Zaha Hadid Architects, in collaboration with RINA as team leader, Studio Plicchi, WSP, STI Engineering, and BC Building Consulting, has won the international competition to design Malpensa Hospital (Grande Ospedale della Malpensa) in Italy. Commissioned by the Lombardy Regional Health Authority, the project will consolidate the existing Gallarate and Busto Arsizio hospitals into a single medical campus serving the area between Milan and Varese, with a catchment of nearly one million residents.
The Plum Village Buddhist Monastery in southern Dordogne, France, has received construction approval for the first phase of its ongoing collaboration with Dutch architecture studio MVRDV. The approvals cover the Upper Hamlet masterplan phase, including the construction of new guest houses and the renovation and expansion of the monastery's bookshop, as well as a new nunnery building at the Lower Hamlet. Developed in collaboration with co-architect MoonWalkLocal and consultants OTEIS, VPEAS, and Emacoustic, the wider project includes two masterplans for the Monastery's Upper and Lower Hamlets, four communal guest houses, a new nunnery, and the transformation of an existing bookshop. Working on a non-profit basis, the design team prioritises renovation alongside the use of circular and bio-based materials, aligning the architectural approach with the monastery's philosophical principles. The proposed additions aim to better accommodate the annual visitors who travel to Plum Village to engage with the teachings of Engaged Buddhism.
Caochan na Creige, designed by Izat Arundell, has been announced as the winner of the RIBA House of the Year 2025 award. The timber-framed, stone-clad self-build is located in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, occupying a compact rural plot defined by exposed weather conditions and a distinct geological setting. Built by and for its architect owners, the house was selected for its clear response to site constraints, its material strategy, and the consistency between design intent and construction.
Timpaan, Blauwhoed and White Arkitekter, together with SeARCH, Space&Matter, Atlas Architects and DS Land Landschapsarchitecten, have been selected for the proposed development of The Erven, a timber-based neighbourhood planned for Hoofddorp in the Amsterdam metropolitan region. The winning proposal forms part of a major phase of the Lincolnpark area and outlines approximately 519 homes designed around four courtyards, or erven, inspired by the traditional Dutch farmstead.
The National Gallery in London has announced six shortlisted teams for the design of a major expansion that will extend the museum into the St. Vincent House site, marking what officials describe as the most significant transformation in its 200-year history. The competition, launched in September 2025, received 65 submissions from international practices. Shortlisted proposals will shape a new wing intended to accommodate the Gallery's growing collection, welcome increasing visitor numbers, and redefine the public realm between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. The teams moving forward include Farshid Moussavi Architecture with Piercy & Company, Foster + Partners, Kengo Kuma and Associates with BDP and MICA, Renzo Piano Building Workshop with William Matthews Associates and Adamson Associates, Selldorf Architects with Purcell, and Studio Seilern Architects with Donald Insall Associates, Vista Building Safety, and Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The selected architect and wider technical design team are expected to be appointed by April 2026.
This week's news reflects architecture's simultaneous engagement with cultural reflection, professional legacy, and the material realities of building cities. The passing of Frank Gehry prompted a broader reassessment of late 20th- and early 21st-century architectural practice, while Shigeru Ban's selection as the recipient of the 2026 AIA Gold Medal brought renewed attention to socially driven design and the profession's public responsibilities. These milestones unfolded alongside wider conversations sparked by Human Rights Day, examining architecture's role in equity, housing access, and safety worldwide, and forward-looking discussions setting the architectural agenda for 2026 through major international events and cultural programs. At the scale of the built environment, these themes are echoed in three projects shaping future urban conditions: Powerhouse Company's transformation of a former limestone quarry into a mixed-use neighbourhood in Bærum, near Oslo; the groundbreaking of Riverside Wharf, a hospitality-led development contributing to the regeneration of Miami's River District; and Foster + Partners' approved retrofit of 1 St James's Square in London, focused on structural retention and long-term urban resilience.
As preparations advance for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, set to take place from February 6 to 22, 2026, this edition introduces one of the most geographically wide-ranging configurations ever implemented for the Winter Olympics. Extending across two cities, two regions, and two autonomous provinces, the competitions will be staged over more than 22,000 square kilometres of Northern Italy. Metropolitan venues in Milan are paired with longstanding Alpine centres in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, Bormio, Anterselva, and Val di Fiemme, creating a framework that bridges urban and mountain contexts. More than 90 per cent of the venues are existing or temporary facilities, reflecting a strategy centred on adaptive reuse, selective upgrades, and long-term integration into regional sport and cultural infrastructures. Nearly 2,900 athletes will compete in 116 events, including the debut of ski mountaineering and several new mixed-gender formats that signal evolving approaches to winter sports programming.
Human Rights Day is observed annually on 10 December worldwide. It commemorates the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Drafted by representatives with diverse legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions, the Declaration was proclaimed as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. For the first time, the document set out fundamental human rights to be universally protected and inalienable, entitling every human being to them regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or any other status. Today, the Declaration serves as a global blueprint for international, national, and local laws and policies. Available in 577 languages, it is the most translated document in the world. The United Nations has set the theme for this year's observance as "Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials," aiming to "reaffirm the values of human rights and show that they remain a winning proposition for humanity."
