Architecture is about giving form to the places where people live. It is no easier, and no more complicated, than that. There are three key words here: “form,” “place,” and “life.” As soon as one reflects on these terms, one immediately comprehends that these things are not all that easy. - Alejandro Aravena
With this phrase in the foreword to ArchDaily’s Guide to Architecture, Alejandro Aravena reflects on the underlying complexity of architecture. Something that is essential to our life, but that with the ever growing complexities of our world, becomes a challenging task.
That is why for the 4th consecutive year we embark on a global survey, evaluating the work, ethos and mission behind innovative practices from all over the world. They represent the diversity that is reshaping our field, working across the spectrum between the essence of architecture and its blurry boundaries, ranging from studios to activists, startups and other forms of production, research, and thinking.
These 20 practices, half led by women or as a mix, coming from Europe, South America, North America, Asia and the Middle East, represent the diversity among those who are setting an example of the direction architecture should be heading. At the center of their mission there is a clear forward looking agenda that shapes their work, that reveal a practical consciousness towards the challenges of our world.
Meet ArchDaily’s 2024 Best New Practices:
Sub
Niklas Bildstein & Andrea Faraguna (Berlin, Germany).
Why: We believe that Sub is crafting unique experiences, delivering on an important component of the essence of architecture, through emotions and materials. This can be seen and felt in their work with artist Anne Imhof, the immersive experience design for Balenciaga’s immersive 360° Winter 2022 Show, the generative backdrop of Balenciaga’s Winter 2024 massive 30k pixel surface, or the Kurgan at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial under construction (currently in pause) in Kyiv. The architectural elements used in these projects, from materials to aesthetics, resonate on a deep level with their users, transmitting the concept behind each project in a deeper way and leaving a lasting impression.
Mission: Sub pioneers a synthetic design approach that seamlessly integrates emerging technologies, semantic analysis, and behavioral research with traditional architectural techniques. The studio's methodology is grounded in thorough examinations of contemporary sociocultural dynamics, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to precision throughout every stage of a project's lifecycle.
Comprising practitioners from a diverse array of disciplines, Sub transcends conventional architectural boundaries. This diversity empowers Sub to engage in holistic design, addressing spatial and temporal scales while harmoniously integrating a variety of media and materials.
Research is ingrained in Sub's operations, conducting extensive inquiries across a spectrum of fields, ranging from the humanities to fabrication techniques. Their immersive aesthetic strategy challenges the user’s awareness inviting them to question the project environment.
WoHo Systems
Anton-García Abril, Débora Mesa (Madrid, Spain & Boston, USA).
Why: Anton and Débora surprised the world with their unique projects at ENSAMBLE. But in the uniqueness of their work is where they felt the urge to find a way to deliver scalable solutions that could tackle the challenges of the built environment, by focusing on construction systems. That's how WoHo Systems was born. We believe that taking such a bold step is an example of how architects can translate between experimentation and market needs, while pushing the state of the art. There is always the possibility to take a new, bold step. Their factory is an expression of their thinking.
Mission: WoHo (World Home) was born in 2020 as a tech start-up with the mission to deliver industrialized carbon zero affordable housing. Its founders, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa, had long been investigating how to use standard construction systems to make non-standard works of architecture, and launched this company with the support of The Engine, a Boston-based venture capital company, to scale up their efforts and provide solutions for the housing crisis worldwide.
WoHo integrates design, engineering, ‘off-site’ manufacturing and ‘on-site’ assembly using adaptable and scalable systems to create unique buildings made with universal parts. This integration gives the company control over the design, material selection, and overall quality of each assembly at a finer level than traditional construction; allowing the team to continuously iterate and improve facets of the assemblies without stalling production.
With the dream to make good architecture more attainable and ecological, while raising its quality standards, WoHo has spent the past years carrying out R&D, prototyping solutions, certifying products and securing a supply chain. As the company grows, lean and modular factories that balance automation and handwork close to construction hubs, will further simplify the logistics, lower the costs, and reduce the environmental footprint of WoHo buildings throughout their life cycle. At the moment WoHo is building a housing project in Parla, Madrid, close to its lab and factory, as a first window into the real estate market.
