The penthouse residence by Metaphors is defined by a balance of extremes, where bold neo-classical elements are combined with the raw mass of brutalism. The architectural program rejects a singular aesthetic, instead opting for a material collision that pairs deep-veined, sculpted marbles with intricately detailed ceilings and embossed wall panels. This allows the residence to function as a versatile home, shifting between an expansive stage for high-society hosting and a series of intimate, quiet sanctuaries for family life.

Penthouse residence by Metaphors | all images courtesy of Metaphors

AESTHETICS, UTILITY, AND MINDFULNESS DRIVE METAPHORS’ Practice

Based in India, Metaphors was co-founded by Anand Bhagat and the late Amala Sheth, gaining early recognition for designing large-scale IT campuses and commercial spaces during the country’s technological boom. The firm’s expertise spans hospitality, residential, and institutional sectors, always prioritizing functional and contextually sensitive design. Bhagat, a certified naturalist and martial artist, steers the studio’s vision through his personal mantra, ‘AUM’ – Aesthetics, Utility, and Mindfulness. This philosophy ensures that every project reflects technical precision alongside a deep respect for the user’s experience and the environment.

bold neo-classical elements are combined with the raw mass of brutalism

PENTHOUSE RESIDENCE WITH CONTRASTING INFLUENCES

To animate the interiors, Metaphors utilizes a sequence of strategic ceiling cut-outs that allow natural light to penetrate the deep plan. These openings transform the atmosphere of the home throughout the day, casting shifting shadows across the heavy stone surfaces and textured wall treatments. The spatial organization follows this logic of contrast; while the brutalist influence introduces a sense of permanence and austerity, the neo-classical detailing provides a rhythmic ornamentation that softens the structural rigor.

By navigating this balance of extremes, the design ensures that movement through the home becomes a processional experience. The heavy, veined marbles ground the living volumes, while the light-filled voids overhead introduce a sense of verticality and openness. This layering of history and modernism results in a residence that serves as an experiential study in harmony and contrast.

light-filled voids introduce a sense of verticality and openness

light-filled voids introduce a sense of verticality and openness

each room is crafted for both shared family moments and cherished solitude

sculpted marbles in deep veined tones ground the space with opulence

the neo-classical detailing provides a rhythmic ornamentation that softens the structural rigor

the residence shifts between an expansive stage for high-society hosting and intimate sanctuaries for family life

the brutalist influence introduces a sense of permanence and austerity

project info: 

name: Penthouse Residence
design studio: Metaphors | @metaphorsdesignpune
lead architect: Anand Bhagat | @anandbhagat84
interior architect: Pauravi Mahajan- Pawar | @ar.pauravi
location: India

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Wuzhou Elementary School is a public primary school located in central Shenzhen, designed by People’s Architecture Office (PAO) to support contemporary educational models that emphasize creativity, exploration, and experiential learning. The project responds to Shenzhen’s broader transition from an industrial economy to one oriented toward innovation by reconsidering how architectural space can support evolving modes of education.

The school is conceived as a three-dimensional ‘Learning Landscape,’ replacing conventional classroom-and-corridor arrangements with a continuous field of varied spatial conditions. Learning environments are organized as interconnected zones that support different forms of interaction, movement, and engagement. This spatial flexibility encourages student-centered learning while allowing the school to adapt over time as pedagogical needs change.

Interior and exterior learning environments are treated as equally important components of the educational experience. Covered outdoor areas, occupiable architectural elements, and classrooms that open directly to exterior spaces reduce the separation between indoors and outdoors. These conditions support learning beyond the desk, enabling hands-on activities and engagement with natural elements.

all images by Yumeng Zhu

People’s Architecture Office focuses on movement and flexibility

The design team at People’s Architecture Office (PAO) organizes the Learning Landscape around three primary spatial elements: the Mountain, the Valley, and the Beach. Located in the main courtyard, the Mountain houses the school’s theater and cafeteria. Its stepped exterior provides vertical circulation and seating, while a raised platform at its base functions as a stage for performances and events. The Valley, designed at a smaller scale for younger students, features terraced steps descending toward a central mound, creating seating for informal gatherings and group activities. Adjacent to the Valley, the Beach is composed of gently contoured terrain that supports physical play and motor development for younger children.

Large interstitial spaces distributed throughout the school facilitate cross-disciplinary learning, collaboration, and informal interaction. Additional terraced areas, including the green roof, library, and sports facilities, are connected across multiple levels, reinforcing visual and physical continuity throughout the campus.

