The International Placemaking Week, presented by Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is an inspiring and engaging event designed as a global gathering of placemakers from different sectors to discuss thoughts and share strategies in order to push forward the concept of placemaking in the host city and on an international level. Previous editions took place in Vancouver in 2016, Amsterdam in 2017, and Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2019.

PPS, the nonprofit organization behind Placemaking Week, helps people create and sustain public spaces that build strong communities. In 1999, they elaborated “How to turn a place around”, a book that defined the placemaking movement, creating a guideline of 11 principles to follow in order to create vibrant community spaces.

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The Zaha Hadid-designed Business Stadium Central has been granted approval by the City of Vilnius. In collaboration with Lithuanian developer Hanner, the project seeks to become a new gathering place for the city, creating a variety of new public spaces and amenities with flexible workplaces as well as health and wellness facilities for everyone in Vilnius. Construction is scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

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"It's all about attitude and adjusting to the existing circumstances", explains Boonserm Premthada, when asked about his conceptual process. Founder of Bangkok Project Studio, and one of today's most influential Thai figures in architecture, Premthada has been the subject of Bêka & Lemoine's latest documentary, ‘Big Ears Listen With Feet’. The film highlights the personal story of the architect, unveiling all the events and happenings that shaped his unique identity and sensibility. "Deaf from birth", the short movie looks at how the architect's disability led him to listen in a different way, learning from elephants. who "despite their large ears [...] perceive sound mostly through their feet."

ArchDaily had the chance to talk with Boonserm Premthada, during Milan Design Week 2022 at the DAAily bar. Recipient of the Design Prize 2021|22 for social impact curated by designboom, the architect shared insights about his beginnings, his office as well as his creative approach, and his projects.

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The DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany 2023 has been awarded to Auer Weber for the Extension of the Starnberg District Office. Honoring yearly outstanding buildings in Germany since 2007, the DAM Prize has been bestowed by Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) for the seventh time, in close cooperation with JUNG as a cooperation partner. Fritz Auer and Dominik Fahr from Auer Weber as well as Stefan Frey from Starnberg District Office as the client's representatives received the award, during a ceremony held on January 27, 2023. This year's finalist projects included works by Allmann Sattler Wappner, ELEMENT·A Architekten and Hiendl Schineis Architektenpartnerschaft, Hütten & Paläste Architekten, and LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei.

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OMA / David Gianotten and Andreas Karavanas have won the competition to renovate the world’s oldest museum for Ancient Egyptian culture, the Museo Egizio founded in 1824 and housed in Collegio dei Nobili in Turin, Italy. The winning project aims to put in place a 2024 vision for the Museo Egizio, transforming the museum into a destination for scholars and a rediscovered public place for all.

In collaboration with, local architects Andrea Tabocchini Architecture, T-Studio, and historical consultant Professor Andrea Longhi, the proposal seeks to open the cultural space to all by creating a covered courtyard and a series of connected urban rooms within the existing settlement.

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Titled "January, February, March", the Georgian Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale is curated by the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. Exploring the relationship between the flow of time and energy, the Georgian intervention "will represent dead and living nature through the story of an artificially altered settlement in the Dusheti region of Georgia". Running from May 20th to November 26th, 2023 in the Giardini, at the Arsenale, and at various sites around Venice, the 18th International Architecture Exhibition tackles "the Laboratory of the Future".

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The world’s largest science fiction event Worldcon will take place in the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Under construction, the 59,000 sq. m venue that will host the 81st annual World Science Fiction Convention and the Hugo Awards, is set to become a vibrant center of innovation and gathering place for the “leading incubator of science fiction writing in China”. In fact, the city of Chengdu, home to over 20 million residents, is transforming into an important global center of scientific innovation and research.

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Videos

Keen to shape buildings and cities in Southern Europe, BIG has opened its latest office in Barcelona, Spain. Led by partner, João Albuquerque, the studio is seeking to create positive change and integrate into the city and the Spanish community. With a couple of projects spanning from the west to the east of the Mediterranean region, most notably Farfetch, and Fuse Valley campus in Portugal, the Joint Research Center in Sevilla for the European Commission, and the Gastronomy Open Ecosystem for Basque Culinary Center, BIG Barcelona is in constant evolution.

ArchDaily had the chance to talk to BIG Barcelona Partner João Albuquerque about the inception of the Barcelona office, his journey at BIG, and the firm's upcoming projects and involvement within the Spanish and Southern European markets.

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To honor the work of one of the greatest modernists of the 20th century, Oscar Niemeyer, American-Brazilian photo artist Paul Clemence has released images of the architect’s iconic Itamaraty Palace. Housing Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters, the structure is also known as the Palace of the Arches.

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The Royal Institute of British Architects has awarded RIBA House of the Year 2022, to a "contemporary new family house in rural Dorset," the Red House by David Kohn Architects. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, the structure "reinterprets the style in an intentionally provocative way [...] [with] playful eccentricity, including oversized eaves, patterned red brickwork, and contrasting bold green details".

Established in 2013, RIBA House of the Year is awarded to the best new house or house extension designed by an architect in the UK. Previous winners of the award that celebrates excellence and innovation in home design include Alison Brooks Architects for House on the Hill (2021), McGonigle McGrath for House Lessans (2019) HaysomWardMiller for Lochside House (2018), Richard Murphy Architects for Murphy House (2016), Skene Catling de la Peña for Flint House (2015), Loyn & Co for Stormy Castle (2014) and Carl Turner Architects for Slip House (2013).

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