Australian artist, director, and BAFTA-nominated producer Liam Young creates imaginary worlds as a way of thinking through the futures we fear, desire, and are already making. As a creator and designer of atmospheres, he proposes speculative landscapes reflecting the possibilities of a world to come, whether ideal or truthfully unsettling. In his worldbuilding practice across the film, television, and video game industries, fiction becomes a tool for navigating the environmental urgencies of the present. He is considered a "futurist" working across design strategies, technological scenarios, and collective imaginations, grounded in his academic research yet reaching a wider audience in exhibitions such as "In Other Worlds" at the Barbican Centre in London and "Age of Nature" at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen. In February 2026, he was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner for Louisiana Channel, where he shares his visions of our future: from architecture consolidating as a boutique industry to the need for a new kind of planetary punk at the scale of the climate crisis.
Film: The Latest Architecture and News
"My Solutions Are Not Polite:" Liam Young on Architecture in the Age of Polycrisis in Louisiana Channel Interview
Studio NEiDA Designs The Falcon Cinema in Ghana, a Community Art Centre Dedicated to African Film
Designed by Studio NEiDA, The Falcon Cinema is a community and art centre located in Berekuso, Ghana, commissioned by film curator and Founding Director Jacqueline Nsiah. The cinema's mission is to create a home for cineastes to preserve Africa's cinematic legacy while hosting critical and creative thinking about contemporary filmmaking on the continent, designed and curated with a pan-African approach. The programme includes a 250-seat and a 150-seat screening room, a restaurant, an archive, communal spaces, an education hub, and an outdoor cinema. A second compound is planned for a future phase, to house living quarters for filmmakers in residence. Still in the design phase, the project started in 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2027.
Material Culture and Heritage in Contemporary Cinema Architecture
Over the years, cinema architecture has continually reinvented itself. From cinematic experiences that engage multiple senses to material technologies that reinterpret the aesthetics of past eras, the concept of the movie theater has enabled the recovery, revitalization, and renewal of numerous obsolete, ruined, or even historically protected spaces. Just as the Majestic Cinema reflects an important community function in Zanzibar, Tanzania, many twentieth-century buildings have found in adaptive reuse an opportunity to restore and preserve cultures, memories, and traditions that remain meaningful to their communities.
"Artisans of the Reiwa Era" Documentary Showcases Traditional Japanese Wood Construction and Craftsmanship
Rinshunkaku is a notable example of early Edo-period residential architecture. Originally built in the Wakayama Prefecture by the Kishu Tokugawa family, the villa was relocated to Sankeien, a traditional Japanese garden in the city of Yokohama, during the Taisho era (1912-1926). The garden was created in the early 20th century by businessman and art patron Sankei Hara and features a number of historic buildings relocated from Kyoto, Kamakura, and other areas of Japan. Rinshunkaku, one of the garden's gems, is a prime example of traditional Japanese architecture and wood construction. Its historical value motivated a large-scale restoration project in 2019, documented in the film Artisans of the Reiwa Era (Reiwa no Shokunin-tachi), filmed and edited by Katsumasa Tanaka and Hiroshi Fujiki. The documentary offers a close, detailed view of Japanese craftsmanship and wood expertise, highlighting rare traditional techniques and paying tribute to the artisans who preserve them.
Choreographing Lagos: Dele Adeyemo on Dance, Cosmology, and Spatial Practices
Having thrown a stone today, Eshu kills a bird of yesterday. The Yoruba proverb tells both a story of reparation and of ancestrality by joyfully bending spacetime conventions and accessing subjects from the past with present actions. The saying offers a poetic entry point to broader West African traditions and to the practice of Scottish-Nigerian artist and architect Dele Adeyemo. Named one of the winners of the ArchDaily 2025 Next Practices Awards, Adeyemo's work brings together ecology, spirituality, dance, and territory, examining how embodied cultural practices can generate alternative spatial possibilities within and against the architecture of racial capitalism.
Born in Nigeria and raised in the United Kingdom, Adeyemo has been visiting Lagos for many years. Through this engagement, he has developed an extensive body of research on collective movement practices that predate capitalism and offer distinct, often imaginative spatial intelligences operating alongside dominant systems. ArchDaily spoke with Dele about his artistic and pedagogical practices, and how he identifies design sophistication where architects often perceive deficiency.
