Buildner, in partnership with the Government of Dubai, has announced the results of the 2024/25 House of the Future competition. Following the success of its inaugural edition in 2023, this second edition invited architects and designers worldwide to develop an affordable, expandable, and forward-thinking prototype home tailored to the evolving needs of Emirati families.
Organized in collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation and the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, the competition offered a total prize fund of €250,000 (1 million AED). Winning entries are now being reviewed for potential inclusion in the UAE's national catalogue of housing designs, which provides citizens with a selection of pre-approved, innovative home models.
The North Gate of Taipei, also known as Beimen, stands not only as a reminder of the city's complex history but also as a witness to the changing urban landscape around it, and its shifting attitudes towards the urban spaces bordering heritage buildings. Initially a Chinese imperial frontier, spared from demolition during the Japanese colonial dominion, crowded by overpasses and highways in the postwar modernization efforts, it has recently regained its prominent status through the development of the plaza that now frames it. The gate's resilience through shifting urban priorities and architectural policies tells a story of heritage preservation not only through the built form, but also through the open spaces framing it.
Daylight is one of the most effective tools in architecture. It creates atmosphere, improves comfort, and reduces energy demand. However, integrating daylight successfully requires precision at every project stage, from the first sketches to detailed planning. VELUXBIM tools give architects the flexibility and verified data to make that possible.
The preservation of the environment and the harmonious integration of the built and natural elements are fundamental principles in contemporary architecture. Various design strategies are employed to achieve this balance, ranging from the revival of vernacular techniques to the use of advanced technologies. However, this concern goes beyond the choice of specific construction systems or innovative materials; it also manifests in the design approach that ensures the preservation of the site's natural elements. In this context, we present 15 homes designed to protect local trees, showcasing how architectural decisions can adapt to nature rather than impose on it.
Series 8670 Casement Window. Image Courtesy of Western Window Systems
Windows have long held an ambivalent role in architecture, as they both define and enclose interiors while simultaneously creating a link to the outdoors. This dual function goes beyond simply meeting construction needs or providing daylight, directly influencing how occupants experience and engage with the views. The 20th century saw the introduction of materials such as steel, aluminum, and glass, which enabled different types of windows with thinner frames and expansive panes, enhancing transparency and reinforcing the visual connection with the surrounding setting.
American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson explored these possibilities to harmonize architecture with landscape. In Fallingwater House, windows and terraces seamlessly connect the house to the waterfall and surrounding forest, whereas the Glass House's minimal framing nearly dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, bringing the natural environment to life inside the house. Through its evolution, windows have become an element that unites space, materials, and perception, opening new pathways for exploring the relationship between architecture and its environment.
https://www.archdaily.com/1034016/framing-interiors-and-landscapes-in-aluminum-and-glass-to-master-the-viewEnrique Tovar
What is architecture? For some, its traditional role is to bring together imagination, technical knowledge, and problem-solving, allowing architects to design and construct while balancing ideas with the means to realize them. From the stone and wood of early buildings to the steel and concrete of the 20th century, each era demanded not only an understanding of form but also of the properties and potential of the materials in use. This grasp of materials has always been a core part of the creative process, though its scope was limited by the know-how and technologies available.
Over time, that balance has begun to shift. Architects have moved from merely using materials to actively designing them, applying scientific principles and experimenting with biological, chemical, and computational processes. This evolution has expanded the possibilities of architecture, intersecting nature, technology, and art, while pushing the role of the architect into a more experimental, science-driven dimension, where the manipulation and creation of materials becomes central to the creative act rather than merely a means to achieve forms or structures.
One challenge connects every office: noise. HushGuide is a new resource from Hushoffice that takes on this ubiquitous design problem headfirst with clarity and detail. It offers a roadmap for fine-tuning any workplace into a quieter, healthier, more productive space using acoustic pods and complementary furnishings, thoughtfully planned. From step-by-step advice to technical guidelines and visual layout strategies, the guide bridges vision with implementation, promising to help architects, designers, and facility managers bring acoustic balance to their own office ecosystems.
