Photographer: Filip Dujardin | ArchDaily

Bread & Heart Festival 2026 Gathers International Architects in Tirana to Explore Albania's "Landscapes of Abundance"

Antonia Piñeiro — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 05:30:00 +0000

The second edition of The Bread & Heart Festival will be held in Tirana, Albania, from June 3 to 5, 2026. The annual event is organised by The Bread & Heart Foundation and co-curated with the NEWROPE Chair of Architecture and Urban Transformation at ETH Zürich. The Foundation's objective is to offer an open platform for dialogue on architecture, landscape, and development in Albania, a country undergoing rapid transformation and becoming one of the most active urban environments in Southeast Europe. The purpose of the event is to connect international figures from the architectural community, such as Francis Kéré, Jeanne Gang, Ma Yansong, and Sumayya Vally, with local practitioners, institutions, and a broader audience. As in 2025, the festival will take place at 51N4E's Book Building on Skanderbeg Square, bringing together participants under the theme "Landscapes of Abundance."

Tirana Architecture City Guide: Negotiating Identity Between Socialism and Urban Reinvention

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Mon, 25 May 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Located at the intersection of Adriatic landscapes and Balkan geopolitics, Tirana has undergone one of the most accelerated urban transformations in Europe over the last three decades. Once defined by rigid socialist planning and political isolation, the city has progressively reoriented itself through a combination of informal growth, international investment, and strategic urban interventions that seek to redefine its public image and spatial structure.

Charleroi Palais des Expositions / AgwA + architecten jan de vylder inge vinck

Valeria Silva — Fri, 22 May 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Text description provided by Fundació Mies van der Rohe. The 2026 Architecture Winner is the Renovation of the 1950s convention center Charleroi Palais des Expositions in Wallonia, Belgium, by architects AgwA (Brussels) and architecten jan de vylder inge vinck (Ghent) - AjdvivagwA, commissioned by the City of Charleroi.

A New Centre Pompidou in Seoul and the UN House of No Waste (HØW) Competition Winners: This Week’s Review

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:30:00 +0000

Observed annually on April 22, International Mother Earth Day frames this week's architectural discourse through an urgent call to rethink the relationship between the built environment and natural systems, foregrounding themes such as urban rewilding, the restoration of aquatic ecosystems, and the integration of ancestral knowledge into contemporary design practices. On another note, the opening of Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026 and Milan Design Week 2026 seek to reinforce the global relevance of design as a platform for exchange and experimentation, activating the city of Milan through a network of exhibitions and installations that engage both industry and public audiences. Among the announcements of award-winning architectural projects this week, the United Nations' House of No Waste (HØW) Competition highlights emerging architectural responses to climate and resource challenges. The awarded projects demonstrate scalable strategies for reducing material waste and embodied carbon while promoting adaptable, socially responsive, and resource-conscious public infrastructure.

Off the Mainland: Floating Architecture Projects Redefining the Built Environment

Susanna Moreira & Victor Delaqua — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Building above water means doing away with a part of construction that is quite literally the basis of most of our built environment: the foundation. In a world dominated by water, currents, and shifting levels are variables that simply cannot be ignored, which is why the most emblematic feature these projects share is their adaptability.

De Hartenrust Residential Building / van Bergen Kolpa architects

Hadir Al Koshta — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 06:00:00 +0000

De Hartenrust is a new social housing building on the bend of the River Rotte in Rotterdam. The building consists of tower apartments, townhouses, and corner houses. Together they form a versatile sculpture that marks the connection between the densely populated Oude Noorden neighborhood and the green, livable riverbanks. The building contains 36 affordable social housing units, including family homes and apartments.

Mobility Justice: Urban Equity in an Era of Innovation

Olivia Poston — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Every city contains two transportation systems. One is the visible network of roads, rail lines, sidewalks, and bus routes mapped in planning documents. The other is the invisible geography of privilege and exclusion embedded within it: the neighborhoods that received highways instead of parks, the communities whose bus routes were cut, the sidewalks that abruptly end at the edge of a district. For many years, built-environment professionals have treated infrastructure as a technical challenge. Mobility justice insists it is, fundamentally, a political one.

