The Portugal Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka embraces the theme "Ocean, The Blue Dialogue", offering visitors an immersive exploration of the ocean as a life-giving resource and a cornerstone of sustainability. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the Pavilion aims to reflect Portugal's deep historical, cultural, and economic connections to the sea, creating an architectural and narrative journey that bridges past, present, and future. The pavilion has recently been inaugurated in the in the "Empowering Lives" zone, next to the Bahrain Pavilion, designed by Lina Ghotmeh Architecture and the Austrian Pavilion by BWM Architects.
Buildner has released the results of its Denver Single Stair Housing Challenge, an international design challenge inviting architects, designers, and urban planners to explore innovative solutions for high-density residential living. Participants were tasked with reimagining a common point access block typology—often characterized by vertical circulation concentrated in a compact core—and transforming it into a more sustainable, community-oriented, and adaptable living environment. The competition was focused on sites in Denver, Colorado, though its issues are relevant to urban situations throughout the United States and around the globe.
The national pavilion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes its first visitors at Expo 2025 Osaka. The latest photographs showcase Foster + Partners's design, aiming to create a spatial experience that evokes the character of Saudi Arabian towns and cities. Positioned at the Yumeshima waterfront, the pavilion offers visitors an engaging journey of discovery through the 'village' of meandering streets that alternate spaces of quiet reflection with venues for performances and cultural experiences.
French architecture studio Coldefy and Italian architecture practice CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati have completed the 'Theatre of Life,' the project selected as France's national pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025, and welcomes visitors until 13 October. The pavilion welcomes both natural and artificial habitats, aiming to illustrate how design can connect human and non-human worlds while showcasing France's contribution to culture and the natural environment. In the exhibition, the visitors are invited to explore France's multiple ecosystems and rediscover a connection to nature.
The latest photographs of the Swiss Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka have just been released. Designed by Manuel Herz Architekten, NUSSLI, and Bellprat Partner, as a result of a competition won, the pavilion guides visitors through five spatial zones under the theme From Heidi to High Tech. The installation brings together references from Swiss cultural narratives and technological developments in a multi-sensory setting. In line with the Expo's overall theme, "Designing the Future Society for Our Lives," the pavilion aims to minimize environmental impact with a lightweight membrane design that allows for speedy construction and strengthens the relationship between both countries.
Throughout their relatively recent history, museums have evolved to condense particular aspects of a culture and present them in a coherent and unified manner. This makes the connection between the architecture and the exhibit a crucial matter, as the architect is tasked with designing not only the framework and background of the exhibited arts or artifacts but also taking charge of the journey undertaken by the visitor, harmonizing the cultural gain with the lived spatial experience of walking the exhibition halls. However, not all museums have been purposely built for this task.
Across Europe, museums are being organized within or expanding upon historical monuments and buildings that have lost their original purpose. Then in a state of decay, this decision to reorganize them as cultural venues stops the decay and preserves the historical material, adding a new layer of complexity to the intended exhibits. The architect's role becomes that of introducing order and a system that can balance the heritage of the place with the needs of modern functionality, ensuring that the essence of the original structure is preserved while meeting the needs of contemporary exhibitions and public engagement.
Expo 2025 Osaka has officially opened on April 13, 2025, at Yumeshima, Osaka. Under the overarching theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives," the Expo set out to explore three pivotal subthemes: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. These themes aim to unite architectural and design enthusiasts by demonstrating how cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions can address global challenges, foster dialogue inspire collective action.
Carlo Ratti, the designer of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 torch. Image Courtesy of Milano Cortina 2026
The official torches, named Essential, for the Milano Cortina 2026: Winter Olympics and Paralympics, were unveiled in parallel events at the Triennale di Milano and Expo 2025 in Osaka. Designed by Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with Eni and its subsidiary Versalis, Essential takes a minimalist approach that foregrounds the flame as the central element. The project blends Italian design with engineering precision, resulting in a torch that serves as both a symbolic and technical object. Its open structure, uncommon in torch design, allows viewers to see how the flame is produced, revealing the typically hidden mechanisms at work.
The 2025 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival continues its tradition of merging large-scale contemporary art with music, transforming the Empire Polo Field into a dynamic landscape of immersive installations. Curated by Raffi Lehrer of Public Art Company (PAC) in collaboration with Goldenvoice Art Director Paul Clemente, this year's program explores themes of movement, illusion, and impermanence through newly commissioned works and returning artists. Since 2016, Coachella's art program has evolved into a multidisciplinary platform, with most of its production managed in-house and on-site. The 2025 festival runs across two weekends, April 11-13 and April 18-20. This year's edition includes three newly commissioned art installations in addition to the permanent and returning exhibits.
