Communicating an idea using only the essentials is a far greater challenge than it often appears. From Japanese haikus to the refined sculptures of Constantin Brâncuși, many artistic expressions have sought to condense the maximum meaning with the minimum of elements. This economy of form is not a sign of scarcity, but of intensity: every stroke, every word, every silence gains weight. There is something intrinsically appealing in what presents itself as simple and well-resolved, whether it is a text that wastes no words, a tennis player who moves with purposeful gestures, or a melody that is both direct yet unexpectedly profound.
That same principle, which transcends various artistic languages, resonates deeply in contemporary design. When reduced to the essential, furniture or everyday objects reveal a form of beauty that arises from precision and transcends their function. This is exemplified by HUM, the new collection of taps developed by designer Philippe Malouin for QuadroDesign, in which a simple gesture is transformed into a complete language.
Uzbekistan's architectural and artistic heritage reflects a layered history shaped by centuries of cultural exchange along the Silk Road. From the monumental ensembles of Samarkand and Bukhara to the scientific and educational institutions of the Timurid era, architecture has long been a vessel of identity and knowledge across the region. In the twentieth century, Tashkent emerged as a new urban laboratory, where modernist ideals met local craft traditions and environmental pragmatism. The city's reconstruction following the 1966 earthquake became a defining moment, fusing Soviet urbanism with regional aesthetics to produce a distinctly Central Asian expression of modernity, one that translated cultural continuity into concrete, glass, and light.
Adolescent Girls Co-Design and Build their Public Spaces in Beirut June 2024. Image Courtesy of CatalyticAction
Make Space for Girls (MSFG) is a London-based charity that campaigns for public spaces and parks in the United Kingdom to be more inclusive of teenage girls. The organization conducts research on how public spaces are used and designed, raises awareness about perceived inequalities in their use, and collaborates with public and private institutions to promote the representation of teenage girls in the planning and design of outdoor environments. Their research indicates that their exclusion from the design of parks and public spaces often leaves them without places where they feel welcomed or valued, and that parks and public spaces for older children and teenagers are currently designed for the default male. From 8 to 15 October, the organization is running a fundraising campaign to support the implementation of its new three-year strategy aimed at promoting more inclusive public spaces.
Every act of building begins with the transformation of raw materials, energy, and land, and this inevitably entails environmental impact. This encompasses all the changes a process triggers in the natural world: from resource extraction to pollutant emissions, from energy consumption to biodiversity loss. Measuring this is complex, as it spans multiple dimensions. Carbon has emerged as the common metric, translating these effects into greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ equivalent) directly linked to global warming. This standardization has made it omnipresent and comparable across materials, systems, and sectors. Reducing carbon emissions, therefore, means addressing the root of global warming, which is a particularly urgent task in the construction industry, responsible for about 39% of global emissions. In response to this challenge, MVRDV NEXT, the innovation and digital tools division of the Dutch architectural firm, launched CarbonSpace, a free, open platform that brings carbon accounting to the architect's desk, right at the napkin sketch stage.
Architecture goes beyond its fundamental function of defining spaces and providing protection; it shapes the user experience, influencing sensations of comfort, spaciousness, and well-being. Among the many elements that make up a building, openings play a crucial role in connecting the interior and exterior, balancing privacy with transparency, and allowing the entry of natural light and ventilation. In particular, natural light transforms environments, defines atmospheres, and enhances architectural details, making spaces more dynamic and inviting.
India carries an ancient lineage of tradition that has long shaped the very conception and crafting of its cities. Vastu Shastra is one such tradition, more a science than a belief, intimately woven into the principles of architectural design. The practice remains widespread and highly regarded, with 93% of homes designed to align with Vastu principles. As India urbanizes at an unprecedented pace, projected to add 416 million city dwellers by 2050, Vastu Shastra continues to influence billions of real estate decisions amid the trials of modern city living. How might an 8,000-year-old spatial science evolve to guide the design of cities housing millions?
Today, on the first Monday of October, we celebrate World Architecture Day. This year, the International Union of Architects (UIA) has set the theme "Design for Strength," a powerful call to action that resonates deeply with the UN's focus on urban crisis response. In a world facing unprecedented environmental and social disruptions, this theme challenges us to move beyond temporary fixes. It asks: How can our buildings and cities not only withstand shocks but also foster equity, continuity, and resilience?
