Kings Road Park, Fulham. Image Courtesy of Foster + Partners
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.
The city of Kharkiv has faced significant challenges due to its proximity to the Russian border. Amidst these circumstances, Kharkiv's Mayor, Ihor Terekhov, underscored the need for a new landmark during the United Nations' Second Forum of Mayors—a project that could embody renewal, resilience, and hope. The Freedom Square International Competition was launched as part of this vision, inviting local and international experts to propose innovative designs for Freedom Square and the Kharkiv Regional State Administration Building.
This competition is part of the broader Kharkiv Masterplan Concept, an initiative led by the Kharkiv City Council in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Norman Foster Foundation, Arup, and local architects and experts. The Masterplan Concept seeks to guide Kharkiv's regeneration by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-looking urban environment while honoring the city's historical identity.
Dubai’s Marasi Marina. Image Courtesy of Foster + Partners
In recent weeks, a series of significant architectural developments have been unveiled, highlighting the work of diverse architecture studios across the globe. These projects, announced between late September 2024 and early 2025, focus on transformative masterplans, housing solutions, and public spaces. Prominent firms such as Foster + Partners, ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, and fjcstudio are at the forefront of these initiatives. In Dubai, Foster + Partners revealed the Regent Residences, a pair of residential waterfront towers. Meanwhile, ACPV ARCHITECTS announced three projects in Taichung, Taiwan, combining Italian design with Eastern philosophies to create green, community-focused urban spaces. In Sydney, fjcstudio's masterplan for Midtown aims to reshape the city's urban core with two 80-storey mixed-use towers, enhancing connectivity and public engagement. These projects demonstrate the diverse scales and contexts in which architects continue to innovate, shaping cities and communities worldwide.
2025 promises to be a landmark in architecture, heralding a vibrant renaissance of creativity and exploration. As societies confront challenges such as climate change, rapid urbanization, and technological evolution, architecture is both a mirror to these dynamics and a compass pointing toward a sustainable and inclusive future. This year's architectural calendar offers abundant opportunities to celebrate the discipline's transformative power — from boundary-pushing festivals to thought-provoking exhibitions that explore pressing cultural and environmental narratives.
From well-established biennials to inaugural gatherings, including the World Architecture Festival 2025, Desert X Al Ula, and the COP Climate Conference, the 2025 calendar highlights themes such as sustainability, heritage, and community. These events underscore architecture's unique ability to shape a better future, addressing global challenges while honoring cultural diversity and design ingenuity.
The Danish Architecture Center (DAC) will open its new exhibition, "Water is Coming" in October 2024, remaining open until March 12, 2025. The exhibition addresses the escalating global water crisis, prompted by melting polar ice, rising groundwater levels, and increasingly frequent and intense flooding. It acknowledges the reality of rising sea levels and extreme weather events, shifting the focus from mitigation to adaptation. The exhibition aims to foster a deeper understanding of our complex relationship with water, exploring its vital role as both a life-giving resource and a potential threat to human settlements.
In Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas vividly discusses the Downtown Athletic Club, a striking example of how an unassuming building exterior can conceal a vibrant mix of distinct, self-contained programs. Inside the uniform facade of this skyscraper, a private athletic club hosts an eclectic range of facilities—boxing gyms next to oyster bars and interior golf ranges below swimming pools—all segregated yet highly accessible. The Downtown Athletic Club epitomized the dynamism of New York's skyscrapers at the time, showcasing the thrill of capitalism through a selective, inward-focused world of leisure and privilege for the selected. This "machine of programs" operated independently of the external city as an isolated ecosystem within its walls. Yet, one might ask: could a similar model, designed for public use, create a more inclusive, lively community and neighborhood experience? This will activate the building within, instead of only serving the selected elites, and influence and transform the urban fabric and shapes around the building. In Hong Kong, a distant parallel can be drawn with the Municipal Services Buildings (MSBs)—publicly-funded structures that serve the community by integrating diverse functions within a singular vast building mass, much like the Downtown Athletic Club.
The Aebayah Roundabout designed by ARCHMA Studio. Image Courtesy of Mujassam Wattan
Cities are vibrant environments where architecture, public spaces, and art intertwine to shape the human experience. Sculptures and landmarks are essential components of urban design, creating cultural connections and enhancing both functionality and aesthetics. They define a city's identity while fostering community interaction and civic pride.
In Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, public art has played a transformative role in reshaping the cityscape, with projects like Alarda, Alkhobar Memory, Aebayah Roundabout, and Albairaq Roundabout. These initiatives, many spurred by the Mujassam Wattan competition (MW Award), highlight the profound impact of integrating art into urban design.
Construction has commenced on the Shenzhen Institute of Financial Technology tower, a 46-story building designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Its design, situated on a narrow site in Shenzhen's Futian district, aims to respond to its urban context. The building's form, measuring 199 meters in height, incorporates setbacks placed to maximize sunlight penetration to surrounding streets and public areas. This design decision is further reflected in the façade's varying transparency and color, created by vertical and angled glazing mullions in black and bronze. Recent construction photographs reveal the topped-out tower, waiting to receive its envelope while temporarily showcasing openly its structure and interior organization.
