Master Plan: The Latest Architecture and News

Greece's built environment is shaped by the coexistence of multiple architectural layers, where historic structures, modern interventions, and evolving urban systems intersect. Classical landmarks and their surrounding urban fabrics continue to inform the spatial character of cities, while postwar developments, infrastructural upgrades, and contemporary projects add new dimensions to the country's architectural landscape. This continuity between past and present provides the foundation for current design approaches, which increasingly focus on balancing heritage, environmental considerations, and contemporary urban needs.

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UNS has revealed images of SeoulOne, a master plan designed for Hyundai Development Company (HDC) in Seoul, South Korea, intended as a new model for multigenerational living. The project, already under construction on a brownfield site in the northeast of the city, reimagines an existing industrial site and railway area as a 405,000 m² car-free neighborhood for a multigenerational community. A never-sleeping, green master plan for Seoul, SeoulOne is envisioned as a mixed-use mini-city where all essential services for people of all ages are available within a 10-minute walk. The design includes 24/7 residential towers, retail spaces, offices, a hotel, sports facilities, daycare centers, senior living facilities, and a medical center, offering permanent services within walking distance. More than 30% of the site is dedicated to vegetation, including pocket parks, roof gardens, water gardens, and a forest walk, creating a year-round green village.

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Foster + Partners has developed a master plan for the redevelopment of the former FIX brewery in Thessaloniki, Greece. The proposal, commissioned by Dimand, outlines a mixed-use district that integrates public space, housing, hospitality, and cultural programs. Positioned along the western seafront and within walking distance of the city center, the site serves as a key point of connection between emerging neighborhoods and the waterfront. The project builds on the industrial history of the brewery complex while introducing new spatial configurations intended to support broader urban regeneration efforts across Thessaloniki.

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Construction began on the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) Campus in Heilbronn, Germany, designed by the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV. Developed by the IPAI Konsortium, which includes the State of Baden-Württemberg, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, Schwarz Gruppe, and the City of Heilbronn, the 30-hectare campus is envisioned as an international hub for over 5,000 professionals advancing innovative and responsible AI solutions. Centered on principles of openness, collaboration, and sustainability, the project aims to integrate workplaces, public spaces, and research facilities, establishing a setting where technology and human interaction coexist.

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Foster + Partners has completed the Techo International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, marking a new chapter in the nation's vision for sustainable growth and improved regional connectivity. Situated 20 kilometers south of the city center, the airport's terminal building spans 235,500 square meters and forms the centerpiece of a 24-square-kilometer master plan. Drawing inspiration from Cambodia's vernacular architecture and tropical landscape, the design integrates cultural references and environmental responsiveness to create a contemporary yet contextually rooted gateway for international travel. The first phase, including the head house and northern pier, opened to the public in 2025, while the southern pier is scheduled for completion by 2030.

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This week, architectural developments around the world highlighted the balance between continuity and change in the built environment. Conversations around sustainability, heritage, and resilience highlight how architecture adapts to shifting cultural, social, and environmental conditions, reimagining the role of design in shaping future communities. Across different contexts, projects, and initiatives, ongoing efforts to address environmental challenges, preserve cultural landmarks, and prepare new infrastructures reflecting the diverse scales and directions shaping architectural practice today.

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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has designed the Olympic Village for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, located on the site of the former Porta Romana railway yard in Milan. Now nearing completion, the project is set for handover to the Milano Cortina Foundation in the fall, ahead of the Games. In April 2025, ArchDaily editors had the opportunity to tour the construction site, observing the progress of the residential buildings, public spaces, and restored historic structures that will define the new urban district. The village forms a key component of the Porta Romana Railway Yard Master Plan and will serve a dual purpose: housing Olympic athletes during the event and transitioning into student and affordable housing afterward.

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As cities and communities adapt to new cultural, environmental, and social realities, architecture is taking on an expanded role in shaping spaces of resilience, gathering, and imagination. This edition of Architecture Now highlights six recent projects that span continents and typologies, from the redevelopment of post-industrial landscapes to sacred architecture, cultural pavilions, and civic hubs. Whether through mass timber innovation in Vancouver and Jülich, adaptive reuse in Ostrava, a children's pavilion in London, a spiritual centre in India, or a parametric church in Kyiv, each project demonstrates how design can bridge heritage and innovation while fostering connection, care, and community.

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Snøhetta has unveiled plans for Jesselton Docklands, a tropical waterfront master plan in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. The development reimagines the city's former port as a civic and cultural hub, strengthening its connection to the waterfront and positioning it as a new gateway to Sabah and the wider Southeast Asian region. Situated near Kota Kinabalu International Airport, the development includes a new ferry and cruise terminal, integrating infrastructure with the island's ecological and cultural context to position the city as a key point of connection within the region.

