NEWS

At the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Carlo Ratti, BIG unveils Ancient Future: Bridging Bhutan’s Tradition and Innovation. On view at the Arsenale di Venezia through November 23rd, 2025, Ancient Future brings to life the design of Bhutan’s new Gelephu International Airport, celebrating how the rich cultural tradition of Bhutanese woodcarving can be scaled by modern technology. The exhibition showcases Bhutanese artisans Sangay Thsering and Yeshi Gyeltshen, assisted by machines, hand-carving intricate designs into wooden beams that will be used in the airport’s diagrid architecture. Accompanying the live demonstration, a documentary by Laurian Ghinitoiu and Arata Morí provides an intimate portrait of the creative process, revealing the potential of human and algorithmic synergies.   

“The Ancient Future exhibition is about how tradition can evolve without being lost. One of the most striking moments in the process has been seeing a piece of wood carved by hand placed next to one carved by machine. You can tell the difference – but it’s not about one replacing the other. It’s about how they can support each other. Machine intelligence allows craft to be scaled, but the artistry and the ideas remain rooted in human hands. The artworks created by local Bhutanese artists reflect the past, present, and future of Bhutan. They show how spirituality, embedded in architecture, carries stories forward and keeps heritage alive within contemporary urban development. This is the synergy we are exploring: by working with machines, we can make architecture more human. Rather than separating heritage and modernity, Ancient Future looks at how the two can grow side by side.” – Giulia Frittoli, Partner, BIG   

Ancient Future would not have been made possible without project supporters The Bhutan Foundation, Pro Bhutan e.V., Roca, Schindler, Rockwool, Artemide, Tvitec | Cricursa, Vitra, Squint/Opera, NACO, StructureCraft, and Turner Construction, with special thanks to the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Biennale Architettura 2025. 

The New York Post takes a look inside the Robert de Niro-led Wildflower Film Studios, the world’s first vertical film studio located in Astoria, Queens. The video tour and accompanying article highlight how BIG and Wildflower Ltd. used valuable input from both teamsters and A-listers to design a vertical space that meets the industry’s practical needs – situated in New York City’s dense urban environment. As the first immersive environment for filmed entertainment content of its kind in New York City, the new vertical media production village is already becoming home to storytellers working across all mediums – a three-dimensional hub of collaboration, creativity, and innovation.

BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and A.R.M. Holding launch an expansive five km2 transformation of the Jebel Ali Racecourse into an urban district in Dubai, UAE. The masterplan is anchored by a central park, reconnecting the city to its equestrian and ecological heritage. The partnership for the development was officially announced during a signing ceremony attended by His Excellency Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, CEO of A.R.M. Holding, and Bjarke Ingels.

“Occupying the grounds of Dubai’s historic Jebel Ali Racecourse, this project is an archipelago of urban islands in a sea of green – reimagining the site not as a collection of objects in isolation, but as a living landscape of interconnected communities. Each island connects to its surrounding neighborhood, increasing in density as it converges around a lush central park – a social oasis at the heart of the city. But the park doesn’t stop at the center – it bleeds between the islands, weaving nature through the urban fabric and extending its reach to the wider community. This is not just a new neighborhood; it’s a new chapter for Dubai – where environmental responsibility and social sustainability become the foundation, not the footnote, of urban development.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

The development is guided by 17 measurable KPIs focused on holistic wellbeing, sustainability, culture and identity, and innovation. Construction is slated to begin in early 2026, with phased development across housing, education, hospitality, and public infrastructure.

“Metal – The backbone of the global back of house,” the fourth issue of DOMUS under Bjarke Ingels’ guest editorship explores the lightness, strength, and symbolic potential of architecture’s most adaptable material.

In this issue, Bjarke speaks with Junya Ishigami on his experiments with steel in the quest for an almost immaterial sense of lightness. Dominique Perrault honors the architectural potential of metallic textiles in his 2,300-page opus, while Florian Idenburg, Kevin Carmody and Andy Groarke push aluminum and steel to explore new spatial and structural possibilities.

MAD’s swirling Tornado pavilion of stainless steel gives physical form to the fluidity of motion graphics, while Sam Chermayeff reimagines kitchen appliances as sculptural, standalone objects. Muller Van Severen blur the lines between minimalism and expressionism in their metal furniture, Ben Storms explores steel as a raw substance, and Antony Gormley captures reflections of the human body from iron scraps in his oxymoron essay “Iron Emotions.”

During Salone del Mobile 2025 – Milan’s annual Design Week – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director of BIG, was invited to speak at Drafting Futures. Conversations about Next Perspectives. The conversation between Bjarke and Annalisa Rosso, Salone’s Editorial Director & Cultural Events Advisor, centered around Bjarke’s approach to design, which transcends functionality to actively shape the human experience, and how materiality, technology, and human interaction can redefine the future of urban planning.

BIG Partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann spoke to Architectural Digest India about BIG’s sustainable design philosophy, highlighting the integration of local materials, social infrastructure, and renewable technologies. The feature showcases five key projects – CopenHill, Google Bay View, Telosa, Superkilen, and the BIG U – as examples of innovative architecture that could inspire greener, more resilient urban spaces in India. 

“There is a greater chance that people will change their habits if sustainability contributes to improving everyone’s lives. I believe this is also true in India, where the greater populace would rather move towards something that increases the quality of their daily life than [something that] limits their choices.” – Kai-Uwe Bergmann, BIG Partner 

Designed by BIG in collaboration with Atelier Verticale, CityWave Milan’s 140-m-long canopy has topped out, marked by a ceremony held during Salone del Mobile Milano. The sweeping roof structure, clad entirely in photovoltaic panels, forms a shaded pedestrian plaza for the city of Milan that unifies CityWave’s two courtyard buildings – a modern homage to the traditional porticos found throughout Italy. The canopy will become one of the largest urban rooftop solar installations in the world, with completion slated for 2026. 

“This topping out is a major milestone for what has become a long-standing engagement with the urban development of Milano and the architectural culture of Italy. Through my guest editorship of DOMUS, I feel as if fully immersed in the deep heritage of Italian design. What we have attempted here is to resist the temptation to add yet another tower to the already majestic urban ensemble of CityLife, and rather create a truly inviting urban space as a gateway to this new neighbourhood. The solar roof of the timber canopy uniting the two buildings provides shade and shelter for the life of the city, and serves as an urban gesture of environmental and social performance. Like a 21st century interpretation of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, CityWave is a direct continuation of the pursuit of providing new forms of public space for the city.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG 

At the 2025 Salone del Mobile in Milan, BIG introduced two collections of door handles developed for Italian company specializing in door hardware, DND. Designed by BIG’s Product Design team, the two collections, named Palm and Pencil, explore the tactile relationship between user and space.

Pencil distills the handle to its essential elements with a shank that tapers into the lever, reminiscent of the tip of a sharpened pencil, while the Palm collection features rounded forms that are molded to fit the palm.

“In our collaboration with DND, we aimed to reimagine the tactile dialogue between user and space, culminating in the Palm and Pencil collections. While Palm is crafted to fit naturally in the palm of the hand, its forms inviting touch and interaction in an organic form language, the Pencil collection is a precise geometric statement, that mirrors the precision of a pencil tip by reducing the door handle to its purest essence.” – Jakob Lange, Partner and Head of BIG Products, BIG

Both collections will be available in aluminum and brass.

BIG designed the installation ‘A Beat of Water’ for Interni Magazine’s city-wide exhibition CRO-ACTION in Milan, Italy during Salone del Mobile. Developed in collaboration with Spanish company specializing in bathroom products and solutions, Roca, the installation translates the journey of water into a visual and interactive exhibit. The installation, located at the main campus of Milan’s University, measures 14 m in length and is constructed from 300 linear m of galvanized steel pipes that divide the space into two distinct areas to offer a multisensory journey for visitors. Featuring a continuous circulation of water, a closed-loop system visually illustrates the water cycle to highlight its vital role in society.

The April issue of Interni, the Italian design and architecture magazine, features the new home of S.Pellegrino’s Flagship Factory located in the heart of Bergamo, Italy, where the natural mineral water has been bottled since 1899. BIG’s design revisits the classical elements of Italian architecture and urbanism – the arcade, the viale, the piazza, and the portico – to create an environment where production and consumption, nature and architecture, outside and inside, and making and enjoying are integrated to elevate the experience for visitors and San Pellegrino staff alike.

“The factory extension is imagined as the aquatic equivalent of a wine cellar: light, transparent, fresh, and natural. Like the mineral water itself, the Factory will appear to spring from its natural source, rather than imposing a new identity on the existing complex. This creates a seamless continuity between the environment of production and consumption, preparation, and enjoyment.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

‘Hedonistic sustainability’ – a term coined by BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels to describe how sustainable development and the pursuit of pleasure can coexist – is highlighted by Wallpaper* in a story focused on the BIG U.