Concular
Dominik Campanella Co-Founder and CEO (Berlin, Germany).
Why: While our understanding of the importance of reusing structures and materials to reduce our footprint and make our growth more sustainable, to do so at scale is highly complex as sourcing products require reliable supply chains to meet construction demands. That’s why there is an ever growing number of material banks across the world that disassemble, catalog and make available materials for architects to incorporate in their projects. Concular is becoming a reliable partner for architects and developers, and their participation in projects such as the Germany Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennial or Haus 1 at Atelier Gardens is paving the road for an effective circular economy in construction.
Mission: Concular is a Software-as-a-Service platform to make the construction sector circular. It is digitizing construction materials in new and existing buildings in the form of material passports. Conculars software solutions provide an easy and profitable reuse and recycling of materials through intelligent match-making of the demand and offer side while establishing local „circular value chains“. Construction materials offered on our platform will be followed-up by a Life Cycle Analysis and the additional cost savings in order to assure an ecological and cost-efficient reuse process. To ensure availability of circular materials Concular establishes and scales Urban Mining Hubs where material can be stored before being built in again.
With a team consisting of 60+ team members, starting from architects, environmental engineers, IT specialists, project managers, software developers and sales & marketing specialists Concular has already saved thousands tons of CO2, 40.000 tons of construction materials, digitized 5.000.000m2 buildings in total and we have been part of over 350 projects in entire Germany.
RUÍNA
Julia Peres and Victoria Braga (São Paulo, Brazil).
Why: We believe that RUÍNA Arquitectura pays unique attention to context in order to reduce its impact on the built environment, effectively reusing materials and construction waste. For RUÍNA the project is not just the end result, but the multi dimensions that it opens: from planning, sourcing and manufacturing, to building and lifecycle. Their participation at the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennale is an example of how local ideas can go global.
Mission: It is urgent that the field of architecture is able to think and act in face of social, environmental, political and economic problems resulting from the indiscriminate exploitation of the planet and its inhabitants. When designing a space, infinite others are designed in parallel – from extraction and manufacturing to disposal, the processes involved in building and their places of origin and destination are countless and most of the time absolutely dissociated. RUÍNA Arquitetura understands the field of architecture as a fundamental means of tensioning these issues and proposing alternatives to the current model of production currently based on the linearity of processes to move towards circular models of existence. We start from ruins – the primordial framework of architecture – as a driving force for what can provide important reflections of other approaches to what it means to think and do architecture in our time. Other epistemologies of thought and practice seem increasingly necessary for our field of activity, which critically pay attention to the past in order to build possible futures in the present.
RUÍNA Arquitetura is an architecture studio focused on the local context and low environmental impact. The studio develops architectural projects for different scales and demands, valuing the process and experimentation as a source for authentic and innovative practice. RUÍNA also carries out research laboratories and educational activities with the reuse of materials and construction waste.
syn architects
Sara Alissa & Nojoud Alsudairi (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).
Why: syn architects is playing an active role in shaping contemporary architecture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While we see many futuristic images of avant garde projects by global architects in the Kingdom, syn architects bring a striking yet thoughtful alternative, deeply rooted into the local. This is the result of their ongoing research of both the vernacular through the Um Slaim collective, and the modern and post-modern heritage of KSA at @saudi.architecture. This expertise also led to collaboration with Snøhetta on the upcoming Diriyah Opera House in Saudi Arabia.
Recent examples include the Shamalat Cultural Center (pictured below) and their intervention Invisible Possibilities at DesertX AlUla 2024. Their work is traveling to Spain, as they will participate with an installation at the Concentrico Festival 2024, due in late April.
Mission: We approach projects with honesty, openness and integrity, while focusing on ecologically sensitive design that derives its aesthetics from a contextual awareness of nature and expresses the essence of the materials from where they are found. We strive to challenge the architectural process by finding alternative approaches with sensitivity and attention to materiality to facilitate better user experiences.
Wiki World
Mu Wei, Wu Baorong, Liu Yajie, He Wen, Feng Zhaoxian, Xu Xiaodong (Wuhan, China)
Why: We believe that Wiki World sees an opportunity in the spirit of open source to enable communities to design and build their own creations in rural China. By providing the right framework, they are able to scale and make architecture accessible to a growing number of people, as seen on their recent projects.
