Australian studio MRTN Architects has completed Laneway House in Melbourne, extending a Victorian terrace with a “collage” of forms in red-toned brick, metal and timber.

Located in the suburb of Carlton, the home sits within a network of Victorian laneways, where homes present traditional frontages to the street and back onto alleyways defined by an accretion of small-scale extensions, outbuildings and sheds.

Tasked with expanding the existing home, MRTN Architects added a cluster of volumes at the end of its garden, finished in a mixture of red brick, timber and metal that nods to the hotchpotch character of the neighbouring alley.

“We conducted a deep dive study and photographic survey of the various approaches people had taken when adding on to their homes that backed onto bluestone laneways over the decade,” MRTN Architects director Antony Martin told Dezeen.

“This study informed a collage approach to the design of both material and form,” he added.

The extension addresses the laneways with a central two-storey volume that has its own dedicated entrance and garage.

This allows it to act as a separate residence, with a view to accommodating future changes in living arrangements and allowing for ageing-in-place.

Atop a red-brick base with a curved corner, this two-storey volume contrasts deep red standing-seam metal cladding to the south with timber planks to the east.

Laneway House’s taller entrance volume steps down towards the existing home to the north, to which it connects via a skinny galley kitchen enveloped in brick tiles and bookended by two chunky concrete columns.

This single-storey volume appears to pivot around one of these columns, forming two arms that hug a central garden overlooked by a timber bench-like windowsill beneath full-height sliding doors.

“Space was very tight on the site; therefore, the corridor connection between the new and old also doubles as the kitchen,” Martin said.

“A green sanctuary space sits at the heart of the design. This calm, green space, enclosed on all sides by built form, is accessible from the old house, the kitchen and the new living and dining spaces,” he added.

An ensuite bedroom and study are positioned on the first floor of the extension, benefitting from northern daylight and views across the laneways.

While the ground floor has a more robust feel with paved stone floors, timber ceilings and exposed concrete and brick walls, the upper rooms are finished with white walls and paler timber carpentry.

Martin founded MRTN Architects in Melbourne in 2011. Previous projects by the studio include a new-build home in the suburb of Fairfield, which it fronted with a courtyard wrapped by blockwork walls.

Elsewhere in Melbourne, Studio Bright recently created a house wrapped in metal screens for climbing plants and Jos Tan completed a compact residence with a pared-back, pale-brick form.

The photography is by MRTN Architects.

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Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Diébédo Francis Kéré has written a book candidly outlining his extraordinary career so far. In this interview, he explains why now felt like the moment to share what he’s discovered along the way.

Burkinabè architect Kéré became the first African to win the profession’s most prestigious award in 2022, in recognition of his community, resource and climate-conscious approach.

Having grown up in Burkina Faso – one of the world’s most impoverished countries – he studied architecture in Berlin, after first moving to the city in the 1980s on a vocational carpentry scholarship.

His studio, Kéré Architecture, was founded in the German capital in 2005. Recent commissions include the Benin National Assembly and Las Vegas Museum of Art.

The 61-year-old recently released a book in which he candidly reflects on his rise to become one of architecture’s most respected figures.

Titled Francis Kéré: Building Stories, it is designed to read like a personal notebook, recounting pivotal moments in his career from an unfiltered, first-hand perspective.

A recurring theme is Kéré’s sense of pressure for his buildings to be successful, and an almost-chronic fear of falling short.

“I have survived. I succeeded.”

“All of this emotion led me to write this book this way, to present what I have discovered for my people – it was like a miracle,” he told Dezeen.

“When I started working in Burkina, life expectancy was under 40,” he continued. “Now, it’s far more than 40, but I still say to myself ‘I have achieved a lot. I have survived. I succeeded.'”

“Why wait before talking frankly about what matters?”

One period of fear that sticks in Kéré’s mind is when he was working on his first building – a primary school in his hometown, completed while he was still a student in Berlin in 2001.

Determined to create something unique for his community, Kéré had to overcome local skepticism over the use of unfired clay blocks due to concerns about the material’s ability to withstand rainfall and maintenance requirements.

“It was true emotion and a lot of work to convince people,” Kéré said. “In Africa, memory lasts very, very long. And if you fail, you fail.”

“It was always the fear”

So much so, in fact, that he recalls being haunted by visions of future generations of his family being reminded of his blunder by members of the tribe.

“People would have always said, ‘you had an ancestor who wanted to teach us how to build very differently, but he failed,'” he remembered thinking.

“It was always the fear. And those moments, when I’m thinking back, I say ‘wow, how lucky I was’.”