As BIG’s proposal for Rebuild by Design – an initiative by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – the BIG U is a 10-mile protective system running around Manhattan’s coastline from West 57th Street south to The Battery and up to East 40th Street that aims to increase the resiliency of Sandy-impacted communities. The East Side Coastal Resiliency project – the section of the BIG U between Montgomery Street and East 25th Street – is currently under construction, and features a system of “bridging berms” that help protect the neighborhood from future storm surge while reimagining access and pedestrian bridges into the park, supporting diverse new plantings, enhancing views into the park, and creating better open spaces along the waterfront – a living example of ‘hedonistic sustainability.’

BIG has been selected to design the home of the new Hungarian Natural History Museum in Hungary’s second-largest city, Debrecen. The 23,000 m² museum will be situated on the site of a former stadium in the southern part of the city, bordering the historic Great Forest, Nagyerdő.

The new Hungarian Natural History Museum is designed in collaboration with Vikár és Lukács Építész Stúdió, proposing a series of curving ribbons to create a new public and scientific destination. The museum forms part of the government’s plan to transform Debrecen into a key regional hub for education and culture by 2030, replacing the current museum located in Budapest. Commissioned by the Museum and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, the structure will house permanent and temporary exhibition halls, educational and research facilities, public amenities, and back-of-house spaces.

“Natural history is a subject dear to me – so dear that I named my oldest son Darwin. To that end, it is a great honor to have been entrusted with the authorship of The Hungarian Natural History Museum in the great forest of Debrecen. Our design is conceived as an intersection of paths and lineages. Intersecting ribbons of landscape overlap to produce a series of niches and habitats, halls and galleries, blending the inside and the outside, the intimate and the mastodontic in seamless continuity. The result is a manmade hill in a forest clearing; geometrically clear yet softly organic – an appropriate home for the wonders of the natural world.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

Biosphere at Treehotel in Swedish Lapland is named one of “seven fantastical places to stay on vacation” by American fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. Designed in collaboration with Treehotel and Swedish ornithologist Ulf Öhman, the Biosphere cabin brings 350 bird houses to the Harads village, with the mission to decrease the downward spiral of the bird population in the region. Through wrapping the hotel room in an ecological habitat, guests are immersed in birdlife – finding themselves in the epicenter of nature.

The 2016 Serptentine Pavilion, designed by BIG, is featured in a visual retrospective celebrating 25 years of the Serpentine Pavilion by Elle Decor. The Serpentine Pavilion is an annual architectural commission by the Serpentine Gallery in London, inviting internationally renowned architects to design and realize their first built structure in the UK. Over the years, the Pavilion has become a globally recognized platform for architectural experimentation, showcasing groundbreaking work by some of the world’s leading architects.

For the 2016 Pavilion, BIG decided to work with one of the most basic elements of architecture: the brick wall. Rather than clay bricks or stone blocks, the wall is erected from extruded fiberglass frames stacked on top of each other. The unzipped Serpentine ‘wall’ creates a cave-like canyon lit through the fiberglass frames, the gaps between the shifted boxes, and the translucent resin of the fiberglass. As a result, the structure embodies multiple aspects that are often perceived as opposites: a structure that is freeform yet rigorous, modular yet sculptural, transparent and opaque, box and blob.

Spanish business newspaper Expansión has unveiled the design for the new Ibervalles Hotel in Madrid. The 21-story hotel, located in the Azca district, will feature a rooftop with panoramic views, a restaurant, a wellness area, as well as spaces for events and work, including an auditorium, exhibition halls, offices, and meeting rooms. The building is scheduled to open in early 2028.

BIG has been selected to lead the transformation of the historic Palau del Vestit into the Fira Barcelona Innovation Hub. The project is one of three developments that will redefine the future of Montjuïc, alongside the new Multifunctional Palace by Smiljan Radić, Miquel Mariné Núñez, Beatriz Borque and Cesar Rueda Bonet and the Barcelona Conference Centre by Forgas Architectes, Sidereal Architecture and Álvaro Alejandro Fernández.

Designed in collaboration with MIAS Arquitectes, the new innovation hub envisions a flexible, three-storey “Z”-shaped building surrounded by public garden spaces, blending the architectural legacy of Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Josep Maria Jujol with modern, adaptable workspaces. The design introduces a sawtooth façade on Gran Via, maximizing natural light while fostering a dynamic hub for innovation and collaboration.

Set to begin construction in early 2026, the project is expected to be completed by 2029, coinciding with the centenary of the 1929 International Exposition.

Wildflower Film Studios has been named Best Industrial & Logistics Project at the 2025 MIPIM Awards in Cannes, France. Created in 1991, the MIPIM Awards celebrate the industry’s most useful, sustainable, and visionary projects.

Wildflower Studios, designed by BIG and developed by Wildflower Ltd. with actor and film producer Robert De Niro, his son Raphael, and film producer Jane Rosenthal, is a commercial film studio situated just two miles from Manhattan in the Ditmars-Steinway neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. As the first vertical media production village in the world, the new studio is home to storytellers working across all mediums – a three-dimensional hub of collaboration, creativity, and innovation.

French construction publication Le Moniteur features Sorbonne University’s future multidisciplinary research center, Cité de l’Innovation, on its cover and in a four-page article, offering an exclusive peek into the construction site. The article focuses on the architectural and engineering complexity of the project, highlighting its tilted façades, elevated base, and hybrid steel-and-concrete structure.

Merging education, research, and public life, the 15.000 m2 Cité de l’Innovation in Paris is set to become a dynamic hub for collaboration, redefining the relationship between academia and urban space. The project is slated for completion in 2025.

“Concrete – From fluid fantasy to concrete reality,” the third issue of DOMUS guest edited by Bjarke Ingels explores the future of architecture’s most fundamental yet controversial material.

In this issue, Leah Ellis from Sublime Systems writes about innovating low-carbon cement through electrochemical processes while Jason Ballard from ICON is automating construction with 3D-printed neighborhoods and first settlements on the Moon. An interview with Ensamble Studio discusses the oxymoronic nature of concrete in their factory, where they rehearse full scale construction. Christian Kerez has turned parking structures into iconic undulating surfaces and Chenchow Little Architects have created an intimate dwelling with monolithic elements. Julien De Smedt and Keisuke Oka are investigating the limitless formal freedoms while Katja Schenker is using concrete to contain found objects like giant blocks of nougat.

BIG has unveiled the design for Gelephu International Airport, the gateway to Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City designed in collaboration with NACO. Blending Bhutan’s cultural heritage with modern innovation, the Gelephu International Airport is designed for mindful travel and future expansion, set against a backdrop of Bhutan’s lush subtropical forests, mountains, and rivers. The airport’s diagrid structure is crafted from locally and sustainably sourced timber and adorned with painted wood carvings by local artists inspired by the ‘Kachen,’ a wooden pillar found in Bhutanese architecture revered for its structural significance and intricate design. The Gelephu International Airport’s design will be showcased at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Ancient Future in May and exhibited until September.  The airport is expected to open in 2029.

“An airport is the first and last impression you get of a place you visit. For the Gelephu International Airport, we have tried to embody the nature and culture of the country and the Mindfulness City. The forests that cover the highlands are allowed to flow from the arrival plaza through the airport all the way to the tarmac. Tropical trees provide shade for travelers, and the forest courtyard lines the main functions of immigration, security, and luggage.

The airport architecture is composed of modular mass timber frames providing flexibility and expandability, resembling a stylized mountain range at a distance. Upon closer inspection, all the mass timber members are carved and colored according to traditional craft, adorned with three types of dragons representing the past, present, and future of Bhutan. The result is traditional yet avant-garde, forward-reaching and rooted.

For me personally, this unusual embrace of traditional craft and color is a true testament to how affected I have been by my encounter with Bhutan – the country, its culture, and its people.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The RIBA Journal, published by Royal Institute of British Architects, features the BIG HQ in Copenhagen on the cover of their March issue and in a detailed six-page spread written by architecture critic Morten Birk Jørgensen. In the piece, Morten dives into the building’s architectural strategies and material usage and explores how the building diverges from traditional office designs, claiming the HQ as ‘one of the most successful monuments in the Copenhagen harbor.’

The Freedom Data Center, the first data center specifically designed to store data on the Moon, has officially left Earth from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Designed by BIG for Lonestar Data Holdings, the Freedom Data Center launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will arrive on the Moon via Intuitive Machines’ Athena IM-2 Lunar Lander. The 26 x 17 cm prototype can store up to 8 TB of data – including government data, artwork, historical records, the video game Starfield, a music video by Imagine Dragons, and more – and features the profiles of two U.S. astronauts: Charlie Duke, moonwalking Apollo 16 astronaut, and Nicole Stott, the spacewalking International Space Station astronaut.

