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Any renovation project requires an understanding of the spirit of the initial design balanced with updates that consider both the site and current inhabitants, particularly if the structure is an older one with a meaningful history to the community.

An educational facility in Takoma Park, Maryland is one such place. For more than 80 years it has been a fixture in the neighborhood. So when local firm WAK TOK architects was set to reimagine the former dwelling, the key was to keep its residential charm intact. “When we were asked to modernize the schoolhouse, a beloved bungalow originally built in the 1920s, we felt it was essential to honor that legacy,” says Wakako Tokunaga, founder of WAK TOK architects.

Indeed, as an outdoor nursery school, the landscape itself becomes a center for learning, surrounded by open skies and trees. The new scheme reinforces the relationship between each child and the environment, letting the outside in. A portion of the first floor was removed to transform a neglected basement into a sun-filled, double-height room for full integration.

The mudroom is a central spot, the first point of entry where alfresco exploration easily moves to the interior. A glass wall opens to create a seamless indoor-outdoor threshold. Kids gather here and can put items on perfectly sized benches or cubbies.

Classrooms now have expansive views that provide an immersive experience for the students as they witness the change of seasons. The thoughtful placement of steps, windows, and transitional spaces fosters engagement that aligns with the curriculum, which includes an emphasis on ecological awareness.

All-natural non-toxic elements were selected with health and sustainability in mind. An oak finish adds an organic feel throughout every zone. Buffed concrete floors and sinks are durable and easy to maintain, even when wet coats and muddy boots are scattered about. Raised platforms utilized for rest or play are finished with carpet made from recycled and bio-based materials. Improved insulation and a high-efficiency HVAC system have reduced overall energy use and increased occupant well-being.

With instruction not limited to four walls, learning is effortless, wherever it unfolds. “The school has always felt like an extension of the home, both physically and emotionally,” Tokunaga notes. “Our goal was to preserve the warmth, sense of wonder, and connection to nature.”

To explore more of studio’s portfolio, visit wak-tok.com.

Photography by Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Leather is an age-old material, connecting us to a long line of ancestors who utilized this medium in much the same way as we do today. More leather objects survive from our earliest civilizations than almost any other material used for clothing, treated with oils or waxes that preserve and protect for millennia. If we allow it, leather could replace a multitude of plastic applications in our near future—naturally durable, and even waterproof under the right conditions. It was never limited to garments alone: vessels, for drinking or storage, once held food, water, and valuables, imbuing the material with an inherent reverence. Using a specialized wet-forming technique, Talia Luvaton presents TRACE Leather Vessels, showing in Milan Design Week 2026.

Translating human movement into hardened leather forms, Luvaton taps into a generational lineage of making with this collection, developed especially for the occasion. Rooted in observational drawings of the human body, TRACE begins with fluid, organic lines that are later extracted, abstracted, and transformed into three-dimensional objects. Using her grandfather’s shoemaking tools alongside custom molds, traditional techniques, and contemporary sensibilities form new relationships—a bond that both revives and sustains the craft for future makers.

Immediately recognizable, each vessel bears the curves and gestures of the human body, composed of separately formed elements that come together in an organic, almost anatomical whole. Each piece is one of a kind, beholden to the natural variations of vegetable-tanned leather—its shifts in tone, texture, and grain. Luvaton’s process is intuitive, often guided by drawing and hands-on experimentation, allowing the material itself to inform the outcome. It is a continuous dialogue between hand, body, and mind.

As these panels are stretched and shaped, a quiet tension emerges between softness and strength. When porous, the leather is open and pliable, responsive to pressure, moisture, and time—a sponge awaiting transformation. Once dried and treated, it hardens into something protective like a shield or second skin. In this way, the process becomes a kind of crystallization into something new—a metamorphosis that is perhaps not strictly chemical, but deeply material, even spiritual.

Luvaton works within the boundaries of an ancient material while pushing it beyond its conventional role as surface into something structural and expressive. The vertices of the human form are translated into leather, creating vessels that feel both intimate and enduring. Her practice is deeply rooted in a family lineage of craftsmanship—both parents jewelers, a grandfather a shoemaker—carrying forward tools, techniques, and a sensitivity to making that transcends generations. TRACE becomes an extension of that continuum: a collection that holds not only form, but memory itself.

To learn more about TRACE Leather Vessels, visit luvatonstudio.com.

Photography courtesy of Talia Luvaton.

