AC Milan and FC Internazionale Milano (Inter) have unveiled the design for Generali Stadium, a 71,500-seat venue planned to become the shared home of the two football clubs in Milan, Italy. Designed by Foster + Partners and MANICA, the new stadium will be built alongside the existing San Siro as part of a 281,000-square-meter redevelopment of the surrounding area. The project follows years of discussions over the future of the historic venue, which the clubs acquired in 2025 with the intention of replacing it. Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with the stadium scheduled to host its first match during the 2031/32 season, subject to planning approvals.
Loco Park masterplan project in Tbilisi, Georgia, 2026. Image Courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti
This week's architecture news covers a range of projects addressing the changing needs of cities, from the adaptation of existing sites to the development of new cultural and public spaces. As Antalya prepares to host COP31, projects in Rotterdam and Pittsburgh focus on the renovation of established cultural institutions, while developments in Copenhagen, Chicago, and Tbilisi explore new approaches to recreation, public access, and urban regeneration. Elsewhere, Foster + Partners has revealed plans for a mixed-use development in Yerevan, VG13 Architects has won the competition for a new stadium and sports district in Zagreb, and Aria Property Group has unveiled a residential and public precinct in Brisbane ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
This week began with the United Nations' commemoration of the International Day of Peace, an invitation to ask what conditions are needed to cultivate nonviolence, social stability, and respect for human dignity. Against a backdrop of growing individual isolation, authoritarianism, and a multidimensional material crisis, we've gathered articles in which architecture mediates between conflict and coexistence through the construction of spaces for encounter and memory. Other news this week highlights a disciplinary tool that brings those two concepts together: the transformation of what we have already built to bring it up to date with our needs and aspirations, while another group of high-profile, large-scale projects opens in the Global North. On our radar, we also take a look at new projects in Dubai, Oxford, Portland and Paris, from major international firms.
The Pyramid of Tirana opened as a museum to Enver Hoxha in October 1988, three years after his death and three years before the regime collapsed. In the decades that followed, it served as a radio station, a conference venue, a nightclub, and a base for NATO during the Kosovo war. In 2023, MVRDV reopened it as a park and technology school, adding steps to the façades so that the building could be walked over. The inauguration was timed to the Western Balkans Summit on 16 October, a date that some critics pointed out was Hoxha's birthday. Two projects of national self-definition, thirty-five years apart and built on opposite political premises, have used the same structure.
This week in architecture, discussions around the lifespan of buildings, the evolution of cultural institutions, and climate-responsive design highlighted how contemporary practice increasingly extends beyond the moment of construction. From debates over demolition and adaptive reuse to new museums that integrate landscape and environmental performance, the week's developments reflect shifting priorities around permanence, transformation, and public value. Alongside these projects, major institutional announcements, from the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist to the election of a new UIA leadership, offer insight into the architectural agendas shaping the profession across different scales and geographies.
This week belonged to the arts, with cultural architecture dominating headlines across the globe. Landmark buildings for major institutions advanced through important construction and design milestones, from the Shanghai Opera House to Abu Dhabi's new performing arts center, while two new museum commissions were announced following international competitions. Architecture also took centre stage as a subject of exhibition itself, with the Sharjah Architecture Triennial revealing its participant list and Austria unveiling its proposal for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale. Beyond these developments, this week's news compilation includes three upcoming urban design projects: in Seoul, South Korea, a new riverside neighbourhood in the Apgujeong district weaves residential towers around parkland connecting the city to the Han River; in Cardiff, Wales, a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Taff links waterfront neighbourhoods to new housing along the water's edge; and in Bengaluru, South India, the Museum of Art and Photography is expanding its public campus, adding new civic and cultural facilities alongside a major new sculpture park set within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
When Buda and Pest joined in 1873, the two parts formed a capital whose identity has since been tied to this balance between geography and urban order. From the riverbanks and thermal baths to imperial monuments and infrastructural works, Budapest's architecture carries the traces of these overlapping histories.
That layered condition continues to shape Hungary's capital today. Alongside its historic fabric, Budapest has seen a steady accumulation of contemporary projects, from cultural institutions in City Park to new educational buildings, sports facilities, adaptive reuse works, and large-scale developments along the Danube. Often working through inherited structures rather than apart from them, these projects add new layers to a city shaped as much by continuity as by change.
Recent events highlighted the many ways architecture responds to changing environmental, social, and cultural conditions. Major earthquakes in Venezuela, Japan, and Northern California renewed attention to the role of planning, infrastructure, and building practices in shaping resilience to natural hazards. As these questions continue to inform the built environment, the opening of the 2026 UIA World Congress of Architects in Barcelona brought together practitioners and researchers to discuss climate, housing, public space, and the future of the profession. Recent project announcements, preservation initiatives, completed works, and new design tools further reflected the range of approaches shaping architectural practice today, from heritage conservation and adaptive reuse to environmental performance and long-term planning.