Set to land on the Moon’s south pole, the data center will rely on solar energy during the lunar day and cease operation at lunar nightfall, while the profiles of Duke and Scott will continue to cast everlasting shadows on the surface of the Moon. As BIG’s first built project to enter space, the Freedom Data Center marks the initial step in space becoming a recognized home for data management.

“As we prepare to return to the Moon to stay, it is important that everything we do these coming years of lunar settlement is done with intention and care. Even if modest in scale, this data center is one of very few artifacts designed to remain part of the lunar landscape for years to come.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The Norton Rose Fulbright Tower in Houston, TX is featured in the Winter 2025 issue of Texas Architect, a regional architectural magazine in the U.S. The feature story highlights the tower’s commitment to environmental stewardship and a renewed focus on public connectivity and workplace well-being in a post-pandemic era. Designed by BIG with Kendall/Heaton Associates, the building features an innovative side-core design to maximize natural light and panoramic views of neighboring Discovery Green, Downtown Houston’s largest park.

Reporter Rodrigo Gallardo writes: “In a city that is often characterized by its sprawling highways and car-centric design, the tower is part of a pivotal shift toward a more sustainable and people-focused approach. Reflecting on the trajectory of Houston’s architectural landscape, it becomes evident that projects like this will inspire a new generation of designs that can accommodate growth while elevating the quality of urban and office life.”

BIG has completed the Jinji Lake Pavilion along the waterfront of Suzhou in China. Designed in collaboration with Arts Group, the pavilion merges the traditional Chinese courtyard typology with the offerings of a modern public space and is one of eleven permanent structures developed as part of the city’s initiative to create a vibrant and welcoming waterfront. Four distinct buildings are interconnected to form a gathering space, with elevated roofs framing double-height entrances drawing visitors into a central courtyard. From here, guests can access a coffee shop, boutique, restaurant and visitor center, offering a resting point for walkers along the 13-km Jinji Lake trail.

“The Jinji Lake Pavilion is conceived as a family of public rooms arranged under a single unifying canopy. Evoking the architecture of traditional Chinese teahouses, the glazed ceramic tiled roof is replaced by actual glass tiles, taking the concept of lightness and transparency to another level, and blurring the distinction between indoor and outdoor – garden and architecture. Like a little sister to the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, the Jinji Lake Pavilion seeks to reimagine the future architecture and landscape of the Lake District rooted in the rich heritage of Suzhou’s Chinese garden architecture.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The National Juneteenth Museum is one step closer to becoming a reality with the approval of the site by the Fort Worth City Council. Designed by BIG with KAI Enterprises, the museum will be located in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood on the site of the Southside Community Center. Aimed to preserve and share the history of Juneteenth on a national scale, the mass timber structure is inspired by the Juneteenth flag, with a ‘nova star’ shaped courtyard in the middle that serves as the anchor of the museum’s activities. The space will host exhibitions, educational programs, and community events, becoming a cultural epicenter and gathering place for Fort Worth residents and visitors alike.

“Our design for the National Juneteenth Museum is inspired by the resilience of the African American experience, transforming those stories into a space for reflection, education, and celebration. The museum is a bridge between the past and future, honoring history while fostering growth and connection within the community.” – Douglass Alligood, Partner, BIG

The Norton Rose Fulbright Tower was named a winner in Urban Land Institute Houston’s 18th annual Development of Distinction Awards in the “Large-Scale For-Profit” category. These awards recognize developments and open spaces in Houston, Texas that exemplify best practices in design, construction, economic viability, healthy places, marketing, and management.

The Norton Rose Fulbright Tower is a 28-story cluster of six connected office towers in downtown Houston that incorporates a unique side core design, expansive floor plate, and LEED Platinum mechanical system. The 676,682-sq-ft structure completes the western edge of Discovery Green – one of Houston’s most beloved parks – incorporating elements of the green space throughout the building.

British daily newspaper Financial Times highlights Copenhagen Harbour Bath and River Ring as examples of how resilience measures can enhance the quality of life in urban areas while combatting the impacts of the climate crisis. BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels is interviewed alongside Vanesa Castán Broto, professor of climate urbanism at the University of Sheffield; Jo da Silva, global director of Arup; and others.

The Copenhagen Harbour Bath has been instrumental in transforming Copenhagen’s harbor from an industrial port into the cultural and social heart of the city. Extending one of the city’s most popular parks over the water, it incorporates the practical needs and demands for accessibility, safety, and programmatic flexibility. Similarly, the River Ring development in Williamsburg seeks to enhance the connectivity between neighborhood and waterfront, restore natural habitats, elevate the standard for urban waterfront resiliency, and transform the way New Yorkers interact with the East River.

Archigram Magazine, the beloved counter-culture architecture magazine produced by the British avant-garde architectural group active in the 1960s and 70s, will be reissued for the first time. All 10 issues, spanning from 1961 to 1974, will be reproduced by Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.), Designers & Books, and Archigram magazine and designer Miko McGinty. Additionally, the reprint will include a “reader’s guide” with essays, archival material, and 28 tributes from international architects and scholars including Bjarke Ingels, Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, and Beatriz Colomnia. Archigram’s self-published Archigram Magazine was a bold, graphic-heavy publication that mixed architectural theory with pop culture, comics, and science fiction, promoting concepts like Plug-in City and Walking City, which emphasized mobility, adaptability, and high-tech urbanism.

D.A.P. is raising money to offset the costs of the reproduction via Kickstarter. The facsimile box set will be available for purchase in Fall 2025.

Witkoff Group and Access Industries announced that One High Line has surpassed $1 billion in sales, reaching this milestone faster than any other residential project in downtown New York City in the past 10 years.

Located along the High Line in NYC, One High Line’s façade design is inspired by the punched windows seen in the historic warehouses of the Meatpacking and West Chelsea neighborhoods. The twisting, connected towers pull away from each other and the neighboring buildings as they rise into the sky to maximize urban space and views. Their sloping facades open up to allow light and air to descend into the pocket park of the courtyard.

“The sculptural form is a direct response to the site’s historic industrial heritage and contemporary architecture. It is the means, not the end. The resulting architecture merges the past and present of Chelsea into a new hybrid identity.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative, BIG

BIG and Creo Arkitekter have won the competition to design and transform the new hospice for Sankt Lukas Stiftelsen in Hellerup, Denmark. The new 8,500 m2 palliative care center will house an outreach hospice team, Denmark’s first day hospice, and units for children, youth, and adults. With plans to care for approximately 2,100 patients annually, the two structures will more than triple the current capacity, fostering an environment guided by three core principles – safety and sense of home, solitude and togetherness, arrival and farewell.

Defined by simplicity and scale, the center will harmoniously blend with the surrounding historic structures, featuring pitched roofs and yellow bricks repurposed from the original on-site buildings. The buildings will be surrounded by serene gardens and sensory spaces, seamlessly extending the interior spaces outdoors to create a healing connection to nature.

“A hospice provides the framework for the final moments of a person’s life. It becomes our world before we depart. We have sought to create a peaceful and poetic environment, where one can find tranquility and an opportunity to immerse oneself in the world around us. Nature. The weather. The changing of the seasons. The falling leaves. The budding of trees. The blossoming of the meadow. We have chosen living materials with organic textures that age beautifully over time. The grain in the wood. The burnt clay. The farewell garden is a building structure where the roof opens fully towards the sky. A space that provides room for the final journey. Instead of the linear corridors of hospitals, we have created an environment of smaller buildings arranged around protected natural gardens. The result is a kind of condensed village for life’s final days.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The new Sankt Lukas Hospice and Lukashuset is made possible by donations from Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond and Sorana.

In an article exploring how the AI boom has unexpectedly benefited architects, reporter Nate Berg discusses how some companies are looking to outer space for data storage, highlighting the lunar data center designed by BIG for Lonestar Data Holdings. The 3D-printed payload, whose design reflects the profiles of U.S. astronauts Charlie Duke and Nicole Stott, will travel to the Moon on an upcoming NASA space mission.

“As we prepare to return to the Moon to stay, it is important that everything we do these coming years of lunar settlement is done with intention and care,” says Bjarke Ingels. “Even if modest in scale, this data center is one of very few artifacts designed to remain part of the lunar landscape for years to come.”

Designed by BIG in collaboration with ALB-Architect, the Opera & Ballet Theatre of Kosovo will house four performance halls and a new public plaza in the capital of Prishtina. Symbolising the country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, the theatre will be the first opera house in the Republic of Kosovo, reflecting a new identity for Prishtina rooted in creativity and a commitment to the country’s artistic growth.

Commissioned by Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport (MKRS), the Opera & Ballet Theatre of Kosovo will include a 1,200-capacity Concert Hall, 1,000-capacity Theatre Hall, 300-seat Recital Hall, Theatre Room, and Education and Conference Centre under one roof. Situated next to the Palace of Youth & Sports, the Fadil Vokrri Stadium, and the Public Services Ministry, the theatre will be part of a dynamic new cultural corridor at the heart of the city.

