At the 7th annual Biophilic Leadership Summit in March—hosted by the Biophilic Institute, Biophilic Cities, and Serenbe—at the Inn at Serenbe outside of Atlanta, pleasure was in abundance. There were smells: fragrant wisteria blossoms, earthy manure, coffee. There were sounds: birds singing, a rooster crowing, raindrops on the roof. There was forest bathing. Biologist E.O. Wilson used the term biophilia to describe “the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms.” All those blossoms and bird songs are the basic point of the biophilia movement: people are happier and healthier when connected to nature. The summit brought together a (literally) curious collection of architects, planners, developers, biochemists, and other interested people, was about how we make that connection. The presentations ranged from explorations of built projects to research on the health benefits of proximity to trees and illustrated how many different disciplines come together under the broad umbrella—maybe canopy is a better word—of biophilia. The Inn at Serenbe was an ideal venue for the summit, given its gardens and connection to nature. (Foster Branding) Architect Adam Rolston, who presented on his work in the hospitality industry (more on that below), offered his postmortem on the conference to AN: “The Biophilia Summit gathers a community at the forefront of a movement—where sustainability, ecological science, wellness, and planetary health converge into a single, holistic worldview that unites data, design, and nature.” Here are more takeaways from the presentations at the Biophilic Leadership Summit. Biophilia Is Good Business In 1998, when Jennifer Walsh opened Beauty Bar as a tiny brick-and-mortar storefront in Florida to sell indie beauty brands, she had an intuitive sense of what would bring people in: daylight, wood, and plants. What Walsh found was that people respond emotionally to the experience of being in the space. They came in, they lingered, they bought. Beauty Bar went on to become a major online retailer. Adam Rolston of INC presented on his work in the hospitality industry, including at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn. (Eric Laignel) More than two decades after Walsh opened her storefront, we have the language of biophilia to describe—and to help create—emotional experiences. The hospitality industry, in particular, has taken note. When Westin Hotels asked INC Studio to help them redefine their brand, Adam Rolston presented biophilic design as a core concept. Since then, INC has incorporated biophilia into other hospitality projects, including 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 2017. Noting that his clients were shifting their thinking from “brand through object to brand through experience,” Rolston added that when other brands tried to replicate the success of the Westin Hotels through selecting similar furnishings and finishings, those efforts fell flat. The sensory experience of biophilic design can be difficult to quantify (though tools are improving) but the qualitative results are measurable. Walsh, who sold Beauty Bar in 2010 and is now a wellness consultant and biophilia evangelist, offered a summary: “Biophilic design does increase basket size and customer satisfaction.” ZGF Architects presented on its recently completed project at the Portland International Airport. (Ema Peter Photography) Architect Rena Simon of ZGF and Catie Ryan and Bill Browning of Terrapin Bright Green discussed how ZGF Architects’ redesign of the Portland Airport used biophilic principles to create a positive experience for passengers. These principles (which Ryan and Browning categorize, broadly, as “nature in the space,” “natural analogues,” and “nature of the space”) are in effect in the airport’s soaring mass timber ceilings and trees and skylights, and in digital screens at the security area that show videos of nature-based imagery reflecting the current time of day, season, and weather. “There’s no typology more divorced from land and green than an airport,” Ryan said. “But when you’re here, you know where you are.” How to Build in Biophilia The Portland Airport shows how mass timber and biophilic design are a natural match. Thomas Robinson of LEVER Architecture presented several projects, including the Nature Conservancy’s Oregon Headquarters, which connect the material with the movement. But mass timber is far from the only option. Robinson described LEVER’s work as “an ingredients-based approach to architecture,” rooted in questions such as: “What’s available locally?” and “What’s the material culture of a particular place?” He noted that through sourcing local materials, establishing local fabrication systems, and collaborating with builders and subcontractors, architects can have a significant effect on supply chains and building economies, resulting in “an impact on the site beyond the site.” LEVER Architecture thinks about its projects locally, from materials to contractors. (Jeremy Bittermann) Small interventions can also make a big difference. Walsh and fellow participants noted another important effect of biophilic design: creating welcoming, calm spaces for people with different sensory processing abilities and needs. Apparently, biomorphic patterns, whether they’re real or simulated, give our brains healthy stimulation. A study published in 2019 showed that biophilic enhancements in a classroom in this case, just adding carpet tiles (for biomorphic patterns) and window blinds (for views of nature and for dynamic and diffuse daylight)—reduced student stress and enhanced learning outcomes. Biophilia Can Affect Health and Wellness senior living centers, affordable housing units, and longevity resorts are studying how biophilic design can improve mental and physical health. Architect Tye Farrow, who investigates the neuroscience behind biophilic design and whose approach to biophilic design for hospitals and schools tends toward the sculptural, offered this design mantra: “There is no such thing as neutral space.” Farrow works with the premise that buildings can—and should—be deliberately therapeutic. Dr. Lawrence Frank, who examines the interaction between built environment, active transportation, and health (he popularized the term “walkability”) said that for cities, an investment in green infrastructure such as tree canopies and active transportation corridors is an investment in citizens’ health. In Los Angeles, Frank noted, the argument for new highway lanes is presented in terms of cost-per-delay for productivity. But driving has health costs; as Frank put it, “Driving equals obesity.” When we add the air quality impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from driving, a productivity argument for highways seems like imperfect accounting, at best. Los Angeles’s active transportation plan promotes walking and biking. It costs $12.8 billion, but in terms of health cost savings, it yielded a $113 billion return. Still, Frank does not embrace this method of accounting. “We need to keep people alive,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to make an economic argument for it.” Research from biochemistry and molecular biology supports the conclusion that tree canopies improve health. Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar, Director for the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, presented research indicating that proximity to trees—the study used pines—lowered blood pressure and heart rate in humans. Biophilia Takes Many Different Shapes Chris Sharples, a founding principal of SHoP Architects, doesn’t use the term biophilia with clients; he prefers “natural systems.” His firm is exploring tools—from AI to offsite manufacturing—that balance process innovation with risk management in construction. One example is using 3D printing to make building components from bamboo. Unlike Sharples, Anna Dyson of the Yale School of Environment embraces the term, calling biophilia “a whole-body experience.” Through projects like ELM (Ecological Living Module), AMBIS (Agricultural By-Product Modular Building Systems), and others, Dyson’s work explores how plants, materials, and building systems can create a circular built environment. The conference brought together seemingly unrelated disciplines—architecture, medicine, biology, engineering, interior design. (Foster Branding) Tools for practicing biophilia are coming into focus: Terrapin Bright Green’s 14+ Patterns of Biophilic Design and Kellert and Calabrese’s The Practice of Biophilic Design are available online as free downloads. The newly released LEED v5 cites the latter volume in the “Integrated Biophilic Design” credit under “Occupant Experience.” As a snapshot of biophilia in 2025, the conference showed a lively, sprawling movement that connects traditionally siloed disciplines—architecture, medicine, biology, engineering, interior design—with the purpose of building happier, healthier places. Jessie Temple is an architect and writer currently forest bathing in Austin, Texas.

In the exurbs north of Dallas, further sprawl rarely receives second thought, much less scrutiny from the state government. However, a new community proposed by the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC)—the largest mosque in North Texas—has drawn the ire of Texas Republicans, including Governor Greg Abbott, who has repeatedly commented on the project. Dubbed EPIC City, the proposal seeks to develop 402 acres of land near Josephine, Texas, delivering over 1,000 homes and supporting commercial spaces, in addition to an Islamic school and mosque. Because it is located deep within the Bible Belt, the development’s explicit ties to Islam have provoked controversy. More specifically, conservative elected officials have pointed to ambiguous language concerning the approval of housing applications that was originally included on EPIC City’s website. Initially, the website stated sales would be restricted to “persons we believe will contribute to the overall makeup of our community.” Assuming that this clause implied approval on the basis of Muslim religious affiliation, critics have charged that Community Capital Partners, an organization created by EPIC to spearhead the project, was in violation of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, disability, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin. Following the initial backlash, EPIC swiftly edited the statement to clarify that the development would be “a diverse and inclusive community—one in which people of every background, faith, and culture can live together in harmony.” Despite this assurance, criticisms of EPIC City have only intensified, with unsubstantiated claims the community would enforce Sharia Law promulgated across social media by private citizens and elected officials alike. Earlier this year, Abbott tweeted, “To be clear, Sharia Law is not allowed in Texas,” in direct reference to a now-deleted video promoting the project. The East Plano Islamic Center is the largest mosque in North Texas, serving the region’s large muslim community. (Google Maps) In March, the Governor’s attacks escalated when he announced a series of state agencies were launching criminal investigations into Community Capital Partners and EPIC. This includes probes from Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas State Securities Board, Texas Funeral Service Commission, and Texas Rangers. While the Attorney General and Workforce Commission are targeting the development for violation of the Texas Fair Housing Act, EPIC is also under investigation for fraud, violating consumer protection laws, and conducting unlicensed funeral services, though little information has been provided about the basis for these additional claims. The state inquiries are now joined by a federal investigation from Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice, which was initiated last week. A spokesperson for EPIC and Community Capital Partners told The Dallas Morning News, “EPIC will cooperate fully with any and all investigations—regardless of how misguided and unnecessary they are.” The mosque also shared in a statement on Instagram that many of its leaders and community members have received death threats in the wake of the controversy. AN has reached out to EPIC for comment on the design. The Dallas Morning News reviewed investor documents that said future residents will have five years to build after purchasing a lot in the development, after which they can choose from an approved list of builders or receive approval for a custom builder. The inquiry into EPIC City comes as the Texas Legislature nears approval on a bill banning residents of specific countries from purchasing land in Texas. The measure was passed by the Texas House of Representatives and now proceeds to the State Senate for approval. Currently, the list of prohibited nations deemed security threats includes China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, however, a recent amendment to the bill would allow Governor Abbott to add additional nations to the list at his discretion. To circumvent violation of the Fair Housing Act, the ban is based on established permanent residence, instead of national origin. After adding to already large legislative majorities during the 2022 midterm election, Texas Republicans have been further emboldened by the second term of President Trump. This has left the state’s enforcement of the Fair Housing Act open to the party’s preferred interpretation.

It began with a tip–an email from a San Francisco resident who had read The Secret, Byron Preiss’s 1982 book about hidden treasures. That message set off a chain of events that led to a 1974 building plan drawn by architect William Pereira, a visit to an underground pump room, and the eventual discovery, beneath six feet of concrete, of a long-lost time capsule buried deep within the Transamerica Pyramid. The capsule, a 14-by-16-inch metal cylinder, was unearthed during a recent renovation of the building. Buried in 1974, it offers a glimpse into life in San Francisco during the tower’s construction and reveals key details about the project itself. Its contents will be displayed in a new exhibit curated in partnership with Foster + Partners opening May 18 in the building’s lobby. The capsule was located based on an email tip and a 1974 building plan labeled “Time Capsule” drawn by architect William Pereira. (Courtesy SHVO) The capsule, a 14-by-16-inch metal cylinder, offers a glimpse into life in San Francisco during the tower’s construction and reveals key details about the project itself. (Courtesy SHVO) When the Transamerica Pyramid officially opened in 1972, it was hailed as a symbol of the city’s growth and ambition. Local media buzzed with anticipation. Two years later, as the Transamerica Corporation moved out of the building, the company assembled the capsule’s contents and commemorated its burial with a celebratory event. A plaque was installed above the site, instructing that the capsule remain untouched for 50 years. As decades passed and renovations altered the building’s layout, the plaque disappeared—and the capsule was (almost) forgotten. That is, until the email tip arrived. Fifty years after it was buried, just ahead of when it was intended to be opened, the capsule was located. This flyer was circulated in 1969 to stop the Transamerica Pyramid’s construction. It was among the objects inside the time capsule. (Courtesy SHVO) The timing of its burial coincided with a chaotic chapter in San Francisco’s history. In 1974, Mayor Joseph Alioto’s wife mysteriously vanished, only to reappear two weeks later claiming she’d staged her disappearance to punish him for ignoring her. Around the same time, 19-year-old heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped at gunpoint by members of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. The Transamerica Pyramid too made headlines: The San Francisco Chronicle dismissed it as “the world’s largest architectural folly,” and the city’s own planner derided it as “an inhumane creation.” These turbulent moments, and the spirit of the era, were captured in the time capsule’s contents, along with a recipe for Pisco Punch, the famed cocktail invented at the nearby Bank Exchange Saloon. Once buried and nearly forgotten, the capsule now takes center stage in a curated exhibit in the building’s lobby, offering a vivid snapshot of a city in the midst of transformation. “Through moments of prosperity and periods of challenge, the Transamerica Pyramid has stood tall as one of the iconic silhouettes of San Francisco’s skyline. I see it now not just as a symbol of bold design, but of resilience–for this neighborhood, and for our city,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. “Fifty years from now, my hope is that we will look back on this era–this exact moment in time–as the beginning of a new chapter for San Francisco,” he added. Opening to the public on May 18, the exhibition aims to honor the legacy of the Transamerica Pyramid while highlighting the design of its recent renovation. (Nikki Richter) SHVO and Deutsche Finance America purchased the Transamerica Pyramid in 2020 for $650 million, pledging to preserve its historic legacy. In 2024, the landmark reopened following extensive renovations by Foster + Partners, marking a major step in the broader revitalization of downtown San Francisco, which had been deeply impacted by widespread office closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. “This exhibition serves as a reminder of the significance of the Transamerica Pyramid as a global icon since its inception more than a half century ago,” said Michael Shvo, chairman and CEO of SHVO. “By sharing the contents of the time capsule publicly, as a thoughtfully designed exhibition, we are honoring Transamerica Pyramid’s legacy and seamlessly complementing our meticulous remastering.” The Time Capsule Exhibition opens to the public on May 18.

