Magazine

John Ronan became world famous with the Poetry Foundation and Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship, two elegant orthogonal buildings in Chicago. Now, with the headquarters for the Chicago Park District under construction, he is on to something else. Ulf Meyer

A handful of projects in Finland’s capital find local and international architects alike grappling with masterpieces of modern architecture and tackling large-scale mixed-use developments. Ulf Meyer visited Helsinki recently to get a handle on things. Ulf Meyer

Two books and two exhibitions celebrate two decades of the Flemish government in Belgium commissioning architects for building projects through the Open Call, a unique "more-than-a-competition" process that has resulted in more than 300 completed buildings, landscapes, and infrastructural... John Hill

On March 15, Francis Kéré was named the 2022 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered by many as architecture's highest honor. Ulf Meyer visited Kéré in his Berlin office to speak with the architect about the Pritzker, his career, and some of the buildings his firm is working... Ulf Meyer

In one moment, everything in Anhelina Starkova's life changed. Putin's war devastated her hometown of Kharkiv and thwarted her plans for the future. But she has not lost her courage. Elias Baumgarten

Anna Heringer has already developed projects in Bangladesh using updated traditional building methods, and she is currently implementing a school complex in Ghana. In our interview, she argues in favor of a political change of thinking towards truly sustainable action and construction in... Katinka Corts

The Museum of Resistance and Human Rights in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, got an interesting make-over, courtesy of architect Jim Clemes and designer Nathalie Jacoby. Ulf Meyer visited the reworked museum, sending us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985 presents notable post-Independence buildings and projects in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka through a variety of media: drawings, photographs, videos, publications and other documents, and... John Hill

Visitors to the American-Architects platform of World-Architects last month voted Mecanoo’s renovation of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC as US Building of the Year, picking it from dozens of adaptive reuse and renovation projects. Following... John Hill

The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985 opens at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York on February 20, 2022. Eduard Kögel spoke with MoMA chief curator Martino Stierli ahead of the opening about the theme of the exhibition and... Eduard Kögel

In August 2014, the Ordrupgaard Museum reopened with a new primarily underground extension designed by Norway's Snøhetta. Ulf Meyer visited Ordrupgaard recently, sending us his impressions of the newly expanded museum. Ulf Meyer

A big Peter Cook retrospective is now on display at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Peter Cook – City Landscapes opened on January 21, with the famed architect and founding member of Archigram in attendance. Ulf Meyer filed this report and spoke with Cook. Ulf Meyer

Apartment Blossom is the second volume in the Urban Studies Degree Zero Series. This beautifully designed, delicately bound book includes short essays by Li Han, partner at Drawing Architecture... Madeline Beach Carey

The Norwegian office of Mad arkitekter, the subject of Mad About Dugnad – Work Together, Build Better, a new exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, has great concepts — and a ways to go. Ulf Meyer

Interventions and Adaptive Reuse is a recently published that looks back at ten years of academic journalism focused on the “responsible practice” of adaptive reuse. Looking to the past, by virtue of an approach that has preservation at its heart, the book also provides perspectives... John Hill

As 2021 — year two of the coronavirus pandemic — draws to a close, World-Architects takes a month-by-month look back at some of the stories that transpired over the last twelve months: awards, competitions, buildings, exhibitions, and passings.  John Hill

Is idealism economically sensible? Yes, says Katharina Lehmann. In an interview with Swiss-Architects editor Elias Baumgarten she talks about values, what it means to be a female boss, and why coercive measures are not enough to stop climate change. Elias Baumgarten

Upon the opening of the new Bastian Gallery in Berlin’s Dahlem district on November 13, Ulf Meyer spoke with its architect, John Pawson — the king of British minimalism and a prolific Instagrammer — who revealed some insights behind his architectural designs in and beyond the German capital. Ulf Meyer

For a period of two weeks starting in late September, the Arc de Triomphe was only recognizable by its shape. Schlaich bergermann partner (sbp) implemented the wrapping project of the artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude in Paris. Katinka Corts spoke with Mike Schlaich on the engineering of... Katinka Corts

