Month: January 2026

This week’s news compilation opens with two international commemorations, the International Day for Clean Energy and the International Day of Education, alongside a major archaeological discovery in Fano, Italy, where excavations have revealed a basilica described by Vitruvius, linking contemporary architectural discourse with deep historical continuity. Across this week’s broader architecture news landscape, a central theme emerges around the advancement of civic architecture conceived as open, publicly engaged infrastructure, with cultural and institutional projects increasingly designed to strengthen their relationship with the city and everyday urban life. At the same time, renewed global attention turns toward Africa, where large-scale transport infrastructure and the conservation of modernist landmarks reflect interests in the region and the reassessment of the continent’s architectural heritage. Complementing these narratives, this week’s highlights also include a new model for car-free urban districts, co-designed public landscapes grounded in indigenous knowledge, and a residential development responding to regional context, reflecting how architecture is negotiating public space, civic responsibility, and territorial identity across diverse geographies.

Founded as a practice working across architecture and community-focused projects, pk_iNCEPTiON is based in Maharashtra, India. The studio, one of the winners of the ArchDaily 2025 Next Practices Awards, works on rural schools, houses, libraries, and public buildings, with a focus on spatial organization and adaptability. Operating across varied social and climatic contexts, pk_iNCEPTiON approaches design through careful attention to movement, scale, and the relationship between built form and open space.

The residence is conceived as an architecture of quiet presence. It unfolds as a quiet architectural composition, shaped by light, proportion, and deliberate restraint. Eschewing overt ornamentation, the design allows space, material, and daylight to take precedence, creating an environment in which architecture gently recedes to support everyday life.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Irish architect, educator, and writer Níall McLaughlin will receive the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. Awarded on behalf of His Majesty the King, the Royal Gold Medal is among the significant international distinctions in architecture, recognizing a sustained contribution to the advancement of the discipline through built work, education, and critical discourse. In announcing the award, RIBA noted McLaughlin‘s long-standing influence across architectural practice and pedagogy, citing a career that spans more than three decades and reflects a consistent engagement with the cultural, environmental, and social dimensions of architecture.

the medal recognizes the irish architect’s three-decade-long contribution to architectural practice, education, and critical thinking.

The post níall mclaughlin wins the 2026 RIBA royal gold medal for architecture appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

The Dalmia-Gopichand Badminton Academy, or The Shuttle, is a testament to the potential of architecture to create opportunities for sports in the built environment. This, in turn, fosters the spirit of sportsmanship and community, thereby demonstrating how architecture can amplify the cultural and economic significance of sports. This project is imagined to exemplify the role of architecture in shaping a city’s identity and aspirations.

a mixed structure of concrete, timber, and steel supports the new architecture.

The post stone and clay rebuild former rural stable as a seasonal refuge in spanish countryside appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

The starting point of the project was the demand to create a space entirely dedicated to ceramics education in São Paulo. Instead of adapting an existing workshop, the clients sought a warehouse that could be transformed from the beginning into a school — with spacious studios filled with shelves, tanks, wheels, boards, and tables that would allow for different activities to occur simultaneously, in addition to appropriate infrastructure and good accessibility.