Paris’s 16th arrondissement is home to myriad landmarks with ties to fashion, art, and design—Musée Marmottan Monet, Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Maison de Balzac, to name but a few. A 17th-century mansion, the former headquarters of fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, is also there. The fashion house was based  in the historic neighborhood between 1974 and 2002. In 2017, Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris opened there, together with its Moroccan counterpart, Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech. Both venues host retrospectives and temporary exhibits. Now, Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is being renovated by Selldorf Architects and Studio La Boétie, a Paris office. The project is a collaboration with Fondation Pierre Bergé—the philanthropic wing of Pierre Bergé, the French industrialist who cofounded Yves Saint Laurent. “The architectural project will double the public exhibition space, open unprecedented access to iconic areas such as Pierre Bergé’s office and enhance the visitor experience for their growing audience,” Selldorf Architects shared. The museum is home to the couturier’s former studio. (Arroser/Wikimedia Commons /CC0 1.0) Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is sited at 5 Avenue Marceau and contains more than 2,000 works, and the couturier’s former studio. It’s a Musée de France, or one of the country’s main state museums. The venue predates the French Revolution, like much of the 16th arrondissement’s urban fabric. Thomas Gobert, King Louis XIV’s primary builder–planner, completed the building at 5 Avenue Marceau in 1685. Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane oversaw its renovation prior to the museum’s 2017 opening. It’s since hosted Saint Laurent Couture fashion campaigns. The forthcoming renovation will deliver a new Documentation and Research Center that will preserve Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s archives. The news comes not long after other major milestone museum projects for Selldorf Architects, including the Frick’s reopening in New York, and the Sainsbury Wing’s renovation in London. “While preserving the existing architecture of the building, formerly the home of the couture house, the project aims to double the surface area accessible to the public while allowing access to iconic spaces—such as Pierre Bergé’s office—and improving the experience of an increasing visitor base,” Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris said in a statement. “The project will also optimize the conservation conditions of the museum’s collection, thanks to the permanent relocation of part of its reserves to an off-site location.” Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris will temporarily close for the renovation starting this month. It’s slated to reopen in fall 2027.

Harvard GSD has announced the Class of 2026 Loeb Fellows. The 10 winners come from varied disciplines and places—Quito, Pittsburgh, Stockholm, Los Angeles, London, Rio de Janeiro, and Glasgow. The Loeb Fellowship gives mid-career professionals the chance to stay at Harvard and MIT for 10 months, and engage with students, participate in round tables, convene workshops, and more. Harvard GSD dean Sarah M. Whiting said this year’s batch are “inspiring individuals” and represent “exceptional practitioners in their respective fields.” She said she looks forward to the fellows “sparking new conversations and challenging us all to consider how design can address global challenges.” Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian’s London-based architecture critic, is among the fellows. Wainwright follows in the foot steps of past architecture critics to have earned the fellowship, like Inga Saffron, Mark Lamster, Alexandra Lange, Pilar Viladas, Henry Grabar, and others. Both Saffron and Lange were fellows prior to winning Pulitzer Prizes for Criticism. Loeb Fellow Daniela Chacón Arias is cofounder and executive director of TANDEM, a Quito, Ecuador–based consultancy. Other fellows participating in the 2026 iteration include, Cecilia Cuff, founder of The Nascent Group in Chicago; Jeremiah Ellison, Ward 5 City Councilmember in Minneapolis; and  Brazilian architect Pedro Évora Amaral. Jennifer Hughes of the National Endowment for the Arts; Natalia Rudiak, director of special projects at ReImagine Appalachia in Pittsburgh; Jacek Smolicki, founder of Ekoton in Stockholm; Andy Summers, founder and co-director of Architecture Fringe in Glasgow; and Julia Thayne, founder of Twoº & Rising in Los Angeles, are also 2026 Loeb Fellows. Jacek Smolicki is the 2026 Loeb/ArtLab Fellow. Architect John Loeb is the Loeb Fellowship’s namesake. John Peterson—an architect, activist, and a Loeb Fellow in the class of 2006—now curates the fellowship. “In his autobiography, John Loeb reflected that among his many philanthropic endeavors, the Loeb Fellowship stood out as the most personally rewarding,” Peterson said. “Until their passing in 1996, John and his wife, Frances, hosted a luncheon for each year’s class of fellows at their home,” Peterson continued. “It was not the program alone, but the people—their talents, aspirations, and potential—that inspired their deep appreciation for this unique investment. In difficult times, when the future can feel bleak, it is the vision and actions of individuals with a shared purpose that rekindle hope and remind us that better futures are possible.” Tosin Oshinowo, Shana M. griffin, Tawkiyah Jordan, and others were among the 2025 Loeb Fellows. The 2026 Loeb Fellowship will commence in August 2026.

The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) awarded the Thaden School in its fifth iteration. The 30-acre middle and high school campus in Bentonville, Arkansas, was a collective design effort by Marlon Blackwell Architects, EskewDumezRipple, and Andropogon Associates. The project pulls directly from the rural vernacular of the Ozark region. Thaden School beat out steep competition for the prize, including an aquarium in Mexico by Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, a veterinary office in Argentina, an expansive park in Mexico, and an old pumphouse that was turned into apartments in Canada. The biennial MCHAP prize “acknowledges the best built works of architecture in the Americas.” It is awarded by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) College of Architecture and announced at a benefit held in Crown Hall, the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe–designed building on the IIT campus. Over 250 submissions were received for nomination to the 2025 Americas Prize. These were whittled down to the five finalists. As in past years, the jury visited each of the finalist projects and met with the designers and clients before settling on the Thaden School as the winning project. All of the new campus buildings are connected with the landscape. (Tim Hursley) The 2025 MCHAP Americas Prize jury was headed by industry professionals, hailing from across the Americas. It was chaired by Maurice Cox, former Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development. Cox was joined by Giovanna Borasi, director, Canadian Centre for Architecture; Gregg Pasquarelli, founding principal, SHoP Architects; Mauricio Rocha, founder, Taller | Mauricio Rocha, and the 2023 Americas Prize recipient; and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, founding partner of Chilean firm Pezo von Ellrichshausen. MCHAP Director Dirk Denison remarked about visiting the projects and complimented each of the five finalists. “Traveling together, I witnessed firsthand the incredible insights each jury member brought to these five standard-setting works,” he said. “All the finalists emerged organically from needs and demands of their immediate contexts, with ingenuity and a synergy of creativity between the client and designer—a synergy that is the hallmark of so many MCHAP finalists.” The cafeteria at Thaden School is one of the many spaces faced with a large window overlooking the grassy campus. (Tim Hursley) Porches and screened passageways are among many architectural features that recall local vernacular. (Tim Hursley) The jury praised Thaden School for its rootedness to site and context. Connection with the outdoors is a core part of the school’s curriculum; the design team tapped into this with gabled structures that recall barn buildings, through screened porches, and attention to the landscape and grounds. “The building’s character shapes a campus steeped in the rural culture of its place—the barn, the porch, and the long and low farm buildings are artfully assembled into a new academical village that powerfully interprets the pedagogical mission of ‘youth learning by doing,’” the jury collectively shared in a statement. The campus comprises a number of buildings, each with a unique program, connected to one another via series of pathways. Among these is the Home Building, where communal spaces were located: the dining hall, library, bookstore, and lounges. The buildings have low-lying profiles reminiscent of agricultural buildings as well as distinct, angular roof shapes as seen on the Bike Barn, the Arts and Administration Building, Performance Building, and others. Open-air passageways, garage-style doors, and large spans of glazing cement the connection with the rural surroundings. The low-lying buildings with gabled rooflines recall traditional barn architecture. (Tim Hursley) “The collaborative effort of the design teams read through this powerful composition,” the jury commented. “Space is both contained and open-ended, inviting the public to enter into the center of student life. The threshold between outdoor and indoor is made of outward-facing porches, covered passageways, and outdoor rooms. This flexible composition of the campus encourages learning, recreation, farming, and civic gathering.” Several of the Thaden School buildings have been recognized in AN’s Best of Design awards program in the education category. In 2021 EskewDumezRipple received recognition for its work on the Home Building. Marlon Blackwell was similarly applauded in 2020 for its design for Bike Barn, and then again in 2024 for the Performance Building. Last year, Taller | Mauricio Rocha won the MCHAP for Anahuacalli Museum. Other past recipients include, in 2014, Grace Farms by SANAA in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Valuation Is a Business Metric Too Many Architects Ignore Most architecture firm owners know how to measure a project’s success. But when it comes to measuring their firm’s value, most don’t know how to start or what data they need to build a rough estimated value. Yet that’s exactly the question more firm leaders need to ask—What is my business actually worth? To help answer that, BQE Software created a free Firm Valuation Calculator designed specifically for architecture and engineering professionals. In just a few minutes, firm leaders can get a snapshot of their current value and resources to understand the factors that influence it. Try the Firm Valuation Calculator More Than a Number Valuation helps you understand the health of your firm and uncovers ways to strengthen it. It is a tool that can be used throughout the lifespan of a firm, not just when you are thinking of selling. The calculator gives you a rough estimate of your firm’s worth and resources to help you increase that value for when you are ready to sell or transition to the next generation of leadership. Knowing your business valuation and what influences it helps identify what’s working, where there’s room to grow, and how to improve systems that impact profitability and long-term sustainability. According to the 2024 Zweig Group Valuation Report, firms with stronger operational systems and leadership continuity routinely see valuation multiples up to 2x higher than firms that rely on outdated processes or lack financial clarity. This is why we recommend firms conduct a valuation every year as one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) they track. You can see how your firm’s growth, improved operations, and leadership decisions impact the value of the business. Your valuation is a reflection of how well your firm is managed, how efficiently it runs, and how prepared it is for the future. It includes more than just revenue. We built this free tool to empower architects to better understand their firm as a financial asset and work on building the systems and processes to maximize its value. (Courtesy BQE Software) Find Out How Much Your Firm Is Worth. Make Better Business Decisions The Firm Valuation Calculator tool requests some basic information about your firm, like size and some financial metrics. Based on your input, it delivers a data-informed estimate of your firm’s worth. This formulaic valuation is accompanied by insight into what’s driving it and resources to help you increase the value. Firms that understand their valuation can make smarter decisions, whether it’s adjusting staffing, improving project delivery, or strengthening their leadership bench. The best time to know your value is before you need it. Don’t wait until you are ready to sell your business. That doesn’t leave you with the time needed to work on increasing the value so you get the highest return on the business you have built. Take the First Step Architecture is about designing the future. Your firm’s financial success deserves the same thoughtful planning. Whether you’re preparing for growth, succession, or simply want a clearer picture of your business health, the Firm Valuation Calculator is a simple, powerful place to start. Don’t Wait Until It’s Time to Sell. Know Your Value Now. (Courtesy BQE Software) Estimate Your Firm’s Current Value. Then Grow it. What to Do After You Get Your Valuation Review your score with your leadership team Identify one-to-two areas you could improve this quarter (e.g., overhead, project profitability, adopting firm management software) Set a calendar reminder to retake the calculator in six months to track progress Repeat every six months Find Out Where You Stand and Where to Improve

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has voted unanimously to designate the Modulightor Building Apartment Duplex—Paul Rudolph’s former Manhattan home at 246 East 58th Street—an interior landmark. The landmarked residential duplex is sited on the third and fourth floors of the Modulightor Building. Notable interior design features are the staircase and built-in shelving units that house books, and other collected items. This news comes two years after the Modulightor Building itself was declared a New York City individual landmark in 2023. Now, both the exterior and the apartment duplex are protected under the Landmarks Law. The Modulightor Building itself was declared a New York City individual landmark in 2023. (Courtesy Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture) “We are enthusiastic for this designation not only for its spatially rich and light-filled Modern design but also because of the intimacy of the space and how Rudolph’s hand and belongings can be found nearly at every turn,” Docomomo US executive director Liz Waytkus said in a statement. “It is so meaningful that Modulightor, which houses the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, continues to host open house events, encourages dialogue and offers a unique New York experience,” Waytkus added. New York City Councilmember Keith Powers supported the decision, crediting the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture with hosting “regular open houses accessible to our community to learn about its unique design, and to explore the amazing world of architecture.” The apartment duplex takes up the third and fourth floors. (Courtesy NYC Landmarks Preservation Commmison) The Modulightor Building takes its name from a lighting fixture company Rudolph cofounded. It was designed in 1989 and completed in two phases. It originally had only four floors, with the apartment duplex taking up the upper half. Between 2010 and 2016, architect Mark Squeo added two more floors to the top, and a roof deck. Sarah Carroll, LPC chair, credited the apartment duplex as a “remarkable example of late 20th century interior design.” “Its spatial complexity, innovative use of light, and carefully crafted architectural details reflect Rudolph’s unique vision and enduring influence,” Carroll said. “With today’s designation, we preserve a vital example of New York City’s rich design heritage, and ensure this special space will continue to inspire architects, designers, and visitors alike for generations to come.”