Vegetation is integrated across the project to address Shenzhen’s tropical climate. Planted areas contribute to passive cooling, help filter air pollution, and reduce noise from surrounding streets. These landscapes also form part of the learning environment, allowing students to engage with plant care and environmental processes. At the urban scale, the school is conceived as an extension of the large public park located to the north, while its greenery contributes to mitigating the urban heat island effect generated by adjacent commercial development.

Wuzhou Elementary School is a public primary school located in central Shenzhen

the school supports contemporary educational models based on creativity and exploration

the campus is conceived as a three-dimensional ‘Learning Landscape’

interior and exterior environments are treated as equally important learning areas

classrooms open directly to outdoor spaces, reducing the boundary between inside and outside

covered outdoor areas support hands-on learning and informal activities

stepped surfaces provide seating, circulation, and performance areas

terraced elements connect the library, green roof, and sports facilities across levels

large interstitial spaces support collaboration and cross-disciplinary learning

vegetation is integrated throughout the school to support passive cooling

architecture is used as a tool to support evolving modes of learning

the school, developed by People’s Architecture Office (PAO), connects to the adjacent public park

project info:

name: Wuzhou Elementary School

architect: People’s Architecture Office (PAO) | @peoplesarchitecture

location: Shenzhen, China

photographer: Yumeng Zhu

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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Sinuous and textural, Wallmakers‘ Kulhad Pavilion stands on Miramar beach in Goa, India as a temporary structure for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025. The pavilion is set along the edge of the sand and occupies a narrow, shaded strip between trees and coast beyond.

Kulhads, also known as terracotta mud cups, once defined the everyday ritual of tea at railway stations across India. Used briefly and discarded soon after, they accumulated along tracks and coastlines, leaving a quiet record of consumption. For this pavilion, more than 18,000 of these cups were gathered from local communities in Dharavi and reused as a building material with structural purpose.

images © Studio IKSHA

the vaulted structure of terracotta waste

The architects at Wallmakers form the Kulhad Pavilion through three compressive catenary vaults, each shaped to direct weight downward into the ground. Built as unreinforced masonry, the vaults rely on geometry and gravity rather than additives or frames. The earthen cups are stacked and bonded to create a porous surface that filters light and air while maintaining mass and stability.

As the structure meanders along the beach edge, it takes on multiple roles as seating, shade, and informal stage. People pause beneath the vaults to escape the sun, while animals find shelter in the same spaces. Through this simple exchange between waste material and spatial need, Wallmakers presents the Kulhad Pavilion as an example of how discarded objects can regain civic presence through careful architectural thinking.

the Kulhad Pavilion stands along Miramar beach in Goa, India

Wallmakers designs the pavilion using 18,000 reclaimed terracotta ‘kulhads’

the pavilion reuses discarded mud cups collected from Dharavi in Mumbai

the structural system comprises three compressive catenary vaults

the unreinforced vaults rely on geometry and gravity for stability

earthen surfaces filter light and breezes along the beach edge

the structure weaves between trees as seating, shade, and gathering space

project info:

name: Kulhad Pavilion

architect: Wallmakers | @ar.vinudaniel

location: Goa, India

area: 1025 square feet
completion: 2025

photography: © Studio IKSHA | @studio.iksha

design team: Vinu Daniel, Preksha Shah, Jayesh Varma
structural engineer: Steelcrete
civil contractor: Aviyon Constructions

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Doca Linear Park is a landscape-led urban regeneration project by Natureza Urbana located in Belém do Pará, Brazil. The project occupies the former Igarapé das Almas, a 1.2-kilometer canal running along the central median of Visconde de Sousa Franco Avenue. The intervention addresses the historical disconnection between the city and its waterways by reintroducing water as a central element of public space and urban infrastructure.

Belém’s urban development progressively buried and fragmented its rivers and igarapés, prioritizing road infrastructure and reducing the presence of water in everyday life. The canal corridor was previously characterized by limited vegetation, low soil permeability, and a lack of public amenities, resulting in an underused and environmentally compromised urban space. Doca Linear Park forms part of a broader strategy to restore ecological and spatial continuity while improving environmental performance and public accessibility.