“We are deeply honoured to be entrusted with the design of the new home for the performing arts in a country that has gifted the world with an outsized cultural impact in the performing arts. Our design for the Opera & Ballet Theatre of Kosovo is designed like an efficient factory for the fabrication of artistic performances. The rational nucleus is wrapped in a continuous canopy, creating an engaging public space open in all directions. The undulating roof creates a flowing and inviting gesture evocative of the Xhubleta, the traditional national dress of Kosovo.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG 

The 92nd Street Y in New York City hosted Bjarke Ingels and artist/entrepreneur Fanyu Lin for a dynamic discussion as part of the arts and cultural hub’s “Architecture Talk” series. Together, Bjarke and Fanyu explored the power of saying “yes,” innovative housing solutions including BIG’s 8 House in Copenhagen, how BIG’s work embodies the forward-thinking approaches needed to address today’s most pressing challenges, and more.

US-based news magazine TIME published an article on Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) featuring an interview with the country’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. The article highlights future developments and explores the idea of ‘mindful capitalism’ and how Bhutan aims to balance environmental awareness and spiritual values with economic development.

Gelephu Mindfulness City, designed in collaboration with Cistri and Arup, reimagines the city as a global hub for sustainable innovation, drawing investors and businesses committed to ecological and social well-being. In December 2024, BIG announced its expansion into Bhutan, becoming the first international company to register in GMC.

Spanish Architectural Digest paid a visit to BIG’s office in Barcelona for a chat with Partner João Albuquerque about the new 1,200 m2-office space in the Eixample district and how the studio approaches new projects. Since opening BIG’s Catalan outpost in 2019, it has grown to 80 employees, currently working on projects such as Gastronomy Open Ecosystem in San Sebastian, Joint Research Center in Sevilla, and a hotel for Ibervalles in Madrid.

The Norton Rose Fulbright Tower in Houston, Texas has achieved the prestigious WELL Core & Shell Certification at the Platinum level, awarded by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Focused oncreating people-centered spaces that prioritize health and well-being, the WELL Certification reflects excellence across seven key categories of building performance: Air, Water, Light, Nourishment, Fitness, Comfort, and Mind. There are currently less than 100 projects in the United States to be WELL Platinum certified.

The Norton Rose Fulbright Tower completes the western edge of Discovery Green – one of Houston’s most beloved parks – incorporating elements of the green space throughout. The project features a 48,000-gallon rainwater collection tank for flushing and irrigation, with district cooling that reduces the need for a central plant. The building is projected to use 21% less energy than comparable towers, while 30% more fresh air flows through it than a typical Class A building.

The January issue of Domus, titled “Stone – From caves to low-carbon construction”, marks the arrival of the first of 10 issues with Bjarke Ingels as the guest editor, unveiling his vision through an exploration of materialism. Central to the first edition is the timeless and transformative power of stone – the cradle of architecture and a symbol of humanity’s relationship with nature, history and the cosmos.

Tracing a timeline of stone architecture, this issue explores the revival of the material as both a low-carbon structural solution and a medium rich with nature’s inherent textures, reflected in the work of architects and designers such as Amin Taha, Steve Webb, and SolidNature. Beyond architecture, the issue highlights stone’s reinterpretation in art and design, including Laurian Ghinitoiu’s documentation of pink Portuguese marble’s journey to Ground Zero and José Manuel Castro López’s sculptural oxymorons of “soft stone,” showcasing this ancient material’s ability to bridge tradition and transformation.

At the 2025 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the annual technology and innovation trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Toyota announced the completion of the first phase of Toyota Woven City, a test course for mobility at the foothills of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Toyota Woven City Phase 1 – designed by Nikken Sekkei with the masterplan, public realm, and landscape by BIG – is envisioned as a living laboratory to test mobility, autonomy, connectivity, hydrogen-powered infrastructure, and industry collaboration.

The official launch of Toyota Woven City Phase 1 is set for Fall 2025, while the city is slated to open to the public in 2026.

Skypark Business Center (SBC) is included in CNN’s list of 11 architectural projects set to shape the world in 2025.

Located in Findel adjacent to the Luxembourg Airport, the 19,200 m2 SBC is set to be one of Europe’s largest timber buildings to date, built using over 15,300 m3 of timber – enough to fill up six Olympic-size pools. SBC is based on an ideal office bar typology measuring 17 m in width; instead of one single zig-zag volume, BIG’s design consists of two stacked and rotated zig-zagging bars. This creates numerous outdoor spaces, exciting views from all angles, and highly flexible interior spaces.

The Moxy hotel and public plaza at SBC are open now.

Belgian newspaper De Tijd published a profile story on BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels, highlighting his professional journey as an architect, his distinct approach to architecture, and BIG’s global projects including the Danish pavilion for the World Expo in Shanghai, CopenHill, Gelephu Mindfulness City, Oceanix City, and Project Olympus.

“With every project, we ask ourselves the question: what change is taking place here? That then becomes the starting point of the entire design.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved plans to redevelop 670 Mesquit in the Los Angeles Arts District. Located along the Los Angeles River, the complex designed by BIG will include four connected sleek towers rising as high as 34 stories designed to honor the district’s industrial heritage and creative spirit. The complex consists of 895 residences – including low-income housing – alongside 676,000 sq ft of office space, a 271-room hotel, a charter elementary school, and an array of street-level retail and gallery spaces.

BIG announced that it will open its 9th office in Bhutan becoming the first international company to register in Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC). The new studio will combine local Bhutanese and global talent, leading BIG’s work on GMC – the 1000+km2 masterplan by BIG, Arup, and Cistri informed by Bhutanese culture, the principles of Gross National Happiness Index (GNH), and the country’s strong spiritual heritage.

“As we continue to help lay the foundation for Gelephu Mindfulness City’s thriving business and innovation environment, opening our office in Bhutan feels like a thrilling and natural next step. This new studio will allow us to deepen our connection to Bhutan and embrace its cultural richness while also strengthening our regional presence in South and Southeast Asia. BIG Bhutan will not only mark the beginning of the next chapter for BIG, but it will also become a step toward bringing the vision for GMC to life.” Sheela Maini Søgaard, CEO & Partner, BIG

British news outlet BBC highlights CopenHill in a story about how dry slope skiing could be the answer to the sport’s future as ski resorts grapple with the effects of climate change. The incineration plant, doubling as a recreation center, is topped with a 400-meter-long ski piste paved with a synthetic surface that mimics hard-packed snow by using concentric conical stems to provide grip. Since its opening in 2019, the plant welcomes 10,000 visitors every year to ski or take a walk on the roof or climb the 85-meter-tall climbing wall on the side of the building.

British daily newspaper The Guardian published an in-depth story on Copenhagen’s Nordhavn neighborhood, home of BIG’s Copenhagen HQ. Nordhavn, The Guardian writes, embodies the ambitious “five-minute city” concept, where all daily amenities – homes, workplaces, schools, shops, and social spaces – are accessible within a five-minute walk. Built on a redeveloped industrial peninsula, Nordhavn prioritizes pedestrian-friendly design, cycling, and public transport over cars, aligning with Copenhagen’s broader goal of carbon neutrality.

Architecturally anchored in Copenhagen Harbor’s heritage of warehouses and factories, BIG HQ is BIG’s first example of fully integrated LEAP design – a collaboration between Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, and Product designers.

Global media outlet The Economist published an article on Moon bases and lunar construction, including Project Olympus – a lunar habitat by ICON, SEArch+, NASA and BIG set to be the first human foray into extra-terrestrial construction. Built using ICON’s 3D printing technology, using lunar regolith as the main building material, the habitat is designed to accommodate four astronauts for a period of up to a month at a time and maximize existing lunar resources.

BIG is included on Architectural Digest’s AD100 2025 list alongside an incredible group of creatives, tastemakers, and innovators. The AD100 is Architectural Digest’s prestigious list celebrating the most influential talents shaping the fields of interior design, architecture, and landscape design today.

Architectural Digest, a leading international design authority, has highlighted the work of top architects and designers worldwide since its founding in 1920.

Domus 2025 appoints Bjarke Ingels as the Guest Editor along with BIG Associate Shane Dalke as Deputy Guest Editor, plus Partner Giulia Frittoli and Filippo Cartapani on the editorial team!

BIG will curate 10 issues themed MATERIALISM, taking its readers on a “material odyssey” that will delve into the profound role of materials in shaping architecture and design. Each issue will spotlight a different material, exploring how architects and designers manipulate matter to create objects and environments that sustain life.

“By reclaiming the term materialism from the realm of empty consumerism, we aim to bring it back to the practice of formulating our future through form and matter. We want to go on an odyssey through the material world. Starting with solid rock and ending with the flow of electrons: stone, earth, concrete, metal, glass, wood, fabric, plastic, plant, re-source, immaterial.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

Bjarke joins Domus’s guest editor roster of distinguished architects including Michele De Lucchi, Winy Maas, David Chipperfield, Tadao Ando, Jean Nouvel, Steven Holl + Toshiko Mori, and Norman Foster. The first issue curated by Bjarke will be released in January 2025.

