Magazine

Norman Foster, the massive monographic exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris until August 7, 2023, looks back at six decades of arguably the world’s most successful architect. Ulf Meyer asks if it is a premature obituary. Ulf Meyer

Toranomon Hills Station Tower is a mixed-use tower in Tokyo designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu for the Mori Corporation. When it opens to the public in fall 2023, it will be OMA’s first tower in Tokyo. Ulf Meyer looked at the project in-progress and sent us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

Heatherwick Studio: Building Soulfulness opened on March 17 at Mori Art Museum's Tokyo City View gallery. The first exhibition in Japan devoted to the UK studio of Thomas Heatherwick, Building Soulfulness displays 28 major projects over the last three decades. Ulf Meyer visited... Ulf Meyer

Last month David Chipperfield Architects won the competition to expand the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Ulf Meyer spoke with David Chipperfield and Alexander... Ulf Meyer

Oslo’s LPO Architects and New York and London’s GRECODECO have turned a 1930s headquarters for a utility company into Oslo’s trendiest hotel. Ulf Meyer visited and sent us this report. Ulf Meyer

Ole Scheeren: Spaces of Life is a large solo exhibition now on display at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe. Presenting the work of Karlsruhe-born architect Ole Scheeren, the exhibition aims to explore “how today’s architecture creates prototypes for living tomorrow.” Ulf Meyer... Ulf Meyer

Tokyu Corporation will open the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, a large hotel and entertainment complex, on April 14. Designed by Yuko Nagayama & Associates, it is Japan’s... Ulf Meyer

An international symposium recently held online as part of Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism (SEAM) revealed interesting details about German-trained Indonesian Architects. Ulf Meyer

Swiss Llife Arena, host to the Zurich Lions ice hockey team, is the largest project to date for London’s Caruso St John Architects, the firm of Adam Caruso and Peter St. John. The Lions played their first match in the new arena in October. Ulf Meyer traveled to Zurich to see the building and... Ulf Meyer

Reflective Nostalgia is an exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum that presents the work of Neri&Hu, the Shanghai firm (with studios in London, Paris, and Milan) of Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu. Ulf Meyer visited the Berlin gallery and sent us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

Ulf Meyer visited the University of Applied Sciences in Aachen, Germany, to check out its newest building: the Center for Advanced Mobility, designed by studioMDA "as the epicenter of the... Ulf Meyer

In Year Zero to Economic Miracle: Hans Schwippert and Sep Ruf in Postwar German Building Culture, Lynnette Widder compares two intriguing architects. Ulf Meyer delves into the recently published book. Ulf Meyer

With Kaunas as the European Capital of Culture in 2022, the Lithuanian city is rediscovering its heritage of modern architecture, particularly the two interwar decades when the country's second city served as its capital. Ulf Meyer

Enzo Enea is a new type of landscape architect, sometimes filling the landscapes he designs with plants from his own arboretum in Switzerland. Ulf Meyer visited Enea at his office and tree museum in Rapperswil-Jona, southeast of Zurich, speaking with the landscape architect about his design... Ulf Meyer

June is Pride Month, marking June 28, 1969, when a group of LGBTQ+ people rioted following a police raid of New York’s Stonewall Inn. Fittingly, this June sees the release of Gay Architects: Silent Biographies, from 18th to 20th Century, which finds two German experts, Wolfgang Voigt... Ulf Meyer

Boonserm Premthada, Thailand’s most interesting architect, argues that “architecture is the physical creation of an atmosphere, serving to heighten our awareness of our natural surroundings.” Premthada revealed other interesting aspects of his unique approach to architecture in his... Ulf Meyer

Witnesses, the new exhibition on the research practice Forensic Architecture and the fifth exhibition in The Architect’s Studio series at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, is disturbing, says Ulf Meyer. Ulf Meyer

Earlier this month Shigeru Ban spoke at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin as part of the "On the Duty and the Power of Architecture" lecture series. Ulf Meyer sat down with the Japanese architect after the talk,... Ulf Meyer

Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao just wrapped up a mentorship with Luísa Sol as part of Germany’s Forecast Festival. Now Bilbao is the subject of an exhibition opening on May 14 at Aedes Forum and her practice is designing a monastery outside Berlin. Ulf Meyer spoke with Bilbao about these... Ulf Meyer

