a question the organization argues is rarely voiced in the context of survival: not simply where displaced people should live, but when they can begin to live. For Venice, the imagined installation extends the restoration and adaptive reuse work into a discourse on affordable housing, dignity and rest during an ongoing war.

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OMA, led by Partner Jason Long, together with San Francisco-based Y.A. Studio, has completed 730 Stanyan, a mixed-use affordable housing development in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Developed by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) and Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), the project provides 160 permanently affordable homes for low-income families, formerly unhoused families, and Transitional Age Youth (TAY). Located at the intersection of Haight and Stanyan Streets, adjacent to the entrance of Golden Gate Park, the development marks OMA's first completed 100% affordable housing project in the United States.

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Since 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts has fostered the development and exchange of ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. It awards project-based grants to individuals and organizations each year, and hosts public exhibitions and lectures. In June, the foundation announced the recipients of its 2026 Grants to Individuals program, awarding 54 projects that investigate architecture through exhibitions, films, publications, and research initiatives. In a second round announced this week, the organization has allocated funding to projects run by organizations with the same objective: expanding architectural discourse through diverse materials and cultural media.

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Architecture in Brazil this month highlights the country's diverse approaches to cultural production, heritage, and the transformation of its built environment. From the curatorial formation of the 15th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial to the recognition of Amazonia Theaters on the UNESCO World Heritage List, recent developments bring questions of representation, preservation, and cultural identity into focus. New projects in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Rondônia meanwhile explore adaptive reuse, relationships between architecture and landscape, and new approaches to materiality and sustainability. Alongside these developments, ongoing discussions surrounding Fordlândia and the archive of Lucio Costa revisit how Brazil's architectural heritage is preserved, interpreted, and understood today.

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From 25 July to 25 October 2026, Shanghai's Power Station of Art (PSA) will host the first exhibition in China dedicated to the work of Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi. Titled "The Poetics of Survival," the exhibition was curated by Renato Anelli, and the display was designed by OPEN Architecture in a 2,300 m² space of the PSA contemporary art museum in Huangpu. The objective was to design "a stage where the audience gets a glimpse of the everyday reality of Brazil in Lina's time" through a journey across the architect's work and layered persona. The exhibition is not described as a retrospective, but as an "encounter with the master's poetics of survival," a late-20th-century concept describing how creative work becomes a tool to endure trauma such as historical oppression or extreme crisis. The concept serves as a common thread linking the reality portrayed and contemporary observers of a body of work "informed by her ingenuity, versatility, and generosity."

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Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed the Lola Mora Cultural Center in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, a new cultural institution dedicated to the life and work of Argentine sculptor Lola Mora (1866-1936). Located in the country's northwestern region, the project is the firm's first cultural building in South America and the final project led by its founder, the late César Pelli. Designed as a net-zero facility, the center brings together six of Mora's monumental marble sculptures for the first time in more than a century, providing a permanent home for works that were previously displayed outdoors in Jujuy.

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Louisville's Belvedere in Kentucky is a 53-year-old gathering place for concerts, festivals, and community events. The elevated concrete plaza was built on top of the city's largest parking structure and stands over a major highway overpass. Since 1973, it has functioned as a riverfront civic space for events and large gatherings, but its use as a casual public space is in evident decline. In its current state, the space lacks shade, greenery, and amenities, while the concrete deck has worn over the years. In February 2025, Heatherwick Studio unveiled the first images of its vision to transform the Belvedere, a project commissioned by the city's mayor and the Louisville Metro Government. This week, the firm released new images of the redesign as an open, green, and flexible space connected to downtown Louisville.

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sauerbruch hutton and Studio Gang have been selected to renovate the German House in New York following an international competition organized by the Federal Republic of Germany. Located on United Nations Plaza in Manhattan, the building houses the Consulate General of Germany, the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, and several affiliated cultural institutions. The project marks the first collaboration between the two practices. Berlin-based sauerbruch hutton will serve as Lead Designer, while Studio Gang will act as General Planner and Architect of Record, overseeing project delivery and implementation. The proposal focuses on adapting the existing building, with the stated goal of extending its lifespan while improving its operational and environmental performance.

This week's news was, for the most part, about phenomena of large spatial and social scale. In Latin America, rescue efforts continue following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia, while the discipline prepares efforts for assistance and reconstruction. UNESCO marked two international days dedicated to the world's indigenous peoples and to youth. On the first, we highlight reflections, case studies and interviews on ancestral constructive knowledge, while on the second we draw attention to how architecture can respond to the aspirations of new generations. Looking ahead, we highlight three projects in Vlorë, Chicago and Qiddiya City: two towers designed by OODA and SOM, and a vegetation-covered tennis center presented by Populous.

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International Youth Day, observed annually on August 12, is marked in 2026 under the theme "Different Contexts, Common Aspirations," highlighting the shared aspirations of young people across diverse social, economic, and geographic realities. Despite differences in where and how they live, young people around the world continue to seek dignity, opportunity, meaningful participation, decent work, quality education, and a sustainable future. The day provides an opportunity to recognize their contributions while drawing attention to the conditions and opportunities that shape their lives.

