The Sharjah Architecture Triennial (SAT) has released the full documentary films from A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis online. Curated by George Arbid, the project is part of SAT's long-term research program focused on documenting and safeguarding architectural archives across the Arab world. The three films, filmed on location in Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, combine archival research with fieldwork and oral histories, examining how architectural histories are constructed, preserved, and revisited over time.
A campaign led by Red Lima Milenaria is seeking UNESCO recognition for pre-colonial sites in the Peruvian capital. Today, more than 600 archaeological sites remain in Lima, a metropolis of 11 million people. The citizens' campaign seeks to improve conservation conditions and public awareness of the sites that resisted European colonization by promoting the nomination of a selection of structures for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The public campaign was recently launched to gather citizen support and establish partnerships with organizations working in heritage and related fields, in order to prepare the framework for a formal nomination to be submitted by the Peruvian state. The initiative coincides with reconstruction movements in the continent responding to socioeconomic inequality and structural historical injustices, raising questions about the very definition of heritage.
Office for Future is converting a former school in Stavyshche, Ukraine, into housing for 42 families displaced by the war. Developed for the Charity Foundation Housing for IDP, the project, titled "Dvir – The Shared Courtyard," reuses the approximately 1,900-square-meter building to create 42 apartments and 200 square meters of shared indoor spaces. The intervention combines the existing structure with new timber elements, an energy retrofit, and the transformation of the former asphalt courtyard into a permeable green space.
A fire has severely damaged La Querola d'Ordino, a residential development in Ordino, Andorra, designed by Jean Nouvel in collaboration with Ribas & Ribas Arquitectes and Jordi Sala. The fire began during the early hours of September 22 and spread across the seven-building complex before being brought under control on September 23. Firefighters from Andorra and neighboring France were involved in the response, with authorities reporting no injuries. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.
The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, is expanding its museum ensemble with three new buildings by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, an enlarged and restored park, and the adaptive reuse of several historic structures. The expansion extends the existing museum designed by Renzo Piano, adding exhibition, education, cultural, and public spaces while opening a previously private section of the surrounding landscape to visitors. The expanded ensemble will begin welcoming visitors on September 26, 2026, during a preview phase running through January 14, 2027, before fully opening on January 15. Zumthor's additions comprise the Wyss Museum, the Ammann Pavilion, and the Erlen Torhaus, positioned within the existing landscape and differentiated through their programmes, forms, and material treatments.
This week began with the United Nations' commemoration of the International Day of Peace, an invitation to ask what conditions are needed to cultivate nonviolence, social stability, and respect for human dignity. Against a backdrop of growing individual isolation, authoritarianism, and a multidimensional material crisis, we've gathered articles in which architecture mediates between conflict and coexistence through the construction of spaces for encounter and memory. Other news this week highlights a disciplinary tool that brings those two concepts together: the transformation of what we have already built to bring it up to date with our needs and aspirations, while another group of high-profile, large-scale projects opens in the Global North. On our radar, we also take a look at new projects in Dubai, Oxford, Portland and Paris, from major international firms.
Following the opening weekend of Shakira's Madrid residency, Macondo Park has officially opened at the Iberdrola Music venue in Villaverde, Madrid. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with Komodo and Vampire, the 185,000-square-meter temporary destination surrounds the venue designed by BIG for Shakira's concerts, extending the venue with a series of cultural and public spaces inspired by the fictional town of Macondo from Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. The park will host daily cultural programming alongside the concerts throughout the singer's 12-show residency, which continues through October 11, before its temporary structures and landscape elements are dismantled and removed from the site.
On September 16, 2026, Google announced the redevelopment of Chicago's Thompson Center as a space for work, culture, and community. The James R. Thompson Center is a postmodern architectural landmark designed by Helmut Jahn and completed in 1985. Commissioned by Illinois Governor James R. Thompson, the building reinterprets the classical state capitol by turning the traditional dome-and-public-plaza concept inside out. Occupying an entire city block in Chicago's Loop, it features a multicolored, curved glass atrium and a sloping, transparent corner entry. Controversial from day one, it has been criticized for poor climate control, high maintenance costs, and structural and leak issues. To restore it rather than demolish it, the company collaborated with Architecture Plus Information (A+I) to design a project that would integrate the building into the urban life of Chicago's Loop.
The African Futures Institute (AFI) has completed its new headquarters in Accra, Ghana, transforming a former tile warehouse in the city's Osu neighbourhood into a centre for architectural education, research, exhibitions, and public programmes. The project retains the existing industrial structure while introducing spaces for teaching, workshops, performances, screenings, and gatherings. Its completion gives the Institute a permanent base in Accra after several years of operating through programmes, partnerships, and temporary spaces across Africa and beyond.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially opens its doors to the public today, September 22, 2026. The museum's sculptural, curved silhouette was designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, with landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA and Stantec serving as executive architect. The opening follows a Founding Members Preview held from September 5 to 11, giving members an exclusive early look at the galleries, and a star-studded opening night on Saturday, September 19, featuring celebrity co-chairs at a launch event for the museum, co-founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson. The date aligns with the announcement made by the institution nearly a year ago, though the project has a longer history: approved in 2017, with construction beginning the following year, the opening was originally planned for 2025. The museum sits within an 11-acre (4.5-hectare) site in Los Angeles's Exposition Park and comprises a 300,000-square-foot (27,900-square-meter) structure featuring galleries, two theaters, a retail store, a library, a café, a restaurant, and event spaces.
