Architecture News

The Estonian Centre for Architecture has chosen the exhibition “Home Stage,” curated by Aet Ader, Arvi Anderson, Mari Möldre of b210 Architects, to represent the Pavilion of Estonia at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Hosted in a rental apartment close to the rear exit of the Arsenale complex, the exhibition explores the contradiction between the living place as a home and as an exchange value. Various Estonian performers will each spend a month in the Venetian rental apartment, which will become both a home and a stage. The exhibition will be open from May 20 to November 26, 2023.

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The Naomi Milgrom Foundation announced Tadao Ando as the winner of the commission to design the MPavilion 10 in Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne. This will be Ando’s first project in Australia, as he will be taking part in the country’s foremost annual architecture commission and design festival. Now in its 10^th edition, the MPavilion gives complete freedom to the designers to create their concepts and realize their vision, hoping to encourage new and unique design languages to further develop this vital site in the cultural and community life of Melbourne. Details of Tadao Ando’s design will be revealed in May, and the pavilion is scheduled to open to the public on November 16, 2023.

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The Developer Red Sea Global has partnered with the wellness brand Clinique La Prairie to develop a high-end health resort in Amaala, located on the northwest coastline of Saudi Arabia. The resort will host 13 villas and 52 houses and suites. It will also feature a diagnostics lab, a museum, a beach club, workshops, training rooms, private dining spaces, and a cooking school, activities that ensure that the visitors embark on a journey of rejuvenation and self-discovery.

The finalists for the Opera of the Future competition have been announced. This urban planning competition, commissioned by the state capital of Düseldorf, was created to select a location for the new cultural institution. After an extensive examination of potential site locations, the two options for the competition proposals were: Heinrich-Heiene-Allee, where the current opera house is, and Am Wehrhahn.

Throughout the brief, firms were encouraged to figure out how this future project could become a lively and public space open to the entire city, offering a wide range of services. As a result, submissions were received for both prospective buildings, and the finalists for each location were announced. 

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The UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 is an invitation for architects from all around the world to meet in Copenhagen to explore and communicate how architecture influences all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Science Track of the UIA World Congress has been tasked with the development of the agenda, Sustainable Futures – Leave No One Behind. For more than two years, its international Scientific Committee has been analyzing the various ways in which architecture responds to the SDGs. The work has resulted in the formulation of six themes: climate adaptation, rethinking resources, resilient communities, health, inclusivity, and partnerships for change. ArchDaily is collaborating with UIA to share articles pertaining to the six themes to prepare for the opening of the Congress on July 2, 2023.

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This year, we celebrate the fifteenth edition of our Obra del Año (Building of the Year) award: the highest recognition in the Spanish-speaking architectural world, with winners selected by public vote. Starting today, Thursday, March 9, you and all of our readers will be responsible for choosing the projects built during 2022 that inspired us and now faithfully represent the identity of our local contexts.

The 7th edition of the ArchDaily Brasil Building of the Year award has arrived, and once again we need your help to select the best architectural projects of the year. By voting, you become part of an unbiased network of jurors recognizing the most relevant projects of 2022.

Over the next three weeks, the collective intelligence of our readers will filter hundreds of projects from Portuguese-speaking countries — Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe — published in 2022, selecting the best built works in the Portuguese-speaking world.

Out of hundreds of projects published in 2022, readers will choose their favorites, with the 15 most-voted projects advancing to the second stage of the award.

The 2023 Building of the Year Award is presented by Dornbracht, an internationally renowned company for kitchen and bathroom products.

Design X has announced the list of participating artists that will present installations at the fourth edition of the site-specific international art exhibitions. The twelve artists from Europe, North America and South Asia are preparing immersive works that span sculpture, painting, architecture, design, film, performance, and environmental activism. The exhibition is open from March 4 until May 7, 2023, at sites across the Coachella Valley, in the Colorado Desert in the United States.

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In this edition of the 2023 Venice Biennale, the Korean Pavilion, curated by artistic Directors Soik Jung and Kyong Park, presents “2086: Together How?” bringing together architects, community leaders, and artists to explore how people can cooperate in withstanding the current and future environmental crisis until 2086 when the global population is said to the peak. The exhibition invites visitors to imagine an eco-cultural revolution by critically reassessing the world's capitalist, globalist, and colonial history. The viewers will be encouraged to reconsider current conditions through a participatory video game and a series of multidisciplinary installations that include photographs, drawings, models, videos, and architectural installations.