There’s a burgeoning movement in the U.S. to convert golf courses into parks, and even housing. They consume too much water and take up too much space. Plus, golf is declining in popularity. Sasaki recently released a strategic masterplan for transforming the former Republic Golf Course into Arboretum San Antonio. The campus would have ample green space, but also a “living museum,” and a center for tree research. Arboretum San Antonio will total over 200 acres. It will have links to Salado Creek and the Howard W. Peak Greenway, making for one of the largest arboreta in the state of Texas. Features will include a welcome center, event center, retail nursery, a cafe, and The Oval community event lawn. Arboretum San Antonio will link to existing trails. (Courtesy Sasaki) The Canopy Walk will be a raised boardwalk platform that guides visitors through a forested landscape. (Courtesy Sasaki) Sasaki worked with the Arboretum San Antonio board of directors and local consultants for the last year. The office engaged over 18,000 community members, it said, in the visioning and design process. The strategic masterplan will restore the ecology that was destroyed by the former golf course. Adriana Quiñones, Arboretum San Antonio CEO, said the strategic masterplan is the “culmination of thousands of San Antonio voices coming together to create something extraordinary.” “Our design reflects the community’s desire for spaces that are physically accessible, culturally inclusive, educationally rich, and ecologically sound,” Quiñones added. “Community input has shaped every element.” A network of nature trails are also planned for the project. (Courtesy Sasaki) Quiñones further noted that Arboretum San Antonio will have an outdoor classroom, discovery areas, and a Veterans Grove. There will be heritage tree preservation, water conservation features, and diverse botanical collections, the CEO elaborated. Parking will be confined to Arboretum San Antonio’s core campus, which is closest to SE Military Drive, to ensure tranquility. The site will be broken up into nine arboretum zones, each with its own ecology. Visitors can learn about climate-resilient landscapes, and Indigenous land management practices. The Outdoor Classroom will be a place to learn about the ecology. (Courtesy Sasaki) Sasaki is collaborating San Antonio-based partners MPStudio, Work5hop, Ximenes & Associates, Pape-Dawson Engineers, Urban Tree Company, Cielo Strategy Group, Robb S. García, and Jeanette M. Honermann. North of Arboretum San Antonio, Reed Hilderbrand and SO – IL are renovating San Antonio Botanical Garden, another project enhancing the city’s green space. The project will take place over four phases over the course of 20 years.

Steel So Sweet For Andrea’s Cookies, StudioAC designs a pink and metallic bakery of the future By Kelly Pau • May 15, 2025 • Interiors, International (Scott Walsh) SHARE Sleek, futuristic shop Andrea’s Cookies has a small grab-and-go bakery in Toronto. StudioAC makes effective use of the compact space, starting with its interior’s circular gesture. The pink plywood counter acts as a beacon to gather interest from passersby on the street while commanding the attention of those inside. The nifty counter serves multiple functions: it sets the visual design language, it creates intrigue into the store, and it sets the flow of the space. The curving counter choreographs the direction of customers, who begin on one end where they order and slide along the counter to the other to pick up. The pink is juxtaposed with stainless steel on the countertops, a pairing mirrored in the above bulwark to better frame the order area. Read more about the shop on aninteriormag.com. RestaurantsToronto

Chicago, like many U.S. cities, has a history of building public housing and then tearing it down. Cabrini-Green, a textbook example, was demolished decades ago, along with so many other storied campuses around the country like Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis. The National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) opened its doors last month in Chicago’s near West Side to help tell this multivalent, often times tumultuous story. It’s sited at 919 South Ada Street inside the last remaining vestige of Jane Addams Homes, a New Deal–era campus by Holabird & Root. The institution is the first of its kind. NPHM was founded by public housing residents—its goal is to become “a place to experience stories of hope and personal achievement amid struggle, resistance, and resilience,” NPHM said in a statement. WPA posters at the National Public Housing Museum (Barry Brecheisen) AN first reported on the project in 2016, when the Chicago Housing Authority approved the redevelopment of the site. Landon Bone Baker Architects (LBBA) oversaw the adaptive reuse effort, shepherded by Peter Landon. The campaign took 18 years to complete from start to finish—the most noticeable changes on the exterior are new signage, painted onto the brick facade, and a new entryway. Sunny Fischer cofounded NPHM and now sits on the board. She grew up in the Bronx at a public housing campus. Fischer called NPHM a Site of Conscience, or a space to remember and address past injustices and their ongoing legacies. “As a Site of Conscience, we join museums around the world committed to telling complicated and difficult stories, preserving history, and imagining a more just future,” Fischer said. View Inside the Turovitz Apartment (Barry Brecheisen) Upon entry, visitors can see illustrative WPA advertisements for public housing, bygone relics from a time when the federal government invested in such things. Three historic apartments were reconstructed at a 1:1 to scale to show how different generations of public housing residents lived. Instead of your conventional gift shop, the museum store is co-operatively run by public housing residents. NPHM also has a REC Room, a curated space by DJ Spinderella showcasing the beats and melodies born on public housing campuses. The Doris Conant Demand the Impossible Advocacy Space is meant to encourage discussions about social justice. Art by Amanda Williams, Olalekan Jeyifous, and Alphawood Foundation Sculpture Garden animates the building, together with WPA-era Animal Court sculptures by Edgar Miller. In the REC Room, records are on display in wood shelves. (Percy Ollie Jr. of Ollie Photography) Ephemera on display throughout NPHM speaks to the cultural, social, and economic dimensions of life in public housing. (Barry Brecheisen) Francine Washington grew up in public housing and is now a chairperson of the Central Advisory Committee for the Chicago Housing Authority. “This museum is personal,” Washington added. “It’s the first in the country to tell our stories—not just the bricks and buildings but the people who made public housing, home. We’ve always had a voice. Now we have a place that listens.” NPHM executive director Dr. Lisa Yun Lee said the longterm mission is solidifying housing’s place as a human right, not a commodity. Lee envisions it as an “important civic anchor that brings people together to imagine innovative solutions and envision a more equitable future.”

Since founding Kadre Architects in 2022, Nerin Kadribegovic’s firm has garnered a reputation for doing a lot with a little. Case in point: standardized drawing sets for ADUs and an interim housing development wedged between highways. More recently, the Los Angeles practice transformed defunct storefront space in Compton into a social services hub. The Compton Community Center opened early this year. It offers case management services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Residents can go to the center for document procurement, connections to medical and behavioral health services, applications for vouchers, support for acclimating back to the job market, and other critical social services. A double-height vaulted space greets visitors upon entry. (Paul Vu) HOPICS is the service provider Kadre Architects worked with that now operates the 1,000-square-foot space. The space boasts vaulted ceilings, and bespoke wood creations that climb up the front facade, and hover above the backyard. The interiors are washed in natural light. The neo-postmodern architecture pulls from its context. To the community center’s left is a yellow apartment block and, to its right, a church with a pitched roof. The Compton Community Center was painted white and yellow, and the wooden lattice that’s attached to the front facade mimics the church’s slanted profile. The center is located between an apartment block and a church. (Paul Vu) The original storefront space had a modest 10-foot floor-to-ceiling height. After taking the commission, Kadre Architects uncovered concealed attics. The designers opened up the ceiling to create a double-height vaulted space with skylights. Asymmetric wooden desks staffed by HOPICS employees greet visitors upon entry. These bits were constructed out of laminated plywood, and mirror the geometric floor patterns. Custom shelving was also made of plywood. The interior palette makes generous use of bright white and yellow, a nod to the service provider’s brand colors, the adjoining buildings, and Kadre’s signature color-drenched spaces more broadly. The rear parking lot was converted into a courtyard garden and playground for visiting families. (Paul Vu) Aerial view of the rear courtyard, showing the heavy use of color. (Paul Vu) The lot Kadre Architects negotiated is long and narrow. The back was transformed into a vibrant, polychromatic courtyard employees and visitors can enjoy. Informal, outdoor meetings with case managers happen there. Playground equipment from a nearby housing project was installed in the courtyard garden for visiting families. Trees were planted, and slivers of existing asphalt were cut out and replaced with artificial turf, creating moments of green respite, the designers shared. This softens what was once a parking lot.

The dust has finally settled in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, following a whirlwind of controversy that arose amid efforts to preserve Frank Lloyd Wright’s only built skyscraper: Price Tower. The 1956 building was sold to McFarlin Building, a Tulsa-based company that says it plans to restore the copper and concrete beauty in the heart of the town.  Originally designed for Harold C. Price Sr., the mixed-use tower housed corporate headquarters for H.C. Price Pipeline Company, leasing space for smaller firms, and luxury apartments. After Price’s corporate headquarters relocated to Dallas, Phillips Petroleum took over from 1981 until 2001 when the Tower was donated to the Price Tower Arts Center (PTAC), a private nonprofit. After ensuing restorations, the Tower housed the Price Tower museum; The Price Tower Arts Center; and The Inn at Price Tower, a ritzy hotel.  In 2011, the PTAC board donated a preservation easement to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, four years after the Price Tower became a National Historic Landmark. The easement protects the tower itself along with artwork, furnishings, and other features within it specifically designed by Wright as part of the Tower. As the PTAC struggled to maintain the building’s expenses, the board decided to terminate the organization and sold the Tower to Green Copper Holdings in March 2023 for $10 and the assumption of the building’s $600,000 debt. All was well, until it wasn’t.   The 19-story building primarily features concrete and copper. (Leonid Furmansky) Going Once Financial hurdles persisted. In the spring of 2024, alerted the Conservancy that valued ephemera protected by the easement had been sold to a midcentury design collector in Dallas without the Conservancy’s knowledge or approval.  Cynthia Blanchard of Copper Tree contended that the sale was imperative due to a lack of funding. By that point, the Towers’ debt had allegedly accumulated to over $2 million. The Conservancy argued Blanchard had no right to make that decision independently, and that the sale of the protected items jeopardized the space’s historic value.  Legal communications were sent by the Conservancy to Blanchard, Green Copper Holdings, and others alerting them of the items’ protection with hopes to settle matters internally. However, Copper Tree later filed a lawsuit against the Conservancy claiming the preservation easement was null and void due to the transfer of ownership in 2023—despite the easement’s attachment to the property deed. As the Conservancy fought back, the future of Wright’s work still remained uncertain.  At the time of its construction, Price Tower was the tallest building in Bartlesville. (Leonid Furmansky) Going Twice McFarlin Building signed a contract in May 2024 to buy Price Tower for $1.4 million, however, Blanchard claimed this contract was canceled due to “extensive and unreasonable last-minute demands.” In October 2024, Copper Tree put the building up for auction, seeking a new buyer, and McFarlin stepped in again, filing a lawsuit that cited its previous sale. News of all this also came to light after the Blanchards had evicted all the tenants; laid off Tower staffers; and barred public access to the museum, inn, and arts center seemingly in preparation for auction. Amid the legal proceedings, Price Tower was pulled from the auction block. The lawsuit added a layer of urgency to the matter, citing the lack of insurance and current fire protections as putting the building at risk.   Sold! In January, a judge ruled to approve the sale to McFarlin, per the original contract, and required the utilities be immediately reinstated to protect the building against freezing temperatures. In one final twist, Copper Tree filed for bankruptcy, putting the building up for auction. When the resulting bankruptcy auction failed to pull other bidders, McFarlin ended up with the building. John Snyder, who manages McFarlin, has taken part in the revitalization of multiple properties in Tulsa, including the Mayo and Aloft Hotels. His daughter, Macy Snyder-Amatucci, is the president of Brickhugger, a restoration company that is the principal owner of McFarlin. Prior to the auction, the Conservancy and McFarlin signed a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure the easement would be protected should McFarlin win the bid. While the fate of the items sold off last spring remains in the wind, the new agreement secures the rightful place of  the rest of the collection.  During an easement visit this March, the Conservancy concluded that while the collections and key historic interiors at Price Tower were “overall in fair to good condition,” significant investments would need to be made to the building upon purchase, mainly due to water damage. At this time, it seems McFarlin is ready to take on the task.  “We look forward to this next chapter for the Price Tower, and to building a strong preservation partnership with its new owners,” the Conservancy shared in a recent statement. “There is significant work ahead, but the infusion of new financial resources, together with a sustainable business plan, gives us great optimism for the tower’s future.”

