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.
The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced that its 17th edition will take place from November 12–14, 2025, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, marking the festival’s first appearance in the United States. This year’s move from Europe to North America brings renewed attention to the continent’s architectural innovation, especially under the guiding theme, “Hearts and Minds.” A Platform for Live Architectural Critique At the core of WAF remains its signature live-judging program, in which architects present projects in real time to an international jury composed of critics, practitioners, and academic figures. Across 17 live judging rooms, shortlisted teams will…
A new chapter in Albania’s urban transformation is unfolding with the revitalization of the industrial port of Durrës, led by the internationally recognized firms Rojkind Arquitectos (Mexico) and Multiplicities (Mexico). This mixed-use development is more than a design intervention; it represents a model of contemporary architectural practice rooted in deep collaboration, cultural dialogue, and shared authorship. Bringing together architects, urban planners, engineers, and local professionals, the project reflects a growing trend in architecture where place-making is inseparable from relationship-building. It is a reminder that impactful architecture often arises not from singular visions but from collective understanding. Rojkind Arquitectos, known for…
After four years of meticulous renovation, the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has reopened its doors, ushering in a new chapter for the display and interpretation of art from sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and the Ancient Americas. And in a city as saturated with spectacle as New York, the Met’s Rockefeller Wing is now quietly one of the most radical exhibition spaces in town. Spanning 40,000 square feet, the revamped wing now houses over 1,800 works of art, including recent acquisitions and commissions by Indigenous artists. The galleries are designed to highlight the uniqueness of each…
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest event in the tournament’s history, not only because it will include 48 teams for the first time, but also because it will be co-hosted by three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament will start on June 11, 2026, in the reconstructed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and end on July 19, 2026, with the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The revised structure has 12 groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group, together with the eight best third-place finishers, will advance to…
Born in 1935 in the industrial heart of Manchester, Norman Foster’s early life was grounded in modest circumstances. The son of a machine painter and a waitress, he was drawn to mechanics and the built environment long before architecture became his language. After completing national service in the Royal Air Force, a formative experience that would later echo in his affinity for precision and systems, Foster pursued architecture at the University of Manchester, where he distinguished himself early. His academic journey continued across the Atlantic at Yale University, under the mentorship of Paul Rudolph. It was there that he encountered…
Snap Inc. is doubling down on its augmented reality ambitions with the launch of its fifth-generation Spectacles, an AR headset that actively responds to the world around the user. Built for developers but rich with consumer potential, these glasses push AR beyond novelty, transforming it into an immersive, intelligent assistant for how people see and interact with their environment. One of the standout features, Augmented Reading Lenses, introduces something entirely new: as a user reads a physical book, the glasses scan the text, interpret the context using OCR and AI, and respond with synchronized visuals and soundscapes. It marks a…
The Walt Disney Company has officially announced that Disneyland is coming to the United Arab Emirates. Set along the waterfront of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, this marks Disney’s first foray into the Middle East and its seventh resort worldwide. This announcement reflects a complex convergence of architecture, economics, and cultural diplomacy. With its promise of “authentically Disney, distinctly Emirati,” this project could redefine how theme parks are imagined in high-heat, high-growth environments. A New Kind of Castle Rather than simply planting another version of Disneyland abroad, the Abu Dhabi project offers something more nuanced. With heat indexes regularly topping…
Design Shanghai returns from June 4–7, 2025, at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center. Long recognized as one of Asia’s most influential design fairs, this year’s edition marks a pivotal shift, spotlighting “Design for Humanity” as its central theme: it leans hard into a timely and urgent, design must serve people first. A Shift in Mindset: Designing for Real Life Speaking ahead of the show, Event Director Zhuo Tan emphasized that this year’s vision is about connection, between East and West, designers and users, heritage and innovation. “Through design, where are we heading, and how should we act?”…
On Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea shores, the Corallium Marine Life Institute is quietly redefining what it means to design with nature. Set within the ultra-luxury AMAALA development, the project is nearing completion and already drawing attention for its sculptural ambition and environmental intent. Designed by Foster + Partners, it’s bold, Eye-catching, and conceptually rigorous. The 10,340-square-meter structure attempts something rare, to act as a literal and symbolic extension of the coral reef system it celebrates. In interviews and official releases, the design team consistently returns to a single theme: biomimicry. The architecture draws directly from the morphology of coral, both…
Seoul, South Korea: The Photography Seoul Museum of Art (PhotoSeMA) is now open, becoming Korea’s first public museum fully dedicated to photography. Located in Dobong-gu, a growing cultural district in northeastern Seoul, the museum brings together a strong curatorial focus and a bold architectural design. It’s built to support photography not just as a form of visual art, but also as a medium for historical preservation and creative research. This new branch of the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) spans 7,048 square meters across six levels, four above ground and two below, and is the result of a collaboration between…