Today the President of La Biennale di Venezia Paolo Baratta and the appointed Curator of the 17th International Exhibition Hashim Sarkis introduced the theme of the next year’s event “How will we live together?”. La Biennale Architettura 2020 will take place at Venice’s Giardini and Arsenale from May 23 to November 29, 2020.

“We need a new spatial contract. In the context of widening political divides and growing economic inequalities, we call on architects to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together,” reads Sarkis’ Statement. The theme that explores architecture as material, spatial, and cultural field, encourages the participating architects to engage other professionals in their research — inviting artists, builders, politicians, social scientists, and everyday citizens the Curator demands the society to acknowledge the role of the architect “as both cordial convener and custodian of the spatial contract”.

Bee Breeders has revealed the winners of the 2019 Rome Collective Living Challenge competition. Teams were asked to to propose solutions for collective living in Italy's capital city. Participants were tasked with designing a concept for affordable co-living around affordability and community. Organizers sought ideas that could be implemented across Rome to increase the city's housing stock.

Dutch design practice Mecanoo has won 1st Prize in the Futian Civic Culture Center Competition. The proposal includes a new cultural tower for Shenzhen in one of the city's oldest and densest districts. The project is designed to house cultural programs and social spaces to stimulate urban activity in the neighborhood. Made with three theaters, a library and exhibition halls, the project aims to be open to the city and bring people together.

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has advised planners to reject the Foster + Partners-designed Tulip Tower. As reported by the BBC, the mayor has highlighted a number of concerns raised in a London Review Panel report, and advised City of London Corporation (CLC) planners to reject permission, despite a previous endorsement of the scheme by the CLC’s chief planning officer.

GVL Gossamer has released images of their design for a 19 kilometer stretch of waterfront along the Jing River in Xi’an, China. The proposal, a finalist in an international design competition, celebrates the site’s history at the origin of the Silk Road through strategies that tap into ancient and enduring histories of traditional architecture, merchant trade, and agricultural innovation. These enduring histories are woven with contemporary influences such as responses to major climatic and environmental challenges.

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It should come as no surprise that one of the most respected surveys about bicycle use comes from a Danish organization. This ranking by Copenhagenize Design Company uses a point system to compile a list of the cities looking to re-establish the bicycle as an accepted and practical mode of transportation.

Four finalist teams have been shortlisted to design a new cultural hub along Perth’s Cottesloe Beach in Australia. Developed by the Minderoo Group, 11 Australian architecture firms were invited to submit ideas to reimagine the Cottesloe foreshore and the Indiana Tea House site. The designs aim to open and activate the waterfront and provide a destination for locals and visitors that brings people together.

Architectural firm bauchplan has won first prize in the competition to revitalize a disused viaduct in London. Dubbed Fish n’Chips, their proposal includes a series of green houses, aquaponics and swimming pools to create a new High Line for the city. Sited in Hammersmith, the design was made to become a blue & green living room, with a recreation area and island of retreat for the neighborhood. The project aims to bring awareness to processes of waste management and urban food production in London.

NextOffice and Alireza Taghaboni have released images of their proposed Afarinesh Tower in Shiraz, Iran. The tower is formed as a regular, uniform core housing administrative spaces, which lose their rigid order as the floor levels change, and the program becomes recreational.

ARCVS has released details of their first place entry for a competition to design a multifunctional bridge in Novi Sad, Serbia. Spanning the River Danube, the “Elbow Shadow” bridge contains a hotel and office building alongside the pedestrian walkway. The scheme combines European influences such as the Ponte Vecchio and Rialto Bridge with vernacular responses to the river channels.

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Canadian architecture practice Henriquez Partners has designed a series of ten towers for a new suburban development in Vancouver. The mixed-use project was made for developer Westbank to create a new 4.5 million-square-foot residential community for the city. Dubbed Oakridge, the towers will include housing, office and retail as a contemporary architecture for the Pacific Northwest.

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“When we started out, our goal was to change the world, to do something that would really make a difference to the lives of people,” said Chad Hamilton, AIA LEED AP BD+C, Principal Architect of Hamilton + Aitken Architects (H+AA). “And education is one of the things that really determines how people live the rest of their lives. “So, for us it’s just a wonderful feeling, to improve kids’ educational spaces.”

The Botan Valley in eastern Turkey has been attracting thousands of tourists annually due to its unique rock formations and canyon-like topography.

To further promote the area's scenic landscape, Turkish architecture firm Fabric.a Architects have proposed the ‘Botan Visitor Center’, an observation pavilion and restaurant overlooking the rocky landscapes of the Botan Valley.

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Antakya Atatürk Stadium of Hatay, Turkey, was originally built in 1950 but closed recently due to its inability to meet growing demand. In a new public project titled Green Wings, ONZ Architects aim to transform this former urban center into a new park with a cultural hub.

Architects and designers, just like all citizens, have a responsibility to participate in global conversations regarding the environment. Their power, however, lies in the fact that they are able to make an impact through the conscious decisions they make with their projects, such as sustainable building materials or expressive artworks.

To shed light on the current climate crisis, artist Alicja Biala and architect Iwo Borkowicz have created Totemy, a series of 9-meter-tall sculptures that translate the state of the environment into an immersive architectural experience.

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Olson Kundig is one of the quintessential Seattle-based architectural practices, with a focus on creativity, experimentation, and craftsmanship that has allowed them to expand on a global scale over the past few decades. This expansion has necessitated office improvements and renovations throughout the years, the most recent of which occurred in 2018. As explored in a recent article by Metropolis Magazine, this 2018 expansion reflected key values of collaboration and flexibility, expressed through the firm's unique visual and kinetic language.

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In their recently completed thesis project, Sebastian Siggard, Neemat Azizullah, and Thomas Ron propose the revitalization of a 19th century Parisian water reservoir into a new cultural hub. Addressing growing social issues and inequality across Europe, the project, titled “New Parisian Stories,” promotes social interaction in an effort to create a more integrated and cohesive society. Two primary questions motivate their design: With the 2024 Olympics games coming to Paris, what role can architecture play in capturing the opportunities and potential of such events? And how can architecture better the lives of those lowest in society while also creating social and sympathetic spaces for people of all languages, cultures and ages?

Although small residential projects tend to be limited in spatial capacity, the design possibilities remain endless, especially if the project’s site is the biggest source of inspiration.

For a small family’s vacation home, Turin-based architecture firm Wafai Architects proposed a uniquely-designed luxury villa overlooking the picturesque Türlersee lake in Switzerland.

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Danish architecture firm Henning Larsen created a new proposal for the Ostrava House of Culture in the Czech Republic. As the the second place winner in an international competition, the project's offset concrete frames set up the form of the new Ostrava Concert Hall as they join together with the existing structure. The design emphasizes openness and connection to the outdoors in the midcentury campus to craft a quiet icon for the city.

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