A new outdoor concourse at Boston’s South Station by Pelli Clarke & Partners replaces a low slung entry that leads riders to the central hall—a vast improvement upon this quotidian scenario so many suburbanites experience daily. Riders have historically huddled off of drab rolling stock onto a concrete platform underneath a metal roof that leaks when it rains. They proceeded to a space that was once grand, but now pales compared to its former self. This new concourse, dubbed The Great Space, has 10 concrete arches that support three domes—each reaches 60 feet from floor to ceiling. The arches delineate passageways throughout the hall, connecting the atrium to the street, bus stops, and other transit connections. The floor-to-ceiling heights in the new concourse are 60 feet. (Jason O’Rear) At the center of each of the three domes is a ring of spotlights. These fixtures further brighten the interiors, which also rely on natural light for illumination. The underside of the domes were covered with a diagrid pattern that extends from the base of the arches up to the ring of lights. The outer walls of the concourse were clad in corrugated concrete, this adds texture and dimension to the design. “The transformed public concourse at South Station is not only an essential transportation space but also a bold architectural statement for Boston,” Graham Banks, a partner at Pelli Clarke & Partners, said in a statement. “By combining functionality with beauty,” Banks added, “the light-filled, expansive space enhances Boston’s position as a connected, forward-thinking hub and offers a monumental entryway befitting a great city.” The new approach (Jason O’Rear) The project was first announced in 2021, reported by James McCown for AN. The 126-year-old train shed was due for an upgrade; it hadn’t been renovated for 30 years. The concourse’s completion marks the end of phase one to the major redevelopment project happening at South Station, backed by the developer Hines. The Boston Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), Amtrak, and Mass DOT are also on the project team. Outer walls of the concourse were clad in corrugated concrete. (Jason O’Rear) At the apex of the arches is a ring of spotlights. (Jason O’Rear) Previously, South Station’s train and bus terminals were separated. The station rehabilitation project consolidated them, improving connectivity. This gesture expanded bus terminal capacity by 50 percent, the architects added, and makes for more seamless connections between Amtrak, commuter rail, subway, and city bus lines. Phase two of the transformative project will deliver South Station Tower—a new, 51-story tower above the platform also designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners. The effect will echo Marcel Breuer’s Pan Am (now MetLife) Tower above Grand Central Terminal in New York: A tall, modern skyscraper above a squat Beaux Arts train shed. A rendering of South Station tower (Courtesy Hines) South Station Tower will offer 680,000 square feet of premium office space, and 166 luxury residences, the architects said. There will also be dining options and a rooftop park. Phase two of the transformative project will complete later this summer.

Michael Hilal, founder of Studio Michael Hilal, crafts easy yet elegant interiors and furniture out of his home state in California. Not only is the fast-growing founder on the jury for this year’s Best of Products Awards, but Hilal has also won a Best of Products Award last year for his Marfa Bar and Record Player, a floating furnishing that nods to Donald Judd as well as home entertainment systems of the 1950s and 1960s. Read his advice on applying to the program, and learn what he’ll be looking out for in applications, below. Submissions are open from now until midnight ET on July 25 with Early Bird entry open until May 30. Marfa Bar and Record Player (Courtesy Studio Michael Hilal) AN: You won a Best of Products Award in 2024 for your Marfa Bar and Record Player. What did this award mean to you and your practice? Michael Hilal (MH):  I have a new practice that’s only a few years old, and this was my debut furniture collection. To be recognized by such a respected jury was meaningful. It puts you on the next level in terms of visibility and validation. That is not only valuable for a business but also important personally and creatively. For a new practitioner, to have the community embrace your ideas, it provides courage to move ahead. AN: Do you have plans to design more furniture within your practice? MH: I believe the best design is holistic and collaborative. We are always experimenting with custom and bespoke pieces in our projects—it’s like a creative laboratory—so the Marfa Bar and Big Sur furniture collection with St Vincents were a result of that. We had such a positive response that we are expanding the collection with new designs. I’m also exploring lighting and collaborating with artists so the work is ongoing and always a natural extension of what I do. We are working on and prototyping several new designs so stay tuned! AN: How do products and furnishings shape your interiors? How do you approach which to include in a project? MH: Products and furnishings add a lived-in layer that turns a building into a home and connects people to their space. I always look for a way to make an environment easy as well as chic. I hate formality—it’s just another societal barrier we don’t need. So while the scope of each project may be different, my philosophy is the same. If there’s a room that’s beautiful but never used I feel like I’ve failed as a designer. Good design shouldn’t just gather dust. AN: What will you be looking for in Best of Products submissions? MH: We get caught up in what’s new or something you have never seen before, especially when you scroll on social media. But for me it’s more important that things are well thought out, useful yet beautiful, sculptural yet elegant, subtle yet speaks loudly. I have a habit of always noticing the details. Sometimes I start there first. Those really make or break any product. AN: As a juror and former winner, do you have advice for others who are thinking of entering? MH: There’s nothing to lose in terms of putting your work out there; you never know what’s going to happen. It’s not necessarily about winning but about sharing ideas, getting feedback, and making connections—and that’s invaluable in terms of growing and moving forward as a designer. Learn more about the 2025 Best of Products Awards and start entries here.

Evolution of All-Glass Architecture: Harmonizing Aesthetic Purity and Superior Performance with Multifunctional Facade Systems All-glass architecture has become a hallmark of modern urban design, valued for its sleek aesthetic, openness, and ability to maximize natural light. Cities like Boston and New York showcase countless glazed structures. However, fully glazed facades present significant challenges. Traditional curtain walls struggle to meet evolving energy codes, particularly in climates with extreme seasonal variations like New England. Issues such as heat loss in winter, excessive solar heat gain in summer, and poor soundproofing in dense urban areas create major concerns for architects, contractors, and building owners. As energy regulations tighten and curtain walls alone become less viable, architects are increasingly adopting hybrid solutions. By integrating both glass and opaque elements, these designs maintain the sleek, contemporary aesthetic while significantly enhancing performance in energy efficiency, durability, and acoustic control. Please submit form to view full report.

Last year, Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building was listed for sale, raising concerns among preservationists and historians about the fate of one of America’s earliest and most influential office buildings. Now, after acquiring the building for $8.25 million, a private equity firm is exploring potential uses for the site, prompting new questions about how the historic structure will be preserved, or transformed, for the future. Arch to Park Equity, the real estate fund coordinated by Greater St. Louis, Inc., issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) last week inviting developers, architects, and preservationists to submit plans for the future of the historic Wainwright Building. The document states the firm is “looking for the best ideas from around the world to redevelop the Wainwright Building into an anchor and destination in the heart of Downtown St. Louis.” The winning plan will demonstrate alignment with local planning guidelines, practical feasibility, and, most importantly, the greatest benefit to the growing neighborhood.  “The site offers the unique potential to catalyze the surrounding neighborhood while preserving and enhancing an architectural and historic asset,” the RFP continued. “A successful proposal will celebrate St. Louis’s past while providing a visual statement about its future.”  The Wainwright Building, designed by Louis Sullivan, was built in 1891 with an addition built a century later. The 10-story, terra-cotta building predates many of Sullivan’s most well-known buildings like the Bayard-Condict Building in New York and the Sullivan Center in Chicago. It is considered by many to be one of the country’s first office towers. Frank Lloyd Wright called it “the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture.” Originally built for a local brewer, the tower on 709 Chestnut Street’s most recognizable features are its decorative elements, open courtyards, and the 16-foot ceiling and sky view roof located on its ground floor. The Wainwright Building was landmarked in 1968 by the National Register of Historic Places and declared a local landmark in 1972. After narrowly escaping demolition in the 1960s, the Wainwright Building was purchased by the state of Missouri in 1974 and housed government offices until its recent sale to Arch to Park Equity Fund. Proceeds from the sale will go toward a new government facility in Chesterfield, a suburb 40 minutes west of downtown St. Louis, with state officials citing rising costs and concerns about crime as key reasons for the move.  Arch to Park Equity Fund, however, appears confident in the neighborhood’s future pointing to “momentum” in the development in Downtown St. Louis. Over the past decade, the neighborhood’s residential population has nearly doubled, now surpassing 11,000 residents. With a high concentration of office buildings and local landmarks, the area also attracts nearly 75,000 commuters and visitors each day. The RFP highlights several key developments contributing to this growth, including the planned redevelopment of the Millennium Hotel, the construction of the Brickline Greenway on the east side of Energizer Park, a growing slate of social and cultural activities, and a declining crime rate. Just blocks away from two of St. Louis’s most recognizable landmarks—the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium—Arch to Park Equity Fund wants the Wainwright Building to become a new cornerstone of St. Louis’s Downtown neighborhood, blending historic preservation with innovative, community-driven redevelopment.  The full RFP outlines the materials consultants are required to submit. The deadline for proposals is July 4 at 3:00 p.m. CST.

