Photographer: Erieta Attali | ArchDaily

Smiljan Radić Clarke: Get to Know the 2026 Pritzker Winner's Work

Valentina Díaz — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:15:00 +0000

The 2026 Pritzker Price Award has been awarded this year to the Chilean architect of Croatian descent, Smiljan Radić Clarke. Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1965, his practice evokes a geography of extremes, shaped by the tectonic tension between the staggering weight of the Andes and the seismic instability of the territory. After graduating from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and pursuing further studies in aesthetics in Venice, Smiljan Radić Clarke established his base in Santiago. From there, he has developed one of the most singular visions in contemporary architecture. His work privileges the intensity of the moment through a fragile architecture. Within it, the building operates as a temporary and tactile refuge that places the spectator in a state of aesthetic uncertainty, oscillating between ancestral ruin and avant-garde artefact.

World Architecture Day 2025: How We Design for Strength in an Age of Crisis

Maria-Cristina Florian — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

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?

A Different Type of Rurality: Designs for Post-Industrial Heritage Transformation

Olivia Poston — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Across the rural terrains of North America and Western Europe, traces of past industry remain embedded in the land: mills rusting in meadows, smokestacks punctuating quiet townscapes, the skeletons of once-thriving economies. For decades, these sites have signified decline through the remnants of an extractive era that has shaped the environment and local identity. The challenges of remediation often encompass technical, environmental, and cultural aspects that require creativity, precision, and sensitivity.

Passerelle des Arts Bridge / Marc Mimram

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The Passerelle des Arts designed by Marc Mimram Architecture Ingénierie and Fabeck Architectes, stands out as a singular project due to its innovative use of materials, thoughtful integration with its environment, and commitment to sustainability. This footbridge, which spans a precious forest, serves as a connection between a rapidly developing district and the Modern Art Museum of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Its design is not only a response to functional needs but also reflects a deep respect for the surrounding landscape. The bridge is positioned so as to protect all the existing trees, as if to demonstrate care for its setting and a highly respectful attitude towards what was already there.

Franchissement Urbain Pleyel / Marc Mimram

Pilar Caballero — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Between the two stations of Pleyel and Saint-Denis Stade de France, the Franchissement Urbain Pleyel provides an opportunity to create a public space at the heart of the city that, beyond its functional link, becomes a place of habitation, transit, but also a place of relaxation, residence, development of urban pleasures, and attention to the magnificent panorama that the railway river opens up to the horizon. The aim was to transform this functional link into a true place, an urban space that is appropriable, livable, and generous, making the most of the site's unique conditions without denying them, to create urban components, places of enjoyment that establish the bridge as a real piece of city infrastructure, a new focal point for the Landy Pleyel neighborhood.

Nalu Surf Club and Ilios Beach Club Abu Dhabi / ELASTIC Architects

Andreas Luco — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Amidst great anticipation, Ilios Beach Club and Nalu Surf Club Abu Dhabi have opened doors on Hudayriyat Island, serving as premier venues within Surf Abu Dhabi, the world's largest and most advanced artificial wave facility developed by Modon Properties. The two restaurants would be operated by ADMO Lifestyle Holding. Leading the interior design of the two luxurious F&B venues, ELASTIC were inspired by the exhilarating interaction between surfers and the ocean. As a place for surfers to feel at ease, emulating the euphoria of being one with the swirling waves, the venues were designed to capture a surfer's diving performance in a thrilling spatial choreography that interplays with intensity, rhythm and balance.

From Modernism to Multiculturalism: The Historical Evolution of Student Housing

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Student housing has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last century. Once seen as a utilitarian necessity, providing shelter and basic amenities for students, this architectural typology has evolved to address increasingly complex societal, cultural, and urban demands. Starting with Le Corbusier's modernist approach at the Cité Universitaire in Paris, student housing has reflected broader trends in architecture, urbanism, and social change.

Biosourced Positive Energy School Group / R2K Architectes

Paula Pintos — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 03:00:00 +0000

2k architecte presents Oiseau Lyre, a school with Nordic inspiration in Noisy-le-Grand, France. Anchored on a plot with 8 meters of elevation, the school faces North towards the Marne and explores a new pedagogical model of Finnish inspiration, offering a diversity of shared spaces. The compact building of 50mx100m is set on 4 levels, maintaining a low height profile in relation to neighboring pavilions. Like a Palladian villa, functions are embedded in the core of the building, in an area filled with natural light and the social vibrancy of the school.

