Architecture firm HENN has launched CarbonBudget, a digital tool that calculates project-specific CO2 budgets for buildings. The new platform, free of charge, is a contribution for designers to help reach the 1.5°C target, a global goal from the Paris Agreement to limit long-term global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. As the construction industry is responsible for around one-third of global CO2 emissions, architectural design decisions can effectively contribute to containing global warming. The tool is designed to calculate whether the emissions of a building project located in Europe are compatible with the Paris Agreement target, based on specific inputs such as location and building area. The new platform joins other projects from international offices such as MVRDV NEXT's CarbonSpace, Grimshaw's Minoro, and Henning Larsen's OpenDetail, addressing decarbonization through shared digital information.
In November 2019, London-based Carmody Groarke and Ghent firm TRANS architectuur | stedenbouw, now known as ATAMA, won the Baumeister international competition to design an extension for Design Museum Gent, Belgium's largest design museum, located in Ghent's historic center. At the time, the museum comprised three buildings: the eighteenth-century Hotel de Coninck, the Leten House, with a sixteenth-century core, and a 1992 wing. After four years of renovation and expansion, the museum reopened on October 3, 2026, within the UNESCO World Heritage city center. The project combines the restoration of these historic buildings with a new wing designed by Carmody Groarke and ATAMA, alongside the restoration work led by RE-ST architectenvennootschap. The museum's collection spans design objects from the fourteenth century to the present, and the renewed building adds spaces for lectures, workshops, exhibitions and events, framing design as something visitors can use and engage with directly rather than only view.
Transformation of 530 dwellings / Lacaton & Vassal + Frédéric Druot + Christophe Hutin architecture. Image Courtesy of Philippe Ruault
The International Union of Architects designates the first Monday of October as World Architecture Day each year, aligning it with the United Nations' World Habitat Day. This year, both occasions are drawing attention to the global housing crisis as a fundamental element of human dignity, inclusion, and well-being. The UIA's motto reads: "Housing is a Human Right. Build It." The organization calls on architects to contribute to advancing equitable access to housing through design, research, and advocacy. From a holistic perspective, the crisis consists not only of a shortage of residential buildings, but of multiple, interconnected barriers to accessing an adequate place to live. The challenge calls on the dual nature of the architect's work: the capacity for abstract design thinking, and the practical knowledge to transform material reality. For architecture to make the right to housing a reality, both capacities must be put into practice: building new governance structures, different models of shared ownership, designs for alternative forms of cohabitation, and new, environmentally sustainable construction systems.
Xu Tiantian is the founding principal of DnA_Design and Architecture, an interdisciplinary practice that addresses both the physical and social dimensions of the contemporary living environment, across scales. Born in 1975 in Fujian, China, she received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a bachelor's degree in architecture from Tsinghua University in Beijing. Her recent work focuses on rural revitalization through a strategy she describes as "architectural acupuncture," understood as small-scale, site-specific interventions designed to activate local culture, agriculture, and tourism. These interventions, primarily concentrated in China's rural regions, have been recognized by UN-Habitat as a global model for urban–rural integration. In this interview with Louisiana Channel, she reflects on the role of the architect, questions architecture itself and the concept of beauty, explains her working methodology, and emphasizes the spatial dimension of nature.
The origins of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial trace back to the establishment of the CAFx yearly festival in 2014, which was renamed Copenhagen Architecture Forum in 2024 to lead new projects focused on architecture and urbanism, such as the shift from festival to biennial, with a first edition in 2025. Today, the details of the second edition are being announced: it will take place from September 9 to October 15, 2027, under the theme "Elements." After the Biennial's inaugural call to Slow Down, the event is turning its attention to the planetary elemental forces that architecture has sought to master and prepare to inhabit, questioning one of modernity's most persistent promises: control over the environment. Activities will be dedicated to and organized around each of the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water, including an open call for pavilions, exhibitions, and a symposium.
A jury of arts and architecture professionals recently announced the selected curatorial proposal for the Luxembourg Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2027. The exhibition will be curated by housing expert Céline Zimmer and architects Bùi Quý Sơn and Paul-Antoine Lucas, co-founders of the critical spatial practice Exutoire, one of the winning practices of the ArchDaily 2026 Next Practices Awards. The proposal is titled "Excess! On the Overconsumption of Living Space" and addresses the inequitable distribution of living space as a reflection of "broader habits of excess that contribute to the current housing and ecological crises." The issue will be illustrated through a dialogue between the realities of Luxembourg and Vietnam to reflect on spatial consumption. The Luxembourg Pavilion is located on the first floor of the Sale d'Armi in the Arsenale, which will open to the public for the Biennale on May 8, 2027.
A campaign led by Red Lima Milenaria is seeking UNESCO recognition for pre-colonial sites in the Peruvian capital. Today, more than 600 archaeological sites remain in Lima, a metropolis of 11 million people. The citizens' campaign seeks to improve conservation conditions and public awareness of the sites that resisted European colonization by promoting the nomination of a selection of structures for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The public campaign was recently launched to gather citizen support and establish partnerships with organizations working in heritage and related fields, in order to prepare the framework for a formal nomination to be submitted by the Peruvian state. The initiative coincides with reconstruction movements in the continent responding to socioeconomic inequality and structural historical injustices, raising questions about the very definition of heritage.
Some urban experiences are etched into our memory through a shift in pace. The postmodern city has often been described as an experience lived at the rhythm of motorized mobility, in contrast to the stroll, the promenade, or even the processions that preceded it. In a fast-paced urban culture, walkability is championed in urban planning not only as a factor of safety and social cohesion, but also as a path to a more sensory way of life. This selection of unbuilt projects submitted by ArchDaily readers showcases design examples that prioritize the experience of the environment through a pedestrian pace. Beyond respecting walking as a mobility choice, these conceptual proposals link the act of walking with contemplation of one's surroundings, respect for what already exists, and connection with other people.
