Architect, researcher, assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning UTCN, Master’s Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and KU Leuven. Based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Renowned French architect Jean Nouvel has unveiled his design for Samsung’s pop-up store on the iconic Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. The store aims to represent the company’s role as a Worldwide Olympic Partner, offering visitors a space where they can engage with the newest mobile technologies and Olympic-related activities. The first images by architectural photographer Jad Sylla highlight Jean Nouvel’s design of the immersive retail space.
The Harvard Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) has announced the Class of 2025 Loeb Fellows. Ten practitioners and activists from around the world have been selected to join the Loeb Fellowship program to expand their careers and advance their programs and initiatives focused on equity, resilience, and collective action.
The ten selected practitioners are mid-career professionals coming from diverse backgrounds. Each one has been recognized for initiating practices that are transforming public spaces and urban infrastructures, addressing public health concerns and environmental injustices, as well as housing needs and efforts to preserve the cultural, natural, and architectural heritage of diverse regions from all continents.
In an open competition, ICON’s Initiative 99 requested participants to design a home using ICON’s 3D printing technologies while keeping the construction budget under $99,000. Among the three selected winners for the Open Category, New Zealand-based office MTspace Studio proposes a robust flood-resistant design, in response to the housing crisis in New Zealand’s flood zones. Titled “Wai Home” after the Māori word for water, the concept revolves around the idea of working with this essential natural element. The design features innovative rainwater collection and storage systems, along with elements to increase the resilience of the construction in the face of increasing threats.
In Copenhagen, during the 2024 UNESCO International Day of Light, The Daylight Award has announced Spanish architect and professor Alberto Campo Baeza as the laureate for the architecture category and German professor of chronobiology Till Roenneberg for his scientific research regarding the impact of daylight. The two categories create an interdisciplinary bridge between fields, grounding architectural thinking with high-level research. The two winners have been commended for scientific investigations into issues like circadian rhythms and dependencies in the case of Professor Roenneberg, and the poetic qualities obtained through the use of daylight in Alberto Campo Baeza’s architectural works.
Seoul-based Korean architect Minsuk Cho and his firm Mass Studies have been selected to design the 23rd Serpentine Pavilion, to open on June 5, 2024, in London’s Kensington Gardens. Titled “Archipelagic Void,” this iteration of the iconic commission will consist of five ‘islands’ displayed around an open space, breaking down the structure into a series of smaller elements intertwined with the park’s natural ecology. The pavilion will be open to the public from June 7, until October 27, 2024, with a press preview two days before the opening.
Delving into the realm of unbuilt architectural projects by renowned offices offers a peak into the design principles and ethos of the studios. The curated list of unbuilt projects submitted by established architecture practices has the potential to reveal new perspectives on the socio-cultural and environmental factors shaping contemporary architecture. These designs often respond to complex challenges such as sustainability, urbanization, and cultural preservation, reflecting architects' efforts to navigate and contribute meaningfully to the built environment.
Within this curated selection, one standout project is Rafael Viñoly Architects' Médano El Pinar, marking the late architect's last contribution to the architectural landscape. Other projects such as Aedas' Ellinikon Commercial Hub explore the opportunities of new developments, such as the disused airport transformed into Europe's largest coastal park in the periphery of Athens, while others are highlighting natural landscapes or offering spaces for creative and innovative programs. Featuring internationally recognized offices like SOM, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Gensler, or GAD Architecture, the selection showcases the unrealized concepts and architectural experimentations of renowned offices.
Aleatek Studio’s concept of “Floating Forest” has been announced as the winner of the competition for the design of the Serbia Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025. The pavilion, will be located at the West Entrance and Earth Plaza, aims to interpret Serbian culture and the country’s natural landscape through architectural expression. The design strategy also aligns with the theme “Play for humanity” of the upcoming Specialised Expo 2027 to be held in Belgrade.
The Wayfarers Chapel, known locally as "The Glass Church," was designed by Lloyd Wright, the eldest son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Located in the Palos Verdes peninsula in Los Angeles, its design aimed to blend the lines between architecture and nature, with large-span glass panels opening up to space toward the redwood canopies. Last year, the structure was designated a national historic landmark. Now, due to “accelerated land movement” in the area, the structure, which has been closed off to the public since February, was announced to be disassembled to protect it from further damage.
A new exhibition presenting the works of artist Zeng Fanzhi has opened in the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Venice, Italy. Running from April 17 to September 30, 2024, concurrent with this year’s edition of the Venice Arts Biennale, the “Zeng Fanzhi: Near and Far/Now and Then” exhibition showcases the latest breakthroughs in the artist’s practice in a space adapted by architect Tadao Ando.
Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been announced as the winner of the international competition for the design of the Riga Ropax Terminal in Latvia. Collaborating with Latvian practices Sarma Norde Architects and Alps Landscape Architects, as well as Sweco Finland, ZHA’s proposal includes the repurposing of an existing shipping warehouse, to be transformed into a key multi-modal transport hub for the city, located along the Daugava River. The competition was open to anyone who qualified. Out of the ten registered entries, the third prize was awarded to US-based Berenblum Busch Architects, the second prize went to R-Konsult from Estonia.
