Foster + Partners Unveils World Trade Center Yerevan

By Amara Osei

Antalya will host COP31 from November 9 to 20, 2026, on the repurposed grounds of EXPO 2016 — and SP Architects is already at work adapting them. The plan pairs existing infrastructure with new permanent and temporary structures, including a Blue Zone for formal UN climate negotiations and a Green Zone for public events. After the delegates fly home, the site stays: fairs, concerts, and whatever else a city does with a world-class venue.

The week's other big reveal came from Foster + Partners, which has designed World Trade Center Yerevan, a mixed-use development combining offices, a hotel, residences, retail, and cultural venues. Two towers, connected at three levels, rise above a low-rise podium that frees roughly 50 percent of the site for public space. The masterplan extends the green axis of Diana Abgar Park, adds plazas and pedestrian routes, and preserves historic Frik Street. The site sits inside the footprint of Alexander Tamanian's 1924 masterplan, so the heritage stakes are real.

Engineering earns its keep too. Designed for Yerevan's seismically active conditions, the towers target LEED and WELL Gold certifications and are planned to be net-zero-ready.

How are cultural institutions adapting old buildings?

In Rotterdam, Mecanoo has released new images of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen renovation. The museum has sat closed since 2019, undone by maintenance issues, water-related problems, and fire risks — a triptych of institutional nightmares. The project restores three historic buildings while reworking circulation, exhibition spaces, and visitor facilities.

In Pittsburgh, AD—WO will renovate the Heinz Architectural Center at Carnegie Museum of Art, rethinking its galleries and adding spaces for collection study, research, and public learning. Different scale, same question: what does an existing building owe its public?

What's new in public space?

Plenty. Copenhagen gets KAI Water Culture House by Kengo Kuma & Associates, opening December 5, 2026, on Paper Island. The 5,800-square-meter complex holds ten indoor and outdoor pools, wellness facilities, and cultural spaces, with dedicated harbour swimming areas expected in early 2027.

In Chicago, RAMSA has unveiled a Welcome Hall for the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. It reopens the historic North Portico as a year-round entrance and adds a glazed volume linking it to the exhibitions — replacing a lengthy subterranean arrival route with a shorter, accessible connection.

In Tbilisi, Stefano Boeri Architetti will masterplan Loco Park, converting a former electric locomotive factory into a mixed-use neighbourhood of housing, shops, cafés, workshops, parks, and shared gardens.

Who won the stadium race?

VG13 Architects, an Italian practice, has won the international competition for a new 35,000-seat Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb plus the adjacent Svetice Sports and Recreation Centre. The UEFA Category 4 stadium anchors a wider sports district on the edge of Maksimir Park, with a diagonal pedestrian route linking the park to the Borongaj transit hub and rain gardens threaded through landscaped public spaces.

The design reinterprets Vladimir Turina's 1946 original, borrowing its open form and cantilevered stands. The existing stadium, damaged in the 2020 earthquake, faces demolition from 2027. Construction starts in 2029, completion is planned for 2030.

What's coming to Brisbane?

Aria Property Group has unveiled Sanctuary, a mixed-use precinct in South Brisbane designed by Richards + Spence and Bates Smart and scheduled to finish ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The scheme includes:

• Five laneways and twelve retail and dining spaces
• Two restored heritage buildings
• A public urban meadow with landscaped courtyards linking three active frontages

Above it all, Sanctuary Residences stacks 231 apartments across 43 levels, with naturally ventilated corridors, shaded balconies, and all-electric systems. Completion is expected in mid-to-late 2029 — three years before the opening ceremony, give or take a construction delay.