© Jed Niezgoda

• architects: Fuinneamh Workshop Architects
• Location: Co. Clare, Ireland
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Jed Niezgoda
• Area: 295.0 m2

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European City Context. Image Courtesy of ReGreeneration

The ReGreeneration project, led by C40 Cities and supported by ARUP, Placemaking Europe, Climato Sfera, Inetum, and many others, operates at the intersection of urban ecology, public health, infrastructure, and neighborhood-scale design. Its premise addresses how European cities are built and maintained and how they experience a changing climate, arguing that cities must fundamentally change to remain livable under accelerating climate pressures.

The European Commission launched Horizon Europe in 2021 as its most ambitious research and innovation program to date, committing over 95 billion euros to accelerate scientific discovery and address the defining challenges in European cities. Among the initiatives that Horizon Europe funds is ReGreeneration, a transnational consortium uniting nine cities, their governing bodies, leading research institutions, and technology partners in the region.

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© Alik Usik

• architects: Aranchii Architects
• Location: Zymna Voda, Ukraine
• Project Year: 2024
• Photographs: Alik Usik
• Area: 12000.0 m2

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Qapital Tower Ecuador. Image Courtesy of Kengo Kuma and Associates(KKAA)

Kengo Kuma & Associates has unveiled plans for Qapital, a 32-story mixed-use tower set to rise in Quito, Ecuador, in collaboration with local developer Uribe Schwarzkopf. Scheduled for completion in 2029, the project marks Japanese architect Kengo Kuma's first work in the country, extending the studio's international portfolio into the South American context. Located opposite La Carolina Park in Quito's central business district, the 125.8-meter tower introduces a vertically organized program that brings together residential, commercial, and shared amenities.

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© Cyrille Lallement

• architects: VIB Architecture
• Location: Former Saint-Louis Hospital, Évreux, France
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Cyrille Lallement
• Area: 15000.0 m2

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V&A East Museum, 2026. Image © Hufton + Crow

V&A East Museum, designed by architects O'Donnell + Tuomey, will open to the public on 18 April 2026. Assigned to the firm in 2015, the new building is located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, near its recently opened sister facility, the V&A East Storehouse, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Located in East London, the UK's newest cultural quarter supported by the Mayor of London, the two-building complex aims to "spotlight the many ways global artists, designers, and makers use creativity to shape the world." Dedicated to creative opportunity and its power to bring change, the museum's five public levels contain two permanent galleries, a 900 sqm temporary exhibition gallery, a top-floor project and event space, learning facilities, and a café.

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Taichung Green Corridor / Mecanoo. Image © Ethan Lee

Architecture has long been drawn to the idea of lightness. From early modernist experiments that sought to preserve landscapes, elevating buildings has been understood as a way to preserve the ground while maintaining continuity across the terrain. Volumes are lifted on columns, infrastructures detach circulation from the surface, and entire programs are suspended above the ground.

This was formalised in the early twentieth century through Le Corbusier's concept of the pilotis, which proposed the liberation of the ground floor from enclosure. By raising buildings on columns, architects sought to maintain continuity with the terrain, allowing movement, vegetation, and collective use to unfold beneath constructed volumes. The building would occupy the air, while the ground would remain open, accessible, and shared.

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© BREBA Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann

• architects: K-Studio
• Location: Kourouta, Greece
• Project Year: 2026
• Photographs: BREBA Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann
• Area: 2760.0 m2

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© Brock Beazley

• architects: Hive Architecture
• Location: Mudjimba, Australia
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Brock Beazley
• Area: 613.0 m2

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© Yong Zhang

• architects: TJAD/Zeng Qun Architecture Design Studio
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Yong Zhang
• Area: 24400.0 m2

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© Quang Dam

• architects: Story Architecture
• Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Quang Dam
• Area: 160.0 m2

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There is no mistaking the core philosophy of the Forest Edge House, a 1,500-square-foot home nestled into the woods of the western Catskill Mountains. On the southern face of the house, a grid of solar panels absorbs the slanting rays of the sun, gleaming softly against dark pine cladding. There is a sense of quiet power to this little black box of a home—sited on a 3-acre forested parcel and set along a gentle slope—and that’s entirely by intention.

Forest Edge House is the fifth in a series of solar-powered homes designed by Marc Thorpe and built through Edifice Upstate, the design-and-build agency he cofounded with partner Claire Pijoulat. Each project in the series has been an exercise in restraint and self-reliance, offering what the team describes as a turnkey model for contemporary living that integrates sustainable technology at its core.

More than a formal language, it is a worldview—one that positions architecture as a means of reclaiming autonomy in an increasingly outsourced existence. As Thorpe puts it, “the system is eroding our individuality by outsourcing every aspect of our lives that enables our sense of purpose and ability to construct meaning.” The first step in taking that back, he argues, is energy independence.