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In today's architectural discourse, masterplanning is increasingly recognized as a means to reconcile growth with long-term social, cultural, and environmental priorities. Beyond organizing buildings and infrastructure, these large-scale proposals aim to regenerate urban fabrics, adapt historic or underutilized sites, and establish frameworks for inclusive and resilient communities. Submitted by the ArchDaily community, the projects featured in this edition of Unbuilt Architecture highlight how masterplans can respond to contemporary challenges while preparing cities for an uncertain future.

Spanning diverse geographies, from Europe to the Middle East and the Americas, the selected projects reinterpret industrial complexes, cultural sites, and residential neighborhoods through strategies that prioritize sustainability, mobility, and collective identity. Many share a focus on regenerative design: reopening historic canals, creating climate-adapted public spaces, and introducing green corridors and community hubs to reconnect people with their environments. Together, they showcase how masterplanning is evolving into a critical tool for rethinking how cities grow, adapt, and sustain civic life.

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Populous has unveiled the design for a new master plan for the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, in collaboration with Lisbon-based architecture firm Saraiva + Associados. Commissioned by S.L. Benfica, the project aims to upgrade the stadium and introduce new mixed-use and public facilities within the surrounding precinct. Populous describes the project as part of a wider trend in stadium-led urban development, referencing parallels with venues like Wembley Stadium and the Etihad Campus. According to the firm, the design responds to the stadium's existing context while supporting future expansion and new forms of public engagement. Completion is expected in alignment with upcoming international sporting events, including the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

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Foster + Partners has won a competition to transform Shanghai's Putuo District. The 3.2-square-kilometre masterplan focuses on the urban regeneration of the area surrounding Shanghai West Railway Station, creating a new gateway to China's most populous city. Structured around key transportation modes, the project includes two parallel pedestrian corridors that connect the station to Zhenru Temple and a new urban center planned on a currently undeveloped site. The masterplan follows the 2024 proposals for the Changfeng mixed-use development within Putuo District's Shanghai Science and Technology Finance cluster, part of the broader Shanghai 2035 Masterplan.

Danish architecture firm Third Nature, together with Sophie Sahlqvist Landskab, Arkaia, ILC, and Artelia, recently shared images of Øhjem, their proposed strategic vision for the re-naturalization of Denmark's Greater Copenhagen region toward 2050. The regenerative plan is part of the Water's Ways program under the Agenda Earth initiative, an interdisciplinary project run by the Danish Association of Architects in collaboration with the Dreyers Foundation and the Danish Bar Association. Led by urbanist Boris Brorman Jensen, the program calls for long-term solutions to restore 15% of Danish agricultural land while also protecting 600,000 homes from water-related threats. Third Nature's Øhjem masterplan reimagines the 25 km Ramsø Dale as a step toward implementing the land management objectives outlined in the Danish Green Tripartite Agreement (Grøn Trepart), signed in June 2024.

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In September 2024, Foster + Partners announced its appointment by Manchester United for the development of a master plan for the Old Trafford Stadium District. The centerpiece of the master plan is a new stadium, set to become the largest football venue in the United Kingdom with a capacity of 100,000 seats. This week, the firm unveiled images of the stadium design along with surrounding public spaces, including parks, mixed-use developments, an open-air cinema, and a renovated train station. These images contain the illustrative concepts that will become the basis for more detailed feasibility, consultation, and planning work as the project enters new stages.

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The United Center arena in Chicago, designed by HOK Sport (now Populous), Marmon Mok, and W.E. Simpson Company, was built between 1992 and 1994. With a capacity of over 20,000 seats for sports and general events, it includes more than 6,000 parking spaces in lots surrounding the arena. These parking lots span approximately 55 acres (over 22 hectares) in Chicago's West Side (1901 W. Madison Street). A new master plan, named the 1901 Project, aims to transform this space into a mixed-use neighborhood. Led by design collective RIOS, with contributions from landscape architecture studio Field Operations, this long-term, multi-phase project aims to connect neighborhoods by creating new public spaces and infrastructure on a metropolitan scale. The proposal recently received approval from the Chicago Plan Commission.

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The site of Expo 2020 Dubai is scheduled to undergo a major transformation, developed by UNStudio in collaboration with several other firms. The master plan aims to reimagine the location of the first World Expo held in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia into a new urban center, integrating the structures of the original Expo with new developments to create a cohesive and engaging new district. The development, part of Dubai's 2040 Urban Master Plan, leverages approximately 80% of the existing infrastructure and buildings from Expo 2020, minimizing waste and maximizing the value of previous investments.

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Phase four of the King's Road Park masterplan, designed by Foster + Partners for St William, has received detailed planning permission. The design, located in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, comprises two residential towers of 28 and 38 stories, a seven-story podium building, and 1.9 acres of new parkland and public open space, totaling 357 new homes. The residential buildings incorporate communal spaces, including a ground-level amenity and a rooftop garden sheltered by a louvered canopy. The towers' slender profiles are intended to complement the existing urban skyline, featuring terracotta paneling in a nod to local architectural styles.

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