React Native's JavaScript bridge was a well-known performance bottleneck for years. Under heavy UI pressure (fast scrolling, frequent re-renders), teams could hit dropped frames and visible "blank" rendering while work moved across threads and through serialization. Meta's New Architecture (JSI, Fabric, TurboModules) changes that baseline. By replacing the legacy bridge with direct, C++-backed interop and a new renderer, React Native closes much of the historical performance gap for many real-world apps.
Now Eber, as executive director of what's formally called the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center, is finishing up a $19.5 million renovation - the first major overhaul since the Egg opened in 1978. She hopes the glow-up will change the Egg from a place to sit and watch shows to a forum for immersive works - or just a quirky place for people in Albany and around the state and region to enjoy. The unique space itself should become a touchstone for performances.
Spanning expansive volumes and standalone series, artists offered compelling glimpses of the world, from Christopher Herwig's vibrant documentation of South Asia's trucks and tuk-tuks to Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze's daring portraits of bamboo scaffolding workers navigating the heights of Hong Kong. The year also brought haunting aerial compositions by Reuben Wu, who combined drones, lasers, and long exposures to mesmerizing effect, alongside a collection of unusual houses around the world, documented in a book published by Hoxton Mini Press.
Oslo is also one of Europe's greenest capitals, with over two-thirds of it comprising forests, lakes or parks. The nature here, though not as dramatic as the otherworldly landscapes of Norway's north, is still incredibly scenic with pretty islands dotted around the glassy Oslofjord and moss-strewn, fairytale forests. It feels like a city where you can live well, unburdened by tourists and distinctly cosmopolitan, though still very much in line with the Norwegian philosophy of friluftsliv or 'open-air living'
Conceived as a place that awakens what POLA calls the 'latent sense of beauty' in both mind and body, the project unfolds as an immersive sequence of light, sound, scent, and material atmospheres, a spatial narrative built around perception, self-awareness, and time. The renovation brings together an interdisciplinary group of Japanese creatives, including Kazuyo Sejima, composer Keiichiro Shibuya, lighting designer Shozo Toyohisa, and olfactory artist Kan Izumi, each contributing a distinct sensory layer to the whole.
The building is a combination of blocks with high and low juxtaposition in a straight north-south shape. The first-floor building near the low tea hill in the south is designed as a kitchen and dining room, and the second-floor building with a wide view in the north is designed as a coffee shop. Several huge trees in the west of the site can reduce indoor energy consumption in hot summer, which creates favorable conditions for the design of large-area glass floor-to-ceiling windows.
Nest Chapel is a small-scale contemporary designed by Felipe Caboclo Arquitetura in the countryside of São Paulo, . Conceived as an intimate space for contemplation and religious gatherings, the project occupies a separate plot adjacent to Nest House, a rural completed for the same family in Itu. While modest in size, the chapel is developed as an autonomous architectural intervention, defined by its relationship to landscape, material expression, and controlled movement through space.
Our 32nd annual Gold List collects our editors' current favorite places to stay and ships to sail (all vetted by our team of contributors and editors around the globe). They're memorable for many reasons: service that made us feel like Hollywood stars; architecture that transported us to 1920s London or 18th-century Lake Como; and meals in Vietnam, in Australia, and at sea that we know will inspire Proustian responses.
NPO Aoyama Design Forum (ADF), a non-profit organization, has announced the ADF Design Award 2026 , celebrating architecture that does more than please the eye-it aims to make a meaningful impact on society, culture, and the environment. The award aims to recognize outstanding works that challenge existing conventions, demonstrate innovative thinking, and enrich people's lives through visionary, responsible design. Architects and designers around the world are invited to submit their proposals on a unique platform that fosters connections, promotes the exchange of ideas, and encourages meaningful cross-cultural collaboration.
Alan Lee Burkett passed away on Oct. 23, at the age of 68, surrounded by his loving family and friends. Alan was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. Alan loved to row in the bay, swim in the ocean, backpack in the wilderness, ski in the backcountry, ride his bike anywhere, enjoy the art of word play and spend time with family.
Brownstoner's newest Home Pros are experts in architecture, landscaping, decks and patios, and more. The NYC Home Pros who have joined Brownstoner recently include landscapers, architects, and deck builders. Whether your living room needs painting, you're preparing for a full gut renovation, or you're putting your house on the market, there's a Home Pro who can help. Our newest NYC Home Pros offer a wide variety of services, including architecture, general contracting, flooring, and more.
