From October 20 to 22, 2023, Seville hosted the second edition of the international architecture festival Open House. Aimed at fostering knowledge of the city and highlighting the value of urban space, architecture, and design, the event opened the doors of more than 50 spaces, including buildings and architecture studios, free of charge.
Among the highlights of this edition were the Sevilla Tower by César Pelli, the San Telmo Palace, and the Palacio de las Dueñas. Alongside the guided city tours, the program also featured pottery demonstrations by Taller Barrería San Mateo and live applications of lime mortar.
ArchDaily's curation team strives daily to present our readers with the most significant, inspiring, and innovative projects, expanding the knowledge and repertoire of students and architects worldwide. From small renovations to projects designed from scratch, residential architecture is a constant in the daily practice of most firms. Year after year, we see the deep interest this typology sparks: it remains the most popular category among our audience.
Sometimes, architecture presents itself as an object of responsibility—an exercise in recognizing authorship, aiming to define and delimit it. We feel an urgent need to know who its author was, to credit whoever was capable of such inventions. Just as often, however, architecture does not claim any author; hence the terms anonymous architecture or "architecture without architects"—that is, a merely vernacular architecture. In the case of Carme Pinós, what is built inevitably speaks of who built it. Her architecture offers a glimpse of the energy that emanates from her persona: a vibrant, direct, tense architecture, swept by a continuous, dominating agitation. Within it, elements are in constant motion in a completely ungrounded way, rather than by their own virtue.
Through a program of exhibitions, lectures, and activities, the Fundació Enric Miralles, with the support of the Barcelona City Council and the Government of Catalonia, will promote a tribute to the Spanish architect Enric Miralles. Considered one of the most iconic figures of contemporary Catalan architecture, the tribute addresses his various facets as a creator—architect, designer, photographer, and professor—offering a multifaceted and personal look at his career.
Landaburu Borda Country House / Jordi Hidalgo Tané. Image
While some works serve as monuments to the egos of those who practice this profession, other architectural approaches propose the exact opposite. These practices deliver projects that—almost poetically—harmonize built elements with the surrounding natural environment. There are also designs that adapt to the morphological order of nature, resulting in an organic language that generates highly unique and singular interior spaces.
Milan, a global hub of fashion and finance, increasingly asserts itself as a leading center for architecture and design. Its status as Italy's second-largest city underpins its vibrant cultural scene, attracting both established and emerging creative talent. Additionally, Milan is home to esteemed educational institutions recognized for their focus on heritage preservation and conservation. Its cultural and design significance is increasingly pronounced, as a growing number of creators are relocating to establish their presence in this vibrant creative hub.
Among Milan's most iconic landmarks are the flamboyant Gothic Duomo di Milano, the historically and artistically significant Santa Maria delle Grazie, and the ornate Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, along with numerous Renaissance and Baroque sites. The city also boasts some of the most innovative modern and contemporary architecture, showcasing a unique dialogue between tradition and modernity. This synergy is exemplified by the contributions of architects like Aldo Rossi,Gio Ponti,Stefano Boeri, Mario Cucinella, Zaha Hadid, Grafton Architects, Herzog & de Meuron, and Foster and Partners.
The following guide highlights key historical landmarks alongside exemplary contemporary architecture curated by ArchDaily. This guide serves as an indispensable resource for those planning to explore Milan during the 2026 Design Week, presenting a blend of essential sites designed by renowned local and international architects.
Every year brings new ideas, projects, and shifts in architectural culture, but it also marks the loss of voices that have shaped the discipline across decades. Architecture moves forward, but it also advances through absence. When figures who helped articulate its language and its ambitions disappear, they leave behind more than completed works or influential texts. Their absence becomes a threshold, a moment in which the discipline pauses to understand what remains, what evolves, and what continues to guide us. These moments of loss remind us that architecture is a long, collective construction, carried not only by those shaping the present but also by those whose visions continue to orient how we think about cities and landscapes.