Powerhouse, Australia’s largest museum institution dedicated to applied arts design, and technology, has revealed the plans for a comprehensive restoration of its three sites located in Sydney, Australia, in addition to the opening of a new site in Parramatta in Western Sydney in 2025. The Powerhouse Ultimo site contains two heritage-listed buildings: the Ultimo Powerhouse and the Ultimo Post Office. The project for the renovation of this heritage location is led by a team of architects, Durbach Block Jaggers working in partnership with Architectus, Youssofzay + Hart, and landscape architects, Tyrell Studio.
Architecture and Design Festival Concéntrico celebrates its 10th anniversary from 25 April to 1 May 2024 with an edition that aims to reflect on the impact of the annual festival upon the city of Logroño, Spain, as well as to consider how the city continues to evolve. Through installations, exhibitions, lectures, performances, workshops, and activities, Concéntrico proposes a reflection of the urban environment, welcoming architects and designers to intervene and challenge it while opening conversations about pressing matters.
While the official theme of the festival focused on the future of cities, the invited architects and designers took this suggestion further. Several overarching themes and subjects emerged during this year’s event, from the incorporation of concepts of time, an unusual element to be tacked through temporary installations, to the desire to engage more honestly with a wider public, to listen to their needs and create platforms where diverse perspectives can take center stage.
Ma Yansong/MAD Architects has unveiled their design for the Cloud 9 Sports Center, a 6,000-square-meter athletic complex in the city of Shijiazhuang, China. The venue is proposed to become the focal point of CBD's Central Park, marking the public space surrounded by residential, commercial, and recreational amenities. The center is designed to showcase a soft and fluid exterior to fit into its surroundings, mirroring the landscaped park while offering a range of facilities including a gym, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, and commercial spaces. The new sports center broke ground in March this year and is expected to be completed in 2025.
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, construction group WeBuild, in collaboration with design office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and engineer Michel Virlogeux, has revealed an updated design for a replacement bridge. The new cable-stayed design aims to redefine the entrance to the Baltimore Harbor and offer an improved version of this symbol of the city.
On May 4, 2024, cultural center Grace Farms opened a new long-term exhibition that aims to shed light on the inner workings of the building industry, offering insights into the methods of producing and distributing building materials, as well as the pervasive practices of forced labor happening in the materials supply chain worldwide. The exhibition also presents the work of “Design for Freedom,” a collaborative global movement launched in 2020 at Grace Farms. The initiative aims to change architecture by raising awareness of these issues and helping disrupt forced labor in the construction industry. Titled “With Every Fiber,” the exhibit is free to visit both at its physical location in New Canaan, Connecticut, and online as a virtual exhibition.
Continuing his work exploring the office spaces of architecture studios from around the world, Archmospheres photographer Marc Goodwin has reached Japan, where he captured the workspace of architecture studios such as Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tato Architects, Akihisa Hirata, and Nori Architects. Collaborating with Marc Goodwin, architect, and writer Samuel Michaëlsson traveled to Japan in the autumn of 2019 to interview the participants, resulting in a series of videos that further developed the exploration.
The photographs reveal snippets of everyday life in these studios. While not all of the buildings were designed by their occupying architecture studios, each office has added a personal touch to their space, aligning them with their internal culture and traditions. One such example is Tato Architects, for whom the kitchen has become an important gathering space, as they take turns preparing lunch for each other and eating together is a significant part of their office story.
This year's Milan Design Week brought together designers, architects, producers, and key figures from the design world. The events were divided between the Salone del Mobile at Rho Fiera, a trade fair with over 1950 exhibitors, and Fourisalone, featuring various events across Milan. With numerous installations throughout the city and a wide range of events, conferences, and debates, Milan Design Week stands as one of the most significant design-focused events worldwide. For architects, this represents an opportunity to not only exchange ideas but also to actively contribute through collaborations and explorations across disciplines.
This year, many internationally recognized architects have entered collaborations with furniture and light design companies, exploring the intersection of design and architecture. Despite the change in scale, many of these products reflect the recognizable architectural language of their designers, offering an insight into the principles that guide their practice. In addition to aesthetic explorations, many of the products selected are tackling important themes of interest, from the need to develop more sustainable materials with a reduced carbon footprint, to the potential impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
SO-IL, in partnership with Detroit’s Library Street Collective, has revealed the design for a new arts campus in the Stanton Yards marina on the Detroit River. The office is leading the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings at Stanton Yards with the aim of creating a campus for arts organizations, creative retail, artist studios, and independent hospitality ventures along the waterfront. The master plan for the 13-acre site is led by design firm OSD (Office of Strategy + Design), a development that strives to transform the now-disused waterfront area into a 'dynamic cultural amenity' with over 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and programmed waterfront parks. The project aims to expand upon the program of Detroit's Little Village, a diverse arts neighborhood recognized for its cultural and artistic scene.