The panels on the facade—24 monocrystalline units—along with an additional rooftop array, generate approximately 38 kWh of electricity per day. This infrastructure expressed, part of what Thorpe describes as “descriptive function,” where the building communicates its purpose through its form.

The house is oriented and shaped by the sun, its architecture a direct byproduct of environmental forces and use. “Nothing that exists on or within the building is decorative,” he notes. “Windows are positioned to frame views as well as provide cross ventilation, interior program and physical circulation are expressed on the facade, overhangs provide shade where required.” In this way, the home draws from the region’s agrarian vernacular, where form follows necessity, without slipping into campiness.

A 25-foot cantilevered deck in black steel extends into the canopy of the trees outside, a singular expression of outreach in an otherwise introspective building, dissolving into the landscape rather than imposing upon it.

Inside, the home is light-filled, airy, and deliberately composed, featuring fixtures from French brand Ligne Roset— a longtime collaborator of Thorpe and Pijoulat, aligned with the project’s environmental and design ethos. An open-plan living, kitchen, and dining area occupies the ground floor, supported by full-floor radiant heating, while private bedrooms are arranged above, establishing a clear programmatic split between collective and individual space. The starkness of white surfaces and black fixtures is alleviated by touches of natural materials—tan leather Togo chairs in the living room and wooden floors on the upper level—and, of course, framed views of the trees outside.

“The house is an exercise in Enough,” Thorpe explains. Thorpe explains. With three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and luxurious finishes, it doesn’t stint on creature comforts despite being compact. That ethos extends beyond plan and program into daily ritual. The solar energy system—the panels, a 15K Sol-Ark inverter, and Lithium Ion LifePo battery bank—is a daily reminder of the resources it takes to sustain us and a prompt to live within the boundaries of what nature provides. This heightened awareness, Thorpe suggests, reconnects individuals to broader ecological systems: “How much energy am I producing? How much am I consuming? What is my place in this system?”

In this sense, Forest Edge House is a framework for living systemically with its environment through both passive strategies and active technologies. It reflects a belief that architecture, when aligned with natural forces, can transcend the physical to become something more enduring.

“This planet offers us a choice, to be one with nature or not,” Thorpe says. “Designing with sustainable systems is the first step. Humility is what comes after.”

To learn more about the design-build agency, visit edificeupstate.com.

Photography by Clay Banks.

© Ruy Teixeira

• architects: Lucas Jimeno Dualde
• Location: Itaipava, Brasil
• Project Year: 2024
• Photographs: Ruy Teixeira
• Area: 572.0 m2

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The son of seminal polymath Carlo Scarpa—an experimental Italian architect and designer who marched to the beat of his own drum—Tobia Scarpa forged a career in a similarly irreverent, self-determined spirit. Together with his equally nonconformist wife and partner Afra Bianchin, he created a number of era-defining furnishings that challenged both the aesthetic and technical limits of materials. Among these enduring icons are some 30 luminaires designed for FLOS—many of the company’s earliest products.

One such emblematic, though long overshadowed, design is Seki-Han. First released in 1963 and produced for only three years, the rare linear floor lamp—a quiet revolution in material use, form, and the calibrated diffusion of symmetrical light—has recently been reissued with strategic updates. Brought up to contemporary standards in both technology and functionality, the design remains true to its original form while also evolving into a horizontal pendant. Introducing the concept to the U.S. market for the first time this month is luxury online design retailer Lumens.

The lamp’s sleek yet humble presence stems from Scarpa’s fascination with Japanese cuisine, specifically its namesake: red rice, or seki-han. “The name of the lamp comes from a symbol of good fortune: in Japan, ‘seki han’ (red rice) is a traditional dish often prepared for special occasions, such as the celebration of a birth,” he explains.

At the time, the duo loosely translated the dish’s color into comparably toned and textured wood, but the association resonates most clearly in the lamp’s extruded interpretation of the rice grain. Masters of sculptural composition, they conceived two slender blade-like forms—originally in Douglas fir—flanking a central neon tube. The re-edition replaces this with sustainably sourced ash and FLOS’s proprietary LED technology, which emits a warmer, more nuanced light that better complements the natural material.

“The reissue of the Seki-Han lamp gave us an opportunity to enhance the performance of the light source, leading to an increase in the height of the lamp, which further highlights the slender proportions of the thin wooden blades that screen the light,” Scarpa adds.

Now in his 90s, he continues to refine what was already resolved—both as a way of tracing the evolution of the duo’s creative output and of testing the enduring relevance of their ideas. In this case, a largely forgotten concept from over 60 years ago finds renewed clarity. For an iconic object to remain vital, it cannot exist as a fetishized artifact; it must adapt.