As it turned out, the Gando Primary School became one of the most lauded buildings of the 21st century so far.

Even now, having achieved worldwide acclaim, Kéré continues to angst over his projects.

That was the case for with the Thomas Sankara Memorial in Ouagadougou (pictured top), built to honour Burkina Faso’s former president and national hero.

“It’s a government project; there was a lot of pressure,” he said.

Building a clay memorial was like “an insult”

The memorial encompasses a domed mausoleum, which was completed in early 2025, alongside a museum, a pavilion and a 100-metre-tall tower designed to be visible across the capital.

Here again, Kéré turned to compressed-earth bricks made from locally sourced clay for the structure, as well as locally sourced laterite.

Until recently, using such humble materials for a project of this nature would have been unthinkable, but Kéré was building on the success of his earlier works.

“To say you’re going to build a memorial out of clay and laterite [was like] an insult,” he explained. “No one could imagine that you could use these materials and create something that would have a powerful meaning.”

“I never thought that it would be possible,” he added.

The book collates 26 Kéré projects spanning Africa and beyond, including his 2017 Serpentine Pavilion, the Léo Surgical Clinic and Health Centre and the yet-to-be-completed Burkina Faso National Assembly.

Alongside detailed accounts by Kéré, it features unseen sketches, photography and architectural drawings overlaid with hand-written notes.

Each project reaffirms Kéré’s localised, innovative and collaborative construction approach, for which the Burkinabè architect is often dubbed a social architect, humanist builder or similar.

In the book, Kéré simplifies his philosophy to “doing good”.

“From my perspective, doing good is to see what is needed,” he explained.

“Looking at how I can really connect with those where a need is presented, and together see what is existing and use it to create something that is fundamentally solid, valuable, and at the same time inspiring for the people.”

“The work I have been doing is always considered a matter of heart.”

Architects “should not lose the fantasy”

After all that he has achieved, Kéré finally allows himself some satisfaction at how his commitment to innovation – even when under pressure – has played a critical role in shifting attitudes since the start of his career.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “In some parts of the continent, you still have to prove [the use of mud] but generally the acceptance is great. People are just looking for it.”

“Even under pressure, an architect should not lose the fantasy,” he added.

The photography is by Kéré Architecture unless otherwise stated.

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The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features the launch of our latest editorial series. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now.

To mark 100 years since the death of Antoni Gaudí, Dezeen has launched the Gaudí Centenary series celebrating his legacy.

This week’s newsletter also included news that Nendo’s founder Oki Sato will be stepping down from leading the studio, Zaha Hadid Architects’ design for a housing development in Albania and the Sagrada Familia set created by Lego.

Dezeen Agenda

Dezeen Agenda is a curated newsletter sent every Thursday containing the most important news highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Agenda or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to our other newsletters; Dezeen Debate is sent every Thursday and features the hottest reader comments and most-debated stories, Dezeen Daily is our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours and Dezeen In Depth is sent on the last Friday of every month and delves deeper into the major stories shaping architecture and design.

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Architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron has transformed the industrial structure of the Titlis Tower in the Swiss Alps into a sculptural tourist destination with dramatic cantilevers and a panoramic viewpoint.

Built in the mid-1980s, the former telecommunications tower sits over 3,000 metres above sea level on Mount Titlis, one of Switzerland’s most popular mountain destinations, with approximately 1.1 million visitors per year.

Herzog & de Meuron transformed the tower into a visitor attraction and viewpoint through the addition of two cantilevered blocks inserted crosswise into the antenna tower, alongside four vertical circulation volumes.

According to the studio, its design was part of a wider masterplan for the mountain summit, where it has also overhauled the cable car station.

“In 2017, Herzog & de Meuron was commissioned to renew the mountain station and to transform the existing antenna tower into part of the tourist offering,” said studio co-founder Pierre de Meuron.

“A central aspect of the concept is the resource-conscious development of the existing infrastructure. As the first element to be implemented within this overall concept, the tower symbolises the shift from purely functional structures towards a new generation of Alpine architecture.”

“The first impression of Titlis is more James Bond than mountain hut,” added co-founder Jacques Herzog. “But this image, too, is part of Switzerland’s alpine landscape.

“It is rare that we encounter something that already has so much quality, where our main task was to bring those existing qualities even more strongly to the fore: the expressive steel structure, which we complemented with two horizontal steel beams, transforming it into an iconic sculpture. A kind of signpost rising into the sky above Titlis,” he continued.

