Concéntrico Festival 2026 will take place in Logroño, Spain, from June 18 to 23, transforming the city into a large-scale laboratory for architecture, design, and urban experimentation. Over six days, more than twenty interventions will be distributed across squares, vacant plots, streets, bridges, and emblematic spaces throughout the city, bringing together leading studios, researchers, and creators from the international scene, including Chilean architect Smiljan Radić, the raumlabor collective, Matilde Cassani, AAU Anastas, and Sahra Hersi, among others. This edition introduces a shift towards more collective, festive, and performative practices in public space, with a strong emphasis on sonic experiences and projects linked to accessibility, inclusion, and urban transformation. The programme is structured around three thematic axes: Identity and Fiction, Urban Ecologies, and Ephemeral Agents, ranging from architectures that understand public space as ritual or celebration to experimental approaches exploring materials, sound, and processes of reuse.

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This week, we revisited the ideas currently shaping the design of 21st-century cities, with a view toward a longer timeframe than that which characterised modern design. These examples of today's urban design point toward the cities of tomorrow, seeking to reflect collective memory and social identity while addressing the climate challenges we face today. From a new museum in Panama drawing on Latin American architectural tradition to an inflatable installation on Paris's oldest bridge over the Seine, built and not-yet-built projects rescue architecture as a repository of collective memory, while others explore its transformative potential through the lens of contemporary well-being. In this weekly news compilation, we present ongoing projects from Panama, numerous African countries, France, Canada, Italy, Australia, and the United States.

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Landscape and urban design studio SLA has unveiled the design for the public realm and streetscapes of Toronto's new 39.8-hectare waterfront community. The urban landscape project "Ookwemin Minising" is located in the Port Lands, an industrial and recreational district southeast of downtown Toronto, currently undergoing urban revitalization to transform the area from a former industrial zone into a naturalized river valley, mixed-use neighbourhoods, and public parkland. The overall transformation is being led by Waterfront Toronto, a publicly funded, not-for-profit corporation established in 2001 to oversee the regeneration of the area, as part of a broader government initiative to renaturalize urban areas and increase housing density. The redevelopment of Ookwemin Minising is expected to be completed in phases between 2031 and 2040.

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Following an international design competition launched in January 2026, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama (MAC Panamá) announced the selection of Mexican architects Palma + Taller TO to design its new building. The museum is described as "a new cultural infrastructure open to the city, conceived from the identity, climate, and landscape of Panama." The future museum headquarters will be located in the corregimiento of San Francisco, to consolidate the area as a hub of cultural activity. The selection criteria involved the relationship between the museum and the city, prioritizing proposals with integrated elements for community engagement and framing the building as a cultural infrastructure, enriching the contemporary urban environment of Panama City.

Twenty years after its ideation, Herzog & de Meuron's controversial Tour Triangle in Paris is reaching completion. The triangular, all-glass tower located in the city's 15th arrondissement topped out at 42 stories on April 24, 2026. The project's progress was marked by opposition, financial roadblocks, and legal disputes before construction began in 2022. The 180-meter tower is now the third-tallest building within Paris city limits, behind the 330-meter-tall Eiffel Tower, the 231-meter-tall The Link in La Défense, and the 210-meter-tall Tour Montparnasse. The building will retain this title indefinitely due to a skyscraper ban reinstated in 2023 by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, following persistent opposition to tall buildings in the city. The recent progress was documented by photographer Stefano Candito, ranging from an urban view of the building to a close-up look at its nearly completed structure.

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On May 21st, a realistic cave took shape on Paris' Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the Seine. The inflatable artwork was designed and built by French photographer and street artist JR, along with an extensive multidisciplinary team. La Caverne du Pont Neuf was conceived in honor of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 1985 work The Pont Neuf Wrapped, an environmental artwork in which the artists wrapped the historic bridge in sandstone-colored fabric for two weeks. The structure creates a trompe-l'œil effect that mimics a textured rock formation through photographic printing in tones of white, black, and gray. The shape of the exterior already gives the public the optical illusion of the artwork, while paving the way for the final stage of the interior design.

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On UNESCO's International Day of Light, celebrated annually on May 16, the Daylight Award announced its 2026 laureates. Established to support research into the scientific understanding of daylight and its significance for health, well-being, ecosystems, and architectural design, the award recognizes achievements in two categories: Daylight in Architecture and Daylight Research. This year, Japanese architects Momoyo Kaijima and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto of Atelier Bow-Wow were honored for demonstrating how daylight can shape shared spaces and everyday life, while marine biologists Brittany N. Zepernick, Steven W. Wilhelm, and R. Michael McKay of the United States and Canada were recognized for their research on aquatic microorganisms and their implications for planetary health and biodiversity.

The French Minister of Culture announced on Monday, May 18, 2026, the winner of the "Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance" competition. The team selected to transform the world-renowned Musée du Louvre is led by STUDIOS Architecture, New York-based Selldorf Architects, and landscape architecture firm BASE Paysagiste. The renovation initiative was announced in January 2025 as a major intervention for the historic complex following concerns expressed by the museum's director regarding its deteriorating condition. The first round of the competition took place in June, with a shortlist of five teams revealed in October. According to French authorities, the project has a dual objective: to repair and transform the building to preserve its collections while updating it to meet contemporary public expectations, including sustainability requirements that will pose significant challenges for the museum in the coming decades.

