RICA, MASS Design, Rwanda. Image Courtesy of Pan-African Biennale (PAB)
This week, architecture presents new visions of the future across a geographically diverse landscape, with landmark projects and renewal initiatives emerging in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Bahrain, Germany, Italy, Australia, Morocco, and Burundi. New platforms for discussing urban futures highlight decolonization and the climate crisis as central priorities for contemporary architectural practice. At the same time, contrasting perspectives on urban regeneration are reflected in both the demolition of recent landmark structures and the large-scale transformation of industrial sites. On another note, the Olympic Games continue to act as catalysts for architectural production, as seen in the proposal for a new sports center in Australia for Brisbane 2032. This momentum coincides with major international infrastructure developments in Africa, including a new airport terminal in Morocco, as well as projects that rethink spaces for research and public engagement, such as a new building for the German Language Forum.
As housing shortages and affordability challenges intensify across global cities, this week's architectural discourse centers on how design, policy, and adaptive strategies intersect to shape the future of urban living. Initiatives range from grassroots movements and legislative reforms aimed at expanding access to housing to innovative models that rethink ownership, development, and community engagement. At the same time, architects are reimagining existing structures and districts, transforming underused offices, historic landmarks, and unfinished buildings into mixed-use, culturally significant, or publicly accessible spaces. Across scales, these stories illustrate how architecture negotiates scarcity, value, and social priorities, demonstrating its capacity not only to produce new buildings but also to recalibrate urban environments in ways that balance heritage, sustainability, and human experience.
RSHP has won a competition to redevelop the Rives-Défense site in La Défense, the business district of Paris. Announced during MIPIM, the project envisions the transformation of an 8-hectare site at the western edge of the district into a low-carbonmixed-use neighborhood. Commissioned by Paris La Défense, the proposal is developed by a multidisciplinary team led by RSHP and including Atelier SOIL as co-architect and urban planner, Altitude 35 as landscape architect, Arcadis as engineering consultant, as well as Atelier Franck Boutté, Urban Eco, and Mobius.
RSHP has announced the completion of the Barangaroo South Masterplan in Sydney, marking the realization of a 15-year redevelopment that has reconnected the city's north-western harbour edge to its urban core. Once a disused container port, the 22-hectare site has been transformed into a mixed-use, carbon-neutral precinct, integrating commercial, residential, and public spaces along the waterfront. Developed in collaboration with Lendlease following an internationaldesign competition, the masterplan is organized into three zones: Barangaroo South, a high-density extension of the Central Business District; Barangaroo Reserve, a reconstructed natural headland that reintroduces native landscapes to the harbour; and Barangaroo Central, a low-density residential area linking the northern and southern ends of the development.
Located in southern Spain, Seville unfolds as a layered city shaped by centuries of cultural intersections. As the former capital of Al-Andalus and a central port during the Spanish Empire's expansion, its built environment reflects a deep historical complexity. From Roman foundations to Islamic geometries, from Renaissance palaces to contemporary interventions, Seville presents a unique spatial narrative in which architecture directly reflects its political, religious, and social transformations.
The city's architectural heritage is inseparable from its climate and geography. Narrow shaded streets, inner courtyards, and water as spatial elements reveal a deep knowledge of environmental adaptation that still informs how public and private spaces are articulated today. While monumental landmarks such as the Alcázar, the Giralda, or the Cathedral preserve and reinterpret historic legacies, modern projects have begun introducing new materials, programs, and spatial typologies, challenging conventional forms and proposing alternative ways to inhabit the city.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, two hijacked commercial jetliners struck the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan, a third plane struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. A total of 2.977 people were killed in the terrorist attacks. In the face of this unprecedented loss, the city of New York promised to rebuild Lower Manhattan as a lively neighborhood while honoring and maintaining the memory of this day. Thus began one of the largest reconstruction projects in New York City, a process that is still ongoing now, 23 years after the tragedy.
