Architecture: Research Guide

La Salvada is an extraordinary architectural project envisioned by Tarek Shamma in response to the client's brief of creating a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. The project faced planning constraints, as it was limited to the existing footprint of two ruins, while also needing to preserve and design around a magnificent, sprawling cactus measuring 5 meters in height.

Located in Puigpunyent, Mallorca, this project led by the IBAVI (Balearic Housing Institute) proposes a building designed with criteria of sustainability, energy efficiency, and respect for the natural environment. To achieve this, the project develops from a model of local economy that recovers trades, construction systems, and passive strategies inherent to the native island culture.

Amid the orderly grid of the Giardini della Biennale, the Swiss Pavilion appears almost reticent. Its low white volumes, completed in 1952 by Bruno Giacometti, seem to withdraw from the surrounding display of national pride. The building embodies a form of modernism that resists monumentality, where precision and restraint replace spectacle, and architecture becomes less an object than a framework for encounter.

The Reception Pavilion is conceived as an imaginary purgatory — a passage from the polluted urban realm into a landscape of ecological clarity. It stands both grounded and imaginary, kinetic: a tectonic circle in motion, where nature enters from every side and the visitor becomes part of it.

Countryside: A Place to Live, Not to Leave by AMO / OMA presents an exploration of contemporary life beyond the city, examining how rural territories adapt to global transformation. Conceived under the direction of Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal, with Yotam Ben Hur as project architect, the exhibition is presented by Qatar Museums in collaboration with the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC), Hassad Food, and Kahramaa. It is hosted across two venues in Doha, the Qatar Preparatory School and the National Museum of Qatar, and remains accessible to the public until June 30, 2026.

The client's assignment was to expand the existing family house. The existing building was built at the beginning of the 20th century on the edge of a rocky slope above the Sázava River. In 2010, it underwent a major renovation and an extension of the hanging part to the garden. However, it gradually became clear that the size of the building no longer met the client's needs.

The Limbo Museum is a new institution dedicated to architecture, art, and design based in Ghana, West Africa. The museum challenges the concept of the ruin, operating from a formerly abandoned Brutalist estate that currently conveys the image of an unfinished building. The project was founded by Limbo Accra, a spatial design and research-based practice established in 2018 by Dominique Petit-Frère and Emil Grip, dedicated to "unlocking the potential of unfinished buildings across West Africa and beyond." On October 31, 2025, the museum opened its first public exhibition, On the Other Side of Languish by Reginald Sylvester II, developed through the institution's visiting artist residency prog..

The San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium (currently Claro Arena), inaugurated on September 4, 1988, is located in the Las Condes municipality of Santiago, Chile, on a sloping site towards the city, between the mountains and Manquehue Hill. The original design featured a partially buried configuration, with differentiated access points between the eastern side (Fouilloux) and the western side (Livingstone).

Architecture is being reshaped by artificial intelligence, climate change, and shifting social structures. At SCI-Arc, students learn to face these challenges head-on, using design to shape a rapidly changing world.

Sited at the West-south of Erhai Lake, at the edge of the ancient citadel of Dali, an abandon transformer factory is transformed into a theatrical park. The original workshop, storage and office are turned into theater, new media art, and multi-sensual caterings. The main performance venue is the Transformer Theatre that creates a trinity of architecture, interior and stage setting design.

This curated selection of projects from the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale explores how architects and designers are rethinking the relationship between the built environment and water in response to the global climate crisis. As sea levels rise and extreme weather events increase, water is no longer a distant threat but an immediate design condition. Rather than resisting it, these projects look at how architecture can coexist with, adapt to, and even regenerate through natural forces. Together, they suggest a shift toward working with the elements, acknowledging water not as a limit to construction but as an active participant in shaping future environments.

The history of the Olympic Games, while marked by athletic achievement, is consistently contrasted by infrastructure challenges. Across host cities, from Athens to Rio and Beijing, similar issues arise: significant cost overruns and the complex issue of legacy. The big question is: What is the best viable long-term use for purpose-built sport venues? Montreal's 1976 Games shared this fate after building an Olympic Park that faced heavy criticism for cost overruns and debt from specialized construction. Post-Games, venues like the Montreal Velodrome risked becoming a financial burden. However, the city demonstrated a proactive response by proposing the transformation of the building into a th..

The Bale Bio Pavilion reinterprets the Bale Banjar, the open-sided meeting hall that anchors every Balinese village. Raised off the ground and open to the air, the Bale Banjar has long been a space for ceremony, music, and community discussion. At Mertasari Beach in Sanur, Cave Urban translated this familiar form into a lightweight pavilion built from bamboo and recycled materials, merging local typology with regenerative design principles. "We were really interested in the Bale Banjar," says Jed Long, Director at Cave Urban. "It's a space that everyone in Bali recognises, a structure that connects people and community."

Facing the main square of the neighborhood, the school complex presents itself as the landmark of a new centrality. Its strategic position makes this facility a real urban and architectural challenge for the city and its future development. The volumes create a landscape of roofs and vertical elements reminiscent of a village. This universe stands out from the surrounding residential buildings and highlights the programmatic richness of the facility, making it a unique architectural event.

Fowóralé II extends the calm, coastal character of the original building, completed in 2024 along the quiet, sun-dappled sands of Ilashe. This extension unfolds as a natural continuation of the first phase, with spaces thoughtfully oriented to capture natural light, coastal breezes, and views of the shoreline. The design balances areas for communal gathering with quieter moments of retreat, supporting everyday activity in harmony with the sea. In this phase, the extension gains a more outward-facing dimension to meet the client's evolving program, introducing spaces for dining, connection, and curated social experiences while maintaining the structure's balance and order and adding a warme..

