Photographer: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG | ArchDaily

The Alchemy of Mass: Peter Zumthor and the Perception of Lightness

Valentina Díaz — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Architecture begins as an encounter with gravity. It is the ancient act of placing weight upon the earth, of persuading matter to stand, hold, and shelter. Within this fundamental condition of heaviness, however, lies a quieter possibility: density itself can generate a sense of lightness—a perceptual condition in which the body, fully convinced of matter's weight, begins to experience space as suspension.

What Lies Beneath: 10 Projects Reshaping the Ground Level

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Architecture has long been drawn to the idea of lightness. From early modernist experiments that sought to preserve landscapes, elevating buildings has been understood as a way to preserve the ground while maintaining continuity across the terrain. Volumes are lifted on columns, infrastructures detach circulation from the surface, and entire programs are suspended above the ground.

The Built Path: Pilgrimage and Architectural Sequence on the Camino de Santiago

Olivia Poston — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Pilgrimage is one of the oldest and most persistent cultural practices, a spatial expression of humanity's search for meaning that has taken form across geographies and religions. While traditionally tied to formal belief systems, its definition has expanded in recent decades, reflecting new understandings of what is sacred and where meaning can be found. This shift reveals something fundamental: the act of moving through space remains central to how people construct meaningful experience. Yet most built environments constructed today are designed to be approached at speed from roads, transit corridors, airports, and optimized urban cores. The Camino de Santiago stands as a sustained counterargument to this condition. It is a piece of distributed architecture, refined over centuries, that remains a sophisticated example of design organized around the moving human body.

Zara Store at Rossio / Contacto Atlântico

Susanna Moreira — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Located in one of the most iconic urban contexts of Lisbon, the Zara Rossio project reflects a precise and careful approach to contemporary architecture in Portugal. Developed by Contacto Atlântico, one of the leading architecture offices in the country, this intervention demonstrates how high-quality architecture can engage with historically significant contexts while introducing a refined and contemporary spatial language. The project elevates retail architecture through a balance of technical rigor, spatial clarity, and sensitivity to the context.

Nest Chapel / Felipe Caboclo Arquitetura

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 03:00:00 +0000

For an architect, every project begins as an act of reading – reading the land, the light, the materials, the intentions, and even the intangible: that which dwells between space and spirit. To interpret the world and then translate it into form may be the most delicate and enduring exercise in architecture. And when that translation approaches the sacred, the gesture takes on another dimension – a search, through matter, for a language that ascends.

Meet the 15 Winning Projects of the 2026 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards

Daniela Porto — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 08:30:00 +0000

A revitalized canning factory in a coastal Portuguese city, a memorial park in Ethiopia, a small-town Brazilian home, a wooden pavilion evoking Bahrain's heritage, and 11 other visionary projects comprise the winners of the 2026 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards. Chosen over three weeks of public voting, the winners are representative of the current architectural landscape, reflecting a diversity of approaches, materialities and aesthetics, while also showcasing common threads across cultures.

Shaping Architectural Continuity: 25 Revitalization Projects Across Historic, Industrial, and Natural Sites

Miwa Negoro — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Heritage sites constitute complex spatial archives in which architecture, history, and collective memory converge. They encompass a wide spectrum of contexts—from archaeological remains, ancient and historic townscapes, UNESCO-listed landscapes, to early modern civic structures and industrial infrastructures. Yet these environments confront challenges: climate change, urban transformation, disaster, shifting social needs, and the gradual erosion of material fabric. Revitalization and restoration projects respond to these conditions by positioning architectural and spatial practice as an active mediator between preservation and the contemporary topologies.

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.

Ventura Terra University Residence - University of Lisbon / CVDB arquitectos

Susanna Moreira — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:00:00 +0000

The project for the Ventura Terra University Residence – University of Lisbon is conditioned by the necessary building density, given the proposed program, and by the limits of the lot and the maximum height defined in the Detailed Plan. Between the residence and the existing cafeteria building, a pedestrian path is created to connect the higher street to the north (near the Faculty of Architecture) and the lower street to the south.

When Eating Becomes Spatial: 14 Projects Built Around Shared Meals

Daniela Andino — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 04:00:00 +0000

In recent years, food has taken on a renewed role within architecture, not simply as a program or typology, but as a shared spatial practice. Beyond restaurants or dining design, communal eating spaces are increasingly understood as environments where presence, ritual, and time intersect, allowing people to gather, stay, and coexist. In these settings, eating does not just happen within space; it actively shapes it, temporarily transforming ordinary, borrowed, or improvised environments into places of exchange.