Designed as one of the key urban legacies for COP30, the project transforms the former canal into a continuous linear park structured around green infrastructure and water-sensitive urban design principles. The historic watercourse becomes the organizing element of the project, shaping a sequence of public spaces for leisure, sports, and everyday use. The design integrates nature-based solutions to improve water quality, reduce diffuse pollution, and support microdrainage, while resilient hydraulic systems address flood mitigation and public safety.

all images by Manuel Sá unless stated otherwise

Doca Linear Park builds A Continuous Network of Public Spaces

Increased soil permeability and the introduction of extensive native vegetation contribute to passive cooling, improved drainage, and the regulation of the local microclimate. The design team at Natureza Urbana follows these landscape strategies to support biodiversity and ecological connectivity within the urban fabric. Along its 1.2-kilometer length, the park incorporates viewpoints, elevated walkways, kiosks, playgrounds, a dog park, shaded seating areas, a continuous cycle path, and sports facilities, creating a varied sequence of spaces connected by pedestrian and cycling routes.

The design prioritizes universal accessibility, safety, and comfort, ensuring continuous use throughout the day. Community participation informed the development process through engagement with local residents, schools, and organizations, contributing to programmatic and spatial decisions aligned with local needs. Integrated within a wider framework of sanitation, drainage, and urban revitalization works in the Doca area, the project serves approximately 500,000 residents.

By converting a former canal into combined ecological and public infrastructure, Doca Linear Park reintroduces water into Belém’s urban experience and establishes a model for landscape-based regeneration within the Amazonian context.

Doca Linear Park occupies the former Igarapé das Almas canal in Belém do Pará

the 1.2-kilometer park runs along the central median of Visconde de Sousa Franco Avenue | image by Leonardo Finotti

landscape design replaces a previously underused canal corridor

nature-based solutions improve water quality and drainage performance

the project reintroduces water as a key element of public space

water-sensitive urban design supports flood mitigation and safety | image by Leonardo Finotti

elevated walkways provide views across the canal landscape | image by Leonardo Finotti

playgrounds and sports facilities activate the public realm | image by Leonardo Finotti

native vegetation contributes to cooling and ecological connectivity

Doca Linear Park combines ecological infrastructure with public space

shaded seating areas support everyday use of the park

kiosks and gathering areas support leisure and social interaction

the park integrates pedestrian and cycling routes along its length

the intervention addresses Belém’s historical separation from its waterways

project info:

name: Doca Linear Park

architect: Natureza Urbana | @naturezaurbana_br

location: Belém do Pará, Brazil

area: 40.080,24 sqm

project leader: Giulia Corsi
design team: Claudia Jaegerman, Julia Ximenes, Juliana Santos, Luan Neske, Nicollas Rangel, Yan Azevedo

coordination: Manoela Machado and Pedro Lira
partners: Vallenge Engenharia, Geasa Engenharia and Marcello Sanguinetti Estruturas Ltda

photographers: Manuel Sá | @omanuelsa, Leonardo Finotti | @leonardofinotti

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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The Best Pivot Door Contest 2026, organized by FritsJurgens, brings together leading architects, designers, and makers from around the world to celebrate innovation in pivot door design. Announced in 2026 and drawing from more than 200 international submissions, the contest highlights 15 nominated projects that demonstrate how pivot doors continue to redefine architectural thresholds across private homes, cultural settings, and highly specialized environments. Evaluated by an independent jury of internationally recognized architects and engineers, including BIG, Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, KAAN Architecten, and Arup, the initiative underscores why pivot doors have become a key architectural element: they merge structural performance with spatial expression, turning functional access points into defining design moments.

the Best Pivot Door Contest 2026 by FritsJurgens highlights 15 nominated projects | all images courtesy of FritsJurgens

Founded in the Netherlands, FritsJurgens is a company rooted in precision engineering and architectural collaboration. Established by FritsJurgens, the brand emerged from a clear ambition: to develop high-performance pivot systems capable of supporting very small and light, and exceptionally large and heavy doors while maintaining effortless movement and visual restraint. From the outset, the company positioned itself at the intersection of design and technology, working closely with architects and fabricators to solve complex spatial and mechanical challenges.

Over the years, FritsJurgens has built a reputation for systems that operate invisibly yet decisively shape architectural experience. Its pivot mechanisms are designed to be concealed within the door, allowing doors to read as moving walls rather than technical objects. This philosophy naturally extends into the Best Pivot Door Contest, which functions not only as a competition but also as a platform to showcase how thoughtful engineering can expand architectural language across climates, cultures, and material traditions.

evaluated by an independent jury of internationally recognized architects and engineers, the initiative underscores why pivot doors have become a key architectural element

The 2026 edition introduced a refined nomination process, with FritsJurgens selecting fifteen standout projects from a broad global pool. These shortlisted works were assessed by a jury of renowned architects, ensuring a multidisciplinary perspective that balances architectural intent, structural logic, and material execution. Alongside the jury awards, a newly introduced Public’s Choice Award invited a wider audience to engage with and support exemplary projects, reinforcing the contest’s international reach.

