Photographer: Aiste Rakauskaite | ArchDaily

The Lost Shtetl Jewish Museum / Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 06 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000

The concept behind The Lost Shtetl Jewish Museum is based on the destroyed village of Šeduva and its culture, which vanished overnight in August 1941. 664 Jews from the village were executed in the nearby forests. Along with human lives, Šeduva's long and rich history was also lost. The museum was built to commemorate the lost lives and culture, which represented not only Jewish but also European culture. The museum consists of minimalist, abstract 'houses' with hip roofs. Together, they form a cluster of buildings—a dreamscape of a village, a shtetl.

No Solid Ground: Three Approaches to Building Below Sea Level in Rotterdam

Olivia Poston — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Architects carefully calibrate their relationship to the earth, adjusting foundations to soil, groundwater, climate, risk, and culture. Driven timber piles, rammed-earth platforms, and poured concrete slabs are each a response to a specific set of ground conditions, and each shapes the architecture that rises from it. The way a building meets the earth determines its durability and its limits because foundations are among the most consequential design choices an architect makes.

Sibeliuspark / KCAP

Hadir Al Koshta — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

KCAP's design made Sibeliuspark more compact, vibrant, and attractive through the introduction of integrated housing, diverse park programs, and varied topography and planting. Several housing projects in and around the park create a vibrant community, while a variety of new programs reactivate the space for people of all ages and abilities—from local neighbors to visitors from across the city and region. The project features a nature-inclusive, climate-adaptive environment that integrates over 400 new trees, diverse programming for all ages, and integrated housing developments. The Urban Ox Park, featuring a skatepark, pumptrack, and calisthenics park, now serves as the beating heart of the renewed Sibeliuspark.

Introducing the 75 Finalists of the 2026 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards

Daniela Porto — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Two weeks and over 85,000 nominations later, the finalists of this year's Building of the Year Awards are in. The selection is much like the ArchDaily audience that chose it: diverse in geography, generous in ideas, and precise in intent. With projects from 46 countries, in a variety of typologies and scales, they present a beautiful snapshot of the current architectural moment.

Architecture in Rhythm with Time: Designing Through Solar, Lunar, and Biological Cycles

Daniela Andino — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000

As the solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, it also draws attention to something architecture has long negotiated but often overlooked: time. Beyond form or function, buildings and spaces are continuously shaped by cycles of light and darkness, seasonal shifts, and environmental rhythms that affect how they are inhabited.

Interior Design Trends of 2025

Mohieldin Gamal — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

As 2025 approaches its end, we look back at an eventful year in the world of interior design. Last year, designers favored reserved, modest approaches, a trend that continued from previous years. The emergence of artificial intelligence generated intense discussions on digital equity and misinformation, which continued into 2025, especially with the topic of the Venice Architecture Biennale, Intelligens. This opened the conversation to the opportunities of digital technologies, attempting a more hopeful outlook. On the other hand, completed interior design projects over the year focused more on the tangible and the pragmatic, with expressed raw materials and an appreciation of history.

Aluned HQ / HA-HA Design & Development

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000

After a devastating fire in 2021, aluminium manufacturer Aluned faced a critical question: how do you rebuild a workplace that is not only functional but also sustainable, inspiring, and in dialogue with its surroundings? HA-HA Design & Development, a Rotterdam-based architecture firm, saw an opportunity in the crisis. By retaining the existing foundations and steel structure, they designed a contemporary work environment that honours the site's industrial heritage while embracing the landscape. "We saw the loss of the old building as a chance to show what circular and adaptive building can truly mean." — Nima Morkoç, Architect at HA-HA. "It's remarkable how a limitation, the existing steel structure, became the basis for a light and open design." — Aluned BV, Client. In 2021, a fire destroyed the Aluned headquarters. Instead of demolishing and starting from scratch, the project team chose radical reuse: the original foundation and steel structure were preserved. The Zwijndrecht site consists of three industrial halls arranged around a central green courtyard with a pond — a rare oasis of green in an otherwise paved industrial zone.

Pavilions in Urban Spaces: On the Experimentation, Recycling, and Reuse of Materials

Agustina Iñiguez — Thu, 15 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

How do pavilions emerge in architecture? What role do they play in urban spaces? Beyond the multiple interpretations that exist around the world, the pavilion, as an architectural principle and typology, tends toward extroversion, often associated with a centrifugal nature and visual openness toward the horizon, which is linked to its origins as a tent offering shelter from the elements. Pavilions are usually identified as isolated and independent structures that can promote lateral openings in the urban space, panoramic or introspective views, technological reflections, and material experiments that are recognizable from the outside or once inside.