While the concept of strength in architecture can easily evoke images of reinforced concrete and steel, a more profound interpretation is emerging, one that defines strength not as mere rigidity, but as a holistic capacity to endure and adapt. This includes many facets, from ecological resilience and stewardship to long-lasting concepts of social resilience or the long-lasting conservation of existing urban structures, all contributing to a built environment more able to respond to the multitude of crises faced by cities worldwide.
Buildner, in partnership with the Government of Dubai, has announced the results of the 2024/25 House of the Future competition. Following the success of its inaugural edition in 2023, this second edition invited architects and designers worldwide to develop an affordable, expandable, and forward-thinking prototype home tailored to the evolving needs of Emirati families.
Organized in collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation and the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, the competition offered a total prize fund of €250,000 (1 million AED). Winning entries are now being reviewed for potential inclusion in the UAE's national catalogue of housing designs, which provides citizens with a selection of pre-approved, innovative home models.
New Casa Sud Train Station by OUALALOU+CHOI . Image Courtesy of OUALALOU+CHOI
OUALALOU+CHOI has won the international competition for the design of the new Casa Sud Train Station in Casablanca, Morocco. Based in Paris and Casablanca, the architecture and urban design practice led by Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi is recognized for its work exploring the relationship between architecture, infrastructure, and public life. The winning proposal envisions the new station as both an infrastructural hub and a civiclandmark, addressing the needs of a rapidly expanding metropolis while contributing to the urban and social fabric of Morocco's economic capital.
ReSa Architects. Photo by Antonin Kanant and Revati Shah
The Lisbon Architecture Triennale announced as the winner of the fifth edition of the Début Award the Indian office ReSa Architects. The office is known for its collective approach to spatial practice, treating architecture as a process of rewriting social and bodily relations. In previous editions, the award recognized the work Vão (Brazil, 2022), Bonell+Dòriga (Spain, 2019), Umwelt (Chile, 2016) and Jimenez Lai, from Bureau Spectacular (USA, 2013).
The announcement was made on October 4, during the opening festivities of the Triennale, which in this edition awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award to the architect, Yasmeen Lari from Pakistan, the first person from the global south to receive the honor. Lari joins Marina Tabassum (2022 award winner), Denise Scott-Brown (2019), the duo Lacaton & Vassal (2016), Kenneth Frampton (2013), Álvaro Siza (2010), and Vittorio Gregotti (2007).
As countries in Africa emerged from colonialism in the mid-twentieth century, many expressed their independent identities through architecture. This process continues several decades later, exemplified by several new museums in West Africa, recently completed or in planning. Although varying in purpose and form, they have some common goals: addressing the need for restitution of many artifacts taken during colonialism and mostly kept in European museums; and defining a museum with local identity as opposed to a non-contextual import.
The museum and gallery visit has long been a highly curated experience. Visitors are guided through a carefully orchestrated sequence of rooms, with hand-picked works arranged to tell a specific narrative, supported by signage, graphics, scenography, and calibrated lighting. Even the rarely changed exhibitions - the permanent collections, also typically rely on a strong curatorial voice— led by noted artists or curators—to set institutional stance and shape interpretation.
At the same time, storage areas for museums and galleries are typically kept separately—often within the same building but under tightly controlled access, and not infrequently off-site in dedicated facilities, such as the Louvre Conservation Centre. These zones have long been understood as highly controlled spaces not only in terms of access, but also in relation to climate, humidity, archival order, handling protocols, maintenance, and repair. For fear of thefts and that the spatial, environmental, and sequencing requirements of the archive could be disturbed, storage has traditionally been somewhat secretive and primarily serves academic researchers and art practitioners by request. Rarely does the general public gain a comprehensive picture of the works safeguarded by any given institution.
Interior design has been characterized by infinite alternatives in coatings, finishes, and furniture to achieve unique and unrepeatable spaces. Designers are constantly coming up with innovative solutions and materials specifically created for a distinctive spatial perception. However, there is also a trend that seeks the warmth of the interior spaces by exposing the raw building materials as they are. The richness of materials such as wood and concrete gives that feeling of durability and low maintenance that, combined with an attention-to-detail design, makes spaces look warm yet stay true in essence. See below for 35 examples of interior spaces where concrete and wood appear in their almost purest state.