Mission: Wiki World is an open-source architectural community founded by architects, designers and educators from China. It provides natural building products that anyone can enjoy in their own cabins and facilities, promoting initiatives to live in harmony with nature and allowing everyone to realize their own homes in the wilderness. We believe that the future of urbanism and rural development will be more and more connected with collective intelligence and real communities. We are hopeful that the era of machine-built architecture is no longer the only choice, and that architecture can once again return to human hands. Everyone can create their own world, which is why we are named Wiki World.
Tomás Bravo
Tomás Bravo (Santiago, Chile).
Why: With the growing variables that influence the architecture project, the proper understanding of the context is crucial for a proper simulation and forecast. While there is a fast evolving set of tech applied to deal with such complexities in urban environments, the work of Tomás Bravo uses advanced technology to capture nature and heritage, through a process that becomes the project itself. His work is rooted in the diverse geography of Chile, where man made and natural heritage unveil their potential through the electronic eye of Bravo.
Mission: Every architectural project dialogues with a territory that conditions and determines it, and it is at the beginning where certainties are required for its correct development. Our Chilean territory is complex, abrupt, exuberant and extensive, and it is disciplines such as geodesy, geomatics, cartography and topography that have so far given us the measurement tools. However, from a technical, methodological perspective, and sometimes only understandable by experts. It is at this crossroads where we saw a separation between architecture and these disciplines. In this space we assumed a key role, we focused on dialoguing with techniques peripheral to architecture, with the mission of creating unique, technical, technological and accurate perspectives. Through the use of classical architectural representation, combined with technological tools and surveying methodologies, we create a way to represent what until now was distant and difficult to understand for the architectural discipline. We propose to bring the territory and heritage closer to architects and their clients, through the use of multiple visual formats, combined with perspectives impossible at human scale, we deliver certainties, reveal virtues and propose solutions of territorial representation for architecture and heritage.
Roofscapes
Eytan Levi, Tim Cousin and Olivier Faber (Paris, France).
Why: Affordability, lack of biodiversity, rising urban temperatures and repurposing are among the challenges for urban city centers. This is where Roofscapes Studio sees as an opportunity, developing viable strategies to turn the roof layer of compact urban centers into a fertile ground for architectural experimentation. The startup has just been granted building permission for their first prototype: a 100sqm platform on the roof of the Paris Climate Academy.
Mission: Roofscapes Studio is a startup - launched at MIT and based in Paris, France - tackling the adaptation of existing buildings to protect urban dwellers from climate change. As roofs occupy the largest untapped surface in city centers, Roofscapes works on the deployment of green and accessible timber platforms that help mitigate the urban heat island effects, support biodiversity, capture stormwater, and create outdoor spaces for communities to thrive. Having witnessed firsthand the entanglement between the construction sector and the climate crisis, Roofscapes’ founders decided to create a company focusing specifically on climate adaptation retrofits to ensure their design skills wouldn't contribute to further environmental degradation.
Arcol
Paul O’Carroll, Founder & CEO (New York, USA).
Why: There is more than just “the Figma for X”, a reflection on the revolution that Figma brought to the design industry by disrupting the existing toolkits and workflow in UI/UX and product design. The software stack in architecture is going through something similar, after years of a slow linear evolution of highly complex and expensive monolithic desktop software. Arcol founder Paul O’Carroll watched this from the sidelines -his father is a practicing architect- and with the skills from the game design industry decided to bring back the magic into architecture software. Arcol is part of an industry that is growing fast, and we are happy to see more startups on this space on every edition of New Practices.
Mission: Arcol is “Figma for BIM”. Architects today are stuck using a multitude of tools for conceptual design - this is because there has been no purpose-built tool for this phase, so workarounds and hacks are used to force existing tools to work together. Arcol is a browser-based conceptual design tool that allows for multiplayer design and easy sharing of 3D models. It pairs live data like area calculations and parking requirements with easy and powerful modeling to allow designers to quickly create and compare multiple design options. Arcol knows that time saved on a project can be put towards better design, and their goal is to empower designers to make faster and more informed decisions so that a greater quality of buildings can be achieved.