Both Canada and the United States have deep-seated affordability problems, but only the former is doing anything substantial about it. Forthcoming housing cooperatives at 2444 Eglinton Avenue in Toronto, and in Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia, are helping put a dent in Canada’s affordable housing shortage. Vancouver’s home prices today are close to $1 million, and rental prices in Toronto are equally astronomical. To buck this trend, Canada’s Co-operative Housing Development Program (CHDP) unlocked $1.5 billion in federal financing to support new cooperative housing. This is all happening as part of Canada’s National Housing Strategy, a $115 billion plan to boost affordability.  “In Toronto, the housing crisis is as severe as it’s ever been,” UT Daniels professor Keisha St. Louis-McBurnie, a Toronto-based urban planner at Monumental, told AN.  “We’ve seen real growth in housing encampments, especially during COVID-19,” St. Louis-McBurnie said. “There’s been very limited new transitional and supportive housing across [Toronto]. Households are getting priced out of the market, including professional middle-income ones. Folks who are low-income that require the most housing support are not able to access new affordable housing, especially in consideration to what’s getting built in Toronto.” A Brutalist housing co-op on Eglinton Avenue in Toronto (Ken Lund/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) Claire Weisz’s office, WXY, as of this year has locations in New York and Toronto. Weisz recently spoke at the Canadian Club Toronto, in a round table moderated by Alex Bozikovic, about urbanism. “Huge troves of affordable housing in New York has, in recent years, been taken from people who can’t afford down payments on co-ops,” Weisz told AN. “We’ve sacrificed so much. Some organizations have tried to stop this, but without policy support from the city, it’s really in vain.” “My big worry is that right now, like Toronto, New York is starting to be like the rest of the U.S. and rely on developer-led for-profits, versus not-for-profits,” Weisz added. “There needs to be a reawakening of not-for-profit development coalitions.” “The Co-operative Housing Sector is Booming” The Canadian National Housing Strategy’s longterm goal is to build 156,000 affordable units and repair over 298,000 existing ones. Housing cooperatives are getting built all over Canada as part of the program, from British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Planning departments are prioritizing the needs of First Nations communities and Black Canadians to help rectify past injustices. This is happening as rent prices skyrocket, and Toronto’s skyline is populated with new landmarks by Frank Gehry, Studio Gang, BIG, and others. Cooperative housing was first built in Canada in the 1930s. Regent Park in Toronto was the country’s first public housing campus, finished in 1949. This legacy continued through the 1960s and ’70s, when radical co-ops like Rochdale College and Neill-Wycik were built for University of Toronto students. Willow Park Housing Co-op (1966) went up in Winnipeg thanks to CHF Canada, a joint initiative by the Canadian Labour Congress and the Co-operative Union of Canada. The New Democratic Party (NDP) constructed abundant cooperative housing in Vancouver. Milton Park got built in Montreal in the 1980s. Between 1973 and 1993, CHF Canada built a total 92,000 cooperatively-owned units. (This history was captured by Leslie Coles in Under Construction: A History of Co-operative Housing in Canada.) All this momentum was brought to a halt during successive Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien Premierships, however, when government support for supportive housing was cut, much like what was happening in the U.S. at that time under the Clinton administration with the Faircloth Amendment. Regent Park’s original architecture was demolished in 2005 as part of the Regent Park Revitalization Plan, and replaced with a private, mixed-income community. (Kevin Costain/Wikimedia Commons /CC BY 2.0) A regime of state-imposed austerity ensued, leading up to the affordability crisis both Canada and the U.S. have today. Unlike the United States, however, Canada seems to have learned from its past mistakes. Thanks to Canada’s Co-operative Housing Development Program, eight co-ops are getting built right now. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has prioritized new affordable housing construction and land trusts, and is doing much to fight gentrification. BC Builds is an initiative helping fast track cooperative housing in Vancouver City Council. “Since the 1990s there’s been a shift in liberal to conservative and neoliberal federal governments,” St. Louis-McBurnie said. “This resulted in reduced public investment in significant social programs, including public and not-for-profit housing. These successive governments devolved responsibility for funding affordable housing to provincial governments across the country, Ontario in particular. Places like Regent Park now have a public-private partnership model, meaning it’s now on the private market. Alexandra Park is going through a similar privatization process.” “But now, there’s interest in alternatives” to market rate development St. Louis-McBurnie affirmed, “and the co-operative housing sector is booming.” Provinces and cities are also implementing “communal land trust models to support the scaling and retaining of assets,” she said. “They’re trying to figure out ways for bringing independently-owned co-ops into the land trust model.” Housing as Human Right The largest co-op underway in Canada today is 2444 Eglinton Avenue by Henriquez Partners and Claude Cormier + Associés. The Toronto development will yield 918 homes, including 612 affordable, rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units. Retail offerings will be sited at the base level. From afar, 2444 Eglinton Avenue will stand out thanks to its polychromatic porthole windows. Further afield in Perth, Ontario, 38 new cooperative units will be built. Farther east in Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia, a co-operative housing development will yield 136 row house units primarily for Black Canadians. That project is happening through a partnership between the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust and the Upper Hammonds Plains Housing Co-operative. Curtis Whiley, a sixth-generation African Nova Scotian, is steering the housing cooperative project in Upper Hammonds. Meanwhile in New Minas, Nova Scotia, there will be 32 more cooperative homes. Rendering of 2444 Eglinton Avenue Co-ops (Courtesy Henriquez Partners) Africville was a close-knit Black community in Halifax located on Treat 1 territory destroyed by the City of Halifax in the 1960s. Today, land trusts like the one in Nova Scotia are effective means for establishing housing secure communities of color. The Toronto Chinatown Land Trust likewise empowers people to stay in place, an outfit helmed by Chiyi Tam who is a planner and UT Daniels faculty member. “We have not seen any investment like this, I would say, in terms of housing development almost exclusively for Black communities in Canada’s history,” St. Louis-McBurnie said. Hogan’s Alley’s Black community was displaced by the Vancouver government to make way for the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts in 1971. Now, members of the NDP and Hogan’s Alley Society—a Black-led, not-for-profit developer of Afrocentric affordable housing—are working together to shore up Black land stewardship in the old neighborhood and help rectify the past injustice. “Transferring land over to the Hogan Alley land trust will allow for the Black community to return and for greater autonomy in housing construction,” St. Louis-McBurnie added. “What If We Built a New Co-op City in Brooklyn?” Federal spending was allocated in the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to dismantle highways that ripped through inner cities and destroyed African American neighborhoods, like I-81 in Syracuse, New York. But this week, House GOP members moved to cancel the I-81 highway removal project. The Trump administration’s proposed 2026 national budget has slashed spending on projects that “fall outside [the President’s] new priorities” and “promote radical equity policies,” the White House said. Is it possible for architects, politicians, and planners in the U.S. to replicate Canada’s success given the current political climate?  It seems, for now, it would have to happen with aggressive leadership at the city and state levels—trade unions and nonprofits would also have to step up. This is already taking place, for instance, at Penn South, a sprawling Mitchell-Lama housing cooperative in Manhattan by the United Housing Foundation (UHF). Today, Bernheimer Architecture (BA) and the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust are helping upgrade the handsome midcentury campus. Penn South’s rehabilitation is in conjunction with BA, the AFL-CIO, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). “Penn South is a very unique campus, and its needs are different from most other campuses in New York City,” Andy Bernheimer told AN. “NYSERDA is helping us inform design and construction moving forward, which will entail reskinning the buildings and making them more energy efficient.” Co-op City is situated on a sprawling 320-acre site in the north Bronx. (Zara Pfeifer) Co-op City shopping plaza (Zara Pfeifer) In New York today, mayoral candidates are increasingly interested in revisiting the Mitchell-Lama Program’s success, a UHF campaign that built 135,000 cooperative housing units between 1955 and 1978, like Penn South and the Bronx’s Co-op City, another historic campus by Herman Jessor. In Albany, New York State elected officials have proposed a new Social Housing Development Authority, which would allocate government spending toward public housing, co-ops, and land trusts to battle gentrification. “I don’t think there’s enough money to simply restart a program like Mitchell-Lama, as far as I can tell,” Weisz told AN. “But if you look at all of the older Mitchell-Lamas flipping to the market, it’s clear we need to preserve the ones that are left, and there needs to be a new generation of co-ops. All over the city, when people have to pay market rates instead of mortgages, they’re rent burdened.” Homes for Living is a new book by Jonathan Tarleton that speaks to the tumultuous privatization of New York’s cooperative housing stock, a burgeoning problem. “Maybe there’s a way to build a funding and oversight mechanism for existing co-ops worried about going under water, and for households to sign up for a program that helps them to stay in [Mitchell-Lama],” Weisz elaborated. “Maybe there could even be a program for rental apartments to get into that program?” WXY is currently working on a Mitchell-Lama campus in the Bronx, Stevenson Commons, together with Habitat for Humanity. The goal is to maintain Stevenson Common’s affordability with rent-stabilized flats at very low rates. Parking lots at Stevenson Commons were rezoned to allow for new housing, which helps maintain affordability, while new public spaces and tennis clubs were added. There will be incentives to help seniors age in place, and for multigenerational households. Rochdale Village in Queens (Zara Pfeifer) Weisz sees opportunities to finance cooperative housing with ulterior means, like capital raised from Habitat for Humanity, but also congestion pricing. “We should be using new lines and TOD to actually support neighborhoods and co-ops, and people that are ultimately the ones who stay and support neighborhoods,” she said. “Why not subsidize co-op structures? The only way to do that is if there’s city-owned land, because, otherwise, the land cost is so expensive, you have to develop it at market rate.” “There’s a lot of city sites that have been identified for housing,” Weisz noted. “There’s all sorts of sites in the city’s hands right beside the Manhattan Bridge, for instance, or along the BQE. All of those sites could become new co-ops. What if we built a new Co-op City in Brooklyn?”

Whether beamers, bollards, or lamp posts, the following light solutions prioritize lumen strength and distribution as well as charming, modern aesthetics. (Courtesy Landscape Forms) Moment Lighting Landscape Forms Characterized by straight lines, perfect circles, and conical shapes, this collection offers sleek, adaptable profiles. It’s available in different pole heights and mounting configurations, or hung and wall-mounted and with an optional hexcell louver to ensure precise illumination with minimal glare. (Courtesy Artemide) Gople Outdoor Artemide Drawing from the silhouette of a glass diffuser, BIG designed Gople Outdoor as a cotton candy–colored family of lighting. Bollards, spots, and lanterns make up some of the line, each interpreting diffusers in different ways. (Courtesy ERCO) Beamer Contour Projector ERCO Available in a new large size, ERCO’s beamers provide precise and powerful lighting suitable for museum applications. The narrow, inconspicuous framing houses straight-edge projections to create exact framing, cutting down on light pollution. (Courtesy Cyclone) Mochi Cyclone Mochi’s curved dome brings softness to urban settings. Offered in a side or pendant mount, the luminaire features 14 light distribution types as well as backward optics that can be oriented to illuminate a road or bike path. (Courtesy Lebello) Spore Garden & Path Light Lebello These mushroom-shaped LED lights illuminate pathways and gardens. They come in a variety of pole heights and colors, in brass, copper, stainless silver, or black accents, and in 3000K warm light or 4500K cool light. (Courtesy Luminis) Syrios Pro Luminis This luminaire enables a continuous aesthetic from curb to cube with pole, wall, and ceiling mount options. Optional beam angle reflectors are also available for public spaces, pathways, and facades.

The Facades+ conference series comes to San Diego for the second time later this month. Join us on Thursday, May 22, for an event featuring six expert-led presentations as well as an exhibition hall with representatives from 23 building product manufacturers. The conference’s symposium was organized in collaboration with Kevin Heinly, co-regional managing principal of Gensler’s San Diego office. Click here to find more information and register. HKS designed the Gaylord Pacific Resort to maximize views of the surrounding coastline and mountains. (Courtesy HKS) Gaylord Pacific Resort: Daylight, Natural Ventilation, and High Performance Glazing To kick off the morning, HKS will showcase the new Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista, California. Set between the San Diego bay and the Laguna mountain range, the building is designed to take advantage of the surrounding natural beauty through robust glazing, balconies, and folding glass doors. Michael Strohmer, regional practice director at HKS, and Ryan Markgraf, lead project engineer at Novum Structures, will discuss the structure’s high-performance features while also sharing technical considerations related to the translucent polymer roof that caps the hotel’s atrium and bathes the interior in natural light. Facades for Student Life: Off Site Construction for UCSD’s Pepper Canyon West Pepper Canyon West is a forthcoming student residence on the breathtaking coastal campus of UC San Diego. Ryan Bussard, design director of Perkins&Will’s Seattle office; Bryan Macias, project manager at UCSD; and Walter Crim, operations supervisor at Benson Industries, will share how the massive project—which delivers more than 500,000 square feet and 1,300 additional beds—fits into the architectural expression of the surrounding campus, while also meeting the university’s ambitious sustainability targets. In addition, the team will discuss the facade’s off-site fabrication as well as the installation process. The conference features a presentation of NBBJ’s Viterbi Family Vision Research Center, also at UCSD. (Courtesy NBBJ) Envisioning the Future of Eye Care: How Collaborative Leadership Spearheaded the Facade Design for the UC San Diego Viterbi Family Vision Research Center Next, Stacey Hooper and Kerry Hegedus, partner and principal, respectively, at NBBJ, will highlight another project at UCSD, the Viterbi Family Vision Research Center. Tasked with designing a state-of-the-art new facility for ophthalmology research, the team created an extruded metal facade that is at once highly sustainable and economical. The presenters will cover the building’s shading strategy as well as specific design considerations related to the building’s laboratory programs. Inspiring Light: Designing and Creating the Luminous Wave The first of two presentations on the new Terminal One at the San Diego Airport focuses on Luminous Wave, an art installation that also functions as a high-performance building skin for the new terminal’s ticketing hall. James Carpenter, president of James Carpenter Design Associates; Justin Tien, technical director and senior associate at Gensler; Soheil Mohammadi, principal at Walter P Moore; and Sanjeev Tankha, building technology and facades practice leader at Starq Design, will demonstrate how the design filters light into the building, while also meeting the project’s high-performance standards. From Vision to Reality: Crafting the Luminous Wave The final session looks in more detail at the construction, fabrication, and installation of the Luminous Wave. David Aguirre, engineer at Turner Construction; and Earl Patrick, director of design at Enclos, will join James Carpenter, Justin Tien, and Sanjeev Tankha from the previous presentation to share the execution of the installation’s curved glass panels and aluminum fins, sharing stories and challenges from construction.

Though the stone-clad facade of the beloved bookstore remains the same, a new chapter has begun for William Stout Architectural Books in San Francisco. Designers at LoveFrom, an office serendipitously located across the street from the bookstore, created a new visual identity for the storied shop that unites the brick and mortar shop with its online storefront. With a little help from illustrator Satoshi Hashimoto, the new look is full of character. The Jackson Square-based bookshop is a longstanding pillar of the architecture community. Bill Stout, an architect and the bookstore’s namesake sole proprietor, began selling from his library of architecture and design books in 1974. Nearly 50 years later, in the wake of the upheaval caused by COVID, Stout began contemplating his retirement. In a well-timed meeting of the minds, the bookstore was acquired by the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity in 2022, backed by Airbnb cofounder and longtime Stout customer Joe Gebbia. LoveFrom—a creative collective founded by Apple’s former chief design officer Sir Jony Ive alongside long time friend and fellow designer Marc Newson—has developed a comprehensive visual identity that encompasses the shop’s history and local charm. And in true neighborly fashion, the collective provided the work pro-bono.  “I discovered Stout Books on my first visit to San Francisco back in 1989,” Ive shared in a press release. “I have such a deep affection for this bookshop and the extraordinary community that Bill lovingly created over five decades. It has been an honor to be able to make a contribution to an institution we love and value so profoundly.” Bill Stout pictured in front of the bookshop, the sign to the right served as inspiration for the new typeface. (Leslie Williamson) At times, rebrands fall victim to an over-zealous modernization that undermines the character and expectations of the original brand—case in point: Sierra Mist is now Starry and Barnes & Noble sterilized its interiors—leaving long-time patrons feeling disconnected. LoveFrom’s work does no such thing. The personal nature of Stout Books is highlighted through illustrations by Japanese illustrator Satoshi Hashimoto, whose sketches have appeared in the pages of Monocle and The New Yorker. The drawings are largely observational, capturing both the exterior space and Stout’s community.  In the digital realm, Hashimoto’s works liven up the online storefront, evoking a sense of place. At the footer of the site, a friendly caricature of Bill Stout greets visitors. In the real world, mockups from LoveFrom showcase Hashimoto’s portrait of Stout on items like tote bags and bookmarks, effectively turning the founder into a mascot.  The LF Washington typeface is a key feature of the new brand. (Courtesy LoveFrom) Drawing inspiration from the original enamel Stout Books sign, a new typeface replaces generic sans serif with a more geometric treatment. LF Washington has an art deco feel, with a stylish set of ligatures that strengthen the voice of the new identity. The new toolkit will enable the bookshop team to maintain creativity and consistency. While still operating as an online marketplace and events calendar, the website now conveys a more unified digital presence. Pictured next to the new storefront sign and merchandise, the continuity is evident from physical to digital. As online retailers offering overnight shipping and digital downloads threaten the print industry, smaller houses like William Stout Architectural Books are served by having a recognizable brand that can unite their customer base. While the acquisition by the Eames Institute takes care of the space’s preservation, a brand refresh could be just what Stout Books’ needed to turn the page onto its next 50 years.