Luxembourg’s second city, Esch-sur-Alzette (or Esch, for short, population 36,000), is preparing for its role as the European Capital of Culture next year. Ulf Meyer visited Esch to take in different parts of the city and highlight some of the additions being made in the run up to next year’s... Ulf Meyer

Is architecture able to heal? How can the working conditions of nursing staff be improved? And is this actually affordable? These were the issues discussed by experts at the roundtable "Organismus Krankenhaus nach Covid-19" (Organism of the Hospital after Covid-19) in Vienna on October 14th. Katinka Corts

The International Conference on Architectural Criticism took place online over four days in October, with dozens of academics addressing the theme “On the Duty and Power of Architectural Criticism.” Ulf Meyer watched the proceedings and sent us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

Annie Coggan — designer, artist, educator, and a principal at Coggan + Crawford Architecture and Design in Brooklyn — has created a quirky, gorgeous, singular book called The Book of Errors. This slim volume is a beautiful object, but it is also a manifesto of sorts, a primer on how “to... Madeline Beach Carey

Stockholm’s ArkDes portrays the famous Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885–1975) as the “Architect of death and life” in a major monographic exhibition that opened on October 1, 2021, and is on display until August 28, 2022. Ulf Meyer toured Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and... Ulf Meyer

Expo 2020 opened to the public in Dubai on October 1, 2021, one year behind schedule. Carrying the theme “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future,” Expo 2020 is the first world’s fair to take place in the Middle East. Ulf Meyer visited the Expo ahead of opening day and sent us his impressions... Ulf Meyer

On September 18, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York opened the exhibition Reuse, Renew, Recycle: Recent Architecture from China, which will be on display until July 4, 2022. This is the first time in the history of the museum that it has turned its attention to contemporary... Eduard Kögel

The M9 Museum of the 20th Century in Venice-Mestre is hosting draw love build, a large exhibition on thirty years of the work of Sauerbruch Hutton, the architectural practice that can boast of M9 as one of its flagship designs. Ulf Meyer visited the exhibition after its September 3rd... Ulf Meyer

The 15th International Alvar Aalto Symposium took place online on August 12th and 13th with the theme "Future of Industry" approached from perspectives of art, industry, and technology. Ulf Meyer attended the two days of talks to see how the participants responded to the theme, filing this... Ulf Meyer

The new pedestrian promenade in Bastia, France, is a masterpiece of urban design and engineering. Designed by Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes, the corniche follows the rocky coastline of the Mediterranean Sea below the Corsican city. Ulf Meyer recently visited the path that has become a... Ulf Meyer

Harvard University’s new Science and Engineering Complex in Boston, designed by Behnisch Architekten, has a LEED Platinum certified from the USGBC and a Living Building Challenge Petal certification from the International Living Future Institute, making it one of the healthiest laboratory... Ulf Meyer

In the 1960s, Astra Zarina was the only female architect among many male colleagues who designed more than 1,000 flats in the Märkisches Viertel housing estate in Berlin. Yet she went unnoticed. Why is that? Eduard Kögel

June 20th marked the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on Refugees coming into force. It offers millions of people protection and a life in safety — things that people who have not suffered war or displacement take for granted. To remember history, but also to perpetuate it, the... Katinka Corts

Contested Modernities consists of symposia, an exhibition, and a publication focused on postcolonial architecture in Southeast Asia as part of the long-term program Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism. Ulf Meyer watched Contested Modernities’ second symposium, “The... Ulf Meyer

In April the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design in Atlanta earned Living Building Challenge certification, making it one of just 28 buildings that can boast of meeting the world's most stringent green building standard. The building by Miller Hull Partnership and Lord Aeck... Ulf Meyer

What do architects think about important future issues such as climate change or digitalization? How do they envision a sustainable building culture? What solutions do they have? What framework conditions do they need in order to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities in the best possible... Elias Baumgarten

What do architects think about important future issues such as climate change or digitalization? How do they envision a sustainable building culture? What solutions do they have? What framework conditions do they need in order to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities in the best possible... Elias Baumgarten