Materials can carry memory. They do more than finish a space; they can anchor it, shape atmosphere, and connect interiors to broader cultural and material narratives. Some architects and designers explore local techniques, natural resources, and craft traditions to balance cultural preservation with modern functionality, introducing context and depth. This is not necessarily a return to the past, but a reinterpretation of inherited knowledge to create architecture that resonates with contemporary needs.
Centralbadet public swimming and sports center project in Sweden. Entrance render. Image Courtesy of Plankton Group
Henning Larsen has been selected to design Gothenburg's new Centralbadet, a public swimming and sports facility intended to strengthen the city's network of community and health-oriented spaces. The winning team includes Winell & Jern Architects, Ramboll, and John Dohlsten, Sports Science Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg. Organized by the City of Gothenburg, the competition included teams such as BIG and Wingårdh Arkitektkontor. The new center is planned as a multifunctional public facility that supports both everyday recreation and organized sport for residents of all ages.
When approaching the design of cultural spaces such as museums, performance venues, or places of research and study, architecture and design professionals often have to assemble pieces of a uniquely challenging puzzle in order to make the structure resonate with a variety of visitors and occupants. Hitting the right chord can be difficult, especially when trying to combine forms into a whole that pays respect to a building's intended use while being timeless in its universality.
One way of making sure a sense of culture is omnipresent: adaptive reuse. The practice of breathing life into historic structures has been on the rise in recent years and is particularly well-suited to creating spaces that address and embody contemporary issues while connecting their inhabitants to the past. But it's not just a sense of updated heritage that makes them stand out; adaptive reuse buildings can fight urban sprawl and unsustainable building practices simply by way of existing.
The shortlist for the prestigious BRICK AWARD 26 has been announced, revealing 50 exceptional brick buildings from across the globe. Organized by wienerberger, the biennial award celebrates architectural innovation and craftsmanship in brick and ceramic design, recognizing projects that push the boundaries of material, form and context. This year's selection spans five continents and 21 countries, highlighting the enduring relevance of brick in contemporary architecture; from intimate homes and cultural institutions to industrial facilities and public spaces. Winners will be announced in Vienna in June 2026, with all shortlisted entries featured in the BRICK 26 Book.
In the Dutch city of Hilversum, a municipal building completed in 1931 redefined the very idea of what a town hall could be. More than a house for local administration, the Hilversum Town Hall became the architectural expression of a community in transformation. With its tower rising above reflective ponds, its brick masses composed around courtyards, and its carefully detailed interiors, the building asserted that civic architecture could unite function with symbolism, efficiency with ceremony.
The architect behind this vision, Willem Marinus Dudok, was not only responsible for individual buildings but for the broader shaping of Hilversum itself. As a city architect and planner, he designed schools, housing districts, and parks, developing a language that fused Dutch craftsmanship with Modernist clarity. The town hall represented the culmination of this trajectory: a civic centerpiece where urban ambition, material refinement, and human scale converged in a single, coherent form.
We Design Beirut returns for its second edition from October 22–26, 2025, reaffirming the city's role as a vital node in the global design conversation. Set against a backdrop of some of Lebanon's most historically significant sites the five-day design event weaves together architecture, craft, and culture to reflect on themes of legacy, revival, and continuity.
Anchored in empowerment, preservation, and sustainability, We Design Beirut fosters collaboration among designers, artisans, students, and architects — creating a vibrant platform for exchange, connection, and creative expression. It's a space for healing, innovation, and showcasing the region's growing design talent on an international stage.
French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmehhas been recognized on the TIME100 Next 2025 list, an annual ranking of emerging leaders and innovators across disciplines. Known for her sensitive approach to context and materiality, Ghotmeh has built an international portfolio that bridges tradition and modernity. In her TIME profile, written by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, Ghotmeh is praised for combining historical awareness with forward-looking experimentation. The acknowledgment positions her as the only architect on this year's list, highlighting the continued presence of design voices in a ranking that typically spans entertainment, politics, science, and business.