Titlis Tower is anchored to the limestone mountain with concrete foundations, which have been extended as part of the project to create an entrance and “orientation level”.

This space provides visitor access, as well as technical areas and a garage.

An existing underground tunnel, described by Herzog & de Meuron as “an infrastructural umbilical cord”, was updated to provide sheltered access between the cable car station and tower, as well as a glacier cave.

At the end of the tunnel where it meets the tower, visitors are greeted by a cavernous hall with large screens providing information about the landscape.

From here, visitors can ascend the tower to the viewpoint, which has 360-degree views of the mountain landscape.

It is accessed via the four vertical circulation volumes, which were placed on each corner of the existing steel structure. Two of these vertical elements contain stairwells, while the others have lifts.

The new horizontal volumes have steel frames to complement the existing structure, and are wrapped in large expanses of glass.

They cantilever outwards, forming a cross shape that ensures “a striking figure visible from afar while offering impressive panoramic views of the alpine landscape from within”, the studio said.

Inside, the horizontal volumes are deliberately column-free, made possible by their exposed load-bearing steel structure.

The lower of the two volumes contains shops, while the higher one contains a 140-seat restaurant.

Herzog & de Meuron’s material palette for the project draws on both the existing structure and the harsh weather conditions of the site.

It is dominated by a mix of galvanised steel and stainless steel, as well as concrete and glass. These materials are deliberately left visible throughout, apart from in the restaurant, where wooden finishes are introduced to add warmth.

As part of the project, Herzog & de Meuron extended the existing cable car station after an assessment of the existing building found that a conversion “would not be able to sufficiently resolve the fundamental issues of circulation, orientation, and capacity”, the studio said.

While a large proportion of the original structure was retained, others have been replaced and extended.

Other mountain architecture featured on Dezeen include Snøhetta’s proposal for a hikers’ refuge in the Pyrenees mountains with a swooping grass roof and Senoner Tammerle Architekten’s places mountain shelter in the Italian Alps.

The photography is courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron. 

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Continuing our Gaudí Centenary series, we look at Barcelona’s House of Bones, Casa Batlló, which Antoni Gaudí covered with mosaics, skeletal shapes and topped with a scaly, reptilian roof.

Located on Barcelona‘s central Passeig de Gràcia boulevard, Casa Batlló is one of Gaudí’s best-known and most unique works.

Now a museum, the ceramic and bone-covered house exemplifies the architect’s unique take on Catalan modernism, something that the museum’s director describes as “very hard to imitate”.

“It’s very hard to imitate Gaudí,” Casa Batlló director general Gary Gautier told Dezeen.

“Gaudí’s buildings are more about art than about architecture – or at least not just architecture, but including art in meaningful ways in many places of the building, not just solving the challenges that architecture was facing, but also sometimes ornamentally,” he continued.

“And when there’s so much richness or art per square meter, the entire building becomes a piece of art, and that is very tough to do.”

Originally built in 1877 by architect Emili Sala Cortés, one of Gaudí’s professors at Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, the six-storey house was overhauled by Gaudí between 1904 and 1906 for businessman Josep Batlló I Casanovas.

Gaudí extended the house upwards and at its rear, but the most visible alteration was the transformation of the previously sombre facade.

He created a sculptural facade that contrasted with the neighbouring homes through the addition of numerous balconies, some of which were supported by skeletal shapes, leading the building to become known locally as Casa dels Ossos, meaning the House of Bones.

Gaudí wrapped Casa Batlló’s facade in ceramic cladding with colourful, broken-glass fragments in predominantly blue and green hues, creating a maritime colour palette.

He topped the house with a roof covered in tiles that resemble scales on the back of a large reptilian creature. This has been said to reference the patron saint of Catalonia, St George, who, according to legend, slew a dragon.

Like Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia, the roof also features a four-armed cross pointing in the cardinal directions. Gaudí, who was deeply religious and has been called God’s architect, often included crosses in his designs.

The building’s single tower also has the initials JHS for Jesus, M for Mary and JHP for Joseph on it, another religious allusion that shows how important his faith was to Gaudí’s work.

“[In] one of his quotes, Gaudí says something like ‘If you’re not building or doing something that is eternal, it’s not worth doing it,'” Gautier said.

Gaudí also overhauled the interior of the house and added smart solutions to take advantage of natural light and ventilation.

As part of the renovation, he turned one existing lightwell into two to draw light into the entire house, and added adjustable wooden shutters to many of its windows to let the inhabitants control its ventilation. These have carved organic shapes and still function today.