Butterfly Residential Building / architectScripta

Andreas Luco — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 03:00:00 +0000

‘What is the relationship of pink caviar with transparent bubbles? Or the relationship between suspenders, strings, and mercury? A BUTterFLY in Athens answers on that’. ArchitectScripta realizes architectural concepts using Artificial Intelligence technology and loads their projects as NFTs in the OpenSea market. BUTterFLY project is a moment of urban allusion within the fabric of the city. The project is a five-story residential building with nine apartments in a typical neighborhood of Athenian suburbs. The building stands as a weird unfamiliar Object which at first sight does not belong to its surroundings. It is a strong urban gesture that redefines its Context (Topos). BUTterFLY reinvents the character of its neighborhood and indirectly develops new associations with surrounding buildings operating as an Icon for the extended area.

Isla Brown Corinthia / ELASTIC Architects

Andreas Luco — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 12:00:00 +0000

The total redesign of the iconic, mid-70s, “Hanikian” hotel, embodies elements of the topography of its legendary location on the Corinthian Gulf, shaping a new architectural identity. The formerly rectangular, repetitively formed, modernist building was endowed with an organic form, inspired by landscape formations under the bright natural light.

Nantes School of Design / Marc Mimram

Paula Pintos — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 03:00:00 +0000

The Nantes School of Design completes the development of the “Ile de la Création”. Along with the School of Fine Arts, the School of Architecture, and a network of local businesses, it forms an ecosystem on the island that is as fertile as the one it replaces, namely ship-building. The fundamental premise of the project is to share the activity and production of the school by setting up workshops with large windows looking out onto the street.

Agro Paris Tech Campus / Marc Mimram

Valeria Silva — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 06:00:00 +0000

The Agro Paris Tech campus finds a great coherence, both in its representation on the Plateau de Saclay, in the internal links and paths, and in its constructive definition.

Discontinued Aesthetics: The Effects of Abrupt Changes in Urban Landscapes

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 25 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Public spaces play a significant role in organizing the life of every community but defining what differentiates them from other spaces within the city is not an easy task. Once these spaces start to settle into the collective memory of the local communities, they become key elements that concentrate the mental image of a city. While this process usually happens with urban spaces, monuments and isolated architectural elements can also become markers for the urban life of an area. So, what happens when dramatic events like fires, war, or even the pandemic alter that image?

The Biophilic Response to Wood: Can it Promote the Wellbeing of Building Occupants?

Valeria Montjoy — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 06:45:00 +0000

Although the term may seem recent, the concept of biophilia has been used for decades in architecture and design. The guiding principle is quite simple: connect people inside with nature to promote their well-being and quality of life. With all the ongoing design trends that have consolidated as a result, the demand has focused on organic materials that emulate outdoor environments. Among all the options, wood is one of the most popular materials to bring nature indoors, not only because of its functionality, but also due to its multiple physiological and psychological benefits.

Photographic Language for Impermanence

Erieta Attali — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Photography is often likened to a visual language. The “most literary of the graphic arts”[i] is after all a formal system with commonly accepted structure and recognizable motifs.

Building Images: Between Nature & Architecture

Erieta Attali — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 07:30:00 +0000

If “nature” and “architecture” are commonly conceived as opposing entities, representative of human encroachment on the primordially physical image of the world, under which conditions do these two fundamental factors form a strong liaison and which is the ensuing by product? Can this often ignored bond between culture and nature be unearthed and put to light by the use of photography?

Archeology of the Present

Erieta Attali — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 09:30:00 +0000

The degree to which a building engages with the culture or the landscape of a place is primarily controlled by the design intent i.e. the architectural concept and the success of its implementation. Photography reveals relations but it does not build them in the first place. Even in the extreme case where a structure is consciously designed to differentiate and separate itself from any sort of environment, cultural or natural, it is still inevitably situated into a context and perceived as part of it.

Residence in Saronida / MPLUSM Architects

Paula Pintos — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 02:00:00 +0000

Highly perched on the rocky terrain of the mountain, this site offers sweeping views of the seafront.