Between 2005 and 2021, French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre developed a long-term project titled Theaters. Recently exhibited at KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026, the work documents a phenomenon that continues to unfold gradually around the world: the decline of infrastructure originally designed for public entertainment in the early twentieth century. Theaters, cinemas, and performance venues that once accompanied the modernization of cities are increasingly being abandoned, repurposed, or "left suspended as hybrid ruins." This process is often associated with the growing individualization of cultural consumption, from the widespread adoption of television to the rise of the streaming industry, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cultural institutions. Below are three cases located in England, Chile, and Japan that illustrate different stages in this transformation, while also highlighting community-led efforts to preserve modern cultural heritage.

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On May 13, 2026, Parks Canada, the federal agency responsible for protecting and managing Canada's natural and cultural heritage, announced the winning design for a reimagined visitor centre and community space in Banff National Park. The competition was organized in partnership with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) as part of the 200-Block Banff Avenue Redevelopment Project. The proposal by Paul Raff Studio and Kengo Kuma & Associates was selected from a shortlist of five pre-qualified teams that also included EVOQ + Ryder, KPMB Architects, Revery Architecture, and Stantec Architecture. An independent jury assembled by the RAIC selected the design for its approach to landscape, sustainability principles, and its balance between conservation, heritage, Indigenous perspectives, and visitor experience, among other considerations.

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MVRDV and OODA have revealed a new masterplan for the regeneration of a vacant 28-hectare site between Marvila and Beato on Lisbon's riverfront. Recently approved by the Lisbon City Council, the project was developed in collaboration with LOLA Landscape Architects and Thornton Tomasetti to transform the area into a landscape-led urban district. Titled The Marvila Masterplan, the proposal establishes a framework for introducing 1,400 homes alongside public facilities, commercial spaces, and services within a fragmented and largely abandoned territory. The project is a private initiative led by the principal landowner and developed in coordination with the Lisbon City Council and Infraestruturas de Portugal.

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In December 2024, art curator Koyo Kouoh became the first African woman selected to curate the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. She proposed an introspective and sensitive approach to the exhibition, shaped by themes of grief, memory, spirituality, and global exhaustion. Following her premature passing in May 2025, the Biennale decided to continue with the same curatorial project, titled In Minor Keys. Wolff Architects was appointed by Kouoh in early 2025 to realize the exhibition design and scenography, focused on "the transformative spatial power of the threshold as a portal to alternative comprehension and experiences." The event was inaugurated on Saturday, May 9, and will run until Sunday, November 22, 2026, across the Giardini della Biennale, the Arsenale di Venezia, and other locations throughout Venice.

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The initial phase of the complete renovation project for the National Historical Museum in Tirana is approaching completion. The project was commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation of Albania and UNOPS, and financed by the European Commission through the EU for Culture (EU4C) program in Albania. The full restoration of the museum's 21,400 square meters is planned in two phases, led by Rotterdam-based Casanova + Hernandez Architects in collaboration with local partner iRI. The first phase consists of restoring the existing building in Skanderbeg Square and is expected to be completed this year, enabling the immediate start of the second phase, focused on implementing the new design for all interior spaces, the courtyard, and the roof.

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The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art, located near Philadelphia, is dedicated to promoting the natural and cultural connections between the region's landscape, historic sites, and artists. The Conservancy protects land and waterways throughout the Brandywine Valley and other priority conservation areas, while the Museum houses a collection of American art, with particular strengths in landscape and still life painting, portraiture, and illustration. On May 6, 2026, the institution announced a project to transform its 15-acre campus, including the renovation of the historic museum building, a new museum building by Kengo Kuma & Associates, and conservation and landscape interventions by Field Operations that will create a publicly accessible 325-acre reserve with ten miles of trails.

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This week's selection of architecture news and projects invites a rethinking of the social, cultural, and environmental role of design across diverse scales and geographies. From community-led efforts to preserve modern heritage, such as the campaigns surrounding the Îlot 8 housing complex in France and a renewed photographic attention toward Croatia's Split 3 district, to broader reflections on architecture's agency in the face of climate change and social transformation, many of the featured works question how architecture adapts over time and how it engages with collective life. This week's compilation also highlights architects expanding their practice beyond buildings through furniture, lighting, and object design, while three projects explore immersive relationships between landscape, climate, and observation in remote or environmentally sensitive contexts, from Arctic Norway to the oasis environments of the United Arab Emirates and the desert landscapes of Saudi Arabia.

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On March 12, the Chilean architect of Croatian descent, Smiljan Radić Clarke, was awarded the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The jury highlighted his "unorthodox approach to design," which "may initially appear unusual, unexpected, even rebellious; yet, far from producing alienation or estrangement, his anti-canonical stance feels fresh and unprecedented. It conveys the unmistakable sensation of encountering something new." This recognition will be celebrated with the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion, to be held in Mexico City at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), at the Faculty of Architecture's Teatro Estefanía Chávez, on May 12, 2026.

The Museum of Furniture Studies was founded in 2017 in Stockholm, showcasing a collection of more than 1,300 furniture pieces by over 44 international designers. The museum's physical location closed in 2022, maintaining its visibility through its Digital Archive for Design Furniture until it was acquired by IKEA in 2024. This week, Danish architecture studio Cobe announced the transformation of a former IKEA warehouse in Älmhult, Sweden, into a new home for the museum. The project involves converting a closed storage facility into an open and accessible space for design while preserving its industrial structure. The building is scheduled to open in early February 2027.