Photographer: Marcello Mariana | ArchDaily

Milan Architecture City Guide: 43 Projects from Historic Landmarks to Contemporary Designs

Hana Abdel — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000

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.

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.

Olive House / Margine

Valeria Silva — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In the heart of the Salento region countryside, in an area known for oil production and sheep rearing, Margine completes "Casa Ulìa" (Olive House in Salento dialect) a Mediterranean-style detached residence designed for a young couple – he a building contractor and she a professor – who wanted an oasis of peace, equipped with all comforts, just a few kilometers from Lecce.

Masseria Caronte / Margine

Valeria Silva — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Caronte is the restoration project of a farmhouse in the Salento countryside, completed by Margine in 2025. In the lands between Lecce and Vernole, surrounded by olive trees and just a few kilometers from the sea, stands Masseria Caronte, a rural home where sheep were once raised and wool and yarn were produced. Over the years, after numerous businesses and years of abandonment, the structure underwent a major renovation and conversion into a restaurant in 2024. Commissioned by a group of young local entrepreneurs, Margine proposed a project aimed at eliminating the numerous additions that had occurred over time and restoring the factory's ancient charm.

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.

The Gray Race House / Rinaldo Del Nero

Valeria Silva — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:00:00 +0000

This renovation project is an exemplary alternative to the all-too-common practice of demolition and reconstruction, which tends to replace complexity with standardized solutions. Here, the approach was to recover and transform, minimizing waste and giving new value to materials via preservation rather than replacement.

Obsolete Typologies Revived Through 17 Adaptive Reuse Projects

Hadir Al Koshta — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Adaptive reuse is shifting from simple preservation to active revitalization, a process of structurally rescuing and reprogramming architectural typologies whose original functions are no longer relevant. The obsolescence of architectural spaces occurs for varied reasons: sociological shifts, leaving spaces uninhabited; technological advances, phasing out specific machinery; and economic changes, making centralized functions necessary. The strategy of repurposing focuses on achieving spatial and functional longevity through minimal interventions, allowing the original structure to serve as the memory anchor of the project.

Zoii Kids Retail Space / Architettura Tommasi

Valeria Silva — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The project involves the renovation of a retail space dedicated to children's clothing, located in the historic city center of Padua, near Piazza dei Signori. The intervention carefully balances respect for the existing architectural heritage with the introduction of contemporary design elements aimed at creating a playful and engaging environment for children.

A Dialogue with the Past: Preservation Techniques of Historic Villas in Italy

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Italy's rich history, evident in its monuments and cities, has created a unique context for architectural renovation. Italian architects often embrace this heritage by engaging in a dialogue between old and new, rather than aiming for a complete transformation. This approach intentionally avoids an imitative style, instead using contemporary materials like steel, glass, and new wood to frame and highlight the existing historic stone and brickwork. This juxtaposition turns the original materials from simple structural elements into featured decorative and narrative ones. The result is a layered experience where the history of the space remains visible, ensuring it is preserved rather than erased by the renovation.

San Rocco’s Oratory / Architettura Tommasi

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The Oratory of San Rocco is a restoration project of a historic former church, originally constructed between 1525 and 1542 in the heart of Padua's historic city center, Italy. The building stands on a site that was once a burial ground in front of the Church of Santa Lucia. Due to the significance of the monument and the increasing number of visitors drawn by temporary exhibitions, the need arose to expand its exhibition spaces and carry out a comprehensive renovation.

Green Kilometer Public Park / GHISELLINI ARCHITETTI

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The project for the new public park in Mulazzano aims at creating an inclusive and safe urban space, a protected and passable place where the complex of new collective activities that the local community is called to cultivate can be concentrated.

Monte Rossa Wine Production Facility / aa-ls luigi serboli architetti + Pierangelo Scaroni

Hadir Al Koshta — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 05:00:00 +0000

The new cellar Monte Rossa, deep in the Italian countryside of Franciacorta, is put alongside the historical venue of the 3rd century and represents the latest act of the entrepreneurial tradition pointed towards innovation and quality. The new establishment greatly answers the new requirements and brings together the oenological and the environmental sustainability into an integrated production space constantly in dialogue with the surrounding territory.

GZ House / aa-ls luigi serboli architetti

Hadir Al Koshta — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The GZ Residence stands on the shores of Lake Garda, in a densely urbanized yet scenically rich context.

Casa E.T. Renovation and Extension / Studio Bocchi

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The project concerns the renovation and expansion of a farmhouse located inside a courtyard on the crest of the hills of the Piedmont area of the Reggio Emilia Apennines. The stone building, dating back to the early 1900s, had already been the subject of renovation and consolidation interventions over time that had led to the creation of reinforced concrete terraces in the areas towards the valley, and in recent times to the renovation of the roof and the addition of a concrete and wood portico on the east side.

Diciassette Clothing Store / RdN studio

Hadir Al Koshta — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Beneath the porticoes of the first building in Morbegno designed by Luigi Caccia Dominioni, a new commercial activity has opened its doors. Morbegno is distinguished not only by Caccia's architecture, but also by views of the surrounding mountains and waterways, with the Ganda bridge serving as a symbol of union between the town and the Rhaetian Alps. This late-18th-century stone structure, characterized by three imposing arches stretching over the Adda River, provides the conceptual foundation for the project.

House in the Bolognese Apennines / LADO architetti

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 02:00:00 +0000

Located on the outskirts of a very small village in the Bolognese Apennines, at an altitude of 750 meters, the house is set within a landscape of a distinctly agricultural character. The project was conceived with the aim of finding a balance between the region's traditional building techniques and a contemporary architectural language.

San Michele Bar Installation / Trewhela Williams

Andreas Luco — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Trewhela Williams and Etraterra were commissioned by the Vicenza-based company Marmi Faedo, who operate the only Grolla stone quarry in the world, to design a stand from their signature limestone for a stone trade fair in Verona. The overall installation was conceived as a minimalist Grolla landscape and serene setting insulated from the bustle of the trade fair. Grolla's excellent technical mechanical characteristics of low water absorption, resistance to abrasion, salt, pollution and frost have lent it to external application over the centuries and meant that this ancient material that can be found across several historic civic buildings, city squares, fountains and monuments around Northern Italy. One notable example in Vicenza is the distinctive balustrades of the San Michele Bridge, which were carved from solid Grolla back in 1621. It is the abstracted curvature of these that has informed the central gesture of the stand - a 6m long monolithic bar.

Private House Val Trebbia / Studio Pietro Todeschini + Studio Paolo Pagani

Hadir Al Koshta — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The project is located in a small hamlet of the Alta Val Trebbia: Roncaiolo. The client owned an old house adjacent to their property, whose dilapidated condition led to the decision to completely demolish and rebuild it.