“He came up with innovations that addressed the ventilation challenges that many buildings were facing at the end of the 1800s, and he also created a lot of solutions to light up the rooms where the electricity could not get,” Gautier said.

This was also an example of how Gaudí created tailor-made solutions depending on what his buildings needed.

“He approaches it differently in every building,” Gautier said. “He did not build that many buildings throughout his career because he put a lot of effort into all of them, and the solutions might vary, although the purpose still remains the same.”

Inside, Casa Batlló is filled with rounded, organic shapes, including a spine-like handrail for the lobby staircase, a mushroom-shaped fireplace and a swirly, undulating ceiling on the main floor in what was once the Batlló family’s living room.

In contrast, the top loft floor, which functioned as a service area with laundry and storage rooms, has a stark, more modernist design. Here, Gaudí designed sixty catenary arches, with organic shapes that make the space look like the ribcage of a giant animal.

After the Batlló family moved out in the 1950s, the house was turned into offices for an insurance company.

In 1993, Casa Batlló was bought by the Bernat family, which started the process of restoring it to Gaudí’s original design. The most recent of the many restorations made to the house was a significant overhaul of the back of the building, which was returned to its original dark colour.

The team also restored the courtyard to how it would have looked in Gaudí’s time, adding pergolas and creating a pavement mosaic that replicates the original design.

In recent years, a number of modern additions have been made to the building, including a new staircase to connect the ground floor with exhibition spaces created in a former coal bunker in the basement.

To create an art experience in the staircase, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma designed a mesh-curtain installation for the space.

Earlier this year, the second floor of the building was open to the public for the first time. Local studio Mesura turned it into a contemporary art gallery with an undulating metal ceiling that references the Mediterranean Sea.

Next month will see the opening of the third floor, which contains the last original residence designed by Gaudí within the building.

The space, which has remained intact for more than one hundred years, will be unveiled for the first time and is set to be used as a private venue. It will have an interior by Italian designer Paola Navone.

Over a hundred years after Gaudí’s renovation of the building, Casa Batlló has become a popular destination for Barcelona visitors, who come to see art exhibitions within the space as well as the artful design of the building itself.

To Gautier, its popularity is evidence of the ongoing fascination with Gaudí, who he believes still has something to teach architects today.

“What architects could learn from Gaudi is to always look for a solution that is not evident, that is not out there, but that can be found,” Gautier concluded.

The photography is by Claudia Marino, courtesy of Casa Batlló.

Gaudí Centenary

This article is part of Gaudí Centenary, our editorial series profiling ​the Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudí​, marking 100 years since his death.

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With the World Cup kicking off in Mexico City today, we look at the architecture of the 16 stadiums in the USA, Mexico and Canada hosting games at the tournament.

Unlike many previous World Cups, where stadiums were purpose-built for the tournament, all of the 2026 World Cup venues were built for major sports teams a long time before the tournament.

Eleven stadiums across the USA will host matches, all of which are the current homes of NFL American football teams. Some of these have been upgraded or adapted for football, or soccer.

In addition, two stadiums in Canada and three in Mexico are hosting games, including the Estadio Azteca in MexicoCity, which hosted the finals of both the 1970 and 1986 World Cups and is the venue for the tournament’s opening game tonight.

Here are all the 2026 World Cup stadiums:

SoFi Stadium, LA, by HKS (2020)

Home of American football teams the LA Chargers and LA Rams, this 70,000-capacity venue is reportedly the most expensive stadium ever built.

Completed in 2020 at $5.5 billion, the SoFi Stadium can be expanded to seat 100,000 for major events like the Superbowl, making it one of the largest stadiums set to host games at the World Cup.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, USA, by HOK (2017)

One of several stadiums hosting games at the tournament designed by stadium specialist HOK, the 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium is home to American football team the Atlanta Falcons.

The angular stadium, which opened in 2017, is topped with a unique roof that “opens and closes like a camera aperture”.

Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico, by Populous and VFO (2015)

Nicknamed El Gigante de Acero – or the Steel Giant – for its distinctive appearance, the 53,500-seat Estadio BBVA was designed by Populous and VFO.

One of three stadiums in Mexico set to host games during the World Cup, the venue’s form references brewing pots used locally to make beer.

Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, USA by HNTB (2014)

Located in Santa Clara, California, Levi’s Stadium has been home to the NFL team the San Francisco 49ers since it opened in 2014.

Two-thirds of the 68,500 seats are located in a large lower bowl, and the stadium can be expanded to accommodate 75,000 for events like the Super Bowl, which it hosted in 2016.

MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, USA, by HOK (2010)

Located near New York City in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium is home to two NFL teams – the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

MetLife Stadium was designed by HOK in collaboration with designers Bruce Mau and Rockwell Group so that it could be transformed from predominantly blue to green to embody the identities of both franchises.

The structure includes rusticated stone to align with the Giants’ traditional values, combined with metal and glass for a modern look desired by the Jets.

MetLife Stadium will host the final of this year’s World Cup.

Estadio Akron, Guadalajara, Mexico, by Jean Marie Massaud & Daniel Pouzet and Populous (2010)

Designed by Jean Marie Massaud and Daniel Pouzet and engineered by VFO, the 48,000-seat Estadio Akron is home to the Club Deportivo Guadalajara soccer team.

The stadium has a distinctive form, with a grass-covered lower structure topped with a circular raised canopy intended to evoke a volcano.

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, USA, by HKS (2009)

Designed by stadium specialist HKS, the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Texas is the home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team. The structure is crowned with a retractable roof supported on a pair of 91-metre-tall arches.

Its capacity can be expanded to over 100,000 for major events.

BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, by Brisbin Brooks Beynon Architects (2007), expansion by Gensler (2015)

One of two stadiums in Canada hosting games during the World Cup, BMO Field was designed specifically for soccer and is the home to the Toronto FC MLS team, as well as the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

The stadium, which is set to host Canada’s opening game, was expanded to have a capacity of 27,000 in 2015. The addition of a temporary south stand will give the stadium a temporary capacity of 45,736 for the tournament.

Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, USA, by NBBJ (2003)

Home of the NFL team Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field has a distinctive form with the long east and west stands designed to evoke wings in reference to the team’s name.

The 69,000-seat stadium is open at three of its corners and has a raised “Eagle’s nest” with views of downtown Philadelphia.

NRG Stadium, Houston, USA, by Populous (2002)

One of two venues in Texas hosting games at the World Cup, NRG Stadium has been the home of the NFL team Houston Texans since it opened in 2002.

Created by Populous, the 80,000-seat enclosed stadium was designed to have an intimate atmosphere similar to a large indoor arena. When it opened in 2002, it was the first NFL stadium to have a retractable roof.

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA, by Populous (2002)

Built on a series of naturally occurring granite outcroppings, Gillette Stadium is described by Populous as “a unique split-level stadium”.

The 68,000-seat venue in Foxborough, Massachusetts, is home to the New England Patriots NFL team and the New England Revolution Major League Soccer team.

Lumen Field, Seattle, USA, by Ellerbe Becket and LMN Architects (2002)

Designed by architecture studio Ellerbe Becket and LMN Architects for both American football and soccer, Lumen Field is home to the Seattle Seahawks NFL team and the Seattle Sounders FC soccer team.

Opened in 2002, the compact 67-000-seat stadium is flanked by two large arches supporting canopies over the seating stands that are stacked and cantilevered due to the site’s limited space.

BC Place, Vancouver, Canada, by Studio Phillips Barratt (1983), renovation by Stantec (2011)

Opened in 1983, BC Place was originally designed by Studio Phillips Barratt and underwent a significant revamp by Stantec ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics, when it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.

The renovation added a cable-supported, retractable roof to the 58,000-seat stadium, which is home to the MLS team Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Canadian Football League team BC Lions.

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, USA, by HOK (1987)

Originally opened in 1987, the Hard Rock Stadium is the home of the NFL team Miami Dolphins.

The building was extensively renovated by architecture studio HOK between 2015 and 2017, when a large and distinctive rectangular canopy was hung above the stands from four white masts at the stadium’s corners.

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, USA, by Kivett & Myers (1972), renovated by Populous (2010)

One of the oldest stadiums set to host games at the 2026 World Cup, Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972 and has been the home of the NFL team Kansas City Chiefs since.

The 76,000-seat venue holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s loudest stadium. It was extensively renovated by stadium specialist Populous in 2010.

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico, by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Rafael Mijares Alcérreca (1966)

Designed by architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Rafael Mijares Alcérreca, the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City will become the first stadium to host games at three World Cups.

Opened in 1966, the 87,000-seat stadium previously hosted games including the finals at both the 1970 and 1986 World Cups.

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A wildlife viewing deck and an elevated “canopy walk” through the forest are among the features at Beech Bluff County Park, which was designed by local firms In Situ Studio and Surface 678 for an area near Raleigh, USA.

The 300-acre (121-hectare) park is located in southeastern Wake County, a suburban area that has experienced rapid development and population growth in recent years.