The Best Exterior Pivot Door 2026 – Jury Award was awarded to Silent Giant in Switzerland, designed by Mattia Canepa architetto. Transforming a private garage entrance into a transparent architectural feature, the nearly four-metre-wide glass door operates with remarkable calm despite its 470-kilogram weight. The jury highlighted the project’s precision, proportion, and the way controlled movement elevates a purely functional threshold into an architectural experience. ‘Technically outstanding and visually serene. The door reads as a moving wall whose elegance comes from precision rather than expression,’ says Fernando Garcia, Arup.

name: Silent Giant

award: Best Exterior Pivot Door 2026 – Jury Award

design: Mattia Canepa architetto
manufacture: Cattani Falegnameria SA
photograph: Alessandro Radice

country: Switzerland

The Best Exterior Pivot Door 2026 – Public’s Choice Award went to Lost Villa in Bali, designed by Single Art. Hand-carved from locally sourced Balinese timber and finished through charring, the door stands out for its tactile richness and cultural sensitivity. Its expressive surface contrasts with the smooth, almost weightless motion of the pivot system, earning praise for material honesty and craftsmanship. ‘A beautiful example of material honesty and craft. The surface invites touch and the movement introduces a quiet theatricality,’ comments Jesper Boye Andersen, BIG.

name: Lost Villa

award: Best Exterior Pivot Door 2026 – Public’s Choice Award

design: Single Art
hardware: SIMU Indonesia

country: Indonesia

Best Interior Pivot Door 2026 – Jury Award was presented to Tafelberg in the Netherlands by Studio Massimo. Within a continuous Red Grandis interior, the pivot doors blend seamlessly into walls and ceilings, reinforcing a calm and unified spatial language. The jury valued the project’s consistency and restraint, noting how movement becomes an integral yet almost imperceptible part of the architectural composition. Dikkie Scipio from KAAN Architecten says, ‘A masterclass in consistency and spatial calm. The design allows architecture to breathe without distraction.

name: Tafelberg

award: Best Interior Pivot Door 2026 – Jury Award
design: Studio Massimo
manufacture: Broporte Exclusive Doors
photograph: Riccardo De Vecchi Photography / Christian van der Kooy

country: Netherlands

The Best Interior Pivot Door 2026 – Public’s Choice Award was awarded to the Dubai Cinema Door by Worldesignteam WDM. Concealed within a sculptural travertine wall, the door remains visually indistinguishable until it pivots open, revealing a private cinema. The project was recognized for its theatrical presence, bold geometry, and the technical achievement of integrating a heavy stone door into a seamless architectural surface. ‘A sculptural object that becomes architecture. The sense of weight and precision is impressive,’ says Alessandra Laiso, Zaha Hadid Architects.

name: Dubai Cinema Door

design: Worldesignteam WDM
manufacture: Concept 5
hardware: Chabros
photograph: Yasar Curtay

country: United Arab Emirates

Winning both jury and public votes, Villa Venezia in Italy received the Best Speciality Application 2026 – Jury Award and Public’s Choice Award, making it the only project to receive both jury and public recognition in this year’s contest. Featuring two nearly four-metre-tall thermally broken steel pivot doors with an ultra-slim profile, the project achieves a rare balance between structural rigor and visual delicacy. The jury praised its engineering refinement, precise detailing, and architectural clarity, positioning it as a benchmark for future pivot door applications. ‘A beautifully engineered composition. The balance between structural logic and visual delicacy is remarkable,’ exclaims Fernando Garcia, Arup.

name: Villa Venezia

manufacture: UKeg Group srl

evaluated by an international jury and supported by public voting, the contest highlights the expanding role of pivot doors in contemporary architecture

project info:

name: Best Pivot Door Contest 2026 

company: FritsJurgens | @fritsjurgens

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The Memphis Art Museum shares updated renderings, construction images, and the first details of its curatorial approach for its new downtown cultural campus, scheduled to open in December 2026. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with architect of record archimania and landscape studio OLIN, the 11,475-square-meter building repositions the institution along the Mississippi River, expanding its gallery footprint and its role as a civic space. The museum frames the new building as an active participant in the way that art, history, and community are experienced.

