2025 has been a year of looking closely – at buildings that endure, at ideas that travel, and at practices quietly reshaping the values of architecture. From the long view offered by the Architecture Today Awards to encounters with unexpected projects, places and people around the world, AT editor Isabel Allen looks back on a year rich in surprise, conviction and renewed optimism about what architecture can still achieve.
Material Cultures explain how they are challenging conventional construction cultures in a bid to bring architecture closer to agriculture, land management and landscape.
Open City CEO Manijeh Verghese marvels at Mumbai's rapid transformation and asks how you can slow the pace of change to a rate that allows its people to shape its future.
Photographer Timothy Soar shares his photographs – and his impressions – of Third Space in Udaipur by Studio SAAR, a vibrant cultural and educational hub born from a belief that communities deserve places of aspiration, not as a luxury, but as a birthright.
Ananya Singhal of Studio Saar explains his game plan to rescue his hometown of Udaipur, India, from the ravages of uncontrolled development and empower its residents to envisage – and insist on – a regenerative future.
Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu chat to AT about the lessons to be learnt from rickshaws at rush hour, intergenerational households, and Krishnamurti's wise words.
Office of Displaced Designers (ODD) is calling on UK construction professionals to support She Repairs, an initiative to help women in Izmir's displaced communities to provide their households with a safe and comfortable home.
The Hummingbird Learning Lab invites expressions of interest for the design, development and delivery of a demountable project for an inspirational space for learning, research and exploration that reflects its neuroscience-grounded approach to education and community engagement.
Marks Barfield Architects discuss viewing buildings as material banks; drawing inspiration from biomimicry to shape the culture and structure of the practice and taking a principled position on projects at home and overseas.
Exploration Architecture's founder Michael Pawlyn talks about biologically-inspired design approaches, moving beyond PassivHaus to an ideal of ActiveHaus and discussing company policy while making hedgerow jam.
Purcell completes the Shoemakers Museum: a new home for Clarks’ 200-year legacy and a civic anchor for the Somerset town of Street.
Lungfish Managing Director Simon Reid tells AT about the trouble with corridors and dragonflies, the secret of successful Forest Schools and the importance of swapping school shoes for wellington boots.
