Open House Valencia 2025, courtesy of Academia Europea del Paisaje Urbano.
Open House Valencia returns for its seventh edition from 24 to 26 October, opening the doors of more than seventy buildings across the city and beyond. The programme will feature around twenty urban tours and a wide range of activities, including talks, technical visits, workshops, exhibitions, and cultural activities for all audiences. For the first time, the festival will expand beyond the city itself, with several guest municipalities joining the initiative and contributing their own itineraries, helping to broaden the event's regional reach.
The Nile Delta, in blue the rise of mean sea level with a 2°C increase above pre-industrial levels, Sentinel data. Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation, 2020
How Heavy is a City? This question instigates a three-year research project into the complex set of transformations of both the city and its backdrop, revealing a new figure in the making with a magnitude of planetary dimensions. To make sense of these transformations and sort out the underlying agencies, a re-assembly of architecture and what it means to build a collective environment is required.
The region's leading design festival, Dubai Design Week, brings together designers and creative practitioners to exchange ideas, collaborate and explore the evolving role of design in shaping a better collective future. Over the past decade, it has grown into a global platform with a strong emphasis on cross-cultural exchange and amplifying voices from West and South Asia, as well as the wider Global South.
Videos
Design, So I Can See You” is the first official campaign of Cairo Design Week. Reframing Socrates’ phrase, it sees design as a language of identity—how we express who we are and what we value, without saying a word.
Cairo Design Week stands as a cornerstone of Egypt's design landscape, bringing together creativity, culture and innovation. It provides a meeting ground for designers, artists and industry leaders to shape and elevate the design ecosystem in Egypt. Through a thoughtfully curated mix of events, exhibitions and experience, CDW invites participants to discover the rich and evolving tapestry of Egyptian and global design.
Downtown Design is the anchor event of Dubai Design Week, the region's most important creative festival reflecting Dubai's position as the design capital of the Middle East; an extensive programme of events, bringing together the global design stage and attracting more than 100,000 visitors to the Dubai Design District (d3) across the week. In its latest edition, Downtown Design showcased the latest collections, innovative products and design solutions from over 300 prominent brands from across the globe, and rising talent of the region, complemented by a programme of talks, creative pop-ups and engaging experiences.
Cosmos / Memory / Scale - 8 October - 13 December - SOAS Gallery, London
The SOAS Gallery and the Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies presents a new major solo exhibition of Karl Singporewala's sculptural interpretations of Zoroastrian symbolism. The exhibition features large-scale architectural installations and new and past models, maquettes and artworks from his catalogue which explore his heritage through art and architectural form. It will also showcase historic objects on loan from cultural institutions and private collectors.
From 26th to 28th November 2025, the Salone will light up the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh in red. In a strategic partnership with the Architecture and Design Commission at the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture, the event will feature an installation curated by the Giò Forma architecture studio, a packed cultural programme and a B2B platform, a meeting point for the Salone and the Saudi design ecosystem – a taster of the first ever edition of the event to be held in the Kingdom in 2026.
The Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF) returns to Toronto this fall with an exciting new lineup of films, panel conversations, and design-forward experiences at the TIFF Lightbox from November 12-15, 2025. Presented by Eventscape, this year's program features 14 international films that explore how design shapes our cities, our values, and our future.
How can design move beyond aesthetics to advance human and environmental well-being? This panel discussion brings together leading voices in design to explore the role of creativity and innovation in shaping healthier, more sustainable futures. Moderated by acclaimed design journalist Adrian Madlener, the conversation will feature Lisa Gralnek (iF Design), Sergio Silva (Humanscale), and Suchi Reddy (Reddymade). Hosted by iF Design and Humanscale, the evening will include drinks, networking, and thought-provoking dialogue.
Open House Tallinn 2025, courtesy of the Estonian Centre for Architecture
Open House Tallinn is an annual architecture festival that opens the doors of the city to everyone curious about what lies behind them. For one weekend each autumn, residents and visitors are invited to explore the stories of Tallinn through buildings, landscapes, and urban spaces that are not always accessible to the public.
Open House Dublin 2025, courtesy of the Irish Architecture Foundation
For this year's Open House Dublin free festival of architecture, taking place 11th-19th October, the Irish Architecture Foundation is inviting people to explore how the design of our built environment can shape a better world for generations to come
Crafted by Place reveals Omar Gandhi Architect's evolving practice as works shaped by terrain and material — anchored yet looking forward. Rooted in Canada's raw coastal and urban settings, OGA's buildings emerge from land and craft: resilient to climate, responsive to local narratives, and always carefully honed.
Official poster of FIIU 10. Credits: Sistema Urbano
The International Festival of Urban Interventions (FIIU Fest) will celebrate its tenth edition from October 20 to 23, consolidating itself as a key space to rethink the way we build our cities. On this special occasion, the event will take place in Cusco, Peru, as part of the "Urban Encounter Week" from October 18 to 26, 2025. We return to Peru, to this emblematic city, to bring together diverse actors and exchange experiences, knowledge, and strategies that continue to promote a more inclusive, participatory, and people-centered urbanism.
Each month, Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA) curates a new self-guided trail, inviting Angelenos to explore the city's rich architectural heritage. These immersive experiences highlight significant homes, hidden gems, and the designers who have shaped Los Angeles' built environment.
Craft and Care at IE School of Architecture and Design
Lecture by Alice Rawsthorn, an award-winning design critic and author, whose books include "Design as an Attitude", "Hello World: Where Design Meets Life" and, most recently, "Design Emergency: Building a Better Future", co-written with Paola Antonelli, senior curator of design at MoMA, New York. Alice's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and her weekly design column for The New York Times was syndicated worldwide for over a decade. In all her work, she champions design's potential as a social, political and ecological tool to foster positive change.
Open House Stockholm 2025 poster. Courtesy of Open House Stockholm.
Open House Stockholm celebrates its 10th anniversary with a weekend of free tours and activities from 3 to 5 October, inviting residents and visitors alike to explore the city through architecture. Marking a decade of opening doors, the festival continues to reveal the hidden sides of Stockholm, offering rare access to buildings and spaces that are usually closed to the public.
September marks a shift in seasonality worldwide, bringing with it a renewed focus on cultural and architectural events that encourage reflection on contemporary global challenges. This week's major news highlighted international exhibitions and design initiatives addressing questions of resilience, urban transformation, and collective futures, alongside new projects dedicated to preserving both cultural and natural heritage. Across continents, biennales, urban developments, and restoration efforts are shaping a broader conversation on how architecture and design can foster adaptation, memory, and coexistence in rapidly changing environments.
The Nile Delta, in blue the rise of mean sea level with a 2°C increase above pre-industrial levels, Sentinel data. Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation, 2020
How heavy is a city, and what does that weight mean for our collective future? This provocative question guides the 7th edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, which proposes an inquiry into the transformations of urban life and the material, social, and environmental consequences of inhabiting the planet today. From October 2 to December 8, Lisbon will once again host one of Europe's most significant architectural events.
Curated by Ann-Sofi Rönnskog and John Palmesino, founders of the practice Territorial Agency, the Triennale investigates the magnitude of contemporary cities and their planetary impact. Composed of nearly 30 trillion tons of materials, global cities form a dense and intricate web of continuously evolving structures. To unpack these complexities, the Triennale opens itself as a space of learning, curiosity, imagination, and debate — a meeting ground for architects, researchers, artists, and the wider public.
https://www.archdaily.com/1034626/how-heavy-is-a-city-exploring-the-lisbon-architecture-triennale-2025ArchDaily Team