Mr. Guggenheim, Tear Down This Pavilion! Another biennale tour through the national pavilions is cause for some reflection about the U.S. pavilion building itself. Should we replace it? It might be the most frustrating building of all the pavilions, and possibly the worst exhibition venue in the Giardini. Designed in 1930 by architects William Adams Delano and Chester Holmes Aldrich, its symmetric layout is vaguely Palladian, with a front door leading to a foyer where visitors choose between going left or right. Its small scale also presents challenges, and its normative white walls provide a sterile environment. The only saving grace of the pavilion is its forecourt, which in recent years has been capitalized on with interventions such as Teddy Cruz’s scrim in 2008, the monumental 4-story habitable facade by Paul Preissner and Paul Andersen in 2021, and Marlon Blackwell’s porch in this year’s rendition, curated by Peter MacKeith. However, the most radical intervention into the building came in 1970. In a wave of student protests at the 1968 art biennale, protesters “revised” Fascist statues, which were seen as restrictive and outdated. These protests advocated for a more democratic and less commercial Biennale. Influenced by this movement, in 1970, a group of American artists cut a glass wall in the side of the pavilion, disrupting its symmetrical plan and connecting the interior of the right gallery to the outdoor forecourt. This architectural gesture opened the pavilion and the print exhibition—including an open, active printing workshop—to the public, as well as to various transnational artists participating in the workshops. These artists included Copenhagen’s Per Arnoldi, London’s Michael Fossick, Greek-Parisian artist Rena Tzolakis, and Ibrahim Hussein of Kuala Lumpur. Should the U.S. pavilion building be replaced? (Fred Romero/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) But the real radical move in 1970 was when approximately 25 of these 47 artists—including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Carol Summers, and Claes Oldenburg—withdrew in protest, moving their work and many of the associated participatory workshops to the abandoned U.S. embassy next door to Peggy Guggenheim’s palazzo along the Grand Canal(!). All of this to say: Perhaps the U.S. should leave the pavilion behind for greener pastures. China, Italy, and Uzbekistan have sprawling industrial spaces in the Arsenale complex that are better for showing architecture and art. Maybe we could do a house swap with another country for a couple years or Airbnb our current spot? Or perhaps we could just spring for a random building in Venice, like Taiwan, the Holy See, or Portugal, all of which had venues that were more conducive to immersive exhibition-making. Or in the spirit of Trump, we could sell our dusty old pavilion to a Gulf country. Our location represents 20th-century geopolitical positioning—the U.S. alongside the European powers—but is symbolic at best, with even this symbolism waning in the 21st century as Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have increased influence. Qatar will soon build a new pavilion in the middle of the Giardini, an enormous statement about the state of geopolitics and the flow of money today. The American pavilion is now a landmark, so it is unclear exactly what might be possible to change. Does the enviable Giardini location of the U.S. Pavilion warrant tolerating its outdated and awkward layout and galleries? What kind of pavilion would represent the United States arts community today on the global stage? Likely not a neoclassical, white-wall gallery—at least I hope not. (It’s important not to conflate the antics of each presidential administration with how the U.S. arts community is represented. This is a common misconception to what degree the theatrics of governments are truly connected to that country’s artists and architects who are shown in any given year.) Several pavilions this year, including Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, and the Holy See were about reuse, renovation, and other experimental forms of change. Why not the U.S.? It is time to open a conversation about either renovating, replacing, or abandoning the U.S. pavilion’s 1930 building to better represent our country today. A Banjo in the Giardini On Friday and Saturday, crowds arrived to sit on America’s porch. Charles Sharpless of Someplace Studio set up a kit of wooden pieces for kids to play with, and the duo Meadow Makers serenaded guests with its sweetheart folk. (Their banjo case has a sticker in the shape of Arkansas that says “I carry Narcan.”) A bevy of talks saw leading architects, landscape architects, and artists in dialogue, including Marlon Blackwell, Larry Scarpa, Carol Ross Barney, Angela Brooks, Deborah Berke, Susan Jones, Jed Donaldson, Jerome Haferd, Walt Swanson, Jason Wright, Ceara O’Leary, Benjamin Cadena, Leah Kemp, Owen Nichols, Mark Bollettieri, Frances Anderton, Siddhartha Majumdar, James Shen, Steven Ehrlich, Chana Haouzi, Matt Okazaki, Robert deLeon, Tenna Florian, Andrew Kudless, Katherine Hogan, Matthew Mazzotta, David Baker, John Paul Rysavy, and others. It warmed AN’s heart to see so many practices we cover regularly have a chance to share their talent with the world, within an overall curatorial message of welcoming community. We heard a lot of good things about the new front face of the pavilion. ArchDaily founder David Basulto told AN the pavilion was a “big ass porch, and I liked it.” Diagrams On the way to the AMO/OMA-curated Diagrams show, AN ran into Vishaan Chakrabarti and publicist Rachel Judlowe leaving the Fondazione Prada. The duo immediately and enthusiastically expressed their annoyance with the show. Well, AN enjoyed it, as it is a straightforward concept and presentation about the history of diagrams and their use for constructing meaning, communicating data, and reimagining the world. Ancient documents were included, dating back to the 12th century, expanding the canon of the diagram, which is often considered a 20th-century phenomenon. Later, over negronis, Chakrabarti, Judlowe, and AN were able to come to a consensus: Because nearly all the content is flat, the show makes a great book. (The catalogue was sold out the day we visited.) A number of national pavilions incorporated scaffolding into their exhibitions, including the Holy See. (Andrea Avezzù) Slippery Digits Our ace coverage was slowed when one correspondent took a spill on a bridge over a small canal on the way home Thursday night. He became the laughingstock of the biennale but was undaunted and forged ahead phoneless in the narrow, maze-like Venetian streets. Many people remarked it must be liberating to not have a phone! It was, in fact, not liberating, having to ask people “which way to San Marco?” In the end, it all worked out: He got home safely, and his screentime average for last week was way down. We were somewhat comforted to hear that one of the more talented executive assistants we know (who works for an architect who will not be named) had also dropped hers in the canal. Holy Reformations Scaffolding continues to be a popular approach for exhibitions. Near Arsenale, the Holy See commissioned Opera Aperta, curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti. Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO and MAIO Architects handled the design, which is the ongoing renovation of the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex. The building is under restoration, so beyond community gathering spaces like a kitchen, it is set up with scaffolding, scrim, and yellow construction lights. (There’s even a piano that guests can play if the spirit moves them.) The impressive activity showcases architecture work as a form of care and follows a decade after Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ letter, which outlines how we ought to better care for our common home. Construction will continue for four years. CO-EXIST in the China pavilion explores how traditional Chinese philosophy intersects with technology and environmental change. (Andrea Avezzù) MAD Skills China’s offering at the previous architecture biennale was embarrassing, but thankfully not a lot of people had a chance to see it: Quickly after the vernissage, China pulled out of the biennale and closed its show, citing opposition to a piece in the main exhibition by Killing Architects about the re-education/detention camps in China’s Xinjiang province. Now, China returns with CO-EXIST, a great exhibition curated by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects. The show “brings together twelve groups of exhibitors to explore how traditional Chinese philosophy intersects with contemporary technology and environmental change.” There are imaginative pieces by emerging Chinese designers, like Vault of Heaven, a whirling suspended dome by Wang Zigeng, a professor and a director of PILLS; a spiky, moss-clad future city dubbed City in China – Nature of ALL Things by WAY Studio; and answer to Broadacre City with a large model consisted of recycled models composed together by People’s Architecture Office, PAO, who also had a piece in the U.S.’s PORCH exhibition. Don’t miss the big paper umbrella sculpture outside. The Las Vegas of the East A “special administrative region” within China, Macao made the most out of a small exhibition footprint: Pritzker Prize winners Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio have installed detailed handmade models with interventions that stand out in white paper, while the walls are populated with photos by Iwan Baan of the area. Additional university research shows how the city expanded over time from a well-preserved historic district to include a casino city. Mirrored Majesty As covered by AN’s Dan Roche, Uzbekistan’s pavilion, A Matter of Radiance, delivers a big punch with the presentation of The Sun Institute of Material Science, a heliocomplex or sun furnace. Curated by GRACE studio of architecture, design and urbanism (Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni), the warehouse is filled with artistic experiments, photographs, and material samples. The best part is the single mirrored heliostat that slowly rotates at the entrance. Where Is India? India represents nearly 18 percent of the world’s population, so it’s odd that the country doesn’t have an official national presentation at the architecture biennale. Though Indian architects have shown work as part of major exhibitions, it hasn’t had a large presence; it has only made two official appearances in the art biennale. Maybe 2027 will be the year for India to go big and mark 80 years of independence? Lions Released See this post to see who took home the prizes. DS+R told AN that the city government is still completing its two-stage tests on the filtration system for Canal Café. (Marco Zorzanello) But Actually, Who Won the Biennale? The answer is obvious: Elizabeth Diller. With the construction of a temporary bookstore; a long-anticipated café; Boxed: The Mild Boredom of Order, a six-screen video that follows the journey of consumer products on view with the V&A as part of On Storage curated by Brendan Cormier; and the Golden Lion, she had a great week. Bravissima! Diller’s month will likely get better: DS+R’s V&A East Storehouse opens on May 31. Re: Canal Café Permitting is such a drag. While the Canal Café attracted long lines, its espressos aren’t yet made with purified lagoon juice. DS+R principal David Allin shared with AN that the city government is still completing its two-stage tests on the filtration system before allowing the water to be slurped by citizens. The system works, but it hasn’t yet jumped through all the administrative hoops to go live—plus, the last thing La Biennale wants is a gaggle of global archi-influencers experiencing gastrointestinal distress on their long journeys home. It reminds us of when Diller told AN about how the office embraces risk and that its Blur Building could’ve given all of Switzerland Legionnaires’ disease. Re: “A Remark [We] Made” Previously we called a panel with Rem Koolhaas organized by Christopher Hawthorne “boring and largely academic” due to its lack of productive exchange. Other critics were similarly baffled; Fabrizio Gallanti called it “a total car-wreck” as the moderators asked the “wrongest of questions” before ending 20 minutes early. But later, word got out about the circumstances, and it seems Koolhaas was playing hard to get. According to Florencia Rodriguez, he received the questions in advance and in preparation sent a text by Frederick Jameson about himself (maybe this one?). But then on stage he refused to answer questions, instead preferring to dismiss them as “bizarre” or undermine the premise. “It was extremely disrespectful to us organizing this and showed a tremendous lack of generosity,” Rodriguez said in an Instagram comment. The series in part was a way to construct a bridge between the Biennale Architettura and the upcoming Chicago Architecture Biennale that will be curated by Rodriguez on the theme of Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change. It will open on September 19. Critics were harsh on the the British pavilion, but it was awarded a special mention by the jury. (Marco Zorzanello) Duck! Here Come The Reviews… Early takes on the biennale are in, and the results ain’t great. Writing in The Observer, Rowan Moore said: “The best thing you can say is that it’s full of energy and ideas, the worst that it’s a hot mess of pretension.” “You might need to bring your scientific dictionary to this year’s exhibition, along with a good deal of patience,” Oliver Wainwright wrote in his review for The Guardian before slighting the British Pavilion, which went on to win a special mention from the awards jury. As usual, the piece is chock full of zingers. If only Wainwright would spend more time in the U.S. to address more stateside carbuncles. Charlotte Malterre-Barthes took to Instagram stories to issue her thoughts. “What a depressing show. This exhibit exemplifies the terrifying future tech architecture is shoving down our throats.” She described Ancient Future by BIG, a wooden beam activated by two Bhutanese artisans crafting alongside a robot arm, as giving “1920s colonial exhibitions vibes,” referencing the turn-of-the-century practice of putting humans from “exotic” countries on display. Other attendees told us they had the same thought. (It also gives John Henry vibes.) BIG’s Kai-Uwe Bergmann told AN that the woodworkers would be onsite for about three weeks and shared that this trip was the first time the guys had flown on an airplane and left the country. Patrik Schumacher loved Carlo Ratti’s exhibition. Writing on Facebook, he said Intelligens was “thrilling to behold after so many years of an increasingly annoying woke take-over of our Biennale.” He didn’t like the introductory “allegoric” room of hot air—something many people cited as their favorite piece, for its bodily shock and critical stance—and also noted the show prizes experiments and studies over full-blown architectural projects. Before continuing on to trash nearly all the national pavilions for not showing architecture, he wrote: “I hope this show represents a turning point that contributes to the resuscitation of the drained/dying discipline of architecture, bereft of discursive-critical feedback and crowded out by the woke agenda or sustainability agenda (however worthy.)” Like Wainwright, Schumacher also complained about this year’s show in the British pavilion, but as mentioned, the jury liked it. Whew, that’s it for now. Stick around for additional reviews online and in our upcoming June print issue. 