Working closely with FLOS’s research and development team, Scarpa—now working independently following Afra’s passing in 2011—determined that the blades need no longer remain fixed. They can now rotate 360 degrees, allowing users to modulate both aperture and direction of light. In doing so, the update more precisely articulates the duo’s original intent: to shape and concentrate light as an ethereal, directional force.

To shop the Seki-Han collection, visit lumens.com.

Photography by Robert Rieger.

Humans are innately talented at pattern recognition. Our ancestors memorized colors, shapes, and formations that suggested good food, safe shelter, a suitable mate, and––more often than not––life-or-death decisions. Now, with a bit more distance from that immediacy, we apply those same neurological pathways to quieter pursuits: reading texture, sensing rhythm, finding meaning in material. The Linea Collection from female-founded Australian brand Armadillo marks the company’s first true exploration of pattern—less as overt decoration and more as something that emerges through process—developed in collaboration with chef and food stylist Romilly Newman.

Rather than drawing a hard line between past and present, Linea operates in the space between. The collection approaches traditional rug motifs with sensitivity and restraint, allowing pattern to surface gradually through touch, material, and making. Persian-inspired designs begin as mapped drawings before being translated to the loom and reinterpreted by hand with each iteration softening edges, shifting proportions, and settling color into something more lived-in.

Armadillo has long celebrated the natural variation inherent to fiber, working with the idiosyncrasies of material. Here, that philosophy deepens. Pattern is revealed, shaped by oxidization, tonal depth, and the subtle irregularities of handcraft ready to embrace modern living.

In Sonata, hand-spun Afghan wool carries the composition, its natural striations allowing pattern to appear slowly, then all at once. A lower knot count and fine pile create a supple, almost grid-like texture, where motifs fade in and out without settling into a single, fixed reading. Rendered in nuanced palettes like Plume and Wisp, the rug feels atmospheric.

Odessa, seen here in Partridge, extends this language of quiet variation. A perennial design within Armadillo’s repertoire, its surface is defined by organic striations that ensure no two pieces are exactly alike. New tonal inflections—Partridge, Banksia, and Travertine—bring renewed clarity to the form.

In Minuet, shown in Skylark, pattern gives way to surface. Linear clipping introduces a gentle ripple across the cut pile, creating movement that reads as rhythm rather than repetition. The subdued interplay of blues, greens, and warm undertones feels almost incidental as if the composition has settled into place naturally.

Latitude marks a distinct material departure as Armadillo’s first rug crafted entirely from linen. A fine flat-weave construction lends the piece a quiet dimensionality, with hand-spun yarns rising and falling in subtle relief. Derived from flax, linen introduces a lightness and refinement that feels almost architectural—its slim profile and restrained palette designed for interiors that privilege clarity as much as comfort.

The faintest echoes of tradition surface in Basilica, a contemporary meditation on the medallion rug. Hand-knotted from wool on a cotton warp, its low, lightly textured pile and nuanced green undertones reward a closer look. Neither fully historic nor entirely modern, it occupies a grounded middle space.

Across the collection, Linea resists nostalgia in favor of relevance. These rugs are pieces to be lived with carrying classic patterns forward, gently transformed, and recontextualized for how we inhabit space today.

To quote Armadillo’s sentiment, “our rugs lie lightly on this earth.” As the first Australian and American rug maker to achieve B Corporation certification, the brand approaches circularity as a holistic practice that considers material sourcing, craftsmanship, and long-term impact in equal measure. True change, as Linea suggests, happens through careful, cumulative shifts, where philosophy meets the tangible and where tradition is allowed to evolve.

To learn more about this and other collections by the brand, visit armadillo-co.com.

Photography courtesy of Armadillo.

© Paola Corsini

• architects: Stoa architectes
• Location: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Paola Corsini
• Area: 3500.0 m2

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© Lorenzo Zandri

• architects: Studio DERA
• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Project Year: 2025
• Photographs: Lorenzo Zandri
• Photographs:
• Area: 82.0 m2

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Casa Toquilla, RAMA Estudio, Portete Island, 2021. Image © Francesco Russo

Ecuador's territory embraces a remarkable diversity of landscapes, ranging from the Pacific Coast to the peaks of the Andes, the vast expanse of the Amazon rainforest, and the volcanic Galápagos Islands. Each region of the country presents its own distinctive characteristics, reflected in its varied environmental, cultural, and social contexts. While Latin American architecture is rooted in rich ancestral traditions, native construction techniques, and local materials, contemporary Ecuadorian architecture expresses an evolving identity that blends these elements with actual demands. Tradition and innovation, local resources and modern techniques, along with social responsibility and aesthetics, interact with the natural environment, urban conditions, and social contexts.

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