Jafar Centre at Dubai College. Image Courtesy of Godwin Austen Johnson
Established in the UAE in 1989 by Chairman Brian Johnson and now led by Managing Director Jason Burnside, Godwin Austen Johnson draws on a British design lineage dating back to 1847 and has contributed to the development of the Middle East's built environment for over three decades. Its 110 multinational professionals, based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and the United Kingdom, work across disciplines, combining technical rigor, contextual analysis, and digital methodologies within a collaborative design process.
Barbie™ and HEWI have joined forces to launch a bold sanitary collection that marries timeless Bauhaus design with Barbie's unmistakable pink-hued world. Presented in 2025, the Barbie x HEWI line spans nearly 40 bathroom products, from towel holders to folding support rails, and is designed to be both functional and inclusive. With a focus on individuality and accessibility, the collaboration reimagines the bathroom as a space where design meets diversity, whether installed in boutique hotels, private homes, or healthcare facilities. Rooted in HEWI's German design legacy and Barbie's global cultural influence, the series invites users to experience 'Design with Unlimited Possibilities.'
https://www.archdaily.com/1034331/form-function-and-a-splash-of-pink-inside-the-barbie-x-hewi-collectionEirini Ilia
Urban policymakers and developers increasingly brand projects as temporary, piloting pop-up parks, art installations, and interim structures across global cities. Initiatives are often framed as experimental interventions that activate vacant sites. In practice, however, they frequently serve as provisional strategies to manage underutilized land until more profitable forms of development materialize. The temporary label functions as urban camouflage, obscuring permanent agendas behind provisional rhetoric.
Innovation is at the core of architecture, expressed through new approaches to design, material experimentation, and, of course, ways of living. As a result, the conception of buildings and indoor spaces is constantly evolving. This evolution is especially evident in regions with a rich cultural heritage, such as Spain, where innovation reinterprets traditional ways of relating to space. This attentiveness to memory and daily life extends into interiors, where each intervention has the potential to actively reshape how people experience a space and open new possibilities for living and interaction.
Transcending their role as mere infrastructure, bridges have long served as powerful architectural statements. This expressive potential is now being explored with renewed vigor across South-East Asia, where a growing number of architects are re-evaluating traditional materials. By championing wood and bamboo, these designers are creating distinctive structures that integrate local craftsmanship with contemporary needs, resulting in landmarks that are both functional and deeply rooted in their landscape.
Blending vernacular techniques with contemporary experimentation, Mexico's architectural landscape is shaped by a continuous dialogue between tradition, materiality, and modernity. As the fifth most biodiverse country in the world, Mexican architecture seeks to respond to its vast range of natural environments, climates, and cultural traditions, all within a territory marked by striking contrasts. Reflecting a visible duality, it can embody both exclusivity and act as a catalyst for social transformation.
ArchDaily is proud to reveal the winners of the 5th edition of Next Practices, recognizing 20 groundbreaking architectural practices from around the globe. These firms embody the creativity, innovation, interdisciplinary approach and social responsibility that are shaping the future of architecture and expanding its horizons.
An architecture degree may provide a vast curriculum, but many of the skills needed for a project lie outside the discipline. This is especially true for urban-scale projects. They demand expertise in areas like traffic studies, structural calculations, landscape design, and technical installation forecasting. These are often seen as "complementary" but are, in fact, fundamental to the overall design.
In a country like Portugal, with a relatively small but geographically diverse territory, the challenge of connecting different parts of the territory – whether to cross a river or link one level of a city to another – is a constant one. Its largest metropolitan areas, such as Lisbon and Porto, share a rugged geography of steep valleys and hills. These features led to the development of elevators and funiculars, like the Santa Justa Lift and the Bica Funicular in Lisbon, and the Guindais Funicular in Porto. Today, besides improving urban mobility, they have become tourist landmarks.
Example of the Nested Floor System capacities. Courtesy of Offsite Wood and Quebec Wood Export Bureau
The latest release of Offsitewood.org marks a significant step forward in making offsite wood construction more approachable for architects. Version 2.0 introduces a set of digital resources aimed at helping designers model, plan, and collaborate more efficiently.
Free downloadable libraries are a central and expanding feature of the site. Additionally, new applications and services are now available that include wood material e-sample viewers, an advanced panelization and framing toolbar for Revit, and a collaborative workspace for project optimization.