According to several recent studies, noise in cities has become an increasing hazard to health. Environmental noise, that is, noise from traffic, industrial activities, or amplified music, which reaches internal spaces, is not merely an annoyance. It has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and mental health. As the world urbanizes, more people are exposed to excessive levels of noise. How can urban design and architectural strategies help to prevent this?
India finds itself a watershed moment with its urban evolution. With the United Nations projecting urbanization to reach 68% by 2050, the country's metropolitan regions needs to adapt to increasing populations while maintaining equity and quality of life. India's urban population is expected to exceed 600 million by 2030, drawing attention to both urban density and sprawl. As an emerging player in the domain of high-rise development, India is restructuring how it engages with urban growth by shifting from horizontal sprawl to vertical expansion.
The 2025 edition of Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.Milano, spanning April 7th to 13th, brought together a diverse range of temporary installations at the intersection of architecture, design, and material innovation. Spread across historic sites, courtyards, and exhibition venues throughout the city, these site-specific works explored concepts such as sustainability, impermanence, sensory experience, and spatial interaction, in line with the theme of this edition of exploring the deep connections between humanity and design. Architectural studios, designers, and artists collaborated with brands and institutions to create environments that responded to context while proposing new approaches to how spaces are designed, experienced, and constructed. The following selection highlights ten installations presented during the week, reflecting a range of design approaches, materials, and spatial concepts.
Pollinator Garden and Meadow. Image Courtesy of San Antonio Botanical Garden and Reed Hilderbrand
Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture firm has unveiled images of its strategic master plan for Texas' San Antonio Botanical Garden, in the United States. The plan is designed to guide the future of this public landscape, reflecting long-term objectives focused on accessibility, conservation, and horticultural education. The vision includes a new horticultural campus and a public greenhouse for the site, designed by SO-IL, an architectural design firm based in New York whose 450 Warren housing project in Brooklyn was selected by ArchDaily's audience as the Building of the Year 2024 in the Housing category. The master plan aims at a more ecologically sustainable environment while enhancing the visitor experience across the garden's 38-acre landscape.
Public spaces are more than just physical voids in the urban fabric—they are stages for social interaction, cultural expression, and collective memory. In times of social fragmentation and environmental stress, these spaces can serve as catalysts for healing, offering safe environments where communities can reconnect. Through thoughtful design and participatory processes, public space interventions can rebuild trust, promote mental well-being, and foster a renewed sense of belonging among community members.
Trahan Architects has just completed the USA Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai in Japan. As the public opening date, April 13, approaches, the USA Pavilion is finalizing preparations to host visitors. During the six-month expo, the proposal aims to showcase American architecture, innovation, culture, and industry. The display will be focused on celebrating contemporary American achievements in various fields, featuring exhibitions focused on sustainability, space exploration, education, and entrepreneurship.
Symbiosis, a Prototype for Living and Working. Image Courtesy of contexo
The future of urban life is increasingly being imagined as collective, layered, and adaptable. As cities grow denser and the boundaries between work, home, and leisure blur, architects are rethinking the traditional notion of residential living, shifting from isolated units to integrated, community-driven environments. This collection of unbuilt projects, submitted by the ArchDaily community, reflects this shift: a global exploration into how design can shape more resilient, inclusive, and connected ways of living.
The gas station is an architectural typology that has undergone significant transformations since its inception. Initially, these structures were simple roadside refueling points designed for functionality rather than aesthetics. As automobile culture expanded, gas stations evolved to accommodate new technologies, shifting urban landscapes and changing consumer behaviors. Over time, they became more than just utilitarian stops — they developed into service hubs, integrating restaurants, motels, and leisure spaces, responding to contemporary transportation increasing demands.
By the late 20th century, however, the widespread standardization of gas stations led them to be perceived as "non-places", a concept defined by anthropologist Marc Augé to describe transient spaces that lack social or cultural significance. With uniform designs and a focus on efficiency, gas stations became interchangeable, reinforcing their role as purely functional infrastructure rather than meaningful architectural interventions. This standardization also departed from the era when fuel stations served as recognizable landmarks, contributing to a homogenized landscape devoid of local identity.
When designing spaces for viewing, architecture enters into a dialogue with the territory in an effort to understand the landscape and the enjoyment of reality, whether natural or built. Through an invitation to contemplate our surroundings, several architecture professionals in Latin America embark on the challenge of constructing structures that interact with nature, reinterpret certain building typologies, or become part of the learning and teaching of architecture for future generations. The wide variety of landscapes and cultures present in the Latin American context reflects the endless opportunities where architecture holds the potential to foster dialogue between the observer and the observed while drawing from the region’s deep connection with local flora, fauna, and other species.