Local firm In Situ Studio designed the park’s new structures, which Surface 678 – based in Durham, North Carolina, was the landscape architect.

Much of the park was farmland that was decommissioned and donated to the county. Also found on the site is a large swath of forest.

Driven by a desire to be “awake to the site and sensitive to the climate”, the team sought to preserve the natural habitat while activating the former agricultural fields for public recreation.

In the forested area at the north of the site, the team created several miles of hiking trails.

One of the biggest additions is a “forest canopy walk” that was raised 25 feet (7.6 metres) above the ground and traverses a stream running through the site. Adjoining the elevated pathway is a wildlife viewing terrace.

In the southern part of the park the studios added six new structures and recreational spaces such as a playground, community gardens and a great lawn. There also are agricultural fields used for educational purposes.

The structures include an educational centre and picnic pavilions, which were designed to work in harmony with the natural terrain.

“The complimentary designs of the buildings and landscape allow people to experience the beauty of the Piedmont,” said the studio, referring to North Carolina’s central plateau region, known for its verdant rolling hills.

Concrete was used for the foundations and slabs, while wood was mostly used for the structural system.

Walls were wrapped in cypress, and roofs are clad in standing-steam Galvalume, which is made of cold-rolled steel dipped in aluminium and zinc alloys.

Salvaged material from old farm structures was used to build interior elements, such as educational exhibits, and was also used to create fencing in the park.

To conserve energy, the team incorporated both active and passive strategies into the park structures. These include careful solar orientation, broad roofs with reflective surfaces, and geothermal heating and cooling.

Three of the six structures have photovoltaic arrays, which help generate power for the site.

The park is expected to become an important recreation hub in a “rapidly developing and under-served area of southeast Wake County”.

“The park and structures within are intended to become a ‘central park’ for dozens of new communities and thousands of new homes that have already been built or are planned within a five-mile radius of the park,” the team said.

Other projects by In Situ Studio include the overhaul of a mid-century home that was the childhood residence of musician James Taylor, and the creation of a visitor centre at a Raleigh art museum, which features a canopy structure with a sculptural cutout.

The photography is by Cristobal Palma.

Project credits:

Landscape architect: Surface 678
Civil engineer: The Wooten Company
Structural engineer: Lysaght & Associates
PMA engineer: Sigma Engineered Solutions
Contractor: BAR Construction
Client: Wake County Parks Recreation and Open Space

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Architect Marta Nowicka used an entirely reclaimed palette of scaffolding planks, hollow concrete blocks and wood-wool boards to bring a “gritty, unrefined” feel to this small studio in East Sussex.

Named DOM Studio, the building was conceived as a “year-round sanctuary” alongside Nowicka‘s own home in Camber Sands, occupying a leftover plot of land just 20 metres from the sea.

Nowicka sought to give the studio a rough, monolithic feel, using a palette of reclaimed materials and an angular form that deflects sea winds.

“The initial concept sought to echo the monolithic, protective language of the neighbouring sea wall,” she told Dezeen.

“To mitigate the brutal southwesterly winds while maximising solar gain, the architecture abandons the conventional vertical facade. Instead, the elevation sweeps fluidly from the roofline down into a waist-high deck,” he added.

“Emulating the brow of a ship rising from the landscape, this nautical language avoids coastal cliché. Instead, it is a direct, structural response to the elements of the sea.”

DOM Studio’s angular roof is actually a parabolic curve, which Nowicka said emerged from an “improvisational dialogue” with the builder involving cutting reclaimed scaffolding boards to fit the curved trusses.

The building’s interior layout was guided by this distinctive profile, with a higher space containing a work area that overlooks the landscape through a wide picture window.

Opposite, a more intimate seating area and log burner are tucked under a lower area where the roof slopes downwards, while a bathroom and an infrared sauna occupy the studio’s eastern end.

DOM Studio’s interior is enveloped by raw blockwork walls, a ceiling of wood-wool panels and shelving made from recovered wooden boards.

“As the site was a bit of ‘scrap’ land purchased off a neighbour, the idea was to use ‘scraps’ to build it,” Nowicka said.

“The exposed blockwork, sourced as ‘bin ends’ from construction sites, is irregular in colour and adds a gritty, unrefined grounding to the space. The floor is a sand coloured monolithic concrete floor poured over the slab,” she added.

“The ceiling and sloping walls are clad between the joists in Savolit board, a highly dense, textured acoustic panel made from shredded timber off-cuts, providing exceptional thermal properties and a tactile, raw interior skin.”