Evelyn Lee
Evelyn Lee, San Francisco, USA.
Why: Evelyn Lee (FAIA) wears many hats. Founder of the Practice of Architecture, Co-Host of the Podcast Practice Disrupted, and former Global Head of Workplace Strategy and Innovation at Slack, she is also angel investor, startup advisor, and fractional COO for SMB Architecture firms. At a young age and with a wide experience, Evelyn has become an advocate for how architecture should be part of the new tech enabled economy, inspiring architects to use the valuable skill set of the profession to develop new business models, and to apply architectural thinking to disrupt other industries, while doing more and better.
Mission: The Practice of Architecture helps individuals and firms identify opportunities for leadership & growth, building careers & practices that prosper in today's changing world. Our philosophy is rooted in the belief that architects have the potential to bring their dream projects to life by extending their capabilities beyond the traditional boundaries of architecture. We champion the expansion of services and products beyond buildings, recognizing that the scope of architecture is as broad and diverse as the minds that conceive it. We embrace change, not as a challenge, but as an opportunity. The architecture industry is constantly evolving, and to continue to remain relevant, we must evolve with it. We believe in the power of forward momentum and adaptability. We are firm believers in continuous improvement, viewing every misstep not as a setback, but as a chance to learn, grow, and refine our approach. Every failure is a stepping stone to success, and every challenge, a path to innovation. Our profession is a symphony of voices, each adding a unique note to the melody of our shared passion. We believe there's always room for more voices within our profession, encouraging diversity and inclusion at all levels. We welcome fresh perspectives and innovative ideas, fostering a culture that values each member's contribution. At The Practice of Architecture, we stand for progress, learning, and inclusivity. Join us, and let's build a future where every architect has the tools to succeed, the courage to innovate, and the platform to make their voice heard.
MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network)
Riyad Joucka (Dubai, UAE).
Why: The Middle East has witnessed one of the fastest developments of our times, and a new generation of architects has emerged. MEAN is part of this generation, who with a global vision and state of the art technology combined with local materials and a strong cultural heritage, develop the new character and identity of middle eastern architecture, throughout projects in the region, and abroad. New languages, new narratives, new identities.
Mission: Since its inception in 2016, MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network) has developed innovative projects of varying scales and functions. Our work responds to contemporary contexts, developing a site-specific native architectural language in line with avant-garde technologies for design and fabrication. MEAN* utilizes cutting-edge computational design processes and digital fabrication tools to push the boundaries of design at different scales. The unifying theme of our work remains rooted in the preservation of character, ecology, and history of the locale, in an attempt to reinvent the vernacular.
(ab)Normal
Marcello Carpino, Mattia Inselvini, Davide Masserini and Luigi Savio (Milan, Italy).
Why: As the architect moves between a generalist and a specialist, there is a need for a wider approach on architecture, orchestrating across a wide range of formats to deliver comprehensive solutions to contemporary life. (ab)Normal operates as a Creative Director for the built environment, spanning across scales and formats, moving between virtual and tangible, ephemeral and permanent, performative and static. Notable examples are their winning entry for the new European Library of Information and Culture, and the Polimoda Archive, which includes physical and virtual spaces.
Mission: (ab)Normal is a design studio that engages in a dialogue between architecture, creative direction, and design, navigating between speculative and commercial realms. Its objective is to achieve projects that are both profound and widely understandable and communicative.
Strongly interested in exploring the frictions of contemporaneity through the design of space, the creative process of (ab)Normal combines iconic elements with references to mass culture, paying particular attention to its developments in areas such as fashion or digital platforms. The result is an anti-dogmatic patchwork of formal obsessions that conveys the message through surprise and eclecticism.
RARE Studio Experimental
Agustín Willnecker, Iván Ferrero, Mateo Unamuno, Belén Marinelli. (Córdoba, Argentina)
Why: Rare Studio Experimental has been able to mix the diverse backgrounds of its team into a constant experimentation that wonders without looking for a certain solution or striving to invent. Therefore, unexpected solutions appear, which RARE is able to turn into buildings.
