ocean vortex envisions a spiraling floating parliament built from recycled marine waste
the project transforms marine pollution into a floating platform for public dialogue, environmental education, and collective action.
updates
stay up to date with all the latest topics to be featured on designboom with our dedicated tag overview. we've collated the most recent themes in the worlds of art, architecture, design and technology for your easy reading: from emerging architecture studios to new design trends to relevant events from around the globe.
imagining life everywhere, SAGA space architects design homes across extreme environments
the studio has already built a moon habitat tested in the arctic, a mars shelter concept that runs on dust storms, and an underwater structure at the bottom of copenhagen harbor.
Julian Opie choreographs digital floating marathon at GINZA SIX, tokyo
julian opie brings global sensory stimulation to GINZA SIX through an immersive installation spanning from ginza to the world.
julian opie's winter. at alan cristea gallery
the alan cristea gallery, london is currently showing an exhibition of works from julian opie's recent series 'winter.'.
ma yansong, carlo ratti, and stefano boeri on designing the future before it arrives
against the backdrop of designboom's room for dreams at milan design week, three of the world’s most influential architectural visionaries gather to discuss dream projections and design empathy.
what we learned: dreams in motion
we take a look back at designboom's second chapter of 'utopian optimism' and discuss how its essays, stories, and profiles illustrate our dreams as active rehearsals for reality.
meet labububot, MIT’s rolling franken-robot composed of twelve labubu heads
the project playfully critiques social robots while asking what the monsters we create reveal about ourselves.
MIT museum video traces how janet echelman translates climate data into woven art
janet echelman merges climate data with structural engineering to create the suspended work 'remembering the future.'
this chandelier behaves like a living machine inspired by 1950s computers
LUMIAC by andrea mancuso is a kinetic structure with moving aluminum arms and glowing glass spheres.
old meets new at nilufar gallery installation during NOMAD st. moritz 2024
nilufar returns to NOMAD st. moritz with an installation that merges vintage and contemporary pieces with diverse styles and materials.
alex chinneck twists NYC taxis and LA cars into storefront sculptures for dior
alex chinneck transforms the windows of dior's new york and beverly hills flagships with surreal taxis, lamps, and cars.
alex chinneck’s monumental brick facade sculpture slides and sits down in a london garden
named ‘a week at the knees,’ the public art features 7,000 bricks and 4.6 tons of reused steel, salvaged from the demolition of the former american embassy in london.
TAKK fills MAXXI rome with gardens, rest spaces, and rituals of living together
inside the museum’s entrance hall, visitors are invited to nap beneath suspended gardens, gather around a former jacuzzi, and share spaces shaped by edible plants, chromatic light, scent, and sound.
raúl sánchez inserts stainless steel layer into a 19th century pirate house in spain
a continuous steel plinth reorganizes the historic interiors, allowing original ceilings, wallpapers, and traces of time to remain visible.
ai weiwei confronts memory, catastrophe, and resilience at MAXXI l'aquila exhibition
spanning five decades of work, the exhibition anchors itself in 'straight', the artist’s reassembled steel rebar installation from the 2008 sichuan earthquake.
from kimsooja to nanda vigo, MAXXI museum honors women artists in new immersive show
these three-dimensional and immersive works expand the original research from 1956–1976 to 2010, the year MAXXI was completed.
how yasmeen lari turns survival into shared wisdom through reparative design
the pakistani architect's humanitarian practice turns bamboo, earth, and community knowledge into a softer model for climate resilience.
qatar charts architecture of belonging and care across MENASA region at venice biennale
from the works of hassan fathy to balkrishna doshi, the exhibition maps an architectural history of traditions of welcome, gathering, and collective care in the region.
this nearly 10-meter hydrogen car wants to be the world’s fastest zero-emissions vehicle
the hydrogen-powered car heads to utah's salt flats, aiming to break 350 mph using excavator-derived engine technology.
renewable energy surpasses coal for the first time as world's main source of electricity
in the first half of 2025, solar and wind energy met and exceeded new electricity demand for the first time.