Madrid, the vibrant capital of Spain, offers a blend of tradition and modernity, reflected in its diverse architectural heritage. This rich past is etched into the old façades, expansive public spaces, and historic religious institutions that define much of Madrid’s character today. The city’s continuous architectural renewal, reflected in both respectful restorations and innovative new constructions, highlights Madrid’s commitment to preserving its heritage while embracing modernity.
In the 20th century, Madrid embraced modernity, influenced by movements such as Rationalism, the International Style, and Brutalism. Today, Madrid is a showcase for contemporary design, where contemporary projects by renowned architects coexist with its historical legacy. Structures like the CaixaForum by Herzog & de Meuron and Jean Nouvel’s Reina Sofía Museum exemplify the city’s interest in architectural explorations
RSHP, in collaboration with TJAD, has been selected in the international competition for the design of the Zhongyuan International Convention and Conference Centre complex. The project, located within the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone and adjacent to the international airport, aims to introduce a flexible and recognizable location for all visitors. The architectural design takes cues from the cultural heritage of the area and its natural surroundings.
RSHP’s design proposal for the Bromley-By-Bow Gasworks regeneration project has just been approved by the London Borough of Newham’s Strategic Development Committee. The 23-acre site dates back to the 1870s, housing the largest collection of Victorian gasholders worldwide, making the project one of the largest regeneration proposals in the Lower Lea Valley in London. After three years of design development, the scheme reimagines the gas holders into a mixed-use development offering new high-quality residential architecture.
RSHP has unveiled the urban and architectural design for the new Bayeux Tapestry Museum. The intervention is created to house and display the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth measuring 70 meters in length and depicting the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The almost 1000 years-old artifact is also included in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” list. The project proposes a contemporary extension of the 17th-century seminary where the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux is located.
RSHP has just won the Jean Moulin competition held in La Défense, Paris, to design a low-carbon mixed-use development. The competition is a part of the Paris business district initiative to become the world's first post-carbon business neighborhood, launching “Empreintes,” aiming to revolutionize five urban sites at the district’s periphery. Through collaboration with neighboring city centers, the scheme hopes to create various sustainable mixed-use properties.
Architecture office RSHP has unveiled the design for the Shenzhen - Hong Kong Innovation Integrated Service Centre, a 45-storey tower in the Futian Free Trade Zone in south Shenzhen. The building features an integrated floating podium which provides spaces for retail, cultural events, and green roof gardens. It also connects to the existing metro station and articulates the street-level plaza. The design results from a negotiation between two distinct briefs asking for a tower and a mixed-use podium on neighboring plots. RSHP’s proposal was to merge the briefs by integrating the podium into the south side of the tower, thus creating a distinct identity and creating a better relationship with the surrounding public space.
Architecture practice Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) has won the international competition to design a new nearly net zero operational carbon business center in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. The competition, organized by the Lithuanian Union of Architects and the Right Bank Development Fund, requested the design of a 19,200-square meters office space in the Central Business District of the city. One of the key ambitions of the project was the reduction of embodies carbon, achieved through a number of strategies, including the use of cross-laminated timber floor planks and locally sourced materials.
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Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP)
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners along with AUBE Conception have won the design competition of the Qianhai Financial Holdings Headquarter Tower, a mixed-use commercial building in the center of the Qianhai district in Shenzhen, China. Rising 220m, the metallic bronze-clad tower will include triple-height sky lobbies, a central atrium, and a skyline pagoda, all elevated and supported within four monumental columns.
In a competition organized by Shenzhen Airport, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and China Northeast Architectural Design & Research Institute (CNADRI) have won a competition to design the Terminal 4 Bao’an International Airport in Shenzhen, China. The winning design offers a new 400,000 sqm building with connections to existing and new transport infrastructure, as well as a space that promotes passenger interaction and wellbeing, all while maintaining a safe post-pandemic environment.
Honoring “an individual or pair of architects whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture,” the AIA Gold Medal is often considered the highest honor awarded in the United States for architecture.
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