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Against a backdrop of climate change, inflation, and armed conflict, the global energy system is undergoing change and facing scrutiny. As stated by the United Nations, buildings must be heated, lit, and electrified through clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable power sources. Architecture and urban planning can contribute both to expanding energy access and to exploring different forms of storage. The Toronto-based startup Civic Grid designs and builds energy storage systems with the aim of changing the relationship communities have with the electrical power behind everyday life. Their first architectural battery was designed as public architecture by architects Jack Self and Josh Harskamp with industrial designer Max Fine. The prototype is the evolution of a deployable energy system developed with Lisbon Civil Defence for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2025, still in operation, and is paired with a scale model.

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German filmmaker Wim Wenders is set to present "From Inside Out – The Architecture of Peter Zumthor," a new documentary examining the work and architectural approach of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Running for 114 minutes, the film uses 3D cinematography to document Zumthor's buildings through the perspectives of visitors, users, inhabitants, and craftspeople. The documentary will have its world premiere in September 2026 as part of the Venice International Film Festival's Venice Open – Out of Competition program.

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On Monday, 10 August 2026, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts. While the seismic event lightly affected the southern border of Panama and the northern border of Ecuador, Colombia has declared a national state of emergency. The earthquake has caused 111 deaths according to official reports, with the toll expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. According to the Servicio Geológico Colombiano (SGC), the epicentre was located 96 kilometres beneath the surface near San José del Palmar, a rural area in the northwest of the Chocó province. Infrastructure damage extends to densely populated cities including Cali, Pereira, Manizales, and Armenia, affecting an area with a population of about 3.5 million people. This seismic event follows four others that occurred less than two months ago in Japan, the United States, and Venezuela, adding to reconstruction efforts already underway worldwide.

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The Türkiye Pavilion has announced "Spolia Futures" as its official exhibition for the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, which will take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027. Commissioned by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the exhibition will be curated by ba-be commons, a research collective composed of Başak Eren, Asya Ece Uzmay, Beril Sarısakal Erkent, and Ece Yetim. The proposal was selected through an open call and two-stage evaluation process to represent Türkiye at the 2027 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale. The proposal examines spolia, traditionally understood as the reuse of architectural elements, as an evolving architectural method rather than solely a historical practice.

Every year on August 9, and since 1994, UNESCO has commemorated the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. The United Nations has not yet adopted an official definition for the term 'Indigenous peoples,' but considers, for social recognition, self-identified non-dominant groups of society, with distinct language, culture, and beliefs, organized in separate social, economic, and political systems. From a territorial perspective, the UN understands the term through historical continuity with pre-colonial or pre-settler societies, and the group's strong links to territories and surrounding natural resources. The persistence in maintaining and reproducing ancestral environments and systems is also recognized as an element of identity, encompassing other designations such as first peoples/nations, aboriginals, or ethnic groups. Following the occasion's aim to raise awareness, in this article we present contemporary reflections, regional cases, and interviews about ancestral constructive knowledge and how it can build the future.

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The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is presenting "The fortune of the city is that it has never been perfect," an exhibition dedicated to the urban work of Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza. On view in the institution's Main Galleries from May 21, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the exhibition examines Siza's approach to city-making through a selection of projects that engage with the historical, social, and physical conditions of existing urban environments.

Curated by Giovanna Borasi with Laura Aparicio Llorente as curatorial assistant, the exhibition explores how Siza's architectural practice extends beyond the design of individual buildings to encompass neighborhoods, public spaces, and broader urban structures. Rather than presenting the city as a fixed or idealized condition, the exhibition focuses on Siza's method of working with existing contexts, considering history, topography, infrastructure, and everyday life as fundamental components of the design process. Through this perspective, the exhibition reflects on questions surrounding urban transformation, the continuity of the built environment, and the relationship between architecture and planning.

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UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture is a title created jointly by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA). On 5 August 2026, Beijing was named World Capital of Architecture for 2029, a title awarded every three years to a city that hosts a year of architecture-focused programming timed to coincide with the UIA World Congress of Architects. The designation was made upon the recommendation of the Joint Committee for the World Capital of Architecture, chaired by architect Dominique Perrault. It follows the recent conclusion of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 in Barcelona, current World Capital of Architecture, and builds on the experience of Rio de Janeiro and Copenhagen.

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This week, architecture's relationship with culture took center stage through exhibitions, public projects, and new cultural infrastructure that extend architectural discourse beyond the building itself. While major exhibitions from Australia, Shanghai, Barcelona, and Copenhagen examined themes of housing, landscape, and place through research and design, newly unveiled projects in China and Italy demonstrate how museums, performance venues, and mixed-use projects are increasingly conceived as open public landscapes rather than isolated institutions, while new exhibitions and construction milestones reflect ongoing experimentation in adaptive reuse, context-responsive design, and flexible urban environments.

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The Grand Paris Express project consists of 200 kilometers of new, fully automated metro lines, 68 new stations, and four new orbital lines (15, 16, 17, and 18), in addition to the extension of Line 14. The network is being delivered in phases between 2024 and 2031: Line 14's 8 stations are fully operational following its 2024 extension, Line 18 is the most advanced of the new lines, with testing underway ahead of its first opening, and civil engineering is largely complete on many sections, with tracks, systems, architectural fit-out, and testing now progressing station by station. Each of the 68 stations is assigned to a specific architect or architectural team, sometimes in collaboration with landscape architects for above-ground elements.

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