Every year on September 21, the United Nations marks the International Day of Peace, an observance that invites global reflection on the conditions necessary to cultivate non-violence, social stability, and human dignity. Under the 2026 theme, "Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day," the international body emphasizes that peace is neither static nor self-sustaining. Rather than an abstract condition defined solely by diplomatic agreements, peace operates as an ongoing social process, shaped by economic equity, institutional integrity, and the quality of civic life across communities.
"Right to Housing! Now and Forever" is an official European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) to demand affordable, sustainable, and fair housing across the European Union. The ECI is a governance tool that allows citizens to propose new laws for the European Commission to consider. Initiatives must be organized by a group of at least seven EU citizens living in seven different countries and must gather 1 million valid signatures within one year of receiving official approval. The signature collection for "Right to Housing! Now and Forever" launched on September 14, 2026, and aims to collect 1.2 million signatures across the EU to require the European Commission to formally respond to and address the proposal. The project builds on the HouseEurope! European Citizens' Initiative, which focused strictly on building renovation and closed unsuccessfully on January 31, 2026. This new proposal, put forward by a broader coalition, encompasses not only renovation but also financing tools and measures to ensure access.
The team led by engineering and technology group Sener, in collaboration with UK-based architecture practice RSHP and Valencia-based ERRE, has been selected to design the new ValenciaCentral Station in Spain. The proposal was chosen by Adif Alta Velocidad's Evaluation Committee following a competition for a new intermodal rail hub integrating high-speed, commuter, metro, tram, bus, taxi, and active mobility connections. The new infrastructure will be coordinated with the planned Central Park, the Access Canal project, and the future through tunnel. The scope also includes the refurbishment of the historic Valencia Nord Station, a designated Site of Cultural Interest, while preserving its architectural and urban heritage.
Mecanoo's Lawson Centre for Sustainability is the first new building for Trinity College since 1979. One of the most anticipated projects of 2026, it was designed to be one of Canada's most advanced sustainability-driven academic and residential buildings. Mecanoo worked in collaboration with Toronto architecture firm RDHA to design a sustainable community and "living lab," building on the College's traditions around shared meals and communal gatherings. Instead of the fourteen-story high-rise tower originally envisioned by the College, the team designed a walkable building that frames the existing campus and creates new landscapes for food production and social encounters. The broader campus vision included food, nature, work with local materials, and hands-on learning about sustainable living.
The history of Brutalism has largely been written from a Western perspective. Brutalist Asia by Blue Crow Mediaoffers a different view, examining how architects across Asia adopted, questioned, and transformed the architectural language associated with the movement in response to radically different political, climatic, and cultural conditions. Spanning 28 countries, from Japan and Southeast Asia through South and Central Asia to the Middle East, Iran, and Lebanon, the book brings together 140 buildings and more than 150 photographs, placing internationally recognized works by architects including Kenzo Tange, Paul Rudolph, Balkrishna V. Doshi, Raj Rewal, Charles Correa, Kim Swoo Geun, Leandro V. Locsin, and Le Corbusier alongside important but lesser-known works that expand our understanding of post-war architecture across the continent.
Within this broader geography, one particular history unfolds in Lebanon, where the ambitions of Modernism became inseparable from a country undergoing profound social, political, and urban transformation. Read on for an excerpt from ArchDaily Editor-in-Chief Christele Harrouk's chapter in Brutalist Asia, tracing the rise of Brutalism in Lebanon, the architects and buildings that gave it a particular local expression, and the rupture that left this Modernist project unfinished.
Ben-Avid by Atelier Aveta. Featured in the Biennial's Central exhibition. Image Courtesy of Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires
Architecture this week turns toward the question of what the built environment can make possible, and what it asks in return. Discussions around democracy and public space consider how architecture can support participation, equity, and collective life, while new housing and cultural projects explore how buildings can respond to changing social needs through adaptability, shared space, and the reuse of existing structures. These concerns extend into the exhibition space, where the Tallinn Architecture Biennale examines the less visible costs of construction and the Buenos Aires Architecture Biennial looks at the many ways architecture shapes inhabitation. Across these different contexts, architecture emerges as a way of negotiating access, resources, community, and the long-term value of the built environment.
Benghazi 2050: Vision and Digital Planning Hub. Old Town. Image Courtesy of ZHA
A team composed of ZHA, A&O TEC, Prior + Partners, Homa, Buro Happold, Systematica, and Fichtner recently unveiled its concept proposal for the "Next Generation City Plan" for Benghazi, Libya. The project aims to bring together the historic port city's identity-defining features with the planning technologies required to guide its development toward 2050, in a context of rapid urbanization. The proposal, developed for A&O TEC, includes a Vision and Spatial Strategy, which consists of an interpretation of the city's character and collective memory translated into an adaptable framework for development, and a Digital Planning Hub, an evidence-based model mapping the city to identify its potential and the phenomena shaping its growth.