This week began with the United Nations' commemoration of the International Day of Peace, an invitation to ask what conditions are needed to cultivate nonviolence, social stability, and respect for human dignity. Against a backdrop of growing individual isolation, authoritarianism, and a multidimensional material crisis, we've gathered articles in which architecture mediates between conflict and coexistence through the construction of spaces for encounter and memory. Other news this week highlights a disciplinary tool that brings those two concepts together: the transformation of what we have already built to bring it up to date with our needs and aspirations, while another group of high-profile, large-scale projects opens in the Global North. On our radar, we also take a look at new projects in Dubai, Oxford, Portland and Paris, from major international firms.
On September 16, 2026, Google announced the redevelopment of Chicago's Thompson Center as a space for work, culture, and community. The James R. Thompson Center is a postmodern architectural landmark designed by Helmut Jahn and completed in 1985. Commissioned by Illinois Governor James R. Thompson, the building reinterprets the classical state capitol by turning the traditional dome-and-public-plaza concept inside out. Occupying an entire city block in Chicago's Loop, it features a multicolored, curved glass atrium and a sloping, transparent corner entry. Controversial from day one, it has been criticized for poor climate control, high maintenance costs, and structural and leak issues. To restore it rather than demolish it, the company collaborated with Architecture Plus Information (A+I) to design a project that would integrate the building into the urban life of Chicago's Loop.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially opens its doors to the public today, September 22, 2026. The museum's sculptural, curved silhouette was designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, with landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA and Stantec serving as executive architect. The opening follows a Founding Members Preview held from September 5 to 11, giving members an exclusive early look at the galleries, and a star-studded opening night on Saturday, September 19, featuring celebrity co-chairs at a launch event for the museum, co-founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson. The date aligns with the announcement made by the institution nearly a year ago, though the project has a longer history: approved in 2017, with construction beginning the following year, the opening was originally planned for 2025. The museum sits within an 11-acre (4.5-hectare) site in Los Angeles's Exposition Park and comprises a 300,000-square-foot (27,900-square-meter) structure featuring galleries, two theaters, a retail store, a library, a café, a restaurant, and event spaces.
"Right to Housing! Now and Forever" is an official European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) to demand affordable, sustainable, and fair housing across the European Union. The ECI is a governance tool that allows citizens to propose new laws for the European Commission to consider. Initiatives must be organized by a group of at least seven EU citizens living in seven different countries and must gather 1 million valid signatures within one year of receiving official approval. The signature collection for "Right to Housing! Now and Forever" launched on September 14, 2026, and aims to collect 1.2 million signatures across the EU to require the European Commission to formally respond to and address the proposal. The project builds on the HouseEurope! European Citizens' Initiative, which focused strictly on building renovation and closed unsuccessfully on January 31, 2026. This new proposal, put forward by a broader coalition, encompasses not only renovation but also financing tools and measures to ensure access.
Mecanoo's Lawson Centre for Sustainability is the first new building for Trinity College since 1979. One of the most anticipated projects of 2026, it was designed to be one of Canada's most advanced sustainability-driven academic and residential buildings. Mecanoo worked in collaboration with Toronto architecture firm RDHA to design a sustainable community and "living lab," building on the College's traditions around shared meals and communal gatherings. Instead of the fourteen-story high-rise tower originally envisioned by the College, the team designed a walkable building that frames the existing campus and creates new landscapes for food production and social encounters. The broader campus vision included food, nature, work with local materials, and hands-on learning about sustainable living.
Benghazi 2050: Vision and Digital Planning Hub. Old Town. Image Courtesy of ZHA
A team composed of ZHA, A&O TEC, Prior + Partners, Homa, Buro Happold, Systematica, and Fichtner recently unveiled its concept proposal for the "Next Generation City Plan" for Benghazi, Libya. The project aims to bring together the historic port city's identity-defining features with the planning technologies required to guide its development toward 2050, in a context of rapid urbanization. The proposal, developed for A&O TEC, includes a Vision and Spatial Strategy, which consists of an interpretation of the city's character and collective memory translated into an adaptable framework for development, and a Digital Planning Hub, an evidence-based model mapping the city to identify its potential and the phenomena shaping its growth.
From October 9 to 11, "Oficios en obra" (Trades at Work) will take place at the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso in Chile, a learning and collaboration event centered on the city's traditional construction trades. Organized by the Municipality, the gathering seeks to highlight and preserve work techniques historically tied to the construction of Valparaíso, promoting their recognition and helping ensure their continuity among new generations through activities that are open and free to the public. Once the most important port on the South Pacific, Valparaíso's architecture bears witness to diverse applications of structural timber, rammed earth, and industrial technologies imported during the 19th century. This makes it a subject of study for traditional trades and construction techniques that are being revalued in contemporary contexts of climate and economic crisis, serving as an alternative path forward.
On the International Day of Democracy, this year the United Nations revisits a traditional idea within the concept: broad citizen participation in government decision-making. On this occasion, the international body invites reflection on how participation and the inclusion of diverse voices in government decision-making can help build a more equitable society. From a spatial perspective, reflection on democracy can move beyond this vertical framing and instead understand it through encounter. What does it mean for a space to be democratic? How can architecture contribute to achieving the principles historically associated with democracy? In the current context of crisis in political organization systems worldwide, this day serves as a platform to question individualization and authoritarianism through the socio-spatial tools available to us.