Located in the heart of Madrid on Avenida del General Perón, directly across from the iconic Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, BIG will design a five-star luxury hotel in collaboration with the Spanish real estate investment company Ibervalles and Spanish architecture firm Ortiz.León Arquitectos.

This project marks BIG’s debut in Madrid, further extending the firm’s presence in Spain. The hotel’s design will be unveiled in early 2025, with completion anticipated in 2028.

“Madrid is experiencing an incredible renaissance that makes it one of the most dynamic and vibrant cities in Europe. We are excited to partner with Ibervalles to contribute to the city’s skyline and hotel scene.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

The Madrid hotel announcement comes on the heels of the five-year anniversary of the BIG Barcelona office opening and builds upon a portfolio of ongoing projects in Spain, including Gastronomy Open Ecosystem for the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián and the Joint Research Centre in Seville.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Suzhou Industrial Park – a collaborative development between China and Singapore – Vice Premier He Lifeng of China and Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore commemorated the occasion by planting a persimmon tree in the garden of the BIG-designed Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, located along the park’s waterfront. The tree symbolizes the continuous friendship and collaboration between the two countries.

The tree-planting ceremony was part of a large celebration, which included discussions on the park’s achievements and future directions for joint development.

Home to The National Theater of Albania, Tirana was listed among the best places for architecture and design lovers to travel in 2025 by Architectural Digest. After opening an international call for urban development projects, the capital of Albania has become an architectural hub for firms such as BIG, Zaha Hadid Architects, MVRDV, and Alejandro Aravena, among others.

The bow tie-shaped National Theatre of Albania designed by BIG is a three-in-one cultural venue replacing an aging theatre building that no longer meets the needs of the actors, guests, or the general public. The new 9,300 m2 contemporary venue will host local and touring theatre companies, bringing three new indoor performance spaces, a rooftop amphitheater, and a covered public space underneath the building, reinforcing the city’s goal for more urban gathering places in Tirana.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new NYPD 40th Precinct was held in the Melrose neighborhood of the South Bronx, New York, with speeches by NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley, BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels, and more.

The ground-up project, designed by BIG, features the first-ever community event space to be at an NYPD facility, as well as multiple green roofs and dedicated areas for fitness and training for officers. From the outside, the new precinct resembles a stack of bricks, referencing the rusticated bases of early NYC police stations. The form of the building is derived from its programmatic requirements, where individual volumes contain specific elements of the program as outlined by the NYPD and local residents.

“I hope this structure will help make the 40th Precinct a safer and more welcoming place—both for the community and for the men and women who work to keep it safe.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

In celebration of the recently announced collaboration between Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet and KAWS, the 11 m tall COMPANION sculpture by the American artist sits atop the rooftop of Audemars Piguet’s headquarters in the Vallée de Joux, overlooking the glass spiral of the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet designed by BIG.

Informed by the convergence of form and content in clockwork, the Musée is conceived like the coils of a watch. The all-glass structure is made up of two spirals that seamlessly integrate into the existing landscape. Visitors can observe watchmakers working within the curved glass walls of the museum and experience their expertise first-hand.

‘KAWS:HOLIDAY’ Le Brassus is on view from November 20 to December 20, 2024.

In a CBS 60 Minutes segment exploring Bhutan, BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels spoke with correspondent Lesley Stahl about Gelephu Mindfulness City, BIG’s masterplan for a new city in Southern Bhutan informed by Bhutanese culture, the principles of Gross National Happiness Index, and the country’s strong spiritual heritage.

60 Minutes is the U.S.’s oldest and most-watched newsmagazine on television, covering current events, politics, lifestyle, pop culture, business, health, and science.

“If we succeed, we can show that you can create a city that does not displace nature, that is anchored and rooted in the local heritage and culture, and still allows for prosperity and growth to happen.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

The park at the foot of BIG’s headquarters in Copenhagen was highlighted in a six-page story in the November issue of Tidsskriftet Landskab, the magazine published by the Danish Association of Landscape Architects. Designed by BIG’s internal team of landscape architects, the park has been transformed from a former parking area into a local oasis and viewpoint where employees, residents, and visitors can enjoy the waterfront.

By dividing it into two zones, the park mirrors the Danish coastal landscape’s interplay between forest and beach. To the north, trees such as pine and oak have been planted, along with wind-tolerant and shade-loving perennials that provide shelter and act as a buffer against the industrial surroundings of the harbor. To the south, the landscape opens up with lower plantings of shrubs, grasses, and herbs. At the heart of the park stands the ‘Stone 40’ sculpture by artist Benjamin Langholz, acting as a playful path that challenges the senses.

The Mandarin Oriental Residences in the Saadiyat Cultural District have been announced as Mandarin Oriental’s first residences in Abu Dhabi.

Set in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s vibrant cultural hub, the development – designed by BIG with interiors by Lillian Wu – will feature 226 luxury residences that embrace the natural and traditional design elements of the United Arab Emirates. The project consists of two twin buildings that cascade towards the central corridor, framing the iconic Zayed National Museum. The exterior design adopts a smooth, curved architectural language to create a harmonious synergy with the surrounding architectural wonders in the Saadiyat Cultural District.

Each home will be equipped with premium wellness facilities designed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, including private swimming pools with uninterrupted views of the district’s cultural landmarks. Residents will have access to services, a theatre, a library, restaurants, patisseries, a gymnasium, and a games room.

The Mandarin Oriental Residences Saadiyat Cultural District are scheduled for completion in 2028.

BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels was featured as a guest speaker at Fortune Magazine’s Global Forum in New York, alongside leaders from the world’s most innovative companies, including retired football player Tom Brady, American businessman Joshua Kushner, and NYSE President Lynn Martin. Clay Chandler, executive editor, Asia at Fortune, interviewed Bjarke about Project Olympus and Gelephu Mindfulness City, during which Bjarke also touched on the ideas of ‘Practical Utopianism’ and ‘Hedonistic Sustainability.’

The Fortune Global Forum brings together the brightest minds to explore the trends and strategies reshaping industries and transforming the future, addressing disruptive forces like AI, climate change, and geopolitical risks.

CapitaSpring has won the 11th edition of the International High-Rise Award – a biennial honor recognizing high-rise buildings that consider future-oriented design, functionality, innovative building technology, integration into urban development schemes, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. The prize is jointly given by Detsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), Deka Bank, and the City of Frankfurt. The BIG-designed residential tower IQON in Quito has also been recognized as a finalist in the awards program, highlighted for its architectural design and integration of greenery.

The prize was presented at a ceremony in Frankfurt, handed over by Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt Mike Josef, Deputy Chair of the Board of DekaBank Dr. Matthias Danne, and Director of Deutsches Architekturmuseum Peter Cachola Schmal. Praised as “the best high-rise building in the world at the moment“, the jury stated, “We are honoring the city for giving the developer the right incentives, and the developer for seizing the initiative, and the architects for finding an innovative solution to it all. All of this is reflected in the quality of the architecture. CapitaSpring could simply not have been built elsewhere at present. Other cities can definitely learn from this.”

Accepting the award on behalf of BIG and co-architects Carlo Ratti Associati was Partner-in-Charge Brian Yang, alongside Project Director Gregory Chua, representing developers CapitaLand.

“In 2016, our first high-rise – the New York courtscraper VIA 57 West won the International High-Rise Award—a great honor. The courtscraper was about providing the American skyscraper with the urban oasis and social space of a European courtyard. Today with CapitaSpring, we have set out to explore the high-rise as a vertical extension of a uniquely Singaporean form of tropical urbanism. By wresting the vertical lines of the façade apart, the tower opens up for access and views between inside and outside, turning the traditional pinstripe of the classic curtainwall into something more engaging, inviting, and accessible. A simple gesture that fundamentally reimagines the social role of a skyscraper. Needless to say, we are deeply grateful that CapitaSpring has moved the jury as much as it has ourselves.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

In anticipation of Ken Burns’s forthcoming documentary on Leonardo da Vinci’s life and work, BIG Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels sat down with the American filmmaker to reflect on da Vinci’s blend of science and art. During the discussion, Bjarke shares how – like da Vinci – he is inspired by the natural world in his work, the idea of pragmatic utopianism, and the architectural advancements that may impress the Italian polymath if he were alive today.

The Nawabari collection, designed by BIG’s Product design team in collaboration with Danish furniture company BoConcept, won the Readers’ Award – a category determined by public voting – at the 11th annual 2024 Design Awards in Copenhagen. Hosted by design magazines Bo Bedre and Boligmagasinet, the Design Awards program is dedicated to celebrating Danish design and designers.