building with air: soft architectures and atmospheric worlds from warhol to A.A. murakami
artists and architects transform air into a medium of instability, participation, and collective care through inflatables, fog structures, and suspended worlds.
what are musk, zuckerberg and bezos’ robot dogs doing at art basel miami?
the installation by artist beeple comments on the ways tech giants’ platforms and their algorithms influence the way people see the world today.
what the readymade still asks: marcel duchamp returns to new york at MoMA and gagosian
marcel duchamp’s readymades reappear as unresolved questions, reactivating debates around authorship, value, and the role of the viewer.
wes anderson rebuilds joseph cornell's legendary studio inside gagosian paris
the exhibition, which runs until march 14th, 2026, marks cornell’s first solo presentation in paris in more than forty years.
building with air: soft architectures and atmospheric worlds from warhol to A.A. murakami
artists and architects transform air into a medium of instability, participation, and collective care through inflatables, fog structures, and suspended worlds.
between skin and space: the sensory worlds of iris van herpen
the renowned dutch designer brings couture into dialogue with craft, technology, and nature’s interconnected systems at the brooklyn museum.
selldorf architects and STUDIOS architecture win competition to transform the louvre
the project introduces new public entrances, landscaped moats, and underground galleries that reconnect the louvre’s historic eastern facade with the city of paris.
DS+R completes undulating glass facade for cartier flagship in miami design district
across the curving glass surface, a delicate pattern has been translated from a 1909 cartier brooch.
made of earthen adobe vaults, al borde’s biology lab rises from the amazonian rainforest
the project combines earth architecture, passive thermal regulation, and local agroecological knowledge to create a laboratory for sustainable biological production within the rainforest.
al borde employs ancestral techniques with yuyarina pacha library in ecuadorian amazon
beneath a thatched roof and durable chonta wood, al borde’s 'yuyarina pacha library' brings a new community space to ecuador's amazon.
centre pompidou hanwha opens in seoul inside jean-michel wilmotte's box of light
inside the transformed annex of seoul’s iconic 63 building, the newly opened institution launches with a major exhibition tracing the origins of cubism through works by picasso, braque, léger, and more.
kanal cultural complex in brussels to reopen with exhibition from centre pompidou’s archives
to open on november 28th, 2026, the project marks the city’s first institution fully dedicated to modern and contemporary art and architecture.
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competitions 
grippin’ $ 3,000.00 USD deadline: april 30th, 2027 Call for Entries: UX Design Awards - Spring 2027 deadline: november 15th, 2026 2027 French Design Awards deadline: april 6th, 2027 WDC 2028 Busan Pavilion International Design Competition $ 46,666.00 USD deadline: october 26th, 2026 The Oak Moon Pavilion $ 9,120.00 USD deadline: march 1st, 2027 Museum of Emotions #9 $ 9,140.00 USD deadline: february 22nd, 2027 2026 Tokyo Design Awards Season #2 deadline: october 15th, 2026 Kingspan MICROHOME 2026 $ 115,875.00 USD deadline: november 2nd, 2026 2026 NY Architectural & Interior Design Awards Season 2 deadline: november 5th, 2026 Re:Form - New Life for Old Spaces Edition #3 $ 11,618.00 USD deadline: october 12th, 2026 all competitions
grippin’ $ 3,000.00 USD deadline: april 30th, 2027 
Call for Entries: UX Design Awards - Spring 2027 deadline: november 15th, 2026 
2027 French Design Awards deadline: april 6th, 2027 
WDC 2028 Busan Pavilion International Design Competition $ 46,666.00 USD deadline: october 26th, 2026 
The Oak Moon Pavilion $ 9,120.00 USD deadline: march 1st, 2027 
Museum of Emotions #9 $ 9,140.00 USD deadline: february 22nd, 2027 
2026 Tokyo Design Awards Season #2 deadline: october 15th, 2026 
Kingspan MICROHOME 2026 $ 115,875.00 USD deadline: november 2nd, 2026 
2026 NY Architectural & Interior Design Awards Season 2 deadline: november 5th, 2026 
Re:Form - New Life for Old Spaces Edition #3 $ 11,618.00 USD deadline: october 12th, 2026 
