Modernism has a long history in Morocco. Being close to Europe and under French Protectorate rule, it kept pace with architectural developments in the movement. Its relative peace after the Second World War further strengthened its role as some European architects sought a hub for new ideas. Architects in independent Morocco adopted Modernism as they were tasked to build the infrastructure of a new nation. The architect Jean-François Zevaco, born in Morocco to French parents, practiced across these formative periods, developing his own expressive version of modern architecture.
Stretching along the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Florida, Miami is often introduced through postcard views of beaches, palm trees, and glass towers facing the water. Yet, behind this familiar image lies a city shaped by migration, tourism, and real estate cycles, where architecture has repeatedly been used to project new identities and reinvent the urban landscape. From early resort hotels and the Art Deco façades of South Beach to experimental high-rises and cultural institutions on the bay, the built environment offers a way to read how Miami negotiates climate, economy, and everyday life.
Over the past century, the city has grown through successive layers of development that remain visible in its streets and skylines. The streamlined geometry and pastel colors of the historic Art Deco District coexist with the exuberant forms of Miami Modern (MiMo) motels and postwar infrastructure along Biscayne Boulevard. Downtown and Brickell have transformed from low-rise business districts into dense clusters of residential and office towers, many designed by international firms working alongside local practices. At the same time, neighborhoods such as Little Havana, Allapattah, and Wynwood reveal how diasporic communities, industrial heritage, and creative industries occupy and adapt existing fabrics, often in contrast with the image-driven waterfront.
Foster + Partners has developed a master plan for the redevelopment of the former FIX brewery in Thessaloniki, Greece. The proposal, commissioned by Dimand, outlines a mixed-use district that integrates public space, housing, hospitality, and cultural programs. Positioned along the western seafront and within walking distance of the city center, the site serves as a key point of connection between emerging neighborhoods and the waterfront. The project builds on the industrial history of the brewery complex while introducing new spatial configurations intended to support broader urban regeneration efforts across Thessaloniki.
Biblioteca dos Saberes by Kéré Architecture. Northern view. Render. Image Courtesy of Kéré Architecture
Kéré Architecture has unveiled its proposal for the 40,000-square-meter Biblioteca dos Saberes (House of Wisdom) in Rio de Janeiro's Cidade Nova neighborhood. Designed by Francis Kéré, Mariona Maeso Deitg, and Juan Carlos Zapata, the cultural complex is commissioned by the Rio de Janeiro City Hall and planned for a site near Valongo Wharf and the Little Africa area. The design was presented to members of the community on November 20, the National Day of Zumbi and Black Consciousness in Brazil. Important features include a perforated façade for sun protection, roof gardens, landscaped terraces, shaded courtyards, open-air areas, a canopied amphitheater, and a pedestrian bridge connecting the building to the nearby monument to Zumbi dos Palmares.
Created by California surfers who wanted to bring the lines of surfing onto asphalt, skateboarding soon outgrew its role as a simple alternative for flat days. It established itself as a practice that reads the city through a different logic, reinterpreting steps, handrails, walls, and interstitial spaces as possible lines, challenges, and opportunities. Over time, it evolved into a global urban culture, a way of inhabiting and transforming public space through movement. What was once marginal has become a catalyst for urban activation, community building, and new uses for overlooked spaces. At its core, skateboarding reveals how many cities coexist within the same city, depending on who moves through them and how each person is able to reinterpret their surroundings.
The European Cultural Centre (ECC) has announced the winners of the ECCAwards 2025, selected from participants of the seventh edition of Time Space Existence and unveiled during the exhibition's Closing Day on 23 November 2025 in Venice. Bringing together 207 practices from more than 52 countries, this year's edition highlighted a broad spectrum of architectural and design approaches responding to the themes of Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse. The awards recognise four projects that stood out for their originality, execution, narrative clarity, and forward-looking engagement with questions of sustainability, community, and the future of the built environment.
On November 21, 2025, the closing day of the 30th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) took place, the yearly gathering of United Nations member states to negotiate international climate agreements and assess global progress toward emissions reduction. This year, the event was held in Belém, Brazil, a port city of fewer than 1.5 million people, widely known as a gateway to Brazil's lower Amazon region. First convened in 1992, UN Climate Change Conferences (or COPs) are an international multilateral decision-making forum on climate change involving 198 "Parties" (197 countries, nearly all of them, depending on definitions of country, and the European Union). Their purpose is to assess global efforts toward the central Paris Agreement aim of limiting global warming to as close as possible to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The event brings together leaders and negotiators from member states, business figures, young people, climate scientists, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society around issues considered essential to that climate goal. This year, COP30 was marked by strong criticism of its ties to the fossil fuel industry, descriptions of agreements as fragile and insubstantial, and the struggle to move climate finance "from pledge to lifeline."
Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi by Mecanoo. Exterior photograph. Image Courtesy of Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi
Back in April 2022, Abu Dhabi unveiled the first images of a new Natural History Museum designed by the Dutch practice Mecanoo. Three years later, on November 22, 2025, the museum opened its doors to the public, presenting 13.8 billion years of science and discovery with a special focus on the Arabian region. Covering more than 35,000 sqm, the design is intended to resonate with natural rock formations. Geometry acts as the unifying theme, with pentagonal shapes referencing cellular structures. Water and vegetation, symbols of life in the desert, also play an important role in the design. Located in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, the building houses rare meteorites, dinosaur fossils, and reconstructions of the region's prehistoric landscapes, combining natural history, storytelling, and immersive environments. Through interactive exhibitions, special events, and community-science programmes, the museum seeks to encourage audiences of all ages to engage with the natural world.
The future of cities has long been defined by intelligence: networks of sensors, data, and engineered systems. From traffic-flow algorithms to climate dashboards, the smart city promised to make urban life optimized, measurable, and predictable. Yet amid this technological abundance, something essential feels absent: sensitivity. Cities are becoming increasingly equipped to process information but less able to perceive atmosphere, emotion, or care.
As recent global debates on urban innovation reveal, the next challenge is not about adding more devices but cultivating new forms of awareness. A sensitive city listens to its climate, adapts to its inhabitants, and responds to the subtle rhythms of the environment. In this shift from computation to perception, architecture and urban design are rediscovering intelligence as a form of empathy.
Can academic projects explore new directions and contribute to public discourse on global and local issues? The 2025 Politecnico di Torino Architecture Students Award aimed to address these questions, showcasing how architectural research, training, and experimentation can be integrated into a school curriculum.
Heatherwick Studio and MANICA Architecture have released the design for Birmingham City Football Club's new stadium, set to anchor the forthcoming BirminghamSports Quarter in East Birmingham, England. The 62,000-seat venue, planned for Bordesley Green, forms part of a wider redevelopment strategy and coincides with the club's 150th anniversary. Developed through a competition led by filmmaker Steven Knight, the project aims to introduce a multifunctional sports and cultural venue integrated into its urban context.
Louisiana Channel, a web TV platform based at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, is launching a new film titled Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter. Over the course of 54 minutes, Marc-Christoph Wagner and Simon Weyhe offer a glimpse into the work and mind of the founding architect of Pihlmann Architects, presenting his vision of Danish architecture, the practice of architecture itself, and, in particular, his sensitivity to materials. The film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the process and thinking behind the Danish exhibition at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale. Led by Søren Pihlmann, the team used the opportunity to renovate and conduct material research on Denmark's permanent building in the Giardini, transforming it into a material laboratory and experimental construction site. The result is a process exhibition that highlights how rethinking and reusing existing structures and materials can address critical architectural challenges. As of today, November 20, the documentary is available to watch online for free.
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has announced the Grand Prize Winners of the 2025 Holcim Awards, selecting one project from each global region to represent the most impactful approaches to sustainable design in this cycle. This edition marks the introduction of the Grand Prize format, replacing the previous tiered distinctions to better acknowledge diverse regional contexts and avoid hierarchical rankings. Evaluated by juries chaired by Sou Fujimoto (Asia Pacific), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Europe), Sandra Barclay (Latin America), Lina Ghotmeh (Middle East and Africa), and Jeanne Gang (North America), the winning projects reflect the Foundation's principles of holistic, transformational, and transferable design.
For monuments worthy of sustained admiration, conservation practices have been selectively mobilized to reinforce their prestige and secure their place at the center of heritage narratives. Structures whose vernacular ought to be passed down miss the discerning eye of the experts. Rowhouses, shopfronts, and neighborhood structures that form the fabric of our cities are often left to deteriorate beyond repair. Much more is lost, apart from aesthetics.
The conversation around AI in architecture has shifted from hype to application. Architects and designers now want to understand how the intelligent use of AI-powered tools can drive innovation and create a competitive advantage. Yet, as curiosity and optimism grow, firms also face concerns about the ethical and legal questions surrounding AI adoption.
Across cultural districts and civic centers, this week's architectural developments highlight how institutions and city governments are reshaping their futures amid shifting environmental, social, and economic pressures. New museum and opera projects signal ongoing commitments to expanding public cultural infrastructure, while the debate surrounding Dallas' modernist City Hall illustrates the tensions that arise when questions of heritage meet rising maintenance demands and redevelopment pressures. At the same time, municipalities are advancing new regulatory tools to confront climate challenges, from electrification standards in Sydney and Boston to mobility restrictions and emerging forms of urban diplomacy. These developments reflect an increasingly complex landscape in which architectural environments evolve through a combination of cultural ambition, environmental targets, and shifting models of public decision-making.