The glass facade of the building and street-level galleries allow passersby to see inside, while a public plaza shared with the historic Cossitt Library forms a new cultural commons along the bluff. At the center, a shaded courtyard operates as a social hinge, surrounded by a continuous, single-story loop of flexible gallery spaces. Five galleries feature large windows overlooking either the Mississippi River or the courtyard, while light-filled classrooms with northern exposure link viewing art to making it. Atop the building, a 4,645-square-meter rooftop sculpture garden, described as an ‘art park in the sky’, extends the footprint of the museum into the skyline. Sculptures, native plants, an event pavilion, and panoramic views of downtown Memphis and the Mississippi floodplain transform the roof into a public destination. 

The building is among the first major US museums to be constructed using laminated timber, with wood forming a defining architectural element throughout the campus. Timber beams, warm-toned surfaces, and material references to the clay banks of the Mississippi embed the building in its regional landscape. ‘Already, the civic nature of the building is tangible, and one can sense the positive impact it will have on Memphis,’ notes Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner at Herzog & de Meuron.

all Memphis Art Museum construction images by Houston Cofield

a curatorial shift grounded in lived experience

Founded in 1916, the Memphis Art Museum is the largest and oldest world art museum in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, holding nearly 10,000 works that span 5,000 years of global history. Its collection includes Old Master paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, American art from the late 19th and 20th centuries, and significant holdings in photography. The move downtown allows the institution to reorganize its narratives around lived experience rather than conventional art historical chronologies.

That shift is most visible in the new curatorial framework. When the museum opens, its galleries will be organized into 18 distinct exhibitions that foreground connections across time, geography, and medium. The new layout creates visual and conceptual dialogue between spaces. ‘The construction of a new museum has given us a rare opportunity to not simply display more art, but to reimagine how we think about history, power, creativity and connection,’ says Chief Curator Dr. Patricia Lee Daigle. ‘We’re able to present the collection in ways that reflect the lived realities of the city that we serve.’

One thematic throughline across the campus is liberation. An exhibition anchored by Henry Sharp Studio’s Warren Black Gospel Window, on view for the first time, presents an early depiction of Christ and three biblical women as Black. This gallery will be in conversation with another space across the courtyard that explores jazz as a liberatory force for Black American abstract artists, including Sam Gilliam’s Azure (1977), a work long associated with the museum. These cross-courtyard sightlines are not incidental; the building’s spatial organization actively supports curatorial storytelling.

scheduled to open in December 2026

archives, artists, and the making of collective memory

Through the Blackmon Perry Initiative, the institution has acquired 80 works by contemporary Black artists, including Sanford Biggers, Brittney Boyd Bullock, Jordan Casteel, Torkwase Dyson, Alteronce Gumby, Hew Locke, and Ebony Patterson, an initiative supported by the Blackmon Perry Endowment, which funds a Curator of African American Art and Art of the African Diaspora, along with exhibitions, catalogues, and acquisitions. Another major addition is the Hooks Brothers Studio archive, which includes more than 75,000 photographs documenting Black life in the American South between 1900 and 1984, promised as a gift from Andrea Herenton and board trustee Rodney Herenton.

Opening during a year of major cultural expansions across the city, including projects at the National Civil Rights Museum and the National Ornamental Metal Museum, the new Memphis Art Museum positions itself as part of a broader cultural ecosystem rather than a standalone icon. As Executive Director Zoe Kahr puts it, ‘The depth of a community’s belief in the arts is reflected in its willingness to invest boldly in spaces that invite imagination, dialogue, and connection.’

the 11,475-square-meter building repositions the institution along the Mississippi River

expanding its gallery footprint and its role as a civic space

an active participant in the way that art, history, and community are experienced

the glass facade of the building and street-level galleries allow passersby to see inside

light-filled classrooms with northern exposure link viewing art to making it

a 4,645-square-meter rooftop sculpture garden extends the footprint of the museum

front street | all renderings courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron

front street sidewalk

Monroe Plaza

courtyard entry

roof garden

gallery north

gallery west

gallery north

front street sidewalk, evening

riverside evening

project info:

name: Memphis Art Museum | @brooksmuseum

architect: Herzog & de Meuron | @herzogdemeuron

location: Memphis, Tennessee, USA

total area: 11,475 square meter (123,500 square feet)

architect of record: archimania | @archimania

landscape design: OLIN | @olininsta
opening: December 2026

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Built99 is an architectural platform and curated registry founded to reposition Indian and Global South practices within the global design conversation, operating across India with an international editorial outlook. Conceived as a permanence-led archive rather than a directory, Built99 documents architectural work through ideas, ethics, and built proof, responding to a long-standing lack of sustained global visibility for the region’s practices.