John Ronan became world famous with the Poetry Foundation and Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship, two elegant orthogonal buildings in Chicago. Now, with the headquarters for the Chicago Park District under construction, he is on to something else. Ulf Meyer

A handful of projects in Finland’s capital find local and international architects alike grappling with masterpieces of modern architecture and tackling large-scale mixed-use developments. Ulf Meyer visited Helsinki recently to get a handle on things. Ulf Meyer

On March 15, Francis Kéré was named the 2022 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered by many as architecture's highest honor. Ulf Meyer visited Kéré in his Berlin office to speak with the architect about the Pritzker, his career, and some of the buildings his firm is working... Ulf Meyer

The Museum of Resistance and Human Rights in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, got an interesting make-over, courtesy of architect Jim Clemes and designer Nathalie Jacoby. Ulf Meyer visited the reworked museum, sending us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

In August 2014, the Ordrupgaard Museum reopened with a new primarily underground extension designed by Norway's Snøhetta. Ulf Meyer visited Ordrupgaard recently, sending us his impressions of the newly expanded museum. Ulf Meyer

A big Peter Cook retrospective is now on display at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Peter Cook – City Landscapes opened on January 21, with the famed architect and founding member of Archigram in attendance. Ulf Meyer filed this report and spoke with Cook. Ulf Meyer

The Norwegian office of Mad arkitekter, the subject of Mad About Dugnad – Work Together, Build Better, a new exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, has great concepts — and a ways to go. Ulf Meyer

Upon the opening of the new Bastian Gallery in Berlin’s Dahlem district on November 13, Ulf Meyer spoke with its architect, John Pawson — the king of British minimalism and a prolific Instagrammer — who revealed some insights behind his architectural designs in and beyond the German capital. Ulf Meyer

Luxembourg’s second city, Esch-sur-Alzette (or Esch, for short, population 36,000), is preparing for its role as the European Capital of Culture next year. Ulf Meyer visited Esch to take in different parts of the city and highlight some of the additions being made in the run up to next year’s... Ulf Meyer

The International Conference on Architectural Criticism took place online over four days in October, with dozens of academics addressing the theme “On the Duty and Power of Architectural Criticism.” Ulf Meyer watched the proceedings and sent us his impressions. Ulf Meyer

Stockholm’s ArkDes portrays the famous Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz (1885–1975) as the “Architect of death and life” in a major monographic exhibition that opened on October 1, 2021, and is on display until August 28, 2022. Ulf Meyer toured Sigurd Lewerentz: Architect of Death and... Ulf Meyer

Expo 2020 opened to the public in Dubai on October 1, 2021, one year behind schedule. Carrying the theme “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future,” Expo 2020 is the first world’s fair to take place in the Middle East. Ulf Meyer visited the Expo ahead of opening day and sent us his impressions... Ulf Meyer

The M9 Museum of the 20th Century in Venice-Mestre is hosting draw love build, a large exhibition on thirty years of the work of Sauerbruch Hutton, the architectural practice that can boast of M9 as one of its flagship designs. Ulf Meyer visited the exhibition after its September 3rd... Ulf Meyer

The 15th International Alvar Aalto Symposium took place online on August 12th and 13th with the theme "Future of Industry" approached from perspectives of art, industry, and technology. Ulf Meyer attended the two days of talks to see how the participants responded to the theme, filing this... Ulf Meyer

The new pedestrian promenade in Bastia, France, is a masterpiece of urban design and engineering. Designed by Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes, the corniche follows the rocky coastline of the Mediterranean Sea below the Corsican city. Ulf Meyer recently visited the path that has become a... Ulf Meyer

Harvard University’s new Science and Engineering Complex in Boston, designed by Behnisch Architekten, has a LEED Platinum certified from the USGBC and a Living Building Challenge Petal certification from the International Living Future Institute, making it one of the healthiest laboratory... Ulf Meyer

Contested Modernities consists of symposia, an exhibition, and a publication focused on postcolonial architecture in Southeast Asia as part of the long-term program Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism. Ulf Meyer watched Contested Modernities’ second symposium, “The... Ulf Meyer