Previous projects by Nowicka include a three-storey home on the site of a former garage in Dalston, London, which is clad in cedar shingles.

Elsewhere in Camber Sands, RX Architects created Seabreeze, a coastal holiday home in East Sussex covered in smooth pink concrete.

The photography is by Voytek Ketz.

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Today marks the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Familia. In this Gaudí Centenary interview, its lead architect discusses how modern technology helped reach this monumental milestone, but how work on the church is far from finished.

“I’ve read a few headlines that said that, this year, the Sagrada Familia will be completed,” lead architect Mauricio Cortés told Dezeen.

“However, the case is that the central towers will be completed with the Jesus tower, but then there are future challenges ahead.”

Among these, he said, is the completion of the world-famous basilica’s main elevation, for which the timeframe is yet to even be determined.

“The biggest [challenge] will be Glory Facade, which is the main facade,” said Cortés. “Maybe it will take 10 years, but we don’t yet have a fixed schedule.”

“Before the facade becomes a reality, there are several levels of underground construction to make it possible,” he explained. “The underground works are ongoing.”

“It’s been five generations of workers”

Cortés is a Mexican architect who has been working on the Sagrada Familia – the world’s tallest church – since 2006. It’s a significant time in human terms, but just a short chapter in the building’s 144-year history.

One huge milestone he has been fortunate to have experienced in this time is the completion of the central towers – The Four Towers of the Evangelists, The Tower of the Virgin Mary and the massive centrepiece, The Tower of Jesus Christ – on which he led the design and construction team.

He describes the responsibility of working on the project, which is arguably Spain’s most famous landmark, as a daunting but energising experience.

“Obviously, it’s pressure, but in a way, a thrill,” he reflected. “The vibe is that you are part of a legacy, not only of Gaudí’s original vision and striking architecture and genius, but it’s been five generations of workers, architects, masons and even donors that have contributed.”

“So it’s been the work of generations and you feel part of it on that chain, and that is very humbling, it also keeps you focused,” he continued.

Cortés’s career at Sagrada Familia began on its ground floor, where he worked on extending the neo-gothic cloisters around the Nativity facade, which was the only section Gaudí lived to see completed.

These elements feature highly organic shapes with very free forms, in contrast to the more geometrised, parametric spires, such as the Tower of Jesus Christ, which is being inaugurated by Pope Leo XIV today on the centenary of Gaudí’s death.

Cortés said these contrasting styles make working on the building feel as though it is “divided into different projects”, offering lessons in Gaudí’s career evolution.

“I started with the cloisters around the Nativity facade, so it was a different experience from working on the spires 20 years later,” he said. “You always learn new things.”

Completing the towers has been a herculean effort, requiring the adoption of new technologies as well as meticulous studies of drawings, models, written sources and photographs.

Thankfully, Gaudí left behind enough of his designs to guide future generations, with the knowledge that he would never see the project completed himself.

“It’s very interesting how to mix both worlds,” he reflected. “You have to do a lot of testing to make these two worlds match together.”

Gaudí’s parametric designs are “mindblowing”

Cortés said a common misconception is that “modern technology forces you to go farther away from Gaudí’s original vision”. He believes it has produced the contrary effect, allowing the team to deliver the design as closely to Gaudí’s original vision as possible, and in some areas, even expand on it.

“It was technology that helped us get closer to what we believe was the original intention in several ways, both in the design process, in the engineering and in the construction,” explained Cortés.

A specific example of this is the use of prefabricated stone, which has allowed the team to deliver the central towers in line with Gaudí’s vision of stone construction, rather than with masonry blocks.

The central towers were predominantly built with post-tensioned stone panels, developed by engineering firm Arup and mass-produced off-site.

While rapidly speeding up the construction of the towers, this system also reduced the thickness of each required component from approximately 1,200 millimetres to 300 millimetres. This minimised the weight of the towers and, therefore, the structure needed to stabilise them.

In the 172.5-metre-tall Tower of Jesus Christ, this resulted in a completely hollow interior, which was previously thought impossible – providing completely new space for the team to innovate.

“It was [originally] believed that the tower of Jesus needed intermediate slabs to stabilise such a big tower, and now modern technology has allowed us to build like a hollow spire with a staircase in the middle,” said Cortés.

“So this architectural content could be exploited, and it needed a symbolic interpretation,” he continued. “The architect director worked with the theologian committee and artistic committee to create an interior that is consistent with what is happening outside and all the symbology of the halls the Sagrada Familia.”

