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The 10 most hotly anticipated architectures of 2025

Text by
Salvatore Peluso
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salone milano, architettura

BIG, Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, Suzhou, Cina. Rendering di ATChain

From Studio Gang to BIG, from Sou Fujimoto to Foster + Partners, the world’s finest architecture firms will be completing new masterpieces this year

Not only Expo Osaka 2025:  the most important architectural firms  are competing again this year to create the most iconic, striking and memorable buildings: museums, train stations, place of worship... We have selected 10 of the most highly anticipated architectural projects for 2025: projects nearing completion, with only the ribbon-cutting ceremony to be completed. Our selection this year spans five continents, ranging from Rome to Brisbane, Dakar and Philadelphia. 

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OMA, extension of the New Museum, New York, USA. Courtesy New Museum

OMA, New Museum, New York

An extension of the New Museum in New York, to a project by the OMA studio, will join the already iconic structure designed by the Japanese studio SANAA in 2007. The building – seven floors plus 5,500 square meters of the extension – will double the available exhibition space. The new extension of the museum will also house its NEW INC cultural incubator and several spaces devoted to education and community programs. 

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BIG, Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, Suzhou, China. Rendering di ATChain

BIG, Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art 

Conceived as a traditional village, with 12 pavilions that reinterpret the city’s landscape in a contemporary way, the project is part of a broader development plan for the city of Suzhou laid out on Jinji Lake. A distinctive feature of the project is its pitched roof, a continuous ribbon that winds between the pavilions and frames the courtyards. 

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Alvisi Kirimoto, Basilica of Maxentius, Rome. Courtesy Alvisi Kirimoto

Alvisi Kirimoto, Basilica of Maxentius, Rome 

Alvisi Kirimoto has designed a new stage and a richer and more welcoming exhibition layout to discover the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome, in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum. The series of projects envisioned is intended to improve the use of the ancient monument, enhance its value and ensure its more effective integration into the visit to the Roman Forum. 

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Sou Fujimoto, The Grand Ring, Osaka, Japan. Courtesy Expo Osaka 2025

Sou Fujimoto, The Grand Ring, Osaka

The Grand Ring will provide the frame of reference for Expo Osaka 2025: an element physically and symbolically uniting the 161 participants in the global event to be held between April and October in Japan. The ring designed by Sou Fujimoto will have a circumference of 2 kilometers, making it one of the world’s largest wooden structures. It special feature will be the typical nuki joints, a construction technique typical of Japanese architecture, generally used in building temples. 

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Kéré Architecture, Goethe Institute, Dakar, Senegal. Courtesy Kéré Architecture

Kéré Architecture, Goethe Institute, Dakar

Located within a green area, Kéré’s project is modeled around the foliage of the trees on the site. The structure is made of bricks of laterite, a local residual rock with insulating qualities, which help regulate the climate of the interiors. The new architecture in Senegal’s capital will offer spaces for a broad range of activities, from exhibitions and language courses to concerts and encounters, while enhancing the local cultural landscape.

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Foster + Partners, Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates. Courtesy Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners, Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi

The Saadiyat Island Cultural District in Abu Dhabi will become one of the world’s highest concentrations of cultural experiences. The museum designed by Foster + Partners, devoted to the history and culture of the country as well as the memory of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates, will soon be joined by the Louvre Abu Dhabi and other amazing structures, such as the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and the teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi.

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AMDL Circle, the Nordic Countries’ Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025, Japan. Courtesy AMDL Circle

AMDL Circle, the Nordic Countries’ Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 

“An installation involves placing and assembling something pre-existing, while construction involves the use and consumption of materials and resources.” With these words Michele De Lucchi describes his project for Expo 2025 in Osaka, “a wooden structure that is easy to dismantle and reuse”. The pavilion aims to display the Nordic peoples’ respect for and closeness to the environment, while offering ample space for the display of technological innovations. 

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SOM, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, USA Courtesy SOM

SOM, William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, Philadelfia

SOM’s ambitious project in Philadelphia transforms a historic station into a new mixed-use building, designed not only for the millions of travelers who use the infrastructure each year, but also for its surrounding neighborhood. For this reason, the US studio has studied the design and dynamics of the project’s public spaces with particular care.

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Snohetta, Queensland Perfoming Arts Centre, Brisbane, Australia. Courtesy Snohetta

Snøhetta, Queensland Perfoming Arts Centre

Ballet, opera, musical, performance... the QPAC will be a technological structure attentive to new trends in the design of theaters. The building is arranged in layers: the central core is a 1,500-seat auditorium, enclosed in a concrete envelope. This is based on a design by the architect Robin Gibson, an experimental composition of concrete steps. A veil of rippling glass envelops the concrete core. The external form alludes to the reflection and movement of the river, revealing or blurring the activities inside.

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Studio Gang, David Rubenstein Treehouse, Boston, USA. Courtesy Studio Gang

Studio Gang, David Rubenstein Treehouse, Boston

The David Rubenstein Treehouse, designed by Studio Gang for Harvard University in Boston, redefines the typology of conference facilities. These buildings are often isolated, energy-intensive, and disconnected from their surroundings. As Harvard’s first hardwood building, the Treehouse emphasizes low-carbon construction and creates a space that fosters conversation, collaboration, and connection between the community and its surroundings. 

3 February 2025
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Architecture
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