Mission: Rare Studio Experimental is a collective of architects, artists, and designers based in Córdoba, Argentina. We believe that approaching architecture and art from each other's perspectives is a contemporary practice. We approach our design and creative processes through experimentation to discover unexpected results without wanting to invent anything.We believe design is influenced by its environment and context. It is closely linked to the culture, history, and society from which it originates, while also reflecting the current state of the world. Therefore, it embodies the contemporary spirit of the time in which it was created.We work in an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar way, finding in design the channel to express ourselves and transform reality.
Studio Zewde
Sara Zewde (New York, NY, USA).
Why: Studio Zewde uses an activist lens to inform their projects: by involving local communities and questioning previously established architectural 'norms'. The landscapes and public spaces that the Studio designs give back political power and a sense of identity and ownership.
A recent example is their Echoes in the Hill Pavilion at the Mill Race Park in Columbus, IN, the result of a community based research to translate their memories and experiences into the architectural elements of the design. The studio is also working on a new addition to the iconic Dia Beacon, a major landscape project of eight acres that will provide an expanded free outdoor amenity to visitors and locals, while serving as an infrastructure to cope with stormwater and turning lawns into meadowlands.
Mission: Studio Zewde is a vibrant landscape, urban design, and public art practice based in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Our design methodology syncs site interpretation with cultural narratives and a dedication to the craft of construction. A 100-percent Black woman-owned firm, our employees have backgrounds in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, soil science, sociology, statistics, community organizing, and beyond. Selected at Architectural Digest’s AD100 and an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York, our practice is recognized for its ability to design meaningfully for people and their stories. Projects like Graffiti Pier in Philadelphia; Echoes of the Hill in Columbus, and Homewood Park in Pittsburgh demonstrate the potential for our design work to illuminate the stories of people and place. Recognized on the cover of Landscape Architecture Magazine as leading “the way forward for memorials everywhere,” we are devoted to creating enduring places where people belong.
Studio Sean Canty
Sean Canty (Boston, MA, USA).
Why: The work of Sean Canty is deeply rooted in his American context. From the references of his childhood growing up in South Carolina, vernacular southern architecture to Basquiat’s Crown, Canty makes a deep reading that is beautifully translated into architectural elements of his projects. His work is an example of new narratives finding their space in contemporary design, as seen on his installation Edgard’s Shed at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale or the Governor Island’s Welcome Kiosk (an Ofice III project).
Mission: Founded in 2017, Studio Sean Canty is an architectural practice that introduces novel forms and materials to enrich the spaces of everyday life—from residential and cultural programs to spaces that engage the public realm. The Design approach has been rooted in geometrical explorations that engage contemporary typological and social questions with precision and openness. The transformative designs SSC has proposed for its numerous residential projects attempt to help establish a new normal in residential design, one that foregrounds collectivity, communal living, and higher density on small footprints, exploring varying approaches to the architectural enclosure.
IDK
Mike Lim, Roddy Bow and James Pockson (Paris, France, London & Ulverston, UK).
Why: We believe that the work of IDK embodies the spirit of what architecture should be today: experimental projects with a holistic approach, community-oriented focusing on nurturing social development, ecology focus and local material-use awareness, smart use of resources/budgets, respectful interventions in refurbishments, no "over-building", building and designing the necessary.
Mission: IDK is a collaborative architecture studio building cultural community.
Set up as a practical think tank by three directors Mike Lim, Roddy Bow and James Pockson, the team uses architectural production, research and process to address broader issues around design, society and culture. The practice works with individuals, groups, institutions and brands to deliver positive social impact guided by our core values. We build with purpose and design in acknowledgement of the fragile material world to ensure that our work is responsible. By partnering with our clients we aim to grow capacity to shape their environment for the long term and increase awareness by advocating for a diversity of culture, ecology and economy to deliver work that is holistically sustainable.
Office ParkScheerbarth
Moojin Park & Benjamin Scheerbarth (Berlin, Germany).
