Facade construction from material choice to detail: projects and technical articles, grouped by cladding material.
The Glasshouse Theatre adds a fifth venue to the heritage-listed Queensland Performing Arts Centre. It can be flexibly used for concerts, operas, and dance and theatre performances. The glass facades of the deeply cantilevered foyer visualise the theatrical art of illusion on the exterior.
Projects such as the Federal Environment Agency headquarters in Dessau or the temporary residence of the Federal President in Berlin show: For more than two decades Sauerbruch Hutton have been advancing timber construction both in terms of materials and systems. How much repetition can a building tolerate - and where does architecture begin when applying serial production methods? Four modular construction projects offer answers to this question.
Housing for the homeless often consists of stacked contain ers. While the overnight shelter designed by Hild und K utilises prefabrication, thoughtful details adorn the robust building through which the Munich-based office conveys impres sions of warmth and home.
How much existing fabric must be retained for a project to meet heritage protection requirements? Wutopia Lab's theatre in Suzhou tests the limits.
The Jewish Museum in Šeduva commemorates the culture of Eastern European towns before World War II. With their building, Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects from Finland reimagine the small-scale structure of one such village. Its residents were murdered in 1941 by Nazis and their local collaborators.
A semblance of broken porcelain with its repaired parts remaining visible forever: With their multi-purpose hall, Atelier Kaiser Shen demonstrate how construction in an existing context can be represented within the image of the building, despite comprehensive modernisation.
Dorte Mandrup is known for her idealism and an unmistakable sense of humour. Her ambitious building for the Crafts College in Herning, Denmark, promotes education and craftsmanship. The Copenhagen studio received an award at the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards. Following the award ceremony in Venice, we spoke about concrete spaces, the freedom of hand-drawn sketches - and why sailing and architecture speak the same language.
One of Switzerland's largest reuse projects is currently under construction in the southeast of Basel. Commissioned by the cantonal property management authority, the architectural practice Parabase is planning around 150 flats using the concrete elements from a demolished multi-storey car park.
An interview with Lukas Burkhart and Ognjen Krašna:
The National Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw by Thomas Phifer and Partners is a building that rewards a second look: behind its smooth white concrete facade, a series of unexpectedly light and varied interior spaces unfolds.
An old textile factory was transformed into a day centre for individuals with disabilities. As a public building in the heart of the city, it represents a completely new understanding of inclusion.
Lava architecten transformed an old mission building in Leuven into a place where circus arts, music, theatre, and dance coexist under one shared roof. Effective soundproofing is the precondition for the shared use of the facility.
In their restoration of the Monastery of Santa María of Sijena, Pemán y Franco and Sebastián preserve traces of destruction, rebuilding, and decay spanning 800 years. Recently, they remodelled the east and north wings into an exhibition space for the convent’s valuable artworks.
An interview with Federico Zarattini and Edoardo Giancola:
Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring at Expo 2025 in Osaka aims to revitalise timber construction in Japan. After the event, the structure will be repurposed for residential buildings and schools.
In Denmark, numerous companies in the construction industry are pushing the government to step up its climate ambitions. Sinus Lynge of Effekt Architects explains what's driving this momentum.
Hemp lime defies traditional construction material categories. With its effective eco-balance and indoor climate benefits, the material is gaining popularity - even in the concrete industry.
Peris + Toral Arquitectes defy categorisation. They push the boundaries of residential design through innovative living concepts and material experimentation.
The encyclopedist Isidor of Seville (560-636) described colour as "captive sunlight", while Sir Isaac Newton attempted to fit the colours of the rainbow into a linear, measurable spectrum (ill. 3), and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe developed a non-scientific colour circle (ill. 2) as part of his theory of colour. According to a definition in modern German standards, "Colour is the facial sensation of part of the field of vision that appears unstructured to the eye, by means of which that part - observed with a single, unmoving eye - can be solely differentiated from a similarly unstructured adjoining area seen at the same time.