The skyline of Downtown Brooklyn is on its way to rival that of Manhattan’s, just across the East River. When Brooklyn Paramount opened last year, it brought thousands of music goers inside a historic venue just across the street from a new, gleaming supertall by SHoP Architects. Alloy Block, and its accompanying passive house school by ARO, further bolstered Downtown Brooklyn’s burgeoning skyline as has 11 Hoyt by Studio Gang. At 395 Flatbush Avenue, not far from these recent projects, where a 1970s office tower currently resides, plans are circulating for a new skyscraper, poised to become the second tallest in the borough. TenBerke is behind a proposed design to replace the dated office building with a 72-story residential tower. Dencityworks Architecture is also on the project team. Senior principal Noah Biklen is the project lead at TenBerke. The existing 7-story building at 395 Flatbush Avenue was built in the 1970s. (Courtesy Rabina) The tower by TenBerke could contain 1,200 residential units. The developers Rabina and Park Tower Group said between 25 and 30 percent of those units will be permanently affordable through the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program, meaning these flats will be for households earning an average of 60 to 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI). Josh Rabina, president and CEO of Rabina, said the overall goal is replacing “the dark and outdated office building at the corner of Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue with a light and airy mixed-use development.” “395 Flatbush will respond to the city’s urgent housing needs, while anticipating and supporting future growth by overhauling the public realm for the thousands of people that pass through every day,” Rabina added. There will be approximately 66,000 square feet of retail space, 75,000 square feet of commercial space, and 4,750 square feet of open space. The podium level will have a grand entry to the Dekalb Avenue Subway Station below grade. According to documentation submitted to the Public Design Commission in March, ground-floor retail spaces will be clad in a pre-cast concrete with reddish hue that evokes the brick masonry on the upper portion of the structure. In elevation, the tower portion of the building will be setback from the podium, helping reduce shadow lines. When it’s built, the tower will be all-electric. Portions of the existing structure will be retained and reused in the new design, the design team said. The new building will have a grand entry to the Dekalb Avenue Subway Station. (Binyan Studio and TenBerke Architects) All in all, the tower will reach 840 feet. The rezoning necessary to make the tower’s height possible is thanks to City of Yes. The project was recently made public by Mayor Eric Adams at Real Deal NYC Forum 2025. Adams said it represents the “future of housing in New York City.” A construction timeline hasn’t yet been released. A public scoping hearing for the project’s environmental review is scheduled for June.

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Paola Antonelli, and Mpho Matsipa—esteemed members of the 19th Biennale Architettura international jury—have named this year’s Golden and Silver Lion winners, accompanied by special mentions. Golden Lions, as per years past, were broken up into two categories: Best National Participation, which recognizes nation-states; and Best Participation, a category for individual groups not tethered to countries. Distinguished philosophers and recently deceased architects also took home Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement awards. The ceremony was broadcast live from the headquarters of the Biennale at Ca’Giustinian. The roster was approved by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, upon recommendation by Carlo Ratti. Golden Lion for Best National Participation The Kingdom of Bahrain won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. Heatwave was designed by Andrea Faraguna. It exhibited Andrea Faraguna, Wafa Al Ghatam, Eman Ali, Alexander Puzrin, and Mario Monotti. Heatwave, sited in the Arsenale, centered contemporary, passive cooling strategies rooted in Bahrain’s vernacular tradition, like wind towers and shaded courtyards. Likewise, two special mentions were awarded to other National Participations: the Holy See and Great Britain. The Vatican’s award was announced almost synchronously with when Robert Francis Prevost was named Pope Francis’s successor. The Holy See’s contribution, titled Opera aperta, was curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti. It exhibited Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and MAIO Architects, founded by Anna Puigjaner. Opera aperta was inspired by a 1962 text by Umberto Eco, a personal inspiration for chief curator Carlo Ratti. The goal was to create space for cultural exchange, the curators and exhibitors expressed in a statement. The Great Britain Pavilion was shrouded in beads. (Marco Zorzanello/Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia) Geology of Britannic Repair, Great Britain’s contribution, was curated by Owen Hopkins, Kathryn Yusoff, Kabage Karanja, and Stella Mutegi. It exhibited cave_bureau, Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), Mae-Ling Lokko & Gustavo Crembil, and Thandi Loewenson. This pavilion was a dialogue between Great Britain and Kenya about reparation and renewal, curators added. The mission was charting out new relations between architecture and geology. Golden and Silver Lions for Best Participation Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky, and Davide Oldani won the Golden Lion for Best Participation with Canal Café. The coffee shop operation filtered water from the Venice canals. “Canal Café is a demonstration of how the city of Venice can be a laboratory to speculate how to live on the water, while offering a contribution to the public space of Venice,” curators said. “It also invites future speculation about the lagoon and other lagoons.” Canal Café by DS+R, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky, and Davide Oldani (Marco Zorzanello/Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia) Silver Lions for Best Participation went to Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler for their contribution, Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500. This contribution was at the intersection of colonialism, militarization, automation and enclosure. Two special mentions were awarded by the international jury to Tosin Oshinowo, and Oshinowo Studio for Alternative Urbanism: The Self-Organized Markets of Lagos; and Boonserm Premthada for Elephant Chapel. Alternative Urbanism was focused visualizing processed waste of the industrialized economy. Elephant Chapel was commended by the international jury for creating a “durable brick structure with bio material.” Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement Donna Haraway, the prolific author of Cyborg Manifesto and so much more, won the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award. Italo Rota, an Italian architect who died on April 6, was bestowed a Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam. Tragically, Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian art curator slated to lead the 2026 Venice Art Biennale, passed away unexpectedly over the weekend in Basel, Switzlerland. She was 57 years old—the news came as a shock to many. Kouoh’s successor hasn’t yet been named. The last Venice Architecture Biennale’s Golden Lion winners were Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares of Brazil, and DAAR’s Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal. Want to read about what piqued AN’s interest at the biennale this year, follow along in the dispatches here.

Refreshingly Familiar Lovers Unite blends French New Wave and Los Angeles chic for Bar Etoile By Kelly Pau • May 12, 2025 • Interiors, West (Kort Havens) SHARE Warm and cool tones inform the wine bar and French restaurant Bar Etoile from Jill Bernheimer of popular natural wine shop Domaine LA, chef Travis Hayden, and Julian Kurland. Lovers Unite, a design and architecture studio led by Karen Spector and Alan Koch, approached the space by blending elements of French New Wave and the spirit of the city it’s located in, Los Angeles. Other contrasting elements, namely tone and temporality, result in an interior that is comfortingly familiar yet refreshingly new. The space can be thought of in three parts: the bar at the center of the space and the two halves on either side of it. The sides, while similar, are not identical. On one half of the Melrose Hill space, the bistro-like outpost is clad in dark brown wood panels set against rounded blue banquettes. Lovers Unite continues the paneling around the back of the space toward the wine coolers with fridges framed in blue. The outward-facing seating and moody lighting are chic but not too fussy, like a fictitious restaurant in a Godard film. Read more about the restaurant on aninteriormag.com. Los AngelesRestaurants

In February, a shortlist of five firms was announced to design the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial in St. James’s Park, London. Chosen by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, the interdisciplinary teams have now unveiled their design proposals. The shortlisted teams are: Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, J&L Gibbons, Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, and WilkinsonEyre. Planned for a prominent location near Buckingham Palace, within St. James’s Park, each proposed concept draws inspiration from the park’s original layout by architect John Nash. These designs seek to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II by honoring her enduring legacy throughout the British Commonwealth and her lifelong commitment to unity. Central to all proposals are gently curving pathways that wind through St. James’s Park, linking The Mall with Birdcage Walk. A key feature of the plans includes a reimagining of the Blue Bridge, which spans the lake at the heart of the park. While the individual concepts vary in aesthetic and architectural approach, each one is united by the goal of paying tribute to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and creating a contemplative space dedicated to her “life of service”. The proposed designs from the five competing firms are below:  Foster + Partners’ design features two new community gardens linked by a simple “Unity Bridge.” (Rendering by Foster + Partners/Courtesy Malcom Reading Consultants) Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Desvigne Paysagiste Foster + Partners’ design centers on unity, blending John Nash’s romantic vision for St. James’s Park with two new community gardens linked by a simple “Unity Bridge.” A winding path connects Marlborough Gate, with a sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II, to Prince Philip Gate, with a sculpture of her husband. The U.K.-based firm envisions audio installations and inscriptions honoring the Queen’s legacy along the path. Also featured is a contemporary art piece titled The Wind Sculpture designed by artist Yinka Shonibare. The work celebrates the Queen’s love of flowers. Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates, and Arup At the center Heatherwick Studio’s design is a commitment to sustainability, durability, and accessibility. The proposed concept is a memorial walk made up of 70 stone lily pads, each representing a year of her reign and adorned with quotes from across the Commonwealth speaking to her profound impact around the globe. At the center, a limestone sculpture of the Queen will stand beneath a canopy of sculptural lilies, a symbol of Queen Elizabeth II’s “quiet strength and grace.” The proposed plan by J&L Gibbons centers on a simple stone bridge, spanning natural terrain and water. (Rendering by J&L Gibbons/Courtesy Malcom Reading Consultants) J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop, and Arup The proposed plan by J&L Gibbons centers on a stone bridge, both functional and symbolic, crafted from materials sourced across the U.K. The bridge spans natural terrain and water, in an effort to integrate seamlessly with the environment. Its minimalist design highlights wildlife, while reflecting a deep understanding of the park’s landscape and its seasonal shifts. Tom Stuart-Smith’s design proposes a bronze cast of an oak tree from Windsor Great Park surrounded by other bronze casts of objects from the Queen’s life. (Rendering by Tom Stuart-Smith/Courtesy Malcom Reading Consultants) Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop The proposed Queen Elizabeth II memorial designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, honors the late monarch’s legacy through personal objects and natural symbolism. Central to the design is a bronze cast of an oak tree from Windsor Great Park, mounted on a podium in the lake and surrounded by a curved stone bridge that symbolizes strength and tradition. Accompanying this the design team envisions a path of stones sourced from across Britain and bronze casts of objects from the Queen’s  life. A soundscape of voices will recall her impact, while the memorial’s flowing design encourages quiet reflection. WilkinsonEyre’s proposal for the memorial to Queen Elizabeth II takes advantage of the St James’s Park site with a pair of bridges framing views of the park, royal palaces, and the London skyline. (Rendering by WilkinsonEyre/Courtesy Malcom Reading Consultants) WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran WilkinsonEyre’s proposal for the memorial to Queen Elizabeth II is inspired by the enduring themes of her life–reign, faith, Commonwealth, values, nature, family, and Prince Philip. Like the other design proposals the memorial design takes advantage of the St James’s Park site, using a  series of pathways and landscapes to create a contemplative journey that reflects her seven decades of service. At its heart, a pair of bridges will span the lake, framing views of the park, royal palaces, and the London skyline. The winning design team will be chosen by summer 2025. A final design will be announced in April 2026, close to what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday. The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee invites the public to share their thoughts on the proposed designs through an online survey, ensuring the final tribute reflects a broad range of voices.