Sanders Mello Building / Buro/S Architects

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 10:01:00 +0000

Buro/S Architects, commissioned by Sanders Mello Orthodontics, has transformed the national monument at Langstraat 79 in Wassenaar into a modern orthodontic clinic. The character of the monument has been preserved and thoughtfully combined with contemporary architectural elements. The original building dates from the first half of the 17th century and is characterized by a distinctive gabled roof between end walls. It is a so-called "deep house"—a type of dwelling with a narrow front façade and a floor plan that extends deep into the plot. The building is oriented perpendicular to the street, as is the ridge of the roof. The property consists of three segments: the national monument, an extension on the right and rear that was in very poor structural condition, and a garage at the back. For the past hundred years, the building was used as a shop; prior to that, it served as the farmhouse of a village homestead. Outbuildings, including a hay barn, once stood on the rear plot bordering the back street. Buro/S Architects restored the monument internally and, where necessary, externally, and added a new extension to the right and rear of the building. The new structure was designed to allow for a possible future vertical extension at the back. A new façade has been introduced at the front of the building, incorporating the new main entrance.

Lloyd Yard Rotterdam Block / WE architecten + Paul de Ruiter Architects + ZUS

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000

At the Rotterdam Lloyd Pier, ships used to dock, sailors unloaded their goods, and ships departed for the Dutch East Indies. The streetscape of this historic port area was defined by large sheds and warehouses. In 2024, this place has been transformed into a lively residential and working area. Lloyd Yard, with 136 energy-neutral homes, a series of different outdoor spaces and a catering facility, is the final piece of this transformation. To emphasise the port history of the Lloydkwartier, the completed buildings are robust and unpolished. In addition, it is a permeable block, anchored in its surroundings. High gates provide access to the adventurous, sheltered from the wind, courtyard. The eye-catcher of the building is the 'Maaswindow', a big opening in the block with swing, which offers a phenomenal view of the Maas and is accessible to all residents.

Art Center Historic Homestead Transformation / PUPA Life Over Space

Hadir Al Koshta — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000

A historic manor in Panevėžys, Lithuania, has been revitalized as an art residency and creativity center following a meticulous reconstruction. The protected red-brick homestead was carefully renovated, with historical details restored, and a new, modern, spacious extension was built to harmonize with the natural terrain of the surrounding park.

Meadow House Maasland / JURY!

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Existing Situation - The Meadow House Maasland is a renovation project aimed at enhancing an existing dike house in Maasland. The original dike house includes a basement partially built into the dike, exposed on the eastern side, with the main entrance on the floor above accessible via stairs from the lower ground level. The living area is on the ground floor, and the basement contains bedrooms and storage. The current structure does not meet modern living standards in terms of comfort and sustainability.

PI59 Offices / V8 Architects

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Amsterdam’s Zuidas has something of a dual character. Colossal offices on the south side of the A10, and terraced houses on the north side. In the middle, there is a building from the 1970s, designed as an office, that is used as a school and which we are bringing back to its original function. However, it will become the ‘best-in-class office building’, because the city, neighborhood, location and building demand this. We felt duty-bound to do this.

Garden Studio / Studio Abacaxi

Valeria Silva — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Working from home can be challenging, especially with small kids around. Therefore a young creative couple asked Studio Abacaxi to design a Garden Studio, in which they could work and host guests. The combination of working and living resulted in a multi-functional structure, where the integrated furniture caters to the different needs.

Green House Floriade / V8 Architects

Pilar Caballero — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 02:00:00 +0000

The Green House is the large exhibition greenhouse at the Floriade 2022 in Almere. Constructed entirely from standard greenhouse elements, it shows its special function through the significantly raised central axis. Due to its scale and special silhouette, the greenhouse is a temporary icon of the horticultural sector at the World Horticulture Exhibition.

Palladio Residential Complex / V8 Architects

Andreas Luco — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 11:00:00 +0000

The Rotterdam Prinsenland neighborhood is known for its mix of Dutch urbanism concepts, which were developed during the period between the 1960s and 1990s. The neighborhood features block compositions of various volumes that incorporate both high and low building slabs, along with large public areas that remained undefined. Currently, the neighborhood is undergoing significant changes which include large-scale densification, sustainability renovations, and; the urban acupuncture of the Palladio apartment complex. V8 Architects has completed a new residential complex on the site of a vacant 1987 office building on Palladio Street. The complex reflects a human approach to creating affordable and rental apartments. Palladio comprises of 96 two- and three-room homes equipped with balconies or terraces, and floor areas ranging from 44 to 84 square meters.

Langeveld Building / Paul de Ruiter Architects

Paula Pintos — Sun, 07 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The Langeveld building of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is one of the most sustainable educational buildings in the world with a BREEAM outstanding certificate. This building, designed by Paul de Ruiter Architects and executed by BAM Bouw en Techniek is energy positive and runs on the wind, sun, and earth.

Station Forecourt Zwolle / PosadMaxwan

Paula Pintos — Thu, 04 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

PosadMaxwan, an urban design firm from The Hague, The Netherlands, has designed the unique main entrance to the underground bicycle parking area located beneath the city of Zwolle’s train station square. For the first time ever, the greenery of a station square has been extended to meet up with an underground parking garage, creating a seamless connection between the indoors and the outdoors. Cyclists are guided down the ramps by a sloping green garden with plants that change with the seasons.