Salzburg, Austria, set along the Salzach River, is a city where history and architecture merge seamlessly. Dominated by the imposing M Castle, its historic core reflects a rich Baroque heritage. Landmarks like the Salzburg Cathedral, crafted by Santino Solari, and the elegant Leopoldskron Palace showcase a past marked by grandeur and cultural influence. Visitors can trace centuries of architectural evolution through the city's streets, from medieval strongholds to Baroque splendor, all within a UNESCO World Heritage site. Each winter, this setting hosts the Salzburg Christmas Market, recognized as one of the oldest Advent markets in Europe, with roots tracing back to a 15th-century "Tandlmarkt."
Yet, Salzburg is also a city of contrasts. Modern architecture has made its mark, blending harmoniously with its historic backdrop. Modern projects like Stadt Park Lehen and Paracelsus Bad & Kurhaus showcase contemporary design, while the Institute of Pharmacy and Gusswerk Extension add a fresh touch to the city's urban fabric. This balance between the old and the new defines Salzburg, where each architectural layer contributes to the city's dynamic, evolving story.
A look at most of the cities within Latin America reveals striking commonalities across countries, from Mexico down to Argentina: most cities have a well-defined area known as "El Centro" (The Center), anchored by a main plaza (Plaza Mayor), flanked by a church on one side and key buildings like the city hall on another. This is no coincidence, as it can be traced back to an urban planning system established during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries. It gave standardized guidelines for city design across its viceroyalties. Unlike French and English colonies, Spanish settlements adhered to regulations that contributed to the emergence of a shared urban identity, with cities displaying similar spatial logic and architectural cohesion despite differing scales and contexts.
As Athens hosts The Architect Show (TAS) 2024, the event brings together global and local voices to highlight the latest innovations in architecture and design. Against this backdrop, the city's evolving urban narrative is exemplified by The Ellinikon, Europe's largest urban regeneration project. Encompassing 6.2 million square meters, this €8 billion development has already attracted globally renowned architects such as Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Kengo Kuma, Foster + Partners, and Aedas. Together, they are shaping the smart city that integrates sustainability, connectivity, and community-focused design into the heart of Athens.
Global design firm Perkins&Will has just announced final plans have been approved for the Florida Corridor Plan in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on which the firm is the leading planner and urban designer. This initiative, recently approved by the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council, aims to transform and rejuvenate a 12-mile stretch connecting downtown Baton Rouge to the Livingston Parish line.
Woodward Avenue, between the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Public Library, serves as a public mediating ground on the nation's first paved road.. Image Courtesy of Agence Ter - Akoaki
The Detroit Cultural District has announced an ambitious initiative to reshape its urban landscape. This multi-phased project led by the Detroit Cultural Center Association (DCCA) in partnership with Design Leads Akoaki and Agence Ter, will transform the district's character, creating a more vibrant and accessible environment for residents and visitors alike. The project builds upon a comprehensive master plan, outlining a 15-year vision for the 80-acre campus in Detroit, Michigan. The plan's guiding principles focus on unifying the district's twelve institutions, improving pedestrian flow, and fostering a stronger sense of community.
Ancient Indian civilizations once thrived along the banks of the country's many rivers, solidifying a connection between water and culture that endures to the present. Rivers have been integral to India's diverse communities, serving as essential resources for daily life and spiritual practice. Historically, these water bodies experienced an entrenched sense of custodianship; being cared for collectively by the communities that depended on them. Today, responsibility for the rivers shifts between the hands of multiple stakeholders, calling for a joint endeavor that acknowledges their cultural significance.
Over the past two decades, the Holcim Foundation Awards has committed USD 20M to spotlight transformative projects by architects, designers, and engineers who pioneer sustainable design and construction practices. To capture these stories, the Foundation launched a short film series titled Words withWinners.
The design of public bathrooms and changing facilities has historically catered to a generalized notion of user needs, often oversimplifying the complexities of gender-specific requirements and falling short of supporting the unique needs of women. These needs extend beyond biological differences—such as the necessity for more stall privacy and differences in height and body posture—to include cultural factors that influence restroom use and expectations over time.
For instance, women's contemporary clothing often lacks adequate pocket space, resulting in the need to carry a handbag, even for simple essentials like phones and wallets. Despite efforts in recent architectural designs to address these disparities, the layered nuances of biological, cultural, and gender identity factors present a multifaceted challenge that defies a one-size-fits-all solution.
Air travel has opened up multiple avenues for travel experiences. Lately, these transitional spaces have become destinations themselves, with airports like the Hong Kong International Airport and Incheon International Airport commanding over 60 million visitors per year. Airports are often the first and last impression of a city, and designers and city planners are recognizing their role in telling a place's brand story. As hubs of both travel and tourism, these airports aim to blend functionality with cultural engagement, offering passengers a taste of the local flavor before they even leave the terminal.
The Darlington Public School in Australia by fjcstudio has been declared the World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival 2024. fjcstudio previously won Building of the Year in 2013, making it the first practice in WAF's history to win the award twice.
The ultimate accolades of World Building of the Year, World Interior of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Landscape of the Year were announced today as hundreds of delegates from across the world convened at a final Gala Dinner at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The announcement follows the final day of WAF, in which prize winners across all 42 categories have been competing for the winning titles.