Launching its first major selection cycle in 2026, the initiative brings together editors from designboom and ArchDaily to identify 99 practitioners whose work demonstrates long-term relevance, cultural depth, and intellectual rigor, setting out to build a reference framework that can endure beyond trends.

Built99 is an architectural platform and curated registry founded to reposition Indian and Global South practices within the global design conversation | all images courtesy of Built99

placing regional practices into active dialogue

At its core, Built99 was created to address a structural absence: despite decades of spatial intelligence, ethical experimentation, and contextual design, architecture from India and the Global South has often circulated without long-term critical framing. Built99 positions itself as a cultural institution rather than a promotional platform, designed to place regional practices into active dialogue with international architectural discourse. By combining editorial scrutiny with archival intent, the platform reframes visibility as something earned through clarity and defensible ideas, rather than popularity or spectacle.

The Built99 model is anchored in a rigorous documentation framework that evaluates architecture through spatial clarity, cultural context, and ethical position. Each selected studio is presented not as a portfolio snapshot but as a clearly articulated thesis, examining how ideas translate into built form over time. This approach allows Built99 to function as a long-term intellectual record, creating a body of work that can be referenced, studied, and situated within broader global narratives, while resisting the rapid churn typical of digital platforms.

conceived as a permanence-led archive rather than a directory, Built99 documents architectural work through ideas and ethics

built99 offers year-round editorial programming

A defining aspect of Built99 is its editorial collaboration with the global platforms designboom and ArchDaily, whose editors will jointly select the inaugural cohort of 99 practitioners. This curatorial process ensures international credibility while maintaining a critical lens rooted in context rather than trend. For selected studios, the platform offers year-round editorial programming, including interviews, studio films, and curated conversations that extend beyond announcement-driven exposure and into sustained cultural engagement.

The initiative culminates in the Built99 Coffee Table Book, scheduled for release in November 2026 alongside the platform’s flagship event. The publication will document the selected practices as a collective benchmark, positioning their work within a shared architectural moment while preserving individual methodologies. In parallel, each practice receives a permanent digital dossier, ensuring that their contributions remain accessible as part of an evolving archival ecosystem.

a defining aspect of Built99 is its editorial collaboration with the global platforms designboom and ArchDaily, whose editors will jointly select the inaugural cohort of 99 practitioners

While Built99 emphasizes permanence over promotion, its visibility strategy is deliberately global. Selected practitioners based in India gain dedicated exposure through Forbes India, while international visibility is driven through designboom and ArchDaily. This dual-channel approach reinforces the platform’s ambition to connect regional architectural intelligence with a wider professional and cultural audience, without diluting its editorial standards.

Built99 ultimately defines itself through restraint and clarity, setting a curated bar for architectural practice that values depth over noise. Framed by the idea that “ideas are built, then they travel,” the platform argues for architecture that can be defended intellectually and ethically over time. In doing so, Built 99 positions itself not as a momentary spotlight, but as a lasting reference point for practices shaping the future of architecture from the Global South outward.

Built99 ultimately defines itself through restraint and clarity, setting a curated bar for architectural practice that values depth over noise

Built 99 positions itself not as a momentary spotlight, but as a lasting reference point for practices shaping the future of architecture from the Global South outward

project info:

name: Built99 | @built99_

The post built99 reframes indian architectural value selected by designboom and archdaily editors appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

House 720 Degrees by Fernanda Canales stands in a secluded valley three hours from Mexico City. The project approaches dwelling as a calibrated relationship within the landscape as the design takes form as a geometric and optical device which extends a 360-degree span into a doubled circuit.

From a central patio, the house establishes a continuous exchange between interior and exterior conditions. It works like a solar clock, tracking time through ever-shifting sunlight and shadow. The home frames distant mountains and a volcano during the day and turns its attention inward after sunset around a circular courtyard. This dual orientation gives the house multiple identities across a single day.

image © Rafael Gamo

a dwelling in three parts 

With her House 720 Degrees, architect Fernanda Canales brings together three distinct volumes that respond to the site’s pronounced topography. A main circular house anchors the composition, accompanied by a detached studio or guest room and a rectangular block organized around its own patio. This separation preserves existing vegetation and allows each volume to settle into the land with minimal disturbance.

Designed for two families, the complex supports shared use while maintaining autonomy. Spaces for guests sit slightly apart, connected by exterior paths that follow the slope. Movement between volumes becomes an outdoor experience which reinforces awareness of the weather and the earth.

image © Camila Cossio

inside the circular ‘house 720 degrees’

House 720 Degrees spans two levels, with living spaces on the ground and an open roof terrace above. The circular plan fits rectangular bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and the kitchen, while curved walls remain free for circulation. These arcs extend outward as terraces toward the courtyard and as gardens along the exterior edge.

