European Capitals of Culture 2026: Oulu and Trenčín Chosen to Lead Europe’s Cultural Program

The European Capital of Culture (ECoC) initiative was launched in 1985 and has, to date, been awarded to more than 60 cities across Europe. It is designed to celebrate and promote cultural diversity on the continent, strengthen European citizens' sense of belonging to a shared cultural space, and foster culture's contribution to urban development. In practice, the designation has proven to be a catalyst for urban regeneration, tourism growth, the strengthening of cities' international profiles, and the improvement of how they are perceived by their own residents. European Capitals of Culture are formally designated four years before the title year, allowing time to plan, prepare, and embed the program within a long-term cultural strategy, establish European partnerships, and ensure that appropriate infrastructure is in place. In 2025, the European Capitals of Culture are the German city of Chemnitz and the Slovenian city of Nova Gorica. For 2026, the designated cities are Oulu in Finland and Trenčín in Slovakia.

Interior Design Trends of 2025

As 2025 approaches its end, we look back at an eventful year in the world of interior design. Last year, designers favored reserved, modest approaches, a trend that continued from previous years. The emergence of artificial intelligence generated intense discussions on digital equity and misinformation, which continued into 2025, especially with the topic of the Venice Architecture Biennale, Intelligens. This opened the conversation to the opportunities of digital technologies, attempting a more hopeful outlook. On the other hand, completed interior design projects over the year focused more on the tangible and the pragmatic, with expressed raw materials and an appreciation of history.

First Building, Bradfield City Centre / HASSELL

Facing the future while honouring the past, the First Building — housing Stage 1 of the Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF) — is a collaborative space for government, industry and research to incubate innovative manufacturing projects. As the name implies, it's also the first building designed for the new city of Bradfield and the surrounding area of Aerotropolis, the new urban region set to transform Western Sydney. This unique workplace features a visitor centre and public viewing spaces designed to showcase the real-time building progress of Australia's newest sustainable, connected city. With the design informed by First Nations cultural research and design agency Djinjama, the First Building is a celebration of the meandering and ephemeral water of the Cumberland Plain. It reinstates the site's permeability, collecting and filtering the building and the site's runoff across,  through a richly planted landscape of Cumberland Plain plant species and water features.

Handong University Prayer Room Heaven's Voice / Itm Yooehwa Architects

The prayer room "Heaven's Voice" at Handong University began as a project initiated by a donation from an elder of a local church. While there were several potential sites for a chapel on campus, the current location was chosen without hesitation. To the eyes of the architect, who is also a Christian, the overall shape of Handong University resembled a sheep, and a small hill at its heart caught his attention. This site is strategically positioned, visible from surrounding campus buildings, and the intention was to inscribe the cross from a heavenly perspective, rather than from the human eye level.

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