The Nawabari furniture family consists of two sofa sizes, an armchair, two coffee tables, and two pouffe sizes in an array of colors. The collection is inspired by the Japanese art form of binding with ropes to forge close bonds, with ‘nawa’ meaning ‘rope’ in Japanese, and the term ‘nawabari’ traditionally translating to ‘stretching rope’.

Denmark unveiled its first AI supercomputer, ‘Gefion.’ Developed by Novo Nordisk, Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), and American AI computing company NVIDIA, Gefion is one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, set to revolutionize research in quantum computing, drug discovery, and the green energy transition. BIG’s product designers were tapped to design and build the scale model of ‘Gefion,’ which was displayed at the official launch event attended by HM King Frederik X of Denmark, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang, and Nadia Carlsten, CEO of the Danish Centre for AI Innovation.

The I AM MSRHM pavilion was showcased at Scandinavia’s biggest conference for additive manufacturing, AM Summit. Born out of a desire to innovate the construction industry, I AM MSHRM is a collaborative effort between Danish AM Hub, MDT, Naturpladen, and BIG’s architects and engineers, aimed at exploring new ways to reduce spatial and material waste through additive manufacturing and bio-based materials.

The result is a rapidly deployable and easily assembled system consisting of interlocking frame elements of 3D-printed recycled plastic filled with mycelium. The reciprocal frame structures are bespoke in geometry yet modular in their assembly logic, making it possible to be easily put together without scaffolding or specialized knowledge. This method of printing reduces the overall print material, replacing it with a mycelium composite to significantly lower the overall carbon footprint.

BIG Associate Alana Goldweit sat down with Forbes to discuss the city of Telosa, a vision for a new city envisioned collaboratively by entrepreneur and businessman Marc Lore and BIG. In the feature story, Alana talks about Telosa’s “people-first” approach, the challenges of imagining a new city for the American desert, and the opportunities architects and urban designers have to rethink how we can live more healthily and equitable in the urban environment.

The 150,000-acre proposal for Telosa includes eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production, and a drought-resistant water system. The vision aims to set a global standard for urban living, expand human potential, and become a blueprint for future generations and urban environments. Telosa has a target population of five million by 2050, with the first phase of construction expected to house 50,000 people by 2030.

Global media outlet The Economist published an article on the potentials of the Gelephu Mindfulness City masterplan, designed by BIG in collaboration with Arup and Cistri. Gelephu Mindfulness City positively stands out in three ways, according to the reporter: the country’s geopolitics and support from India; its possible draw for the artificial intelligence and crypto industries; and the hope that the plan will encourage the over 6% of Bhutan residents who have emigrated to return, while teaching other Bhutanese to compete at home with foreign talent.

Mindfulness City aims to drive Bhutan’s future growth by creating economic opportunities for its citizens through investments in green technology, education, and infrastructure. The plan includes a new international airport, railway connections, a hydroelectric dam, public spaces, and a language for local building typologies rooted in the country’s vernacular architecture.

Faena New York will open its doors next spring in the east tower at One High Line in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The property will offer 120 guest rooms and suites, the Tierra Santa Healing House spa, and vibrant restaurant and nightlife venues. The opening of Faena New York will mark two decades since Faena’s debut in Buenos Aires and a decade since the launch of Faena Miami Beach.

The sculptural geometry of One High Line’s two towers is a direct response to their dense context on Manhattan’s west side. At the base, the two towers pull away from each other and the neighboring buildings to maximize urban space and views of the surrounding skyline and the elevated High Line park. The twisting geometry at the corners of the towers reduces the overall bulk of the buildings and creates additional separation between them.

BIG, in collaboration with creo arkitekter, is shortlisted as one of the four architectural teams to design a new hospice building in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. Commissioned by the nonprofit healthcare organization Sankt Lukas Stiftelsen, the foundation’s new palliative care centre will provide enhanced support for terminally ill patients of all ages and their families, housing hospice programmes for children, young people, and adults; an expanded outgoing hospice team that treats patients in their own homes; and Denmark’s first day hospice. Competing alongside BIG are C.F. Møller with Effekt; Dorte Mandrup with Nord Architects and Marianne Levinsen Landskab; and Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter with Vega Landskab.

The first section of the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project between East 15^th and East 25^th Streets has completed on Manhattan’s east side. ESCR, designed by BIG, MNLA, and AKRF, will protect and improve the resiliency of more than 110,000 New Yorkers, critical infrastructure, and numerous schools and libraries by employing raised parkland, floodwalls and gates, and berms while reestablishing public space and improving waterfront accessibility.

“As one of the world’s great coastal cities, we know that stronger storms and rising seas are a threat, because no one knows when the next Superstorm Sandy will arrive at our doorstep; but New York City plans to be ready,” remarked Mayor Adams at the celebratory ribbon cutting ceremony. “Today, we are marking the completion of Phase One of East Side Coastal Resiliency – two months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Once the entire project is completed, the protective gates can be deployed when a hurricane or storm surge is headed our way – protecting lives and New Yorkers’ wallets as we safeguard property. Protecting New Yorkers from climate change is a massive undertaking, with millions of lives and billions of dollars on the line – and we’re more than up to the task.”

Construction on the second section of ESCR is underway and anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026.

In an article for the digital culture newsletter Air Mail, BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels shares his guide to the best spots in his home city of Copenhagen, Denmark. The list of recommendations features his favorite wine bar, restaurants, cultural spots, and bookstore.

To celebrate the five-year journey since the opening of BIG’s Barcelona office, BIG hosted an exhibition at Centre Obert d’Arquitectura (COAC) in Barcelona. The exhibition, titled ‘5 YEARS OF BIG BCN,’ opened with an inaugural speech by Partner João Albuquerque and showcased a sample of the office’s projects including the Biosphere cabin at Treehotel in the Swedish Lapland, the Joint Research Center in Sevilla, and the Ellinikon Park Rise in Athens.

This week marks the inaugural Bhutan Innovation Forum, the first large-scale international event focused on shaping the future of Bhutan, anchored by the potential of Gelephu Mindfulness City. At the event, BIG presented the finalized concept for the 2500 km2 masterplan, rooted in the principles of the Gross National Happiness Index and the country’s strong cultural heritage. This new economic hub aims to drive the growth of Bhutan through green technology, education, and infrastructure.

“For the last year we have focused on turning the Gelephu Mindfulness City Masterplan into a tangible series of buildable projects that will bring this vision to life. From the International Airport designed as a Forest Terminal, to buildings made from locally sourced river stone, timber, and bamboo, to streets and parks that seamlessly manage water like natural ecosystems, the Mindfulness City is a testament to how economic growth can be nurtured by nature and rooted in local culture and heritage.

Designed to attract foreign investment and retain local talent, Gelephu Mindfulness City aspires to demonstrate how innovation can flourish while enhancing and expanding local identity – a conundrum most modern cities struggle with how to tackle.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

“The Bhutan Innovation Forum is a first step towards realizing the Gelephu Mindfulness City Vision. By sharing experiences and insights between global and local leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators, Bhutan is demonstrating its commitment to securing a stronger future for its younger generations. I’m delighted to announce the progress on the city’s design development, and I look forward to continuing our collaboration with both local and international communities to create a lasting and meaningful impact, shaping a future where tradition and innovation thrive side by side.” – Giulia Frittoli, Partner and Head of BIG Landscape, BIG

Solar One – the nonprofit focused on sustainability and resiliency in urban environments – along with BIG, Gilbane Building Company, and the NYC Economic Development Corporation celebrated the topping out of the Solar One Environmental Education Center in Stuyvesant Cove Park on Manhattan’s east side.

The BIG-designed home for environmental learning and innovation, designed in collaboration with Silman Structural Engineers and Cosentini Associates, will offer educational programming on New York’s ecology in a structure designed to withstand flooding events and provide life-saving recharging capabilities during power outages. Opening spring 2025, the center will also act as a gateway to the northernmost point of the East Side Coastal Resiliency waterfront redevelopment, designed by BIG with AKRF, ONE, and MNLA. The East Side Coastal Resiliency project will bring 2.5 miles of coastal resiliency and social infrastructure along the East River, reducing the risk of flooding during storm surge events while improving access to the waterfront, creating new public spaces, and enhancing natural areas.

Designed by BIG and landscape architecture firm SCAPE, Manresa Island is situated on the site of a decommissioned power plant in southeast Connecticut that extends into the Long Island Sound. The industrial peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides, will be transformed into a 125-acre publicly accessible park designed by SCAPE, unlocking 1.75 miles of waterfront access for the first time in nearly 75 years. The plant buildings at the heart of the site will be adapted by BIG into a dynamic community hub for learning, discovery, and exploration.