Behind layers of plaster, paint, and finishes lies an intricate network of pipes, electrical conduits, beams, and other structural elements that make a building function and stand, yet remain invisible to the everyday eye. Within these layers, traces of different periods accumulate: replaced systems, improvised adaptations, and technical solutions that once responded to specific contexts and urgencies. In adaptive reuse, the greatest challenge often begins before construction even starts, which is understanding what lies within when little or no reliable documentation exists. During a renovation, pleasant or unpleasant surprises are inevitable. The unexpected is part of the process, but it a..

Is it possible to restore a way of life? Can it be done with the same delicacy as recovering an ancient object?

Buildner has announced the results of its Portugal Vez River SPA international competition.

The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art (Suzhou MoCA), designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, is nearing completion along the Jinji Lake waterfront in Suzhou, China. Conceived as a cluster of twelve pavilions beneath a continuous, ribbon-like roof, the 60,000-square-meter complex reinterprets the traditional garden architecture that has long defined Suzhou's urban and cultural identity. Commissioned by the Suzhou Harmony Development Group and developed in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc., the project is expected to open officially in 2026. The museum will debut with "Materialism," an exhibition curated by BIG that traces a material journey from stone to recyclate.

At home in the city, in the country—A pioneering project that speaks of the harvests of everyday urban life. In the transition zone between city and country, on a site in Munich's Freiham urban development area, a residential project has been completed that offers rooms for different intensities of communal living—from individual apartments to housing communities with shared living rooms, and to cluster apartments.

Choosing to remain in this coveted pocket of North Fremantle, our clients sought to expand rather than relocate – a challenge made intricate owing to the site's strict heritage controls. The brief called for additional floor space, including a new master bedroom suite and a versatile space to serve as either a study or second living area. Drawing on the client's distinct Mediterranean sensibility, our role was to translate this relaxed approach to contemporary living with the home's existing heritage character.

Historic Heritage and Gengxue — Within the broader context of Rural Revitalization, a triangular plot next to ChunYangTai Arts and Cultural Centre was selected for the Langtou Gengxue+ Education Centre. Together with ChunYangTai, it forms a comprehensive cultural and educational cluster, injecting new vitality into the cultural tourism development of the Langtou Ancient Village.

Tirana, the capital of Albania, is experiencing a rapid transformation driven by the long-term urban strategy outlined in the Tirana 2030 (TR030) Master Plan. Developed in 2017 by Stefano Boeri Architetti, UNLAB, and IND [Inter.National.Design] through a competition organized by the Ministry of Urban Development, the plan's objectives include increasing urban density, improving public infrastructure, and integrating green spaces and open areas into the urban fabric. It is in this dynamic setting that MVRDV has won the international competition for Tirana's new Asllan Rusi Sports Palace. Conceived as a mixed-use development, the project, named The Grand Ballroom, combines a 6,000-seat arena f..

The Pritzker Architecture Prize has released a special video honoring Liu Jiakun, the 54th Laureate of the award. Filmed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the ceremony celebrates Liu's architectural vision, characterized by a deep engagement with civic life, cultural continuity, and the human condition. The film captures moments from the event and offers insight into Liu's broader practice, emphasizing architecture's capacity to reconcile tradition and modernity while addressing social and environmental challenges. The release of the ceremony video marks the culmination of the 47th edition of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The 2026 Laureate will be announced in March, continuing the award's legacy ..

Biodiversity, defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as the different kinds of life found in an area, is in a state of crisis all across the world, with declines in the numbers of organisms and many species declared as at risk of extinction. All types are affected, from plants and fungi to large mammals, and there is a clear link to human activity being the cause. Although farming methods and climate change due to greenhouse gases play a major role, cities and buildings can play a small but important role in countering this decline.

A Space for Reflection, Dialogue, and Discovery - Ismaili Centers around the world serve as ambassadorial buildings, welcoming people of all backgrounds to explore the intersections of faith, culture, and civic life. Each embodies the Ismaili community's commitment to peaceful pluralism, ​​intellectual engagement, and shared humanity, offering a place for spiritual reflection, cultural exchange, and public dialogue. The Ismaili Center Houston continues this tradition, envisioned as a living home for the mind and spirit – a place where programmes in education, art, music, performance, and conversation come together to foster understanding among people of all backgrounds.

Water is the foundation of life. It shapes landscapes, regulates climates, and sustains every living organism. Yet on the only known inhabited planet, this essential resource faces a growing crisis: although 70% of Earth's surface is covered by water, less than 1% is actually available for human use. Most of it is consumed by agriculture and industry, while in households, activities like bathing and flushing use vast amounts of drinking water for non-essential purposes. The bathroom, therefore, has become a key space for innovation, where technology and design can help redefine how we use and reuse this vital element.

When planning a small building, understanding the land, its surroundings, and the user's needs becomes crucial. On a compact site, the form is often dictated by constraints—lot size, shape, entry points, and stairs. Yet when interpreted creatively, such limitations can yield a distinctive story, the kind that defines the charm of small houses.

Located in the condominium Fazenda Vila Real, in Itu (São Paulo State), this summer residence is the fourth house developed for the same client. The request, this time, was for a large, transparent house and in direct harmony with nature, a premise that guided the entire creative process. The starting point of the project was the desire to connect with the native forest area existing in the land, an element transformed into a protagonist in this project. From the main entrance of the house, dense vegetation imposes itself as a scenario and frame, defining the implantation and the architectural party.

Casa Alicia is a contemporary architectural intervention located in the Historic Center of Comitán de Domínguez, Chiapas —a Magical Town in southeastern Mexico— designed as accommodation for the Airbnb platform. It reinterprets vernacular architecture from a modern perspective, integrating bioclimatic strategies that balance efficiency, aesthetics, and low maintenance.