Large fold-away windows, privacy screens, and framed views allow breezy rooms to extend outward toward the scenic site. This way, interior spaces maintain direct contact with the environment, easily adjusting to the season and time of day.

image © Camila Cossio

Set within a valley marked by intense temperature swings and long rainy seasons, the house balances shelter with exposure. Thick walls act as membranes between forest and prairie, dry and wet periods, and spatial conditions that move from center to interior to open air. With this layered approach, the architect moderates climate while preserving a strong connection to the surrounding landscape.

Materials are sourced directly from the site. Local soil mixed with concrete gives the walls a finish that reflects the color and texture of the land. A low, single-level profile allows the building to settle into the earth. Lamps and furniture produced on-site draw on regional craft.

image © Rafael Gamo

House 720 Degrees operates off-grid, harvesting rainwater and generating electricity through solar panels. The same system heats water throughout the house, while hydronic radiant floors serve the bedrooms. Cross-ventilation reaches every room, with openings oriented toward multiple directions to support airflow and comfort.

Durability guided material choices, supporting straightforward and economical upkeep. Surfaces withstand weather without paint or applied cladding, allowing the structure to age alongside its surroundings. As seasons pass, subtle shifts in color and texture register time, reinforcing the house as an active participant in its environment rather than a fixed object.

image © Rafael Gamo

image © Rafael Gamo

image © Rafael Gamo

image © Camila Cossio

project info:

name: House 720 Degrees

architect: Fernanda Canales | @fernandacanales_arquitectura

location: La Reserva Peñitas, Valle de Bravo, Mexico

area: 1,115 square meters (12,000 square feet)

completion: 2024

photography: © Rafael Gamo | @rafaelgamo © Camila Cossio | @_camilacossio

architect of record: Fernanda Canales
team: Aarón Jassiel, Alberto García Valladares, Ángela Vizcarra
interior design: Camilla Pallares

structural engineer: Gerson Huerta – Grupo Sai
sanitary, electrical installations: Carlos Medina – Grupo MEB
carpentry: Óscar Nieto 
lighting: Lucas Salas
general contractor: Felipe Nieto

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Located in Kazole Village, Zanzibar, Lei Wa Lakom Library by PARALLEL STUDIO is conceived as a lightweight, climate-sensitive structure that prioritizes openness, adaptability, and human scale. The architectural language draws from Swahili principles of shaded spaces, cross-ventilation, and visual permeability, allowing the building to remain naturally comfortable while maintaining a strong relationship with its surroundings. Rather than separating inside from outside, the library blurs these boundaries, reinforcing a sense of belonging and accessibility. The envelope is defined by perforated opaque corrugated panels that filter daylight, creating a soft, ever-changing interior atmosphere while ensuring privacy, safety, and air circulation.

all images courtesy of PARALLEL STUDIO

PARALLEL STUDIO Adopts an Environmental Design Approach

The design team at PARALLEL STUDIO complements this environmental approach with an integrated water feature, which holds cultural and symbolic significance within an Islamic tradition, where water is associated with life. Timber framing and exposed structural elements express material honesty and ease of construction, reflecting locally familiar building techniques. The roof form extends beyond the walls to provide shade and protection from heavy rainfall, reinforcing the building’s environmental responsiveness. Internally, the space is deliberately flexible and non-hierarchical. Low furniture, open floor areas, and adaptable zones support reading, learning, discussion, and communal activities, particularly for children, allowing the library to function as both an educational and social space.

Lei Wa Lakom Library is part of the Parallel Gives program, an architectural initiative that explores how small-scale, socially driven projects can generate long-term impact through thoughtful, context-responsive design.

Lei Wa Lakom Library is located in Kazole Village, Zanzibar

an integrated water feature holds cultural and symbolic meaning

water references life within Islamic tradition

openness and adaptability define the building’s architectural language

exposed construction reflects locally familiar building methods

filtered daylight creates a soft and changing interior atmosphere

interior and exterior spaces are intentionally blurred

the library by PARALLEL STUDIO functions as both an educational and social space

project info:

name: Lei Wa Lakom Library

architect: PARALLEL STUDIO | @parallel_studio

lead architect: Mai Al Busairi

location: Kazole, Zanzibar, Tanzania

area: 94.5 sqm

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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Louis Vuitton’s Fall–Winter 2026 men’s show unfolds around the DROPHAUS, a prefabricated architectural environment conceived by Pharrell Williams in collaboration with the Japanese hospitality firm NOT A HOTEL. Installed at the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris, the structure, installed by Bureau Betak, becomes a domestic landscape through which the collection is narrated. Presented as a wooden freight crate that opens to reveal a droplet-shaped home, the DROPHAUS stages a vision of ‘timeless living,’ framing the core ideas of the collection around endurance, utility, and material experimentation.