Another example where modern technology has allowed the team to effectively deliver Gaudí’s original vision for the four-sided cross that crowns The Tower of Jesus Christ.

Specifically, it allowed the team to create the desired thin skin for the cross, clad in thousands of 3D-printed ceramic tiles and punctuated by double-curved glass panels.

According to Cortés, it was Gaudí’s trailblazing mathematics and parametric modelling that facilitated this, as his calculations blended seamlessly with modern computer software.

“It’s mindblowing,” he said. “The geometries that he established somehow ended up being the perfect fit for putting that into parametric models and algorithms and scripts, because there are known mathematics and even lines of code that makes you explore more iterations of whatever piece,” he added.

“So it was state of the art, technology at our disposal to get us closer to the shape of the cross that Gaudí would have wanted.”

Gaudí “would be pleased” with progress

Nearly 150 years after it was designed, it is hard to imagine the Sagrada Familia ever being completed without the development of modern technology, let alone safely.

Though, Cortés believes that Gaudí’s intelligence and innovation would have led him to find a way – evidenced by his pioneering use of prefabricated concrete in the spire of the Saint Barnabas tower on the Nativity facade, which he completed in 1925.

However, Cortés said one of the biggest obstacles would have been completing it safely without modern cranes and scaffolding, and ensuring its longevity without modern building materials.

“I think of the durability of things,” he reflected. “Obviously, the concrete available in the 1920s is totally different from this ultra-high performance concrete that we have now. So it will have taken longer, and I don’t know about its durability.”

Looking back on the 20 years he has spent working on the Sagrada Familia, Cortés struggles to imagine what his life could look like beyond its completion.

“I hope to contribute here as long as I can,” he said.

This won’t be difficult, with numerous elements of the project still to complete. Alongside the Glory facade, this includes “a few chapels, a baptistry and numerous roofs”.

Despite the monumental length of construction, Cortés confidently said that Gaudí would be happy with the progress on the project. After all, the Catalan architect famously said himself that the “client [God] is not in a hurry”.

“[Gaudí] said, ‘This is the work of several generations, but that’s okay. Every generation will come with their own ideas. I will leave the principles, the geometry, I will define as much as I can, the main parts, but then it’s open for two next generations to contribute’,” explained Cortés.

“I think all the generations that have done their best and I think everybody always asks themselves, would Gaudí have been proud of this piece? And have all the predecessors been honouring the legacy or not?” he reflected.

“So, yes, I think he will be pleased.”

The photography is courtesy of the Sagrada Familia Foundation. 

Gaudí Centenary

This article is part of Gaudí Centenary, our editorial series profiling ​the Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudí​, marking 100 years since his death.

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Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron has revealed plans to update the Palace of Congresses concert venue in Tirana, Albania, with a 260-metre-tall skyscraper.

Herzog & de Meuron will oversee the renovation of the 40-year-old concert venue’s existing performance spaces, while introducing a mixed-use office tower and a public plaza.

The studio’s proposal seeks to largely preserve the venue’s communist-era architecture, which has a symmetrical, monolithic form wrapped in horizontal bands of glazing.

“Our proposal intervenes in the existing building only where necessary,” the studio said. “Rather than altering its identity, the project seeks to strengthen its relationship with the city and its public realm.”

The Palace of Congresses was originally designed by Klement Kolaneci and completed in 1986. Renders of the proposal reveal the venue’s main elevation will remain largely unaltered, but it will be fronted with a newly landscaped public realm.

Meanwhile, at the site’s rear, the mixed-use skyscraper will rise above the surrounding landscape, containing offices and a hotel.

Described by Herzog & de Meuron as being “shaped by vernacular logic”, the skyscraper will have an angular form complete with a gridded facade and truncated top.

It will sit on an angular plinth with a roof that stretches over the concert venue to double as an accessible terrace.

The site’s newly-landscaped plaza, described as a “palace garden”, will connect to the building’s entrance and is hoped to encourage public gathering.

Inside, a full-height lobby will offer a flexible events space overlooked by upper-floor terraces and illuminated by skylights.

At its core, the venue’s existing 2,100-seat concert hall will be updated, with renders revealing a wood-lined interior adorned with concentric cladding and a central oculus.

Also in Tirana, Zaha Hadid Architects has recently unveiled visuals of a housing development with overhanging balconies, while MVRDV is designing a sports arena held within a 100-metre-wide sphere.

Elsewhere, in Paris, Herzog & de Meuron’s Tour Triangle skyscraper has topped out at 180 metres.

The renders are courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron.

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