Architecture

As environmental accountability becomes embedded in design culture, the building envelope is being reconsidered not just as a protective skin, but as an active energy-producing surface. Treating solar technology as a material rather than an attachment reshapes how architecture is conceived and detailed. Color, texture, rhythm, and assembly become inseparable from performance. Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) operate within this expanded definition of materiality. By integrating solar technology into façades and rainscreens from the earliest project stages, architects can reduce redundancy, align energy goals with design intent, and rethink how envelopes are composed. Yet translating this ambition into buildable systems requires technical precision and construction intelligence.

The annual Winter Stations design competition returns to Toronto for its twelfth edition, once again transforming the lifeguard stations of Woodbine Beach into temporary works of public art. On view from February 16 to March 30, 2026, this year’s exhibition is organized under the theme Mirage, inviting participants to examine perception, illusion, and the shifting boundaries between what is seen and what is constructed. Selected from more than 300 international submissions, three winning proposals from Canada, the United States, and a Germany–Ukraine collaboration are presented alongside two installations developed by university teams. Installed along the frozen shoreline of Lake Ontario, the projects reinterpret seasonal infrastructure as platforms for spatial experimentation during the winter months.

The house settles gently into the landscape, resting on the highest point and unfolding along the slope. This quiet gesture reduces earthworks and lets the main façade open wide to the south, drawing in the light.

The final piece of the central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has been laid in place, bringing the church to its maximum height of 172.5 m. La Sagrada Familia, one of architectural history’s most notorious unfinished buildings, became Antoni Gaudí’s defining project in 1883, when he transformed a neo-Gothic design into one of the best-known structures of Catalan Modernisme. One hundred and forty-four years after construction began, the upper section of the 17-meter-high, four-sided steel and glass cross was winched into position at 11 a.m. on Friday, February 20, completing the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. This milestone confirms the project’s final stage of construction, which, back in March 2024, was announced as one of the most anticipated completions of 2026, commemorating the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death.

ArchDaily is looking for a proactive and curious architect to be part of our Projects Collaborator Program. As a part-time program participant, you will be working with the team in charge of curating and coordinating all built project publications on ArchDaily.

Hospitality-driven programs, specifically coffee shops and social hubs, are partly defined by their role as “third places”: social anchors that bridge the gap between private and public life. Unlike residential or commercial office programs that require rigid partitioning for privacy and utility, they rely on expansive, open-plan environments. This allows for an architectural strategy of minimal intervention, allowing the structural envelope to remain intact. By avoiding the subdivision of space, architects maintain uninterrupted sightlines to original masonry, timber frames, or decorative ceilings, ensuring the building’s historical narrative remains the protagonist. Simultaneously, the commercial activity provides the necessary maintenance and public engagement to ensure the site’s continued existence.

In Collingwood, the IF Architecture Studio acts as an incubator for design ideas, a multifunctional space that expresses its experimental process and philosophies. The practical requirements of the studio are embraced as opportunities to refine existing ideas, realise previously unrealised concepts, and explore a bold point of view through vibrant colour, dynamic forms, and inventive spatial divisions.

Aqqu Central Café is an architectural regeneration project that restores a legendary landmark of Almaty from the 1960s. The name Aqqu translates from Kazakh as White Swan, which historically refers to the pair of live swans that lived in the adjacent ponds, making this site a cultural icon for the city. The design is entirely dedicated to restoring the city’s visual memory through a modern interpretation of 1960s modernism. The conceptual starting point for the project was a vibrant swan mosaic created by local artist Anastasia Zharko. Its bright palette of blue, yellow, red, and burgundy served as the foundation for every color selection throughout the interior.