The show situates the future in the familiar setting of a house in a garden. The prefabricated home is imagined as a dwelling for the Louis Vuitton dandy of the near future. Williams designs the interiors with his own HOMEWORK furniture pieces, whose rough, craggy geometries emphasize the role of the human hand. This spatial turn aligns with Williams’ growing involvement in hospitality and real-estate concepts, including his recent collaboration with NOT A HOTEL, Japa Valley Tokyo, a one-hectare art, retail, and hospitality complex developed with NIGO and set to open in 2027 (find designboom’s previous coverage here).

all images courtesy of Louis Vuitton

a runway staged around a droplet-inspired transportable house

The droplet element, inspiring the form of the residence, becomes a recurring metaphor throughout the Louis Vuitton show, representing small-scale actions that generate long-term ripple effects. This idea is embedded into the rounded, fluid volumes of the building, echoed in the garments, and later literalized in crystal embellishments, ripple-molded sneaker soles, and splash-like surfaces, transforming the runway into a lived-in environment.

This immersive environment supports Williams’ broader concept for the collection, based on a form of futurism rooted in continuity. The show presents a future built from familiar typologies, heritage tailoring patterns, everyday fabrics, and recognizable architectural forms reworked through material science and artisanal techniques. The DROPHAUS becomes the spatial equivalent of this approach as a recognizable home, but reshaped by speculative logic.

Louis Vuitton’s Fall–Winter 2026 men’s show unfolds around the DROPHAUS

material illusion as a spatial and textile strategy

Material innovation, described by Louis Vuitton as Timeless Textiles, plays a central role in how the collection relates to its architectural setting. Many of the fabrics mimic familiar surfaces. Denim reflects light, tailoring cloths are woven with technical yarns, silk and chambray shells are thermo-adaptive, and textiles are bonded with aluminum that reshapes with movement. These materials mirror the prefabricated logic of the structure, which is lightweight, transportable, and engineered.

Trompe l’oeil effects appear throughout the collection, with garments masquerading as other materials: silk posed as nylon, crocodile resembling cowhide, and mink resembling toweling. This visual trickery resonates with the DROPHAUS itself, which presents a prefabricated structure as a ‘timeless’ dwelling. The home looks familiar, but its form, transportability, and symbolism signal something more speculative.

a prefabricated architectural environment conceived by Pharrell Williams in collaboration NOT A HOTEL

world-building beyond the catwalk

The droplet motif is developed further in the show’s detailing, from hand-applied crystal embellishments to the new LV Drop sneaker, whose sole is molded like ripples in water. These gestures reinforce the idea that small interventions, whether they’re visual, material, or conceptual, can produce cumulative effects. The architecture, clothing, accessories, and even soundtrack participate in this logic, all contributing to what Louis Vuitton describes as a ‘world within a world.’

The soundtrack of the Fall–Winter 2026 men’s show, produced by Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton’s Paris headquarters, extends this world-building into sound. Featuring debut tracks by John Legend, Jackson Wang, A$AP Rocky, and Quavo, the music frames the runway as a cross-genre performance space rather than a conventional fashion show. 

the structure becomes a domestic landscape through which the collection is narrated

the set transforms the runway into a lived-in environment

Williams designs the interiors with his own HOMEWORK furniture pieces

this immersive environment supports Williams’ broader concept for the collection

the show presents a future built from familiar typologies

material innovation plays a central role in how the collection relates to its architectural setting

this spatial turn aligns with Williams’ growing involvement in hospitality and real-estate concepts

trompe l’oeil effects appear throughout the collection, with garments masquerading as other materials

materials mirror the prefabricated logic of the structure

core ideas of the collection include endurance, utility, and material experimentation

project info:

name: Louis Vuitton | @louisvuitton Men’s Fall–Winter 2026 Show

creative director: Pharrell Williams | @pharrell

set design: Pharrell Williams in collaboration with NOT A HOTEL | @notahotel_official, Bureau Betak | @bureaubetak

location: Jardin d’Acclimatation, Paris, France

olfactory design: Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, Louis Vuitton Master Perfumer

The post pharrell williams and NOT A HOTEL stage louis vuitton’s show around a prefabricated home appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.