Once home to the Manresa Institute, a retreat and recreation destination, the site was converted into a coal-fired power plant in the 1950s. BIG has been commissioned to preserve and adapt the plant’s main structures: the 22,000-sq-ft boiler building; the 22,000-sq-ft turbine hall; the 8,200-sq-ft office building; and the 350-ft-tall smokestack. The eight-story boiler building will focus on recreation, including multiple swimming areas and food and beverage options. The turbine hall will be converted into a multi-purpose event space and speakeasy, while the adjacent office building will provide opportunities for marine and ecological learning as a laboratory with classrooms and research spaces. The design will preserve key aspects of the existing power plant, including the structural framework, smokestack, and administrative space.

“Manresa Island is set to become a much-needed foothold for the public along the otherwise rather privatized Connecticut coastline. With our vision for the powerplant, we seek to rediscover and reanimate the majestic spaces hidden within the bones of the decommissioned piece of infrastructure. Boilers, silos, and turbine halls are post-industrial cathedrals awaiting exploration and reinterpretation. As an extension of SCAPE’s resettlement of the island for the enjoyment of human life among many other forms of life, we seek to extend that resettlement into the cavernous spaces within. By editing rather than adding, we will open up and clear out the existing spaces so that the once coal-powered plant can become the framework for the social and cultural life of Manresa’s future—from energy infrastructure to social infrastructure.“ – Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director & Founder, BIG

This year’s Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Conference honored the Kaktus Towers in Copenhagen, named “Best High Rise in Europe” by the jury of international architects. Gathering industry leaders in the world of construction, the CTBUH Conference recognizes projects, practices, and individuals that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment.

The two Kaktus Towers of 21- and 24-stories, developed in collaboration with Catella and Per Høpfner, contain 495 apartments and are designed to accommodate micro living with compact homes and spacious, shared amenities. Situated within a web of movement, the towers feature a green plateau that doubles as a one km-long public park raising eight meters above the bustling Dybbølsbro train station. The park stretches from the Kaktus Towers to the new finance district, Postgrunden, connecting otherwise isolated areas along the post-industrial strip.

BIG is set to transform a former supermarket building into the new Museum for Paper Art in the North Jutland region of Denmark. With paper art deeply rooted in the Danish cultural heritage, including the iconic folded lampshades by Le Klint and H.C. Andersen’s paper clips, the conversion and extension of the building intends to double the museum’s annual number of visitors as well as embrace paper as an art form and expertise.

The Museum for Paper Art, founded by psaligrapher Bit Vejle in 2018, is the only specialised museum for paper fine crafts and design in the Nordics. The approximately 900 m2 former supermarket building will be renovated and expanded by BIG to create a 2300 m2 museum with space for workshops, events, teaching rooms, storage, and office facilities. The adaptive reuse project is pursuing DGNB Gold or Platinum certification.

“Paper art is about creating three-dimensional shapes and complex images from a monochromatic two-dimensional material – a sheet of paper. By treating the roof surface as such – a single sheet of folded paper – existing and new functions are brought together in one unifying gesture. The expressive is accentuated by the clear, complexity arises from simplicity. And an obsolete supermarket finds new life under the floating curved roof.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG

At this year’s Sages & Scientists Symposium, BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels took the stage alongside Founding Partner of Global Infrastructure Partners Matthew Harris and author Deepak Chopra to talk about Gelephu Mindfulness City and the importance of regenerative systems. Hosted at the historic Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, the annual event, organized by the Chopra Foundation, invites entrepreneurs, philosophers, medical experts, scientists, and artists to discuss conscious collaboration for global transformation.

The BIG HQ in Copenhagen is featured on the cover of German magazine DETAIL’s September issue. The 14-page story dives deep into the building’s construction, materials, and craftsmanship and features a Q&A with BIG’s Founder and Creative Director Bjarke Ingels alongside an interview with Associate and BIG HQ Design Lead Frederik Lyng.

Architecturally anchored in Copenhagen harbour’s heritage of warehouses and factories, the 7-storey BIG HQ is BIG’s first example of fully integrated LEAP design – a collaboration between Landscape, Engineering, Architecture, and Product designers. Upon entering the main entrance through a 3-m-tall glass door, BIGsters and guests will find themselves in a dramatic Piranesian space, where the inner life of the building reveals itself through diagonal views all the way up to the top floor. “We needed to create a building that felt like a single, vast space. A space in which every staff member feels like part of a big team,” remarks Lyng in the story.

CopenHill has been selected to be featured in an exhibition at Harvard University titled “Architecture as an Instruction-based Art.” Curated by Harvard Graduate School of Design Professor Farshid Moussavi and co-curator Abby Kuohn, the exhibition explores a selection of architectural works focusing on how architects use drawings to guide construction teams from start to finish. “Architecture as an Instruction-based Art” will run until October 14th at Harvard’s Druker Design Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

BIG welcomed 250+ guests at its headquarters in Copenhagen for the opening dinner of CHART Art Fair. As the leading event for contemporary art, design, and architecture in the Nordics, the CHART Art Fair invites visitors to explore Copenhagen’s strongholds of art, design, and architecture over the span of four days. The evening featured welcome speeches by CHART Director Julie Quottrup Silbermann and BIG CEO Sheela Søgaard followed by a dinner prepared by BIG’s in-house restaurant, BIG FISK, led by head chef Mikkel Karstad.

Selected by public voting, the Urban Life huts in Aarhus have been named “The City’s Best Architecture” in the annual Byens Bedste (The City’s Best) – an awards program organized by local newspaper Århus Stiftstidende recognizing the best businesses, places, and experiences in the city of Aarhus, Denmark.

As part of the Aarhus Harbor Masterplan designed in collaboration with Gehl Architects, the 13 commercial huts sit at the edge of the waterfront, housing both cafés, bars, and coffee shops. Each hut has its own distinct architectural character, constructed in a variation of materials, ranging from cork and wood to glass and straw.

Arkitekten, published by the Danish Association of Architects, features the BIG HQ in Copenhagen as the cover story in the August issue. In the nine-page story titled ‘Concrete Ballet,’ Architect and Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture Kristine Annabell Torp claims the building ‘a masterpiece.’

Since the fall of 2023, BIG’s Danish-based staff of 350 employees has inhabited the 7-storey HQ at the tip of Sundmolen. This summer, the BIG Landscape-designed park officially opened at the foot the building, offering Copenhageners and visitors a new urban park and waterfront promenade in the city.

The 60,000 m2 Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is conceived as a village of 12 pavilions, offering a modern interpretation of the elements that have defined the city’s urbanism, architecture, and landscape for centuries. The museum is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Designed in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc., Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is part of the city’s development of the Jinji Lake and reimagines the traditional garden ‘lang,’ 廊 – a line that traces a path – framing gardens with outdoor art installations and coalescing as pavilions. The design of the museum showcases Suzhou’s garden tradition and takes visitors on a journey through art, nature, and water.

“Our design for the Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art is conceived as a Chinese garden of pavilions and courtyards. Individual pavilions are woven together by glazed galleries and porticoes, creating a network of interconnected sculpture courtyards and exhibition spaces. Weaving between the Ferris wheel legs, the museum branches out like a rhizome, connecting the city to the lake. The result is a manmade maze of plants and artworks to get lost within. Its nodular logic only becomes distinctly discernible when viewed from the gondolas above. Against the open space of the lake, the gentle catenary curvature of the roofs forms a graceful silhouette on the waterfront. Viewed from above, the stainless roof tiles form a true fifth facade.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

Sales for the NOT A HOTEL Setouchi villas are now open. Located on a 30,000-m2 site on the remote island of Sagishima in Japan, NOT A HOTEL Setouchi brings three villas to the southwestern cape of the island with panoramic views of the Seto Inland Sea.

Each three- and four-bedroom villa has distinct design characteristics that fit into their specific location onsite, referencing the design of traditional Japanese single-story houses and incorporating materials local to Japan – including Japanese black slate, wood, and rammed Earth. The ring-shaped ‘360’ villa is perched at the highest altitude, offering literal 360-degree views of Setouchi’s land and seascape with a central courtyard for privacy. ‘270’ captures a 270-degree panorama of the surrounding archipelago, featuring bathing spaces arranged like floating islands around the pool alongside a sauna and open firepit. At the peninsula’s tip, ‘180’ is the closest to the sea, whose curvature follows the coastal landscape.

Based on a shared ownership model, buyers can purchase a set number of nights at the resort – between 30 and 365 – per year. NOT A HOTEL Setouchi is under construction and is set to open in 2026.

Google Gradient Canopy, the ground-up Google campus designed by BIG in collaboration with Heatherwick Studio, is officially LEED-NC v4 Platinum certified, taking the title from Google Bay View as the largest LEED v4 BD+C: NC Platinum-certified project in the world.

Situated in the North Bayshore area of Mountain View and adjacent to Charleston Park, Google Gradient Canopy includes workspace for Googlers and 10,000 sq ft of space open to the public. The building features the same “dragonscale” solar skin roof as Google Bay View, equipped with silver solar panels that use the latest building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology and generate approximately 40% of the building’s annual energy use. The landscape design of the site’s 18 acres mimics natural habitats indigenous to the region, consisting primarily of native species including 380 native trees, while over 90% of the plants provide nectar for native pollinators. During construction, an onsite waste management process diverted over 90% of construction waste from landfills.