Seven Finalists Announced for the 2026 EU Mies Awards for Contemporary European Architecture

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 06:30:00 +0000

The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have announced the seven finalist projects for the 2026 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Awards, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. The selection follows the announcement of 410 nominated works in November and a shortlist of 40 projects revealed in early January. Of the seven finalists, five have been selected in the Architecture category and two in the Emerging category. According to the jury chaired by Smiljan Radić, the finalist projects are exemplary contributions to the future of European architecture, demonstrating how the discipline can respond simultaneously to specific local conditions and broader social, cultural, and environmental challenges. The selected works range from interventions in former industrial sites, small villages, and peripheral urban areas to carefully calibrated projects within larger cities. Across these varied contexts, the projects show how architecture can transform overlooked or ordinary settings into inclusive, high-quality spaces for living, learning, and social exchange.

Brussels Dual Residence / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Hadir Al Koshta — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

The Brussels townhouse consists of three stories with an attic, a basement level, and a rear extension with an intermediate level. The ground floor connects directly to a walled garden. Characteristic elements such as interior joinery, ceiling mouldings, and original wooden plank floors are preserved as much as possible and remain defining features of the building.

Meandering Furniture Villa Renovation / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Hadir Al Koshta — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The renovation of the house in Brussels represents a thoughtful transformation of a traditional detached home into a vibrant and functional living space. Initially characterized by its small, dark rooms and disconnected layout, the house has an open, interconnected design that maximizes natural light and enhances everyday living.

Butterfly Townhouse / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Hadir Al Koshta — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The project concerns the renovation and extension of a townhouse with a basement, two above-ground floors, and an attic. The existing enclosed rear extensions were structurally unsound and obstructed the relationship with the outdoor space, resulting in limited daylight on the rear of the ground floor. The client wished to improve daylight penetration and strengthen the connection with the garden.

Elevation of a Family House in Bagnolet / 127af

Hadir Al Koshta — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The project concerns the first house in a row of four terraced dwellings, built along a narrow plot. Originally conceived as modest workshops made with ordinary materials, typical of the fabric of Bagnolet, these structures have gradually been converted into family homes. They belong to that fragile typology of small workers' houses—descendants of a precarious form of housing, sometimes close to the shack—whose transformation demands the utmost care. The existing dwelling consisted of a single living space on the ground floor, with two low-ceilinged bedrooms and a bathroom tucked under the eaves, where the height ranged from 1 m to 1.80 m. Following the birth of a second child, the clients wished to alter the roof to expand the attic space.

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?

District Office Police / Bovenbouw

Andreas Luco — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 06:00:00 +0000

The new police station is robust and transparent at the same time. This is in line with the police's wish to create a building that simultaneously can be accessible and safe.

Tabloo Visitor Center / Bovenbouw + ono architectuur

Andreas Luco — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Bovenbouw Architectuur and ono architectuur designed a communication center for the storage of low and medium-level radioactive waste in Dessel, Belgium. To remain relevant throughout the 300-year process required to decrease the radioactivity, the building must be able to adapt to unforeseeable changes over the centuries. Aiming for dialogue and opportunities to play the widest possible role, we proposed a building consisting of two parts; an imposing structure that floats like a table more than 12m above the ground in which exhibition spaces are located, and an airy infill below that accommodates the multifaceted program of spaces, halls and offices.

9 Social Housing Units / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Pilar Caballero — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Inspired by the applied brickwork and volumes used in the street, nine user-owned townhouses are being built in the street. By removing a few cobblestones from the pavement, neighbors made small artificial gardens in the street.

Co-Housing in a Townhouse / Atelier Tom Vanhee

Pilar Caballero — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The staircase between the first and second floors in a large townhouse has made way for a new staircase that leads directly to the second floor. The wood-covered staircase is a readable sculptural addition that makes it possible to divide up the large house while preserving the typically large spaces of the townhouse.

Pachtwoning House / jo taillieu architecten

Valeria Silva — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 07:00:00 +0000

On the site of the former Wivina monastery in Groot-Bijgaarden, on the border of the walled property, stood a dilapidated tenant house. A single-story house with a gable roof and small outbuildings. An accompanying entrance pavilion allowed for private access through the monastery wall. The whole is part of the protected heritage site of the monastery, which had to remain intact during the renovation.