Fundació Mies van der Rohe Presents “Transnational Narratives,” a Documentary on Six South Asian Women Architects
"Gender equity remains an ongoing problem in architecture. Women architects are roughly one-third of the profession or less worldwide." This is the opening statement of the documentary Transnational Narratives: A Documentary Celebrating South Asian Women in Architecture, a result of the 4th Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture. The grant, an initiative by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, promotes equal access to opportunities in architectural practice and supports the study and dissemination of contributions to architecture that have been unfairly rendered invisible. Within this context, the documentary, created by Dr. Igea Troiani, Dr. Mamuna Iqbal, artist and researcher Paula Roush, and filmmaker Rime Tsujino, brings visibility to the experiences of six architects of South Asian origin: Sumita Singha, Chitra Vishwanath, Sara Khan, Fauzia Qureshi, Sajida Vandal, and Neelum Naz, whose professional careers span India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.
Make Materials Matter: Louisiana Channel Releases New Documentary on Danish Architect Søren Pihlmann
Louisiana Channel, a web TV platform based at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, is launching a new film titled Søren Pihlmann: Make Materials Matter. Over the course of 54 minutes, Marc-Christoph Wagner and Simon Weyhe offer a glimpse into the work and mind of the founding architect of Pihlmann Architects, presenting his vision of Danish architecture, the practice of architecture itself, and, in particular, his sensitivity to materials. The film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the process and thinking behind the Danish exhibition at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale. Led by Søren Pihlmann, the team used the opportunity to renovate and conduct material research on Denmark's permanent building in the Giardini, transforming it into a material laboratory and experimental construction site. The result is a process exhibition that highlights how rethinking and reusing existing structures and materials can address critical architectural challenges. As of today, November 20, the documentary is available to watch online for free.
To Build Law: The CCA Documents HouseEurope!’s Campaign for Legal Change in European Architecture
During 2024, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) launched a three-part documentary and exhibition series titled Groundwork, exploring alternative modes of practice in light of the current climate crisis. The process began with a series of studio visits in search of offices addressing substantial questions for contemporary architecture through practice, culminating in the selection of three projects: Xu Tiantian's "minimal intervention" museum on Meizhou Island, Carla Juaçaba's community pavilions in a coffee field in Minas Gerais, and bplus.xyz (b+)'s European Citizens' Initiative for a new legal framework to facilitate the renovation and transformation of existing buildings. The latter, HouseEurope!, was recently recognized as the winner of the seventh edition of the OBEL Award and was showcased at the international exhibition of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025.
CCA Releases Documentary on Carla Juaçaba’s Work to Support Forest Conservation in Brazil's Coffee Region
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) launched a documentary and exhibition, "With an Acre", the third and final chapter of the series Groundwork, which explores how contemporary architects cultivate alternative modes of practice to address the ecological crisis. The documentary follows the work of architect Carla Juaçaba in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where she is developing pavilions in a coffee field where collectives resist extractive industrial agriculture. The narrative examines the role of architects in extractivist contexts facing land regeneration challenges and unstable climatic conditions, as well as the tools smallholder farmers can use to cope with the environmental and social consequences of colonial settlement, urbanization, and industrialization.
Eileen Gray Through the Lens: Film Sheds Light on the Architect and Her Vision of Modernism
A journey through the legacy of Eileen Gray and her most famous house in the French Riviera, "E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea," by directors Beatrice Minger and Christoph Schaub, invites viewers into the layered legacy of the pioneering Irish architect and her unique vision of modernism. Designed in the late 1920s, the villa not only embodies Gray's architectural genius but also bears the shadow of an uneasy narrative involving Le Corbusier and Jean Badovici. Through their docufiction, Minger and Schaub illuminate Gray's groundbreaking work and critique the prevailing narratives of male dominance in modernist history.
Amplifying Female Voices: Premiering the Second Chapter of 'Women in Architecture"
"It's a long journey, but it's a valuable journey, and it's a journey that does reap rewards in the end".
