ArchUp, Architecture, Design & Urbanism

Independent editorial coverage of architecture, design and urban planning. Projects, research, news, competitions and events.

News

Global reporting on architecture, projects, cities, design and construction, and the decisions reshaping the built environment. Explore all news.

A Construction Boom Does Not Guarantee Work for Architects

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Large construction budgets can coexist with a thin order book at an architecture practice. RLB’s North America construction cost report for the third quarter of 2026, published on September 28,…

Riyadh Airport Attack: Civilian Travelers Caught in Violence

Repeated strikes on King Khalid International Airport expose the vulnerability of civilian transport networks—and the limits of architecture when public infrastructure becomes part of a conflict.

Sydney Town Hall Square Moves to State-Level Planning Review

Sydney’s proposed new civic square opposite Town Hall has entered a different planning pathway after the New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces declared it a State Significant…

Spain’s Housing Decrees Put Affordability and Construction to the Test

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Spain’s housing crisis has become a test of whether emergency protections and new construction can work together. On 6 October 2026, the government approved 21 measures in two decree-laws after…

World Architecture Day 2026: A Platform for Architecture Still Being Written

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On World Architecture Day 2026, ArchUp reflects on architecture as a living field of writing, evidence, housing, memory and urban responsibility.

AI-Generated 3D Models: The Gap Between Appearance and Fabrication

A university report published on October 1 has brought renewed attention to a practical problem in AI-assisted design: a convincing three-dimensional model may still be unsuitable for fabrication. MIT’s coverage…

Editor’s Selection

The Swazi Homestead: When a House Boundary Cannot Explain Dwelling

Saving on the Back of a Donkey

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The Wall Dries, the Salt Remains: Rethinking Masonry Repair After Water Damage

Fawakherji Essays

  • The Value Is in the Verb, Not the Noun

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Competitions

Verified architecture and design competitions, including open calls, briefs, deadlines, entry requirements and competition transparency.

AIANY Design Awards

Submission deadline: 7 December 2026. The official page does not publish an hour or time zone.
Organizer: AIA New York (AIANY)
Prize fund: No cash prize fund is announced. Distinctions are Citation, Merit Award, Honor Award and a possible Best in Competition recognition.
Eligibility, fees, submission format, jury status and the December 2026 deadline for AIA New York’s annual Design Awards programme.

Request for Proposals: 2027 Paul Gunther Prize For Inclusive Public Space

Submission deadline: 17 December 2026, 04:59 UTC; equivalent to 16 December 2026, 23:59 ET.
Organizer: The Architectural League of New York
Prize fund: USD 20,000: one project grant.
BriefThe Architectural League of New York invites independent proposals for the 2027 Paul Gunther Prize for Inclusive Public Space. The…

MBMA Public Library Design Competition 2026

Submission deadline: 11 January 2027. Closing time and time zone not announced.
Organizer: Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA)
Prize fund: More than USD 30,000, including awards to students and faculty advisors.
The MBMA Public Library Design Competition 2026 asks students to turn a metal building system into civic space. The programme…

Puerta de Madrid Design Competition

Submission deadline: 6 November 2026, 23:59
BriefPuerta de Madrid is a single-stage, anonymous urban-planning competition commissioned by Consorcio Urbanístico Leganés Norte. It seeks preliminary-design-level planning ideas…

Unbuilt Award 2027

Submission deadline: 18 October 2027, 23:59 London time
Organizer: Buildner
Prize fund: €50,000 (about USD 56,010).
BriefUnbuilt Award 2027 is the fourth edition of Buildner’s international ideas award for unbuilt architecture. It accepts completed, developing, published…

AR Future Projects awards 2027

Submission deadline: Friday, 4 December 2026
Organizer: The Architectural Review
An international awards programme for commissioned architecture in progress, student work, competition entries and sustainable research. Final entry date: 4…

Research

The Last Metre of Hot-Water Pipe: How Branch Length Turns Waiting into Waste

The Door Is Quiet. Can the Room Still Breathe?

