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Industrial buildings are often expected to prioritize efficiency, production, and technical performance above all else. As a result, architectural quality is frequently treated as secondary to functional requirements. Advances in material systems, however, allow industrial facilities to balance both, creating buildings that respond to climate, improve working conditions, and establish a distinctive architectural identity.

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Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed the Lola Mora Cultural Center in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, a new cultural institution dedicated to the life and work of Argentine sculptor Lola Mora (1866-1936). Located in the country's northwestern region, the project is the firm's first cultural building in South America and the final project led by its founder, the late César Pelli. Designed as a net-zero facility, the center brings together six of Mora's monumental marble sculptures for the first time in more than a century, providing a permanent home for works that were previously displayed outdoors in Jujuy.

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Louisville's Belvedere in Kentucky is a 53-year-old gathering place for concerts, festivals, and community events. The elevated concrete plaza was built on top of the city's largest parking structure and stands over a major highway overpass. Since 1973, it has functioned as a riverfront civic space for events and large gatherings, but its use as a casual public space is in evident decline. In its current state, the space lacks shade, greenery, and amenities, while the concrete deck has worn over the years. In February 2025, Heatherwick Studio unveiled the first images of its vision to transform the Belvedere, a project commissioned by the city's mayor and the Louisville Metro Government. This week, the firm released new images of the redesign as an open, green, and flexible space connected to downtown Louisville.

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Getting away is a long-held fantasy and desire. In literature, film, and music, people have created imaginary journeys, possible worlds, and settings for enjoyment. It is that fantasy that fuels a specific architectural typology: the hotel. Against a backdrop of scrutiny of tourism, the climate costs of travel, and the competition and externalities associated with short-term rentals, that fantasy takes on even more striking forms. A hotel is no longer just a place to stay, but a space for enjoyment that can encompass a wide range of activities, such as entertainment, relaxation, sharing a meal, and even working. This diverse range of concepts takes on organic and impressive forms in the seven unbuilt projects compiled in this article, which range from urban hotels to beach resorts.

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Craft in contemporary interiors is increasingly valuable in the way materials are joined and brought into relation with one another. As the appetite for fast, inexpensive, and profitable retrofitting grows, there is also a parallel desire for interiors that feel thoughtfully resolved: spaces where details are integrated, material assemblies are considered, textures transition with intention, and hardware is treated as part of the architectural language rather than an afterthought. In many contemporary Chinese interiors, craft operates quietly through the treatment of surfaces and structures: timber that retains its irregularity, terrazzo that records aggregate and handwork, or finishes that reveal the care of their making.

This is especially important in an era when digital images increasingly reward smoothness. Rendered interiors often appear seamless, frictionless, and complete before construction has even begun. Craft complicates this image. It introduces tolerance, texture, material resistance, and the sense that a surface has passed through human hands before becoming architecture. Imperfection is not necessarily a failure of precision. To the eye that knows how to read it, it can become evidence of process.

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sauerbruch hutton and Studio Gang have been selected to renovate the German House in New York following an international competition organized by the Federal Republic of Germany. Located on United Nations Plaza in Manhattan, the building houses the Consulate General of Germany, the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations, and several affiliated cultural institutions. The project marks the first collaboration between the two practices. Berlin-based sauerbruch hutton will serve as Lead Designer, while Studio Gang will act as General Planner and Architect of Record, overseeing project delivery and implementation. The proposal focuses on adapting the existing building, with the stated goal of extending its lifespan while improving its operational and environmental performance.

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