In addition to the new LEED certification, Gradient Canopy is also one of the largest facilities ever to attain the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Living Building Challenge (LBC) Materials Petal Certification.

British news media The Guardian features the Dortheavej Residences in a story highlighting six social housing projects around the world that prioritizes quality construction, sustainability, and quality of life. Completed in 2018 in Copenhagen’s Nordvest district, Dortheavej offers 66 units for low-income citizens, each with a balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing plenty of natural light and views of the neighboring green space.

Architect and TV host George Clarke visits Villa Gug in the 12th season of “George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces,” a television series on the UK’s Channel 4 exploring extraordinary homes across the world. Named after its location at the top of the Gug Alps in Northern Denmark, Villa Gug is a private home informed by the client’s passion for cars. Instead of hiding the cars away in a basement, BIG designed a house that curves in a loop, creating a smooth transition from the garage and showroom at the driveway into the more open functional spaces above.

BIG and Japanese hospitality group NOT A HOTEL’s newest project NOT A HOTEL Setouchi officially breaks ground on the remote Sagi Island in Japan. Located on a 30,000 m² site, the resort will bring three villas to the southwestern cape of the island, expanding the luxury hospitality company’s existing portfolio of six resorts across Japan. Mihara Mayor Yoshihiro Okada attended the ceremony to help celebrate the project milestone.

The design for NOT A HOTEL Setouchi builds on the longstanding dialogue between Scandinavian and Japanese design values. The resort weaves through the site like a ribbon, intentionally blending into the natural contours of the undulating landscape and aligning with existing roads and infrastructure. NOT A HOTEL Setouchi incorporates local materials like Japanese black slate, wood, and rammed earth while promoting a deep connection to nature. The property is slated to open in 2026.

Tishman Speyer announces five new lease agreements at The Spiral totaling 129,500 sq ft, landing tenant occupancy at 81% less than two years since opening. These lease agreements include international financial institution HSBC – which has expanded its lease to include the remaining portions of the double height 29th and 30th floors – along with global tech firm XR Extreme Reach and two investment management firms.

The Spiral – located on the west side of Manhattan in New York City – promotes a contemporary workplace where nature becomes an integrated part of the office environment and spatial features are continuously adaptable to the changing needs of its occupants. Cascading landscaped terraces and hanging gardens climb the building in a spiraling motion to create a unique, continuous green ribbon that wraps around the façade and supplies each office floor with readily accessible terraces. Select floors offer a double height amenity space and the option to connect adjacent floors via a grand staircase, suggesting an alternative to elevators and encouraging interaction amongst colleagues. To foster a connection to the outdoors and support The Spiral’s interior foliage, a generous ceiling height and specially selected exterior glass coating enables a deeper incursion of natural light.

At the foot of BIG HQ, BIG’s Landscape team has transformed a former parking area into a 1,500 m2 public park and promenade, inspired by the sandy beaches and the coastal forests of Denmark. Towards the north, native forest trees, such as pines and oaks, create shelter from the harsh winds of the harbour. Towards the south, areas with planting, rocks, and woods support habitat creation for biodiversity. At the heart of the park, tucked away between the trees, a sculpture by American artist Benjamin Langholz titled “Stone 40” will surprise and engage visitors of all ages.

BIG wishes you a happy Juneteenth!

The 76,000-sq-ft National Juneteenth Museum – led by the ‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’ Ms. Opal Lee and designed by BIG in collaboration with KAI Enterprises – will preserve the history of Juneteenth and its legacy of freedom.

Located in the Historic Southside of Fort Worth, Texas, the National Juneteenth Museum will be the epicenter for the education, preservation, and celebration of Juneteenth nationally and globally, hosting exhibitions, discussions, and events about the significance of African American freedom.

Led by BIG Partner Leon Rost – a California native – BIG’s L.A. studio is located a few blocks from the beach within the Santa Monica Central Business District, joining BIG’s global network of studios in Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona, Shenzhen, Zurich, and Oslo.

“The search for our new home in L.A. followed the pursuits that often define our work – connection to nature, water, and sky, as well as to city, history, and community. We found it all in this gem, a 1928 building in Santa Monica designed by legendary architect Paul Williams.

As a Japanese Californian I am excited to root BIG on the Pacific Coast. In the city of storytelling, big dreams, and a pioneer spirit, I am certain L.A. will be a fertile frontier for continued experimentation. You could say BIG – though born in Copenhagen – has always been an Angeleno at heart.” – Leon Rost, Partner, BIG

The BIG-designed NYPD 40th Precinct won the Special Award for Innovation in Civic Design in this year’s SARA NY Design Awards.

Located in the southern Bronx, New York, the new NYPD 40^th Precinct Station replaces a station house on 138^th Street and creates a dedicated space for the community, areas for fitness, and training for officers. The 45,000-sq-ft, three-story building includes the first community event space to be located at an NYPD facility, which aims to promote civic engagement and encourage dialogue with the community. The form of the building is derived from its programmatic requirements, where individual volumes contain specific elements of the program, revolving around a 60-ft light-filled atrium.

The Delancey Street Pedestrian Bridge – part of BIG’s East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project in Manhattan – was installed overnight above FDR Drive in Manhattan, connecting the Lower East Side neighborhood to the East River. The 215-foot long, 125-ton assembled bridge was transported along FDR Drive to its final location using self-propelled modular transporters over a span of eight hours overnight, minimizing traffic disruption. The bridge – the first of three within the ESCR project – is set to open to the public in September 2024.

ESCR emerged from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Rebuild by Design competition, which sought to develop innovative design solutions to increase the resiliency of Sandy-impacted communities. Spanning a 2.5-mile area from Montgomery Street to East 25th Street within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain, the project is designed to protect and improve the resiliency of the large and diverse residential community of 110,000+ New Yorkers – including approximately 28,000 NYCHA residents. ESCR will also offer protection to critical infrastructure – including a major pump station and an electrical substation that powers much of Lower Manhattan – as well as numerous local schools and libraries.

BIG Partner Agustin Perez-Torres spoke about CopenHill at the Reusing Rooftops conference in Barcelona, focusing on how the building not only contributes to the waste management and energy production of Copenhagen, but also offers a recreational space for residents and visitors on its roof. Co-organized by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation during Barcelona Architecture Weeks, the event was a part of a broader initiative to discuss the utilization of rooftops, including an international idea competition to redefine the urban spaces of Barcelona’s Eixample district.

The Plus was named Best New Building at the 2024 BREEAM Awards in Oslo, Norway. Organized by the Norwegian Green Building Alliance, the awards program celebrates projects dedicated to sustainability documented through the BREAAM-certification system. The 7000 m2 factory and visitor center, designed for furniture manufacturer Vestre, is dedicated to the cleanest carbon-neutral fabrication of urban furniture, leading the way for manufacturing facilities and high-efficiency production of the future.

“The Plus has set a new standard for industrial buildings and has become an attraction in the industry and the local area. It is a unique building with a good combination of industry, architecture, and sustainability. They have actively spread the message about the sustainability qualities they have achieved both nationally and internationally, and that they have prioritized sustainability in this project despite a higher cost. The project has had a holistic sustainability mindset that also includes the products that are produced in the building. The Plus has achieved the highest available BREEAM-NOR classification; Outstanding.”, says the Jury.

Bjarke Ingels was a keynote speaker at the annual Art Directors Club (ADC) Congress in Hamburg, Germany. As part of the ADC Festival 2024, the ADC Congress brought together international speakers from science, journalism, business, communication, and technology to discuss how creativity can influence the world and solve challenges.

Bjarke gave insights into BIG’s creative process and idea of ‘Formgiving,’ or giving form to the future, while presenting some of BIG’s work, including Project Olympus, a collaboration between ICON, SEArch+, and NASA to design a lunar habitat set to be the first human foray into extra-terrestrial construction.

BIG Founder & Creative Director Bjarke Ingels is interviewed for SHARP Magazine’s spring/summer issue of The Book For Men, a Canadian bi-annual publication that covers travel, automobiles, fashion, culture, business, and more. In his interview, Bjarke shares how he first fell in love with architecture and discusses his core philosophies and BIG’s ethos, rooted in oxymorons such as ‘hedonistic sustainability’ and ‘pragmatic utopia.’ The article also highlights BIG’s work in Canada, including Vancouver House, Telus Sky, Habitat 67, and King Toronto – a 16-storey modular residential building with lush terraces that bridge the gap between inside and out.

BIG’s Founder & Creative Director Bjarke Ingels is featured in the Spring issue of Family Style magazine in conversation with the founders of the Amsterdam-based art studio DRIFT Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn. During the conversation, the three discuss the intersection of art, technology, and nature in their respective fields, highlighting their shared philosophy of challenging the traditional boundaries of design.