ArchDaily.com

Even before any drawing or formal decision, the place now occupied by Praça do Mercado in Parque Realengo, Rio de Janeiro, already pulsed with movement. Improvised stalls, informal gatherings, music, children running, and adults gathered beneath temporary shelters composed a vibrant landscape, sketching an ephemeral architecture.

Laiva Plaza reinterprets the boutique hotel as an extension of the street, embedding hospitality within the pedestrian life of San José del Cabo's historic center.

Interpreting the contemporary habitat is a priority for architects and designers worldwide. Amid shifting trends, stylistic blends, and the revival of different techniques, contemporary interior design brings together materials, textures, and colors to transform the user experience. Within the domestic realm, a series of realities, tensions, and activities unfold, with design serving as a strong foundation and support system to meet the needs of its inhabitants. During Milan Design Week 2026, ICEX and Elle Decor Italia presented the fourth edition of Appartamento Spagnolo—a spatial framework created to showcase contemporary Spanish interior design within a historic context.

As global urban challenges intensify alongside growing environmental, social, and cultural pressures, this week's news reflects how institutions, exhibitions, and restoration projects are highlighting the relationship between the built environment and collective experience. From international forums addressing housing insecurity and urban resilience to cultural events examining memory, identity, and spatial perception, positioning architecture as both a framework for policy and a medium for critical reflection. At the same time, major restoration and redevelopment

Located on a yet uninhabited peninsula of Lefkas' Meganisi, with the sea, sun, and native flora forming the only surrounding elements, this project takes on the task of installing the first inhabitant, and by extension, the responsibility of setting an example for future developments.

MVRDV and OODA have revealed a new masterplan for the regeneration of a vacant 28-hectare site between Marvila and Beato on Lisbon's riverfront. Recently approved by the Lisbon City Council, the project was developed in collaboration with LOLA Landscape Architects and Thornton Tomasetti to transform the area into a landscape-led urban district. Titled The Marvila Masterplan, the proposal establishes a framework for introducing 1,400

Heritage, in interiors, is increasingly rarer to be only a matter of preservation alone. More often it arrives as friction: the encounter between what a building already is—its plan logic, its scars, its structural inconsistencies—and what contemporary life demands of it.

In the small municipality of Schönaich in Baden-Württemberg, a model building for affordable and refugee housing demonstrates how architecture can combine flexibility, sustainability, and social quality. Designed by Atelier Kaiser Shen, a clearly structured layout with load-bearing cross-laminated timber walls and an external steel frame enables flexible use, allowing long-term adaptability.

SOHO Work and Living is a compact residential project that reinterprets urban living through spatial efficiency, climatic responsiveness, and layered privacy. Located on an 8.5-cent conserved site in Calicut, Kerala, the project forms one half of twin blocks designed for two friends, sharing a common architectural language while functioning independently. Though conceived within a mixed-use framework, the design places clear emphasis on the residential experience.

The Steel Architectural Awards ASEAN 2026 is a regional architectural awards program presented by NS BlueScope to recognize built projects that demonstrate architectural excellence through the use of coated steel solutions. Under the theme Shaping Resilient Futures: Timeless Design with Coated Steel, the program highlights projects across Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, progressing from the Country Awards to ASEAN-level recognition. This article explains how the two-stage pathway works, what categories are included, and how projects are assessed through Design Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability.