Articles by Dima Stouhi

Although disability laws have been put in place decades ago, architects are still struggling with disability requirements. A recent article by CityLab explored how the rise of speed and efficiency-driven cities have overlooked accessibility, neglecting the needs of people who are physically unable to live or keep up with these dense neighborhoods. And while the “15-Minute City“, one that allows people to walk or bike to most essential services within 15 minutes of their home, may seem as the future of built environments, it does not cater to disabled individuals or their movements.

Joining Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona has been named as the UIA’s 2026 World Capital of Architecture by UNESCO, and will be hosting the International Union of Architect’s World Congress two years after the event in Copenhagen. Barcelona and Beijing were both contenders for the 2026 title, but the Catalan city took the lead with its winning bid titled “One today, one tomorrow”, which explores the city’s approach to sustainability and the future of the built environment.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that Adjaye Associates and Studio Zewde‘s proposals have been selected to redevelop the unoccupied part of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center campus in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. The $400 million project is part of the $1.4 Billion Vital Brooklyn Initiative, and will transform 7.2 abandoned acres in central Brooklyn into an ecological development with residential and commercial facilities.

Foster + Partners has revealed the master plan design proposal to regenerate Downtown Atlanta‘s Centennial Yards site. The 50-acre proposal transforms parking lots and former railyards into a community-oriented and inclusive mixed-use development of state-of-the-art buildings, amenities, and public spaces. The project is part of a $5 billion urban transformation and is being designed in collaboration with architecture firm Perkins+Will.

With the rise of small houses and dense cities, we were forced to sacrifice a good amount of storage space. Ironically, we did not compromise our purchasing habits, so with a few square meters to work with, architects and designers had to come up with efficient storage solutions, and make the best of the limited space they have. However, if you were lucky enough to be occupying a large, unobscured space with a generous budget, your storage design possibilities are endless. In this article, we look at how architects and designers found creative ways to store their belongings in spaces with different functions, scales, and spatial constraints, ranging between completely invisible units to sculptural centerpieces.

Designed by Foster + Partners, Alif-The Mobility Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai blurs the boundaries between the physical and digital world, and invites visitors to meet the historical icons of mobility, whose innovations helped pave the way for our modern-day technology. The pavilion features the world’s largest passenger lift, which will be able to transport 160+ people at a time, and a semi-underground-semi-open-air 330-meter track which allows visitors to see cutting-edge mobility devices in action.

Adjaye Associates has unveiled the design of The Africa Institute, the first center of its kind dedicated to the advanced study and research of Africa and the African diaspora living in the Arab world. The The 31,882-square-meter campus will be built in downtown Sharjah, UAE, and will “introduce an entirely new type of thinking and mission into the global academic arena”.

Adjaye Associates has unveiled the design of The Africa Institute, the first center of its kind dedicated to the advanced study and research of Africa and the African diaspora living in the Arab world. The The 31,882-square-meter campus will be built in downtown Sharjah, UAE, and will “introduce an entirely new type of thinking and mission into the global academic arena”.

Association Cap Moderne have announced that the restoration of Eileen Gray’s modernist villa E-1027, along with other projects on the Cap Moderne site, such as Le Corbusier’s Cabanon and Unités de Camping, and l’Etoile de Mer restaurant, have been completed and are now open to visitors. The site is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is considered as one of the must-see places to discover in the region, welcoming more than 10,000 visitors a year.

The Moroccan Pavilion at the 2020 Expo in Dubai explores traditional Moroccan architecture and how it can be reimagined in contemporary construction techniques and urban developments. The pavilion is designed by architects OUALALOU+CHOI, and will display a first-of-its-kind structure with a 4000 m² rammed earth facade, pushing the boundaries of the material and exploring its full potential.