"Dance, dance… otherwise we are lost." This oft-cited phrase by Pina Bausch encapsulates not only the urgency of movement, but its capacity to reveal space itself. In her choreographies, space is never a neutral backdrop, it becomes a partner, an obstacle, a memory. Floors tilt, chairs accumulate, walls oppress or liberate. These are architectural conditions, staged and contested through the body. What Bausch exposes — and what architecture often forgets — is that space is not simply built, it is performed. Her work invites architects to think not only in terms of materials and forms, but of gestures, relations, and rhythms. It suggests that architecture, like dance, is ultimately about how we inhabit, structure, and emotionally charge the spaces we move through.
Historically, architecture and dance have operated in parallel, shaping human experience through the body's orientation in space and time. From the choreographed rituals of classical temples to the axial logics of Baroque palaces, built space has always implied movement. The Bauhaus took this further, as Oskar Schlemmer's Triadic Ballet visualized space as a geometric extension of the body. This was not scenery, but spatial thinking made kinetic. In the 20th century, choreographers like William Forsythe and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker integrated architectural constraints into their scores, while architects such as Steven Holl, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Toyo Ito designed buildings that unfold as spatial sequences, inviting movement, drift, and delay.
Revitalisation of Historic Esna, Egypt. Image Courtesy of Takween ICD
Among the seven winners of this year's 16th Aga Khan Award for Architecture was theRevitalisation of Historic Esna in southern Egypt. Led by the Cairo-based firm Takween, the project was far more than a simple restoration. It was a comprehensive renewal effort that combined deep community engagement with the preservation of both tangible and intangible heritage. By creating thousands of jobs and restoring the historic center, the initiative offered a powerful alternative to demolition. The Aga Khan Trust lauded it as a 'replicable model for sustainable development'.
This year marks 20 years since the first VELUX Daylight Symposium—two decades of shared insights, ideas, and exploration into the role of daylight in our built environment. Since its humble beginnings in 2005, the symposium has grown into a leading international forum for cross-disciplinary dialogue on daylight.
The 10th edition, taking place in the heart of Copenhagen, will once again bring together researchers, architects, engineers, and policymakers to examine the evolving role of daylight in architecture and design. It's a space where science and practice meet to reflect on past learnings and look ahead to the future of daylight in our cities and spaces. Join the livestream on September 18th, 2025, from 09:00 to 17:30 (CEST).
Construction group for the Circo-lô at the IDE Association, in Botucatu | SP. Photo: Tomaz Lotufo
Historically, the first universities in the contemporary model were established in Europe to educate elites for the State and the Church, rather than to promote social emancipation. With the rise of capitalism, they became privileged centers for producing and reproducing modern Western culture. However, from the 1960s onward—particularly after the student uprisings of May 1968—the academic focus shifted toward market-oriented values, displacing humanist and critical ideals. The humanities lost prominence, while technical fields gained central importance, often at the expense of reflecting on the social impact of their work.
Since its opening in 1987, Four Winds Field — home of the AA Minor League team South Bend Cubs — has undergone several transformations. In each of them, brick has remained a central architectural element, evoking tradition, permanence, and a distinct urban character. Now, with a major expansion underway, the stadium reaffirms this legacy while embracing innovative construction techniques, most notably, the integration of thin brick as a contemporary solution that honors the past without compromising technical performance.
With deep roots, sturdy trunks, and the ability to withstand extreme temperatures, date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) are among the species best adapted to the arid desert environment. It is no coincidence that in many local indigenous cultures they are known as the "tree of life," as their fruits, leaves, and trunks have provided food, shelter, and building materials for thousands of years. Without them, much of human settlement in desert regions would not have been possible. Today, widely cultivated across desert regions around the world, the species continues to sustain traditional agricultural practices, yet its potential can be further enhanced and expanded through the efforts of contemporary researchers.
Utopian Hours returns to Turin as Europe's leading festival dedicated to city making and urban innovation. Three days packed with inspiration: masterclasses, talks, workshops, roundtables, and exhibitions. Recipes and case studies from around the world show how urban (and social) innovation happens — and how the very idea of city-making is being stretched in bold new directions. More than 40 international guests, the most influential media, leading urban gurus, and Europe's sharpest city officials are all gathering in Turin to exchange ideas, tools, experiences, solutions, desires, and passions.