Another day, another romp through what’s on at the Biennale Architettura 2025. In case you missed them, check out our dispatches from earlier this week for more takes on the national pavilions and low-downs on the talks and exhibitions happening in Venice. So Much Soil Beyond the rammed earth utilized in the U.S. Pavilion, soil had a good showing this year. Australia’s pavilion, themed Home, centered objects and discourse from its First Nations team, and includes a circular earth-clad wall and bench. Mexico focused on the chinampa and the connections between Venice’s lagoon; a central planted area is flanked by seating clad in dirt. HOME, Australia’s pavilion, includes an earthy gathering space (Jack Murphy) Turkey presents research on soil as a construction method. (Luca Capuano) There’s more: Turkey’s pavilion is all about dirt. Nearby, Kosovo’s pavilion also centers the ground, but through smell design by Sissel Tolaas. On Instagram, Eric Höweler said: “Her installation combines the atmospherics of dirt – humidity, unevenness, imbalance- with smells and the seasonality that it implies.” Kosovo’s pavilion is also about soil, namely its smell. (Luca Capuano) Sound Design Ambient soundscapes are having a big year at the biennale also. Uruguay’s pavilion is always a sleeper hit, as it usually shows an epic video or dramatic, darkened installation. Uruguayans delivered once again with 53.86% Uruguay, Land of Water, curated by architects Katia Sei Fong and Ken Sei Fong alongside artist Luis Sei Fong. The sound installation has water dripping from the ceiling into buckets, along with dreamy water footage projected on the walls. In the Arsenale, Ireland created Assembly, curated by Luke Naessens and Louise Cotter. It is a circular wooden listening room that is a “prototype for a structure that facilitates non-hierarchical communication between strangers.” The hut is wired and piped with a polyphonic soundscape. The act is inspired by the Citizens’ Assembly in the country, a gathering that invites 99 Irish residents to discuss urgent issues. Ireland delivered Assembly, a circular wooden listening room. (Luca Capuano) On an upper floor nearby, Luxembourg also went hard with sound. A darkened half-circle interior is the scene for Sonic Investigations, curated by architects Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, and Alice Loumeau. There were no pictures! Just sounds. A welcome moment of repose. Fun! Poland had a strong showing with its pavilion Lares and Penates: On Building a Sense of Security, which “speaks of our anxieties and how we respond to them to feel safer in architecture.” Curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek, it explores elements that provide security and a sense of security: Think fire extinguishers, exit signs, and building regulations. Chicago architect and 2023 U.S. Pavilion curator Paul Preissner said that if he was handing out Golden Lions, Poland would be his choice. The Netherlands pavilion, SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness, curated by Amanda Pinatih, rethinks sports as noncompetitive ways to collaborate. A three-team sport allows everyone to win, while a long, curved foosball table lets several people play at once, while all on the same side, calling into question who is playing whom and in which direction each player is even supposed to “kick” the ball. It is a fun show with a simple premise, but executed well. Slovenia staged large sculptural towers built with everyday construction materials. (Andrea Avezzù) Slovenia presented a playful set of totems called Master Builders, curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov. The large sculptural towers are built with everyday construction materials, serving as a “physical manifesto of crafts people’s knowledge and skills.” In the age of automation and 3D printing, these totems serve as a reminder of the qualities being lost to optimization and perfection, while also laying bare the human labor that goes into a building. Discourse and Documentation Albania’s contribution is Building Architecture Culture, curated by Anneke Abhelakh. The study looks at how the young democracy can establish a public, reflective discourse about architecture. (Check out the first episode of a podcast about it, hosted by Koozarch.) Ukraine studies vernacular hardcore with dakh, or “roof,” an exhibition examining everyday constructions across the country historically and during the current invasion by Russia. Michal Murawski described a never-before-seen documentation project by architect Bogdana Kosmina and her mother, Oksana Kosmina. The architect’s grandmother, also an architect, is present via an AI version of her that attendees can chat with. Artificial intelligens! Albania’s pavilion, curated by Anneke Abhelakh looks at how the country can contribute to a discourse about architecture. (Andrea Avezzù) Reusing Scarpa Reuse has been a huge theme throughout the biennale, as many projects and discussions have centered on how to preserve and reuse existing structures, not only for cultural heritage but for sustainability and economic viability. Bourj Hammoud: The Value of the Existing was a conversation between French architect and Pritzker Prize laureate Anne Lacaton and her protege, Lebanese architect Arine Aprahamian, moderated by Joseph Grima in the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale. Lacaton explained that their sensibility came from time spent in Niger, where “they have so little, so we learned how to do something with nothing.” Aprahamian mentioned that her work in her native Lebanon was about reuse and saving what had meaning. Her neighborhood, she said, was not immediately identifiable as special or worth saving. “It takes effort to know what their real value is,” she said. “We don’t need to tear these places down for new towers.” Grima agreed, and mentioned a similar “organic trajectory of growth is what makes Venice special.” “Reuse has been the paradigm for most of human history, actually,” he said. This biennale has a small reuse project that proves this point. Giulia Foscari and Venetian architects UNA transformed one of the 1952 Carlo Scarpa–designed ticket booths outside the Giardini. The small booth is now a radio broadcasting booth, where participants can hold discussions. During the Vernissage, Voice of Commons is a podcast series recorded live that tackles planetary issues such as the ocean, outer space, the atmosphere and Antarctica, which constitute a “global commons.” Ukraine’s exhibition focuses on building materials and methods from across the country historically and during the current invasion by Russia. (© Maxime Faure) Beyond the Prize A morning event at Ocean Space saw two panels discussing the relevance of architectural awards and how commendation mechanics can be carried out in ways that build connections instead of being a shallow, fast hit. In the second conversation, moderator James Taylor Foster spoke with Laura Viscovich, Marina Tabassum, Dirk Denison, Mohsen Mostafavi, Farrokh Derakhshani, and Rozana Montiel. Most lead award programs: Denison directs the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, Derakhshani directs the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and Viscovich is the executive director of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. Montiel, who has won major awards, said they “bring us together even though we’re far apart.” Foster asked if the group had ever questioned the existence of their awards; this prompted reflection about what they’re doing: The point, variously, is to produce knowledge and share it; to connect people across the Americas; and to readjust the focus of the program to stay relevant. (Did we mention our Best of Products Awards campaign is currently open?) Deserta Ecofolie posits a tiny structure for off-grid inhabitation. (Luca Capuano) Best Thing We Saw All Day Are you still reading this? If so, here’s our hottest tip: There’s a clearing surrounded by a berm at the very end of the show at the Arsenale. It hosts Deserta Ecofolie: A Prototype for Minimum Dwelling in the Atacama Desert and Beyond by Pedro Ignacio Alonso and Pamela Prado. The tiny structure sits on legs and provides for off-grid inhabitation with items like a solar array, a domestic wind turbine, a dry toilet, and other devices. The interior, organized around a staircase/ladder, is tight, but the bed is pushed up against a big window. It would be nice to wake up here. The structure is spiky but powerful: Its architects show us how we might live in a harsh climate, which is increasingly our reality. Ciao!

Phyllis Birkby was a lesbian feminist architect, educator, organizer, and more. A new exhibition at Center for Architecture in New York speaks to Birkby’s multihyphenate practice. Fantasizing Design: Phyllis Birkby Builds Lesbian Feminist Architecture opened this week. It traces Birkby’s life, work, and networks, including her circle of friends, lovers, and collaborators; delving into how she remade architectural practice, domesticity, and the broader built environment. Stephen Vider and M.C. Overholt curated the show. Marissa Martonyi was the graphic designer, and Xiaoxiao Guo delivered the exhibition design. Curators credited Birkby with “pushing design professionals and the public to imagine a built environment beyond the confines of existing male-dominated forms.” Portrait of Birkby (Courtesy Center for Architecture) “Through tracing Birkby’s life, activism, and architectural work, the exhibition works to raise awareness about the 1970s lesbian feminist movement and its investment in reconceptualizing a more inclusive and just built environment,” Overholt said. “For architects today,” Overholt added, “Fantasizing Design offers Birkby’s idea of fantasy as an engine of design—one that continues to inspire creativity in the service of marginalized communities.” Birkby and friends (Courtesy Center for Architecture) Birkby helped stage feminist building occupations. She also cofounded the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture (WSPA), together with Katrin Adam, Ellen Perry Berkeley, and others. At the Women’s School, Birkby and her comrades hosted groundbreaking workshops that encouraged women to reimagine the spaces around them and draw their own “fantasy environments.” There were a total of five WSPA sessions between 1975 and 1981. They traveled to different colleges: St. Joseph’s College in Biddeford, Maine, (1975); Stephenson College in Santa Cruz, California, (1976); Roger Williams College in Bristol, Rhode Island, (1978); Regis College in Denver, Colorado, (1979); and a weekend symposium in Washington, D.C., in 1981. Archival drawings, videos, and installation art by LJ Roberts, Audrey Tseng de Melo Fischer, Chong Gu, and Marissa Martonyi delve into this history, as well as contemporary issues. Drawings by Birkby are on view (Courtesy Center for Architecture) “Birkby’s immense archive is a crucial lens on lesbian life and activism in the 1960s and 70s, at turns playful, moving, and deeply inspiring,” Vider said in a statement. “While her professional aspirations were often constrained by the limits placed on women in architecture, the spaces she designed and built speak to her desire to push past the limits of conventional architecture, placing the needs of women, queer people, the elderly, and people with disabilities at the center.” Birkby illustrated portrait (Courtesy Center for Architecture) Vider continued: “This was all informed, first and foremost, by her fantasy architecture project. At a moment of ongoing housing crisis and gentrification, Birkby’s work calls on all of us to reimagine how the spaces and places we call home can best serve the needs and dreams of our communities.” Fantasizing Design is open through September 2.

Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower recently came down in Tokyo’s Ginza district, and will be replaced with a bougie hotel. Since its dismantling, capsules have been preserved and shipped off to locales around the world. One pod went to SFMOMA, another was restored and is on view at Hong Kong’s M+. Soon, a sliver of Nakagin Capsule Tower, formally known as Capsule A1305, will be on display at MoMA for New Yorkers to step foot within. The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower displays Capsule A1305 and 45 pieces of contextual material that speak to the building’s multifaceted existence between 1972 and 2022. The capsule is one of only 14 restored in their original condition, according to MoMA. This ephemera includes Nakagin Capsule Tower’s only surviving architectural model, made sometime between 1970–1972. There’s also original drawings, photographs, archival film, audio recordings, interviews with former tenants, and promotional materials. “A twenty-first century home that thoroughly pursues functionality: Nakagin Capsule Manshon (Ginza)”, cover of promotional brochure for the Nakagin Company, 1971. (Courtesy Tatsuyuki Maeda / The Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project, Tokyo, Japan) How the space functioned as both a living and working environment was something fala atelier touched on in 2022 in a piece written for AN. The objects on view at MoMA will delve into the history of Metabolism’s post child, as well as how these cubes became second homes, offices, student rooms, tea rooms, libraries, galleries, and even DJ booths. Those looking for an experiential feeling will enjoy interactive virtual tours of the entire building MoMA has planned as part of the exhibition. Evangelos Kotsioris, MoMA assistant curator, organized the show with Paula Vilaplana de Miguel, a curatorial associate in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. Kotsioris has likewise written a new text about Nakagin Capsule Tower as part of the MoMA One on One series, Kisho Kurokawa: Nakagin Capsule Tower. Images from Nakagin Capsule Style (Tokyo: Soshisha, 2020), showing Wakana Nitta (aka Cosplay Koe-chan) in her capsule, which she uses as a DJ-booth. (Courtesy Tatsuyuki Maeda/The Nakagin Capsule Tower Preservation and Restoration Project, Tokyo, Japan) Noritaka Minami. A503 I, from the series 1972 (2010–22). 2022. (© Noritaka Minami) The 48-page book chronicles the building’s history from its construction to its demolition. The text will include unpublished material and testimonies from individuals who resided in the building until its very end, MoMA said. Accompanying the text will be 45 color illustrations. These will be available for purchase at MoMA Design Stores, including the one PRO is now overhauling in Soho. The exhibition opens on July 10, 2025 in MoMA’s street-level galleries and will run through July 12, 2026.  The Japan Society in New York will also host public programming related to the exhibition.

There’s a long list of documentaries about architects produced by the architect’s children, but seldom do they center women architects. Stardust did that, and so does Ada: My Mother the Architect. Ada, as the title suggests, is about architect Ada Karmi-Melamede. It was made by the architect’s daughter, Academy Award–winning producer Yael Melamede. The viewer’s own disposition toward the state of Israel will determine how they judge the film. Ada follows Karmi-Melamede’s journey designing Jerusalem’s Supreme Court, Ben Gurion Airport, among other civic landmarks. The film follows her mother’s journey designing buildings in New York and Israel. (Courtesy Ada Karmi-Melamede) Karmi-Melamede practiced and taught in New York. While at Columbia GSAPP, she worked on the Con Edison master plan, the 1978 housing competition for Roosevelt Island, and the Second Avenue Subway. In the film, Karmi-Melamede revisits her projects, including Jerusalem’s Supreme Court, where we overhear a tour guide tell guests a completely different interpretation of the architecture, one that’s charged with chauvinist, nationalist fervor. This is different from how she envisioned it, she said. A number of architecture luminaries appear in the film, among these Frank Gehry and Paul Goldberger. Goldberger is critical of Israel’s shifting politics. Yael Melamede wants Ada to showcase her mother’s achievements, but also a few other things: She said she hopes it can spark conversations about Israel in a “post-October 7th context.” Melamede also said the timely film explores themes related to “architecture as identity,” “women and nation-building,” and relaying “personal stories in political contexts.” Accompanying the film screenings will be Q&A sessions between Melamede and relevant interlocutors. Barbara Bestor was already in conversation with the producer at Wende Museum on May 1. The film was released at the 2024 Architecture and Design Film Festival. Now ahead of Mother’s Day Weekend, Ada will be on screen on May 9 at Angelika. Following the May 9 screening, Paul Goldberger will speak at Angelika about the film. On May 14, Martino Stierli and Billie Tsien will also meet at Angelika for a talk. On May 15, Ada will debut in Los Angeles at Laemmle Royal.