Festival poster, courtesy of 48h Open House Barcelona.
Under the title Sent l'Arquitectura – Feel the Architecture – the sixteenth edition of 48h Open House Barcelona invites everyone to reflect on their sensory experience of space. For one weekend only, the most important architecture festival in the Barcelona metropolitan area once again opens doors that are usually closed, and more importantly, opens conversations about how we inhabit, perceive and transform the spaces around us.
The cover image, created by the authors, is a composite of urban design projects by Alvar, Aino, and Elissa Aalto featured in this book.
This book provides a fresh look at Alvar Aalto's regional and community planning work, particularly the ways in which he incorporated sustainability, resiliency, energy, and health, and examines how contemporary architects and planners can learn from this approach for the betterment of 21st-century urban design and our future cities. The Alvar Aalto Atelier planned and promoted regional development that combined ecological features, considered density, and offered a framework for informality, including flexible, adaptable infrastructures, with physical plans integrating communities with nature. These plans were largely suburban and contained vital lessons on how to deal with sprawl, traffic, landscape, energy, labor, and industry. This book analyzes letters, writings, and drawings not seen outside the Alvar Aalto Foundation, to review alternative ways to examine suburban landscapes and urban typologies, through sustainability, ecology, and use of digital technologies. This is an essential read for all those interested in the urban design work of Alvar Aalto. Written in an accessible way for those new to the work of Aalto, Architecture and Urban Design students of all levels will also find this a helpful guide on ecologically and socially responsible design.
Enter the The Next House: USA Architecture Competition now! $20,000 in prize money! Closing date for registration: May 20, 2026
For over half a century, the American suburban home has been more than just a building—it has been a cultural symbol, a promise, and at times a problem. Once imagined as the embodiment of comfort and stability, it now often represents excess, isolation, and environmental strain. How can this archetype be redefined for a century marked by climate urgency, economic pressure, and shifting social values? What does the "American home" mean today, and what should it mean tomorrow?
Open House Valencia 2025, courtesy of Academia Europea del Paisaje Urbano.
Open House Valencia returns for its seventh edition from 24 to 26 October, opening the doors of more than seventy buildings across the city and beyond. The programme will feature around twenty urban tours and a wide range of activities, including talks, technical visits, workshops, exhibitions, and cultural activities for all audiences. For the first time, the festival will expand beyond the city itself, with several guest municipalities joining the initiative and contributing their own itineraries, helping to broaden the event's regional reach.
The Architecture for Health Student Award honours outstanding master theses on the theme of Architecture for Health. This is intended to promote work in the field of healthcare architecture or architecture & urban planning for health and to encourage students in their motivation to engage in this important topic.
In the world of interior architecture, where creativity and culture intersect, Tola Ojuolape stands as a designer whose work is a testament to personal narrative. From her early studies in art and construction to her degree in interior architecture, Tola's career has been shaped by a deep connection to her Nigerian heritage, discovered during her travels back to the African continent. This journey has profoundly influenced her design philosophy, creating a process tightly woven with history, culture, and a sense of place.
The Nile Delta, in blue the rise of mean sea level with a 2°C increase above pre-industrial levels, Sentinel data. Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation, 2020
How Heavy is a City? This question instigates a three-year research project into the complex set of transformations of both the city and its backdrop, revealing a new figure in the making with a magnitude of planetary dimensions. To make sense of these transformations and sort out the underlying agencies, a re-assembly of architecture and what it means to build a collective environment is required.
Saudi Modern: Jeddah in Transition, 1938–1964 explores the urban and architectural transformation of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since the discovery of oil—highlighting the city's rapid modernization and societal change. This collection of essays and fifteen case studies bears witness to the dramatic evolution in Jeddah from traditional to contemporary structures, and to the profound impact this shift has had on communities and shared values. It thus establishes a common ground for learning from, evaluating, and critiquing notions of progress and modernization.
else No. 01: Morphological reading of a typology Swap Office, Fall 2025 Else is a bilingual zine, and in its first issue, it probes the restless edges of architectural typologies. Where forms hesitate, new possibilities unfold—edges erode, accesses multiply, cores whisper reinvention. Through stark red-blue diagrams that evolve across pages, this visual essay traces morphology’s subtle insurgencies, inviting designers to rechart the unspoken rules of spatial enclosure. Crafted by Swap Office in Tehran, its Persian-English text bridges local and global, sparking curiosity without dictating answers. Launched digitally in Fall 2025, else No. 01 is a call to explore the uncharted folds of making, hosted at swapoffice.ir. All content is original, designed to provoke and inspire.
The region's leading design festival, Dubai Design Week, brings together designers and creative practitioners to exchange ideas, collaborate and explore the evolving role of design in shaping a better collective future. Over the past decade, it has grown into a global platform with a strong emphasis on cross-cultural exchange and amplifying voices from West and South Asia, as well as the wider Global South.
Videos
Design, So I Can See You” is the first official campaign of Cairo Design Week. Reframing Socrates’ phrase, it sees design as a language of identity—how we express who we are and what we value, without saying a word.
Cairo Design Week stands as a cornerstone of Egypt's design landscape, bringing together creativity, culture and innovation. It provides a meeting ground for designers, artists and industry leaders to shape and elevate the design ecosystem in Egypt. Through a thoughtfully curated mix of events, exhibitions and experience, CDW invites participants to discover the rich and evolving tapestry of Egyptian and global design.
Winter Stations is an international design competition held annually in Toronto, Canada. We're calling artists, designers, and architects from around the world to submit public art proposals for the 2026 exhibition 'Mirage', exploring the boundary of what is seen and what is real in the age of AI.
Downtown Design is the anchor event of Dubai Design Week, the region's most important creative festival reflecting Dubai's position as the design capital of the Middle East; an extensive programme of events, bringing together the global design stage and attracting more than 100,000 visitors to the Dubai Design District (d3) across the week. In its latest edition, Downtown Design showcased the latest collections, innovative products and design solutions from over 300 prominent brands from across the globe, and rising talent of the region, complemented by a programme of talks, creative pop-ups and engaging experiences.
Cosmos / Memory / Scale - 8 October - 13 December - SOAS Gallery, London
The SOAS Gallery and the Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies presents a new major solo exhibition of Karl Singporewala's sculptural interpretations of Zoroastrian symbolism. The exhibition features large-scale architectural installations and new and past models, maquettes and artworks from his catalogue which explore his heritage through art and architectural form. It will also showcase historic objects on loan from cultural institutions and private collectors.
The Municipality of Burgas and the "Burgas 2032" Foundation are excited to announces the launch of the international architecture competition "A Space for Contemporary Art and Culture – Park Zone 3!"
Peace of mind is essential when selecting tapware for a commercial project. As a global leader in premium architectural fixtures and fittings, ABI Interiors is committed to delivering sustainable, design-led solutions that meet architects' practical and creative needs across commercial, residential, and large-scale developments.