RIBA Stirling Prize Winner and Faith Park in Albania: This Week's Review

"This week's architectural developments highlighted how design operates as a form of social and cultural infrastructure, linking care, community, and context across scales. From London's reinterpretation of the almshouse model to the transformation of urban gateways in Phnom Penh and Tirana, architecture reflected a shared interest in spaces that foster connection and adaptability. Parallel to these urban and infrastructural works, new cultural projects in Paris and Hanoi explored how museums and performance spaces can renew public institutions through material experimentation and spatial flexibility."

"Witherford Watson Mann Architects received the 2025 RIBA Stirling Prize for Appleby Blue Almshouse, a housing project for older residents in London that revisits a historic model of collective living. The scheme includes 59 apartments arranged around a central courtyard, combining private independence with shared spaces intended to foster interaction and reduce isolation. Timber-lined communal rooms, bay windows, and open visual connections to the street link residents with their surroundings,"

"Questions of connection and continuity also shaped recent infrastructural and urban projects. In Phnom Penh, Techo International Airport by Foster + Partners opened as part of a 24-square-kilometer master plan positioned to support Cambodia's growing regional connectivity. The terminal's undulating canopy and tree-like structural supports draw from local craft and vernacular architecture, creating an environment defined by daylight, native planting, and efficient circulation."

Design operates as social and cultural infrastructure linking care, community, and context across scales. Appleby Blue Almshouse provides 59 apartments for older residents arranged around a central courtyard, combining private independence with shared timber-lined communal rooms, bay windows, and visual connections to the street to foster interaction and reduce isolation. Techo International Airport in Phnom Penh features an undulating canopy and tree-like structural supports inspired by local craft, emphasizing daylight, native planting, and efficient circulation within a 24-square-kilometer master plan. Oricon Tower in Tirana and cultural projects in Paris and Hanoi explore adaptable civic spaces through material experimentation and spatial flexibility.

Read at ArchDaily