Ubani — Tbilisi Cityscape Research Center has released "Kala," the first publication in its new Guide to Tbilisi Districts series, offering an in-depth look at one of the Georgian capital's oldest urban areas. As a non-profit organization dedicated to researching and promoting Tbilisi's architectural heritage and landscape, Ubani develops public programs, exhibitions, workshops, and events aimed at making the city's built environment more widely understood. This inaugural guidebook continues that broader mission, situating Kala within the long-term evolution of Tbilisi's urban fabric.
The European Capital of Culture (ECoC) initiative was launched in 1985 and has, to date, been awarded to more than 60 cities across Europe. It is designed to celebrate and promote cultural diversity on the continent, strengthen European citizens' sense of belonging to a shared cultural space, and foster culture's contribution to urban development. In practice, the designation has proven to be a catalyst for urban regeneration, tourism growth, the strengthening of cities' international profiles, and the improvement of how they are perceived by their own residents. European Capitals of Culture are formally designated four years before the title year, allowing time to plan, prepare, and embed the program within a long-term cultural strategy, establish European partnerships, and ensure that appropriate infrastructure is in place. In 2025, the European Capitals of Culture are the German city of Chemnitz and the Slovenian city of Nova Gorica. For 2026, the designated cities are Oulu in Finland and Trenčín in Slovakia.
Following the news of Frank Gehry's passing at age 96, renewed attention has been directed toward a career that significantly shaped architectural discourse from the late 20th century onward. Over more than seven decades, Gehry developed a design language defined by material experimentation, iterative model-making, and an interest in fluid, expressive forms. His work ranges from early residential interventions in Southern California to major cultural institutions that have contributed to the identity of cities around the world. Together, these projects outline a trajectory that intersected with shifts in fabrication technologies, museum typologies, and urban redevelopment strategies.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced on Thursday, December 4, 2025, that architect Shigeru Ban is the recipient of the 2026 AIA Gold Medal. The award is the AIA's highest individual honor, recognizing individuals whose work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. On this occasion, the Japanese architect's work was highlighted for its inventive use of renewable materials such as paper and timber, his innovation in timber architecture, his commitment to social service through design, and his 30 years as an educator at universities including Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia. Previous honorees include Deborah Berke, the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture, in 2025; David Lake and Ted Flato of the San Antonio–based practice Lake|Flato in 2024; and civic design leader Carol Ross Barney in 2023.
Frank Gehry, one of the most influential and widely recognized architects of the past six decades, has died at his home in Santa Monica at the age of 96. His chief of staff, Meaghan Lloyd, confirmed that the cause was a brief respiratory illness. Gehry's death marks the passing of a designer whose work transformed not only architectural culture but the global imagination of what a building could be.
Pantone Color Institute has introduced PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer as the Color of the Year 2026, a soft white selected for its understated presence and sense of visual calm. The hue, described as balanced and airy, appears against a broader cultural context in which designers and creatives are reassessing the role of clarity, simplicity, and spatial quietude. Framed as a color that resembles a blank canvas, Cloud Dancer signals a renewed interest in environments that support reflection and measured creativity rather than constant acceleration.
The State of Qatar announced on December 4, 2025, the selection of Frida Escobedo Studio, with Buro Happold engineers and Studio Zewde landscape designers, to design the new headquarters for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Intended to establish a more visible civic presence for the Qatari diplomatic service and provide public access to the Ministry complex, the project is planned for a prominent site along Doha's waterfront, transforming a significant section of the city's Corniche. Situated beside Doha Bay, the 70,000-square-meter (750,000-square-foot) project is conceived as a combination of new construction and the adaptive reuse of the historic modernist General Post Office currently on the site.
As cultural institutions advanced major preservation projects and new demographic data reframed understandings of urban growth, this week's architectural discussions centred on how cities and museums adapt to evolving social, environmental, and infrastructural conditions. Efforts to safeguard modern heritage, developments in long-term urban planning, and reflections on architectural legacy intersect with global observances such as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, highlighting the ongoing need for more inclusive and accessible environments within the built landscape.
Zhu Pei is a Chinese architect born in 1962 in Beijing. He studied at Tsinghua University and UC Berkeley, and founded Studio Zhu Pei in 2005. The studio's experimental work and research focus on contemporary architecture, art, and cultural projects. With an artistic and exploratory approach, it investigates the relationship between the roots that anchor architecture in specific natural and cultural contexts and the innovation that drives architecture as a form of artistic revolution. In his interview with Louisiana Channel, Zhu Pei describes architecture as an artistic discipline that, like poetry, relies on openness, imagination, and the creation of new experiences. He argues that great architecture goes beyond functional problem-solving by generating a sense of wonder through its ability to "invent" and "create some new thing, new experience," positioning architectural practice as cultural and sensory exploration rather than purely technical production.
Zayed National Museum, the national museum of the United Arab Emirates and a major anchor of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, has opened to the public. The project was awarded to Foster + Partners following a 2007 design competition, with construction commencing the following year. Its inauguration marks a significant moment in the UAE's cultural development, coinciding with a year that saw the opening of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, as well as the reopening of Al Ain Museum, broadening the region's institutional landscape.