Foster + Partners, in collaboration with Dar Al-Handasah, has revealed the master plan for Al Najd Agricultural City in Dhofar, southern Oman. Covering approximately 54 million square feet, the development is conceived as a self-sustaining agricultural and urban settlement designed to respond to the region's environmental conditions and agricultural landscape. Commissioned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Water Resources, the project forms part of the objectives outlined in Oman Vision 2040, which seeks to strengthen food security, diversify the national economy, and support sustainable development initiatives.
In 2026, Apple marked fifty years since its founding. Over the past two decades, Apple has developed a consistent architectural language that extends its brand into the built environment, transforming stores, workplaces, and public-facing spaces into active components of its identity. These environments guide movement, frame interaction, and condition the ways in which users encounter both products and the company itself.
From the handheld device to the urban interior, Apple has sought to maintain a high degree of control over form, material, and experience. Architecture becomes part of this system when the company begins to define how it is perceived and engaged with in physical space. Research on retail environments has shown how spatial layout, visibility, and circulation patterns can shape behavior and interaction, turning architecture into an interface between brand and user.
Each spring, Milan Design Week 2026 transforms the city into a distributed platform for design culture, where prototypes, product launches, and research-driven explorations coexist across multiple scales, including a growing presence of architect-designed objects. Held from April 20 to 26, the 2026 edition once again centered around the 64th Salone del Mobile.Milano at Fiera Milano, complemented by a network of independent venues and exhibitions throughout the city, an expanded landscape that is further reflected in ArchDaily's accompanying selection of installations and exhibitions from this year's program.
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.
Among Milan's most iconic landmarks are the flamboyant Gothic Duomo di Milano, the historically and artistically significant Santa Maria delle Grazie, and the ornate Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, along with numerous Renaissance and Baroque sites. The city also boasts some of the most innovative modern and contemporary architecture, showcasing a unique dialogue between tradition and modernity. This synergy is exemplified by the contributions of architects like Aldo Rossi,Gio Ponti,Stefano Boeri, Mario Cucinella, Zaha Hadid, Grafton Architects, Herzog & de Meuron, and Foster and Partners.
The following guide highlights key historical landmarks alongside exemplary contemporary architecture curated by ArchDaily. This guide serves as an indispensable resource for those planning to explore Milan during the 2026 Design Week, presenting a blend of essential sites designed by renowned local and international architects.
Architecture this week reflects the intersections of legacy, authorship, and social responsibility, as practices navigate questions of identity, recognition, and public engagement. Legal rulings, major competition shortlists, and large-scale urban proposals illustrate how architecture continues to operate across cultural, institutional, and environmental arenas. From sustainability-driven landmarks and transformative waterfront developments to iconic commercial towers, projects demonstrate approaches to ecological strategies and public programming. At the same time, global observances such as World Hearing Day highlight how spatial design shapes inclusion and accessibility, reminding the profession that the built environment can influence participation, learning, and well-being for diverse communities.
Battersea Power Station is a former coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames in London, originally designed by architects J. Theo Halliday and Giles Gilbert Scott. Notable for its appearance on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 studio album Animals and in Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 film Sabotage, the station is one of the world's largest brick buildings and is known for its Art Deco interior fittings and décor. Recognized today as part of modern industrial heritage, the site's transformation into a commercial development began in 2012, with the adaptive reuse guided by a masterplan designed by Rafael Viñoly. On February 16, Battersea Power Station announced the appointment of the strategic urban design practice Studio Egret West to evolve the original masterplan for the remaining 16 acres of the 42-acre riverside neighbourhood in the southwest London.
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.
We invite you to sit back, browse, and vote for your ultimate favorites. Below, you will find all of the 75 finalists in their respective categories. Voting is open until February 18th at 18:00 EST. Thank you—your participation is key to making this the world's largest community-driven architecture award.
Montparnasse Commercial Centre and CIT Tower redevelopment project, 2026. Image Courtesy of RPBW
This week's news compilation opens with two international commemorations, the International Day for Clean Energy and the International Day of Education, alongside a major archaeological discovery in Fano, Italy, where excavations have revealed a basilica described by Vitruvius, linking contemporary architectural discourse with deep historical continuity. Across this week's broader architecture news landscape, a central theme emerges around the advancement of civic architecture conceived as open, publicly engaged infrastructure, with cultural and institutional projects increasingly designed to strengthen their relationship with the city and everyday urban life. At the same time, renewed global attention turns toward Africa, where large-scale transport infrastructure and the conservation of modernist landmarks reflect interests in the region and the reassessment of the continent's architectural heritage. Complementing these narratives, this week's highlights also include a new model for car-free urban districts, co-designed public landscapes grounded in indigenous knowledge, and a residential development responding to regional context, reflecting how architecture is negotiating public space, civic responsibility, and territorial identity across diverse geographies.
Foster + Partners, in collaboration with Angola's Ministry of Transport, has unveiled the master plan for the Icolo e Bengo Aerotropolis, a large-scale development planned around the recently completed Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport. The proposal organizes business, research, residential, and hospitality programs within a landscape-led framework structured around the airport. Development is planned to proceed in phases, beginning with the business and cultural district located to the north of the site.
