The Other Face of La Défense: A District That Was Never on the Postcard
The Les Damiers and Les Miroirs complexes near Paris’s La Défense district represent an ambitious Brutalist effort to integrate residential…
Cities
Urban Planning
Cities examined through land use, housing, mobility, infrastructure and public space. ArchUp considers how planning decisions influence everyday life, urban growth and the relationship between existing neighbourhoods and new development.
Follow planning and development news, study urban projects and infrastructure construction, and explore the evidence discussed in architectural research.
The Peak Generation: What Architecture Does When Humanity Stops Growing
Global population projections indicate growth will likely peak this century, driven by declining fertility rates rather than increased mortality. This…
World Cup Jet Lag
The 2026 World Cup triggered global social jet lag, disrupting the biological rhythms of fans and cities in distant time zones. By prioritizing North American broadcast schedules, the tournament forced populations to override daily routines, impacting energy and infrastructure. This highlights the need for temporal urbanism, accounting for how global events manipulate a city’s collective clock.
Green FIFA, Grey Reality
Criticism of FIFA’s leadership regarding private flight emissions overlooks the systemic environmental impact of hosting the World Cup across three…
From Football to Super Bowl
The 2026 World Cup reflects a significant shift in sports architecture, where stadiums function as multi-purpose entertainment complexes rather than…
A Place of Worship, a School, or a Hospital?
A question posed by an architecture student — whether to build a place of worship, a school, or a hospital…
Who Really Builds Our Cities? The Conflict and Integration of Roles Between the Planner, the Developer, and the Financier
ArchUp Desk —The word “planning” often conjures images of rigid, top-down state control and centralized bureaucracy. However, modern urban development…
The Driver’s Room: Architecture’s Forgotten Space
Ibrahim Fawakherji — ArchUpThere is a room that appears in almost every Gulf villa built in the last four decades….
Tersane-i Amire: Independent Structures in the Ottoman Shipyard
Spatial Configuration and Dialogue of Independent StructuresThe architectural proposition of the project is based on creating a deconstructive dialogue between…
Penetrating Urban Density: Śhālā Twam’s Spatial Deconstruction
Penetrating Urban Density and Deconstructing BoundariesThe spatial experience in this architectural composition begins at the moment of transition from the…
The Architecture of Influence: How Infrastructure and Urban Spaces are Weaponized in Cognitive Warfare
Modern conflicts increasingly rely on “cognitive and subversive” warfare rather than physical destruction, with urban infrastructure and spatial memory becoming…
Trnava School Campus Renewal: Functional & Ecological Design
Urban Context and Site ConditionThe site is located within the cadastral zone of the city of Trnava on parcel No….
O-day’min Park Edmonton: Urban Transformation and Public Space
Land Use Transformation in the Warehouse Campus DistrictO-day’min Park is located in the Warehouse Campus district in downtown Edmonton, an…
Freiham Project: Urban Massing and Spatial Reconfiguration
Urban Expansion in Freiham within the Munich ContextThe Freiham district in the city of Munich is considered one of the…
15 de Outubro Environmental School, Teresina
Integration between Educational Facilities and the Surrounding EnvironmentThe “15 de Outubro – Mayor Firmino Filho” Environmental Municipal School is located…
Mabelle Park: Public Space Through Community Participation
Transformation of an Underutilized Site into a Public Space within a Dense Urban Context“Mabelle Park” represents a case study in…
Navy SEAL Museum San Diego: Maritime Memory and Urban Form
Urban Context and Relationship with the NavyThe city of San Diego has a long-standing structural relationship with the U.S. Navy,…
Svatman Reinterprets Terrain and Interior Space
Project Conceptual Approach and Relationship to the SiteThe “Svatman” project is based on the idea of retreating inward while maintaining…
Wakura Onsen Footbath and Post-Disaster Public Space Revival
Urban Context and SiteThe Wakura Onsen Footbath project is situated in a small coastal town in Nanao, Japan, within Yuttari…
Secret Gardens: Density and Climate in Housing Design
Climate Architecture within the Urban FabricThe “Secret Gardens” project in the city of Montpellier was introduced as a model that…
Shell Book Pavilion: Redefining the Kinetic Public Realm
Stability of Public Spaces and RethinkingMost Cities public spaces tend to maintain a fixed state throughout the day; they appear…