He often gave me excellent advice. When I was having a crisis with a collaborator on the Kauffman Center -specifically around the acoustics and engineering challenges of creating a truly in-the-round concert hall-he said to me, "You're working with the wrong person. You need to work with [acoustician Yasuhisa] Toyota." He was right. That advice opened doors and ultimately made it possible for me to realize the scheme I'd envisioned.
Frank Gehry, the architect whose work was so identifiable that he guest starred on The Simpsons, is dead at 96. Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partners LLP, told the Associated Press that Gehry died in his Santa Monica home after a brief respiratory illness. Gehry won every major architecture prize there is, per the Associated Press, including the ultra-prestigious Pritzker Prize. His work was described as "refreshingly original and totally American" despite him being Canadian.
Architecture and design enter 2026 in a moment of renewed experimentation, urgent environmental reflection, and an expanded global dialogue on the built environment. As cities confront the pressures of climate adaptation, demographic shifts, and technological transformation, this year's international calendar offers a lens into how the discipline is responding, creatively, critically, and collectively. From long-standing biennials to newly established platforms, the events of 2026 spotlight architecture's evolving role as both a record of our changing world and a driver of more equitable, sustainable futures.
With an artistic and exploratory approach, it investigates the relationship between the roots that anchor architecture in specific natural and cultural contexts and the innovation that drives architecture as a form of artistic revolution. In his interview with Louisiana Channel, Zhu Pei describes architecture as an artistic discipline that, like poetry, relies on openness, imagination, and the creation of new experiences.
Art Deco buildings are often visible from any angle. Instead of appearing two-dimensional-the way many buildings look when placed directly next to each other-art deco buildings consistently appear three-dimensional. "One way you do this is by building skyscrapers that tower over the neighbors, but they also did more than that." Robins says. "Architects would chamfer the corners or curve the corners, they'd use setbacks and other designs to give the sense of three dimensions."
Robert AM Stern, an architect who fashioned the New York City skyline with buildings that sought to invoke pre-war splendor but with modern luxury fit for billionaires and movie stars, has died at the age of 86. Dubbed The King of Central Park West by Vanity Fair, Stern was credited with designing 15 Central Park West that, in 2008, was credited as being the highest-priced new apartment building in the history of New York.
The Museum of the Amazons (MAZ), a cultural space dedicated to valuing science and technology in the region, opened to the public in Belém on October 4th. The museum is part of Porto Futuro II, which comprises a set of works carried out by the Government of Pará, left as a legacy from COP 30 to the capital of Pará.
Spending a long weekend in Budapest is always a good idea. It's a city of striking silhouettes and quiet corners - the domed Parliament reflected in the Danube, bright roofs of multi-coloured tiles crowning churches and markets, and grand boulevards interspersed with hidden courtyards and tranquil garden squares. Trams slide along the waterfront, bridges frame long views, and the mix of neo-Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture lends a sense of discovery to every stroll.
In Penafiel, Portugal, Galeria Gabinete completes Ponto C - Cultura e Criatividade, a cultural building that reorganizes the city around it. Led by architect Helder de Carvalho, the project establishes a new southern entrance and redefines the relationship with the historic center. What had long been dismissed as 'the back' of the city now faces the Praça de S. Martinho square as a civic foreground, undoing the idea of Penafiel as 'a city split down the middle' and opening possibilities for more structured expansion.
He always felt closer to the natural world via science, yet it lacked the poetry he craved. He eventually decided to go into the profession after all. He did realize that one of his favorite outdoor activities had much in common with the field. "Mountain climbing was also a way into architecture for me, there are a lot of parallels," he explains. "It's not just about getting to the top, it's about the elegance in how you get there."
The design by Heatherwick Studio and MANICA Architecture orients the stadium in Birmingham around twelve chimney-like towers that rise from the ground plane and support the roof. Heatherwick Studio draws from Birmingham's history of brickmaking, using reclaimed bricks where possible to give these structural elements a layered, tactile presence. Their scale defines the outer form while shaping light, airflow, and movement inside the building.
Designed for studio founders Katja Margaritoglou and Sotiris Tsergas, the homes reflect the studio's ongoing explorations of craft and materiality. The residence occupies the top two levels of a five-unit building conceived and developed by Block722 with Thekla Construction. From the street, the structure reads as confident and geometric, balancing modern rigor with soft edges. Its volumes and timber detailing echo Athens' postwar optimism, recalling mid-century forms backdropped by native Mediterranean plantings.