ArchDaily is excited to present the second installment of the docu-series Women in Architecture, a project launched by Sky-Frame and directed by Boris Noir. Following an initial episode featuring Toshiko Mori, Gabriela Carrillo, and Johanna Meyer-Grohbrügge, the documentary moves to Copenhagen and Lagos, spotlighting Dorte Mandrup and Tosin Oshinowo. "Two distinct personalities at very different stages in their lives and careers," as Boris Noir describes it, the protagonists bring unique perspectives to similar challenges.
Documenting Female Voices in Architecture: “Women in Architecture” Returns in Second Chapter
"We think we are diverse, and we think we have equality, but is that really the case?"
Highlighting the stories of female architecture shaping the built environment, the documentary "Women in Architecture", by Boris Noir returns for a second chapter. Initiated by Sky-Frame, in collaboration with ArchDaily, this installment of the docu-series delves into the stories of Dorte Mandrup and Tosin Oshinowo, drawing a parallelism between both of their lives and focusing on their distinct paths and challenges. Stay tuned for the online screening on November 12th at 7:30 am EST, 12:30 pm CET on ArchDaily.
Perfect Days: An Ode to Tokyo's Public Toilets
"A bathroom is a place where everyone is equal—there is no rich or poor, no old or young; everyone is part of humanity." This reflection was shared by Wim Wenders, exponent of New German Cinema and director of the film Perfect Days (2023) when asked about the striking sets of his most recent work. Wenders selected Tokyo's public restrooms to craft a narrative that deeply explores themes of solitude, simplicity, and the beauty of everyday life.
The story follows Hirayama, a middle-aged man working as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. His life is simple and routine, yet filled with small pleasures and moments of reflection. This modest lifestyle contrasts with the technological, colorful, and innovative designs of the public restrooms he cleans every day.
The Second Studio Podcast: Deborah Riley, Production Designer of Game of Thrones & 3 Body Problem
The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Deborah Riley, Production Designer of Game of Thrones and Three Body Problem to discuss her background; why she studied architecture; career transition into set design; progressing from set designer to production designer; becoming a production designer on Game of Thrones; her responsibilities as a production designer; navigating physical sets versus digital or CGI sets; the challenge of working on different projects; and more.
Almost Perfect Days: Hirayama and Moriyama, a Double Vision of Architecture
As an architect I find it truly interesting to read cities and architecture through films, and this is why I went to see the latest film by one of my favourite directors Wim Wenders: Perfect Days. In Wenders’ cinema, his gaze over the city is always the protagonist. He possesses the remarkable ability to make the space of the photographic image the central focus of his filmmaking. It is not only the story that is important to him, but the time and space in which the story takes shape almost by chance.
"Concrete Landscape": Álvaro Siza's Documentary Is Available for Streaming Now
In Porto Alegre, the building of the Iberê Camargo Foundation; in the city of Porto, the office of Álvaro Siza, the architect and author of the celebrated project for the institution's headquarters, inaugurated in 2008. Throughout 70 minutes, the documentary "Paisagem Concreta" or Concrete Landscape navigates between these two ports.
How Colors Influence Film Narratives and Spaces
Colors evoke specific feelings; therefore, they are used to elicit particular effects on the surface they appear on or in the minds of observers contemplating them. In architecture, color plays a fundamental role in defining shape. Materials in their natural state already possess inherent coloration, which is perceived in a specific manner. However, when dyed, the observer's perception is altered, giving rise to associations between different sensations related to the same object. This transformation brought about by color occurs in various visual mediums, spanning from three-dimensional contexts like architecture to static and mobile two-dimensional forms such as engravings, photographs, paintings, and films.
OMA's Prada Foundation Through the Lens of Bahaa Ghoussainy
In 2018, OMA opened the Fondazione Prada in Milan, Italy, housed within a former gin distillery established in 1910. The project which includes a statement facade cladded in 24-carat gold leaf and camouflaged mirrors, comprises the renovation of seven buildings in the Largo Isarco industrial complex on Milan’s southern outskirts, making the foundation neither a preservation project nor a new architecture. Recently, photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy captured the infamous structure in his new architectural photo series.
