House SD / Atelier Ose Architecture

On a narrow, elongated plot, this former railway workers' house, fully renovated, and its garden-side extension are created around a central patio, which opens up and enhances the rear façade. The patio preserves the occupants' privacy while allowing optimal natural light into every room. The new patio draws light deep into each room and shields daily life from view.

In many parts of the world, remoteness is not only defined by distance. It may describe a mountain settlement far from infrastructure or an urban and suburban neighborhood on the margins of visibility and opportunity. Across these diverse contexts, the library has been one of the most vital typologies—a space where architecture embodies the modes of accessibility, inclusivity, and community care.

Construction of the Grand Canal Gateway Bridge in Hangzhou is now complete. When opened for public use later this year, the footbridge will unite the 800,000 square metre Seamless City masterplan under construction on the east and west banks of the Grand Canal. The centre piece of the city's new 14.7-hectare River Middle public park and river promenade, the bridge and surrounding master plan by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) reconnects the city with its historic Grand Canal and Qiantang River by integrating homes, workplaces and amenities for its community with vital civic spaces for recreation, leisure and tourism.

Concrete, steel, wood, glass. Every year, millions of tons of construction materials are discarded, piled up in landfills, and silenced beneath the weight of the next building. Entire structures disappear to make way for others, restarting a voracious cycle of resource extraction, material production, and replacement. Along with the debris that accumulates, something deeper is also lost: time, human labor, stories, and the collective memory embedded in matter. At a time when climate goals demand reducing emissions and extending the lifespan of what already exists, demolition is increasingly recognized as a form of urban amnesia, one that erases not only cultural continuity but also the embodied energy of buildings. And even though it is often said that the most sustainable building is the one that already exists, that principle rarely survives when other interests come into play.