In modernist architecture, promenade architecturale emerged as a key design strategy, embodying the principles of functionality, aesthetics, and integration with the urban context. Le Corbusier’s iconic projects, such as Villa La Roche (1925) and Villa Savoye (1929), exemplify this idea by guiding visitors through an ascending journey that culminates in the rooftop garden—a space where the building and nature seamlessly interact. A century later, this concept remains influential, continuing to shape contemporary designs that explore the relationship between movement and space in various architectural typologies, including houses, museums, libraries, and parks.
As communities grow more multicultural and increasingly diverse, these spaces serve as physical manifestations of religious inclusion, encouraging the acceptance of religious and ethnic minorities within multicultural landscapes. Their proliferation reflects a growing need for inclusive environments that cater to diverse spiritual needs while promoting interfaith understanding. However, designing and implementing these spaces presents complex challenges, often sparking debates about representation, neutrality, and the very nature of sacred space. These discussions underscore the delicate balance architects must strike in creating spaces that are both universally welcoming and spiritually meaningful.
Student housing has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last century. Once seen as a utilitarian necessity, providing shelter and basic amenities for students, this architectural typology has evolved to address increasingly complex societal, cultural, and urban demands. Starting with Le Corbusier's modernist approach at the Cité Universitaire in Paris, student housing has reflected broader trends in architecture, urbanism, and social change.
Today, these buildings must cater to a highly diverse and transient population, navigating the pressures of affordability, density, and the evolving living standards of young adults. With rapid urbanization and increasing student mobility, universities now face the challenge of designing housing that is not only functional but also adaptable to different cultural and social contexts. This has led to more flexible, innovative solutions that promote both privacy and community living.
Standing out among the array of cultural programs, the opera and theater typology is often understood as encompassing the luxurious and elitist spirit of a bourgeois society focused on entertainment. Across the Soviet Union, this represented the opposite of the principles to be promoted. However, despite the opposition of the political class, the program remained widely popular. As the historical structures, symbols of the previous regime could no longer be promoted, the search began for a new image of the Opera House, one aligned with Socialist ideals and the concept of "art belonging to the masses."
This is the case of Soviet Lithuania, which, in the 1940s, began the process of developing a new Opera and Ballet Theater in Vilnius to replace the theatre in Pohulianka. The process resulted in an unusual commission, as young architect Elena Nijolė Bučiūtė won the 1960s competition for architectural design, turning the initial socialist realist proposals into a welcoming and expressive design, blending elements of early and late modernism. This also represents a surprising accomplishment for a young architect who was a woman and not a member of the Communist Party. Open House Vilnius featured the project in its program for several editions.
Villa Badran designed by Gamal Bakry . Image Courtesy of CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE
On view at the Center for Architecture in New York City, the exhibition features 20 projects in Cairo and a warning about the threatened future of Egypt’s Modernist heritage.
Cairo Modern, a new exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York, features 20 demolished, extant, and proposed projects in Cairo dating from the 1930s to the 1970s and also shines a light on the wrecking ball-threatening Modern architecture here and elsewhere.
Ehrlich Architects, a Los Angeles-based practice dedicated to the philosophy of Multicultural Modernism, has been selected to receive the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2015 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The award celebrates Ehrlich Architects' 35 years of practice, which, as the AIA notes, has become renowned for “fluidly melding classic California Modernist style with multicultural and vernacular design elements by including marginalized design languages and traditions.”
The firm, originally founded by Steven Ehrlich in 1979 after working with the Peace Corps in Africa, is now led by four diverse partners: Ehrlich, alongside Takashi Yanai, Patricia Rhee, and Mathew Chaney. You can preview some of their most notable projects and watch an interview with Ehrlich, after the break.