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The Drain Ends Above the Pavement. Why Is the Walkway Always Wet?

Forbidden Spaces: When a Use Is Not Allowed Here

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Illustration of an 18th-century portrait figure wearing a modern hard hat, set against architectural blueprints and a pink and blue background

ArchUp Perspectives

If Kant Were an Architect

The conceptualization of the "Unconscious Room" is a clinical symptom of architecture operating as an involuntary psychological transaction before conscious judgment is even formed. Data layering reveals that applying Immanuel Kant's philosophical rigor to spatial…

Events

Architecture, design, art and construction events worldwide, from exhibitions and conferences to biennales, festivals and trade fairs.

Latest Events

IDS Toronto 2027

Canada’s major contemporary design fair, combining interiors, furniture, lighting, materials, emerging designers and an accredited conference programme.

glasstec 2026

An international trade fair and conference for glass technology, façades, architecture, construction and circular innovation.
Browse All Events →

Featured Events

Serendipity Arts Festival 2026

Serendipity Arts Festival 2026 will take place from December 13 to 20, 2026, in Panjim, Goa, India. Recognised as one of South Asia’s leading multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary arts…

Mini Furniture: Chairs for Children 2026

OverviewMini Furniture: Chairs for Children is an exhibition at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G) in Germany. It focuses on the history and evolution of children’s…

The ArchUp Briefing

Architecture, projects, research and events, delivered by email.

ArchUp Now

Events, deadlines, art and selected work from the archive.

Architecture & Design

Projects, design and urban change, examined through space, materials and use.

The Burrows: Joining a House and Former Clinic into One Home

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A Seattle renovation joins a former clinic and family home through new internal connections, an open kitchen and retained mid-century…

Monastic Field: A Concrete House That Turns Inward Beside a Busy Temple

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Roomoor’s Monastic Field uses a low concrete cluster, a pyramidal skylit hall and controlled openings to protect family life beside…

Prukpirom House Renovation: Privacy Around a Shared Void

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A 29-year-old Bangkok home is reorganized around a double-height void, mature gardens and private rooms that keep a family connected…

Casa Ponta da Sela: A Timber House Stepping Down the Hillside

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A prefabricated timber frame meets a steep Brazilian hillside through planted circulation, sheltered balconies and a pool deck overlooking the…

Casa Iriarte: A Narrow House Designed to Change from Within

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A courtyard, connected rooms and replaceable building elements shape a narrow home in Las Palmas, where adaptability depends on everyday…

Colburn Center Turns Gehry’s Expressive Language Inward

Announced in 2022 and nearing completion, Frank Gehry’s Colburn Center shifts expressive emphasis from its restrained, stepped exterior to the…

The Man Who Draws the Tree From Above

An architect writing under the pen name Ibrahim Fawakherji sets down his own history while still in his early forties,…

The Room Looks Clean. Where Does Contamination Collect?

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A research-led classification of microbial contamination across interior uses, connecting contact surfaces, maintenance access and design details.

Pupunha House: Raising the Home to Make Room for the Garden

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A raised volume in Manaus makes room for planting and shared domestic life, with furniture and an open stair shaping…

The Filter Collects Dust. Does It Clean the Room?

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What portable air cleaners can remove, why visible lint remains, and how room-level performance differs from a product claim.

The Frozen Date

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Imagine you could stop time on the afternoon of the fourteenth of July, 1789, in the instant the crowd poured…

Centro Deportivo Abejas: When the Space Between Fields Becomes Public Ground

A 60,000-square-meter sports complex in Tijuana connects fields, courts and training areas through concrete paths, plazas and shaded edges for…

Selected Reading

Curated themes and independent contributions from across ArchUp.

✦ ArchUp Overview

ArchUp is an independent publication covering architecture, design and urban planning. Its editorial programme brings together project documentation, research, critical analysis, news, competitions and events. Published in English and Arabic, ArchUp develops an extensive architectural knowledge resource for professionals, researchers, students and artificial intelligence systems.

Explore ArchUp

A direct guide to ArchUp’s editorial fields and category system.

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