Why: The challenges of existing cities push for affordability, adaptability, flexibility, repurposing and new ways of building that consider the energy impact across the whole cycle. Office ParkScheerbarth has found the right balance of such complex variables, while still being able to innovate over the usual restricting forces of form versus material. Their recently completed Haus2 at the diverse and vibrant Holzmarkt in Berlin is a great example that more can be done with less, while maintaining the heritage of the city. The project was awarded the Europe Silver Prize at the Holcim Awards.
Mission: Office ParkScheerbarth operates across the fields of planning and design. Founded in 2019 and based in Berlin, OPS is led by principals Moojin Park and Benjamin Scheerbarth. The interdisciplinary team, drawing from architecture, urban planning, and social science, allows the practice to explore, navigate and celebrate the co-existence of multiple perspectives within each project and the built environment at large. Committing to this diversity serves as a point of departure for varied modes of production that are not confined to buildings. The office’s first projects are rooted in the cultural sphere. Examples include “Haus 2+“, an award-winning mixed-use extension for Berlin’s creative community at Holzmarkt.
Coletivo LEVANTE
Amanda Castilho, Fernando Maculan, Marina Vilela, Rafael Yanni (Belo Horizonte, Brazil).
Why: Coletivo LEVANTE has been working in a sensitive and respectful way in the context of favelas and peripheries in Brazil. With projects initially concentrated in the peripheries of Belo Horizonte, today the collective has expanded its context of action and reached new peripheral regions around the country. The reach of the practice has taken on a new scale after the recognition with the Building of the Year award for the House in Pomar do Cafezal. Their work extends from the formulation and development of projects, networking for financial viability, to the programming of spaces and post occupancy supervision of their projects.
Mission: Founded in 2017 by Fernando Maculan and Kdu dos Anjos, Coletivo LEVANTE brings together architects and professionals from related fields in an idea lab focused on the socio-spatial transformation of peripheral and ancestral territories through architecture.
We directly engage with communities by recognizing local values, strengthening their identities, and amplifying their inherent potential. This approach holds a vital place in our practice, unfolding into a series of projects with different scales and natures: sports, cultural, religious, housing, institutional, commercial, urban, and environmental.
Beyond its technical and functional nature, our interventions encapsulate a symbolic dimension. Aesthetically and ethically, they symbolize the construction of collaborative networks that amplify the voices of favelas, peripheries, and territories belonging to ancestral communities.
Mix Architecture
Suning Zhou, Tao Tang, Ziye Wu (Nanjing, China)
Why: Mix Architecture took their approaches honed from rural China to the city, dealing with projects across different scales that stay true to the identity of the communities they work in, but with a contemporary character that is setting the bar for Chinese architecture. The carefully designed Jiangshan Fishing Village Renewal left a long lasting impact among villagers, a challenge for the practice as they work on larger scale projects such as the Renovation of the Nanjing Combat Machinery Factory, with success.
Mission: Mix Architecture was established in 2016. We are committed to exploring the possibilities of architecture in various contexts to respond to the most primitive emotional and spiritual needs of human beings. Mix Architecture connects imagination and reality, and through the exploration of the spirit of the site and the sensitivity to material construction, which creates a spatial situation that enters the deep consciousness, creating an inner integration of people, architecture and nature.
Studio Practice
Seohu Ahn & Sisan Lee (Seoul, South Korea)
Why: Studio Practice moves at an unparalleled speed. Based in Seoul, the firm has had to match the fast evolving iterations at the world’s bustling hub of fashion and design. Yet in the middle of the source of new trends, their designs remain timeless and can withstand the test of time, being expressive yet honest. Their fast growing portfolio includes cafes and restaurants, furniture, office supplies, public spaces, galleries and retail projects for avant garde Korean brands.
Mission: Studio Practice is a design studio founded by Seohu Ahn and Sisan Lee. Since its establishment in 2019, it has been presenting work with a multidisciplinary approach to various fields including architecture, interior design, and exhibitions. Design, PRACTICE faces in reality, is not an infinite path stretching towards hidden truth. Their design often unfolds in a way that emphasizes the characteristics of standardized industrial materials or focuses on forms as sculpture that can be expressed while leaving only minimal functions. This is more like drawing a figure than the process of creating a narrative. They use various ordinary objects and senses in front of our eyes as materials.
