Author: Isha Chaudhary
Isha Chaudhary
Isha Chaudhary is an architecture writer who follows and writes about current trends and emerging discussions in architecture, with a focus on design, technology, and place-making.
Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been officially announced as the winner of the international competition to design the new arrivals terminal at Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, positioned as a gateway to the Baltic region and a response to growing travel demand. The commission will help the airport rise to a capacity of 10.6 million passengers per year, weaving architecture into Vilnius’s long-term transit vision. The project, noted for its avant‑garde geometry, cultural resonance, and sustainability, will anchor a new era for Baltic air travel. Construction is slated to begin with tenders in early 2027, and full operation is estimated by late…
As Squid Game Season 3 hits worldwide on Netflix in 2025, its architecture once again proves itself a psychological device weaponized through spatial design. Under the direction of production designer Chae Kyoung-sun, the environments are meticulously constructed to intensify narrative themes: control, nostalgia, disorientation, and violence. The show continues its architectural dialogue with modernist and postmodernist masters, translating visual theory into spatial emotion. How Squid Game Season 3 Uses Curved Spaces to Confuse and Control The show’s infamous stairwells echo the spatial impossibilities of M.C. Escher’s Relativity and borrow heavily from Ricardo Bofill’s La Muralla Roja, a postmodern housing complex…
Foster + Partners, the renowned British architecture practice, has been officially commissioned to design the National Memorial to Queen Elizabeth II. This significant cultural project is led by the UK Government’s Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee and marks an important moment in the country’s architectural and historical narrative. The site, a section of St James’s Park near Marlborough Gate and the Blue Bridge, was selected for its historic ties to the monarch and proximity to major ceremonial routes. Design Philosophy and Architectural Approach of Foster + Partners Foster + Partners’ concept, developed in collaboration with artist Yinka Shonibare, ecologist Prof Nigel Dunnett, and landscape architect Michel Desvigne,…
Netflix, long associated with at-home binge culture, is turning the tables on its core business model by stepping off the screen and into physical space. With the upcoming debut of Netflix House in Philadelphia and Dallas by late 2025 and a third venue planned for Las Vegas in 2027, the streaming platform is making its boldest move yet into the experiential economy. These are pop-up exhibits & temporary fan conventions. Netflix House represents a permanent, year-round foray into location-based entertainment, retail, and hospitality. With over 100,000 square feet of immersive environments in each city, the venues are designed to bring…
Meta is redefining what’s possible in robotics and AI with the release of V-JEPA 2, its latest open-source “world model” designed to help robots understand and operate in environments they’ve never encountered before. This next-generation AI architecture signals a major shift toward autonomous systems that can learn, plan, and act with minimal human supervision, a milestone in Meta’s broader push toward advanced machine intelligence. What Is V-JEPA 2? While robotics has made impressive strides in controlled environments, robots still tend to fall short in dynamic, real-world scenarios they haven’t been specifically trained for. Whether in manufacturing, logistics, or home automation,…
Paris, June 2025, one of France’s most iconic cultural landmarks, the Grand Palais, has fully reopened to the public following a transformative four-year restoration led by Paris-based Chatillon Architectes. This project marks the most comprehensive intervention in the building’s 120-year history, reviving its original spatial logic, enhancing accessibility, and repositioning the monument as a contemporary cultural hub. Constructed for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, the Grand Palais has long stood as a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts architecture, fusing ornamental grandeur with industrial innovation in glass and steel. Chatillon Architectes undertook an exhaustive reworking of the 77,000-square-metre monument, guided by the principle of…
At the quiet edge of the Arsenale exhibition route at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, where curated intensity softens into the stillness of a garden, MAD Architects’ Chinese Paper Umbrella emerges as a living threshold between tradition and innovation. Installed in the outdoor space of the China Pavilion, the installation blends ancient Chinese craft with contemporary environmental design. It reimagines the traditional Chinese oil-paper umbrella at architectural scale, offering a shaded, breathable canopy that filters light, responds to weather, and invites stillness. Chinese Paper Umbrella marks one of the most poignant responses to this year’s Biennale theme, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial.…
Plans to construct a monumental bridge across the Red Sea connecting Ras Alsheikh Hamid in Saudi Arabia with Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt via Tiran Island have moved from concept to near-implementation, Egyptian authorities confirmed this month. In an exclusive statement to Reuters, Egypt’s Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kamel al-Wazir announced that the planning phase for the long-anticipated project has been completed. “We are ready to implement it at any time, whether a bridge or a tunnel,” said al-Wazir, signaling that the megaproject is no longer speculative but poised for execution pending final agreements. Physical and Symbolic Link Between…
As the race toward lunar habitation intensifies, the European Space Agency (ESA), in partnership with DLR (German Aerospace Center) and SAGA Space Architects, has unveiled FLEXHab, a modular lunar training habitat designed to simulate life on the Moon. FLEXHab is the centerpiece of ESA’s next-generation astronaut training, now fully operational within the LUNA facility at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. Behind the sleek, 28-square-meter habitat lies a deeply integrated digital infrastructure powered by Autodesk Fusion 360 and Autodesk Revit, allowing FLEXHab to transition seamlessly from conceptual model to mission-ready environment. FLEXHab’s Mission: Simulating Lunar Living for Artemis-Era…
In the remote expanse of Nevada’s high desert, artist and sculptor Michael Heizer has completed one of the most ambitious and enduring art installations of the modern era, “City.” Spanning over a mile and a half in length and half a mile in width, this colossal work has taken more than five decades to complete. Heizer began working on the idea in 1970, and in 2022, the piece was finally opened to the public, marking a landmark moment in the world of land art, architecture, and sculpture. “City” is an artwork and a place, carefully shaped, constructed, and embedded within…