The architects and thinkers we lost in 2025 came from remarkably different worlds, yet the questions that shaped their work often intersected. Some approached the city through identity, symbolism, and historical continuity, seeking to ground the built environment in cultural memory. Others interpreted it through engineering precision, ecological systems, or radical experimentation, expanding what architecture could be and how it could be experienced. Their work spans contexts as diverse as postwar Britain, rapidly urbanizing China, Central European avant-gardes, and the evolving cultural institutions of Berlin and New York. Together, they form a spectrum of responses that defined, and continue to define, architectural culture over the last half-century, revealing the multiplicity of ways in which architecture can engage with society, technology, and the environment.
Shenzhen is China's first Special Economic Zone（SEZ), serving as a window for China's Reform and Opening-up and an emerging immigrant city. It has evolved into an influential, modern, and international metropolis, creating the world-renowned "Shenzhen Speed" and earning the reputation of the "City of Design." Architectural design stands as the most intuitive expression of Shenzhen's spirit of integration and innovation. Over the past decade (2015-2025), the development of urban architecture in Shenzhen has closely integrated with its open and inclusive urban character, ecological advantages of being nestled between mountains and the sea, and the local spirit of blending traditional culture with innovative technology, showcasing Shenzhen's unique charm and robust vitality across multiple dimensions.
Located in southern Spain, Seville unfolds as a layered city shaped by centuries of cultural intersections. As the former capital of Al-Andalus and a central port during the Spanish Empire's expansion, its built environment reflects a deep historical complexity. From Roman foundations to Islamic geometries, from Renaissance palaces to contemporary interventions, Seville presents a unique spatial narrative in which architecture directly reflects its political, religious, and social transformations.
The city's architectural heritage is inseparable from its climate and geography. Narrow shaded streets, inner courtyards, and water as spatial elements reveal a deep knowledge of environmental adaptation that still informs how public and private spaces are articulated today. While monumental landmarks such as the Alcázar, the Giralda, or the Cathedral preserve and reinterpret historic legacies, modern projects have begun introducing new materials, programs, and spatial typologies, challenging conventional forms and proposing alternative ways to inhabit the city.
It is almost impossible to talk about Madrid, the Spanish capital, which, in addition to its obvious tourist appeal and its leadership as the most visited city in the country—followed by Barcelona—is inseparable from its long history and evolution up to the present day. In 2024, Madrid welcomed over 11.2 million visitors, accounting for approximately 11.9% of the total tourists who came to Spain that year. Much of the city's identity, the uniqueness of each of its neighborhoods, and the new areas developed over the years are deeply linked to growth that, although planned and modernized in many aspects, has managed to preserve the diverse character that defines its urban essence.
Architectural grafting, a concept recently popularized by Jeanne Gang inThe Art of Architectural Grafting, presents a transformative approach to urban regeneration and sustainability. Drawing inspiration from botanical and horticultural practices — where new growth is added to existing plants for enhanced resilience — this architectural method integrates new structures with existing ones, allowing them to coexist and adapt. Rather than pursuing demolition, grafting prioritizes adaptation, extending the life of buildings while safeguarding their cultural and historical significance.
While Studio Gang has played a pivotal role in advancing this method, architectural grafting embodies a broader principle that architects have long used to enhance sustainability, conserve resources, and honor heritage. Across scales — from individual buildings to urban landscapes —grafting reshapes the relationship between past and present, adapting existing structures for contemporary needs while addressing environmental demands. By reimagining historic buildings for modern use, this approach fosters a sustainable evolution of cityscapes.
Eva Prats and Ricardo Flores started their Barcelona-based practice, Flores & Prats Arquitectes in 1998 after both worked at the office of Enric Miralles. They overlapped for about one year there, from 1993 to 1994. After her nine-year stint with Miralles, Eva won the EUROPAN III International Housing Competition with a friend. The success that led to a real commission and was going to be built, served as the springboard for starting their independent practice. Shortly thereafter they won another competition. Ricardo joined Eva after working for five years with Miralles. By then they were a couple for three years and decided to start working together. Today they practice out of the same sprawling apartment where Eva’s original studio rented a room along with several other young architects and designers. Even though the office now occupies the entire space—the architects told me they typically employ ten, no more than twelve people—they keep traces and memories of the former “dwellers” alive. Curiously, Eva and Ricardo implement the same strategy in their architectural projects as well.
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