Villa Lago / Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

Valentina Díaz — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A proposal is made for an architecture that intertwines with the garden, maximizing the perimeter of contact with the landscape and blurring the boundaries between the built environment and nature. In this location in Madrid, that relationship with the surroundings takes on a unique value. To achieve this, a compact volume is deliberately abandoned in favor of an ascending layout that evokes certain works by Alfaro. The project aims to resolve a dichotomy: to be both geometric and organic. Although its structure is precise, the inhabitant perceives it as something natural, almost as if it has randomly settled into the place.

Adorigo Farm Winery / Atelier Sergio Rebelo

Andreas Luco — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The winery at Quinta de Adorigo was completed in 2024 and is part of a family wine tourism development that also includes a hotel, which is still under construction. This quinta is located in the Alto Douro Vinhateiro, Portugal's most prestigious wine-growing area, listed by UNESCO as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site since 2001. The exceptional beauty of the natural surroundings, the millennia-old human occupations and the centuries-old tradition of wine production motivated an architectural project that honors the landscape and local culture and presents innovative construction strategies and effective sustainability.

On International Migrants Day: A Look at Architectural Responses to Displacement

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 05:30:00 +0000

December 18 marks the United Nations' International Migrants Day, which aims to highlight the need for safer, fairer, and more inclusive migration systems. Proclaimed on December 4, 2000, the day seeks to recognize the multiple dimensions of migration beyond its economic and humanitarian aspects. According to the UN, mounting evidence indicates that international migration is beneficial for both countries of origin and destination. In this sense, International Migrants Day offers an opportunity to spotlight the value of the possibility to migrate and the contributions of millions of migrants worldwide to the cities and cultures in which they are integrated.

Architecture in Motion: Framing Spaces That Live and Breathe

Kiana Buchberger — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 01:30:00 +0000

Architectural space has long been framed by permanence: rooms for fixed functions, facades that clearly define where exterior ends and interior begins. Yet contemporary life is defined by overlap and transition: between work and living, interior and exterior, privacy and community. Spatial needs evolve continually, demanding architecture that can respond, adapt, and remain relevant over time.

Designing for Horses: 8 Projects Shaping Space for Equine Life

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Few commissions allow architects to focus on non-human users, and fewer still involve horses. While domestic pets like cats and dogs are common muses, the particular needs of horses present a unique challenge when designing stables. Since the horses, who are the stable's primary inhabitants, cannot articulate their needs, design relies on the rigorous requirements dictated by human caretakers, requiring a balance between streamlined human operations and maximized horse comfort and safety. Architects often seem to address this through three core principles: Equine Comfort & Well-being, Contextual Materiality, and Operational Efficiency. Thus, the resulting layouts are characterized by rigorous zoning that clearly separates the programs into residential (stalls), service (tack, storage, wash, feed), and training spaces (arenas, walkers). The designs also address visual well-being: Horses are social animals, so they strategically position stables to promote sightlines between animals and to the exterior, often employing louvered or open-frame systems. Furthermore, lighting is kept diffuse using materials such as translucent panels to prevent sharp, stress-inducing shadows in arenas. Similarly, circulation paths are designed for the safe, efficient movement of both people and animals.

Architecture of Wine: 15 Contemporary Wineries Around the World

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Wine production has long been tied to place, climate, and culture, and in recent decades, architecture has become a central part of this relationship. Wineries are no longer understood only as functional facilities for fermentation, storage, and distribution, but also as spaces where landscape, materiality, and visitor experience intersect. From subterranean cellars hidden beneath fields to sculptural landmarks rising in rural territories, these buildings shape the identity of winemaking regions while offering visitors a carefully choreographed encounter with the process of production.

Miramar Tower / OODA

Andreas Luco — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Standing out for its uniqueness in the landscape and for its proximity to the sea, Miramar Tower is similar to the buildings in Pasteleira Park to the north, in proportion and dimension, but otherwise completely distinctive in its concept approach. The volumetric composition is the result of the architectural drive with the ambition to develop housing typologies with more than 200 square meters of balcony areas per floor. On top of the podium, a vertical volume with 15 storeys emerges, parallel to the road and with roughly the same height as the tower buildings in this area. By locating the building in the most central part of the plot, it ensures maximum spacing for all adjacent buildings. Evidencing a structuralist matrix with vertical dendriform section, the building is adaptable to the typology optimization. The floors, organized with one or two rooms, create a spiral speech where the apparent rotation and modelling of the terraces at 360 degrees give it a visual and real sense of verticality.

ART Residence / Jacobsen Arquitetura

Andreas Luco — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Located in the beach town of Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, and with direct access to the sea, the ART Residence does not reveal itself at first glance. Among several original and preserved trees on the land, the precise and orthogonal lines of its facade dematerialize in the tortuous and organic movements of nature.