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The Portuguese office MASSLAB, in collaboration with AFRY Ark Studio, won the Train Factory Mixed-Use Competition, an international competition in two stages whose main objective was to create a landmark for the city of Helsinki, Finland. The proposal was selected from five world-renowned architectural consortia.

The Train Factory Group and the City Council of Helsinki organized the competition, and the proposal “A roof for Helsinki” was chosen. The old electric train building will be transformed into a 45,000 m² complex for offices, retail and a hotel, reimagined as part of the social, commercial and cultural heritage.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha will be honored with two major exhibitions this year by Casa da Arquitectura in Matosinhos, northern Portugal. Geografias Construídas: Paulo Mendes da Rocha, uma Retrospectiva is curated by Jean-Louis Cohen and Vanessa Grossman, with exhibition design by Eduardo Souto de Moura and Nuno Graça Moura, while Paulo is curated by Rui Furtado and Marta Moreira, with exhibition design by Ricardo Bak Gordon. Both open on May 26.

From April 20 to 30, Barcelona will once again host the Model Festival, an event that aims to transform the city into a platform for emerging architectural and design talent, as well as global thought leaders. Founded in 2022 by the Ajuntament de Barcelona and managed this year by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, the festival aims to create a space of exploration and inspiration for all citizens, turning the city's streets into a laboratory for architectural and urban experimentation and dissemination. It will once again feature the artistic direction of Eva Franch i Gilabert, alongside a broad team of architects, curators, and more than 50 local institutions and organizations selected through an open call.

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A. Eugene (Gene) Kohn, co-founder of the internationally renowned architecture office Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, has passed away aged 92, after a year-long fight with cancer. Gene Kohn co-founded Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in 1976, along with partners William Pedersen and Sheldon Fox, helping to shape it into one of the most impactful architectural practices worldwide. He was recognized for his ability to find creative solutions and to build consensus between designers and developers through his understanding of the relationship between architecture and commerce. He also taught at Harvard, Columbia, and his alma mater University of Pennsylvania.

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MAD Architects, Led by Ma Yansong, has just revealed its design for the Danshuis, dutch for The Dance House. The project will transform the riverfront Provimi warehouse into a cultural destination in Rotterdam. The Danshuis initiative seeks to convert the old warehouse into a vibrant multi-use studio based on movement and performing arts, a vibrant place to exchange world dance culture. The Droom en Daad Foundation, the primary client of the project, hopes to place Rotterdam on the map as a world leader in arts and culture.

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Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira was chosen by the Holy See to create the installation that will represent it at the Venice Architecture Biennale, which will take place between May 20 and November 26, 2023. In collaboration with Studio Albori from Italy, the pavilion of the Vatican, curated by Roberto Cremascoli, will be dedicated to the theme of social friendship. This is in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the pontificate of Pope Francis.

To mark International Women's Day, the high school research projects awarded the Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture were presented at the historic Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. In addition, the call for applications for the new 2023/2024 edition has been opened.

Hospitality expert Liz Lambert has announced a collaboration with ICON, the office that pioneered large-scale 3D printing, and BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, to rebuild El Cosmico, a campground hotel in Marfa, Texas. The team plans to relocate the venue to a 62 acres plot, where new architectural approaches are made possible by including advanced technologies and 3D-printing elements such as domes, vaults, and parabolic forms. The innovative development will feature guest accommodation and new hospitality programming, including a pool, spa, and shared communal facilities. The project is expected to break ground in 2024.

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The Diversity in Architecture Award (DIVIA) has selected its 5 finalists, from a list of 29 nominees: Tosin Oshinowo (Nigeria), May al-Ibrashy (Egypt), Marta Maccaglia (Peru), Noella Nibakuze (Rwanda), and Katherine Clarke and Liza Fior (UK). The prize, dedicated to women architects, celebrates female figures by awarding and validating their work. Based in Berlin, the award platform promotes equality between men and women, making the discipline observable to all, and setting an example for the next generation of younger women architects.

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