Articles by Antonia Piñeiro

Abuja was named the capital city of Nigeria on December 12, 1991. Located in the central Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it replaced the most populous coastal city of Lagos in a process of structural reform aimed at national integration and more balanced regional development. Like other capital relocations, Nigeria’s capital was moved for strategic reasons to transform Abuja into the country’s new administrative center, often referred to as “the center of unity.” It was envisioned as a planned city based on a master plan developed by the United States-based consortium International Planning Associates (IPA). More than three decades later, a new master plan titled “City Walk” has been developed by MAG International Links Limited and designed by Benoy as a mixed-use district integrating hotels, offices, residential, retail, cultural, educational, and healthcare facilities, alongside a 450-meter tower and a 13,000-seat indoor arena across 250 hectares.

Today’s housing crisis is a global phenomenon that can be broadly divided into two major problems: a shortage of residential buildings and barriers to accessing those that already exist. The deficit is real and concrete when it comes to what the UN calls “adequate housing for all.” According to UN-Habitat, an estimated 96,000 new housing units would need to be built per day to meet population needs by 2030. Climate change and forced migration are broadening the gap. But 2.8 billion people worldwide, representing nearly 40% of the global population, lack access to stable shelter, secure land, and basic sanitation services not only because of underproduction, but also due to an economic barrier: an affordability crisis. As demand grows and prices rise, housing, now increasingly functioning as a form of social security, becomes a target for rental income and real estate speculation. As adequate housing is a human right, pressure on governments and private entities is increasing worldwide to limit speculation and ensure fair access to existing dwellings. Below, we present four examples of initiatives in Spain, Australia, France, and the United States that aim to urgently expand housing access while limiting speculation.

Lesley Lokko OBE has been recognized with the African Cultural Icon Award, honoring “leaders in the creative arts who promote African culture and heritage on a global stage.” The accolade is one of nine awards presented annually to publicly nominated and industry-recommended figures by a panel of judges from across Africa. Nominees are evaluated based on “impact, innovation, sustainability, and contribution to Africa’s growth.” Lokko is the Founder and Chair of the African Futures Institute (AFI), headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and Director of the Nomadic African Studio, an annual month-long itinerant teaching program working across the African continent. She has been acknowledged for her transformative contributions to architecture, education, and cultural discourse within and beyond Africa, consistently challenging conventional narratives around African identity, space, and creativity.

Lesley Lokko OBE has been recognized with the African Cultural Icon Award, honoring “leaders in the creative arts who promote African culture and heritage on a global stage.” The accolade is one of nine awards presented annually to publicly nominated and industry-recommended figures by a panel of judges from across Africa. Nominees are evaluated based on “impact, innovation, sustainability, and contribution to Africa’s growth.” Lokko is the Founder and Chair of the African Futures Institute (AFI), headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and Director of the Nomadic African Studio, an annual month-long itinerant teaching program working across the African continent. She has been acknowledged for her transformative contributions to architecture, education, and cultural discourse within and beyond Africa, consistently challenging conventional narratives around African identity, space, and creativity.

The recently opened Limbo Museum in Accra, Ghana, inaugurated a two-part architectural installation by TAELON7 on March 12th, led by architect Juergen Benson-Strohmayer. The installation was commissioned by the museum in partnership with Art Omi, a not-for-profit arts center in New York’s Hudson Valley. The project is the first commission of a collaboration between the two institutions and will be installed in both locations, Accra and New York. Titled Limbo Engawa, the modular, lightweight structure dialogues with the formerly abandoned Brutalist building housing the museum, transforming its skeletal concrete structure and its surrounding land into spaces for use, care, and encounter. The project reflects on the boundaries between unfinished urban architecture and the landscape, foregrounding the labor and stewardship often invisible in both urban and institutional contexts, and asserting that even incomplete or overlooked sites are vessels of civic possibility.

On March 5, 2026, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) revealed images of a new landmark project in Kazakhstan, in Central Asia. The project consists of two towers, the “Iconic Complex,” and a master plan for the area, the “Gateway District.” The complex is located in Alatau, a new city along the Almaty–Qonaev highway planned to become an international investment hub. A strategic project for the country, the city’s master plan extends through 2050, with the first phase of major infrastructure projects scheduled for completion by 2030. Within this context, SOM’s design is expected to serve as the city’s economic and administrative nucleus, establishing the central business district of Alatau City and setting a benchmark for future investment projects in the area.

This week has been marked by the deliberate, rampant, and unjust destruction of war in Southeast Asia. As one of the most damaging manifestations of human abuse of power, we have witnessed the destruction of places that hold memories and sustain culture, as well as the loss and irreparable harm to the human lives that lend them their identity. With the expectation of offering brighter and more constructive scenarios in the future, we present, in contrast to this reality, a scenario of progress in the gender gap that characterizes architecture and its paths forward, a group of landmark projects of public and community interest moving forward from Türkiye to Mexico, and three major multimodal transport infrastructure projects improving the way we circulate and inhabit public space in Europe and the United States.

On February 28th, 2026, the news of the loss of human lives, the operational pattern of military strikes, damage to infrastructure, communication disruptions, and international responses following US-Israeli military attacks on Iran confirmed to the world that there was a new focus of war in the Middle East. This military conflict has also had a human and infrastructural impact on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, with active combat zones in their territories, and the Gulf States, where damage particularly affected US military bases and energy infrastructure. This adds a new site of armed conflict globally, joining the fifth year of the Russia-Ukraine war, the civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar, persistent conflict in Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, violent armed conflict in Haiti, and the forced overthrow of the former Venezuelan president. All these territories are currently involved in the deliberate destruction of their normality, including essential, everyday, and cultural infrastructure of global value. Although information is currently scattered and partial, it is possible to assess some of the damage to cultural heritage caused by this new outbreak of armed conflict.

On February 28th, 2026, the news of the loss of human lives, the operational pattern of military strikes, damage to infrastructure, communication disruptions, and international responses following US-Israeli military attacks on Iran confirmed to the world that there was a new focus of war in the Middle East. This military conflict has also had a human and infrastructural impact on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, with active combat zones in their territories, and the Gulf States, where damage particularly affected US military bases and energy infrastructure. This adds a new site of armed conflict globally, joining the fifth year of the Russia-Ukraine war, the civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar, persistent conflict in Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, violent armed conflict in Haiti, and the forced overthrow of the former Venezuelan president. All these territories are currently involved in the deliberate destruction of their normality, including essential, everyday, and cultural infrastructure of global value. Although information is currently scattered and partial, it is possible to assess some of the damage to cultural heritage caused by this new outbreak of armed conflict.

A domed, ellipsoidal pavilion for mushroom production designed by OMA for Fundación Casa Wabi opened on March 4, 2026. The building is located within Casa Wabi’s 25-hectare site in Oaxaca, Mexico, on the Pacific coast, about 30 minutes from the city of Puerto Escondido. Casa Wabi is a foundation created by artist Bosco Sodi that promotes the exchange of ideas between artists of various disciplines and local communities. The foundation’s flagship building was designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando and completed in 2014. The OMA-designed pavilion adds a new space for cultivating mushrooms and fostering exchange between food, art, nature, and local communities to the foundation’s facilities, which include a multipurpose palapa, six bedrooms, two enclosed studios, six open studios, a screening room and auditorium, a 450-m² exhibition hall, and various workspaces.