ZHA

#ThrowbackThursday #ICYMI: A collaboration between #ZHA and AUDI AG for Fuorisalone.it during #MilanDesignWeek 2026, ‘Origin’ was conceived as an immersive investigation of the principles defining Audi’s new design philosophy: clarity, technicality, intelligence, and emotion. Installed within courtyard of the Portrait Milano hotel, the ‘Origin’ design was refined through precision engineering, employing advanced digital design and fabrication to achieve technological rigour and spatial clarity. Creating a powerful juxtaposition within the courtyard of the the 16th century Archbishop’s seminary, the installation creates a transformative pavilion conveying the four principles of Audi’s new design philosophy: - Clarity is expressed through its pure, undiluted form that establishes a singular spatial focus. - Technicality is realised through precision engineering and advanced design methodologies. - Intelligence is demonstrated through a disciplined understanding of essentiality—removing all redundant influences. - Emotion is created by bringing these three qualities together to define a space that offers visitors a moment of reflection. The installation’s restorative interior shelters visitors from external stimuli, allowing their senses to settle. In this moment of stillness, a choreographed sequence of light and ambient sound builds rhythmically, rising to a brief crescendo before dissolving into silence, deepening the experiential journey. A matte metallic envelope subtly reflects its historical context, establishing a dialogue between the pavilion’s contemporary technology and the rich cultural heritage of its context. Stunning photography by Jacopo Spilimbergo

#KAFDMetroStation in #Riyadh is one of three #ZHA projects to receive 2026 World Architecture News Awards Carrying millions of passengers every week, #RiyadhMetro is the world’s longest driverless transit system—spanning 176 kilometres across 6 lines and 85 stations throughout Saudi Arabia’s capital. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station serves as a key interchange on the new network, with six rail platforms over four levels connecting with bus and park-&-ride services to create an important multi-modal transport hub for the city. The KAFD Metro Station’s design prioritizes connectivity. Predicted rail, car and pedestrian traffic has been modelled, mapped and structured to optimize internal circulation and avoid congestion. The resulting configuration is a three-dimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sinewaves (generated from the repetition and frequency variation of the station’s daily traffic flows), which act as the spine for the building’s circulation. These sinewaves extend to the station’s exterior clad in ultra-high-performance concrete panels. The façade’s geometric perforations reduce solar gain as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional environmental sheltering within the region’s vernacular architecture. The composition of the station’s façade echoes the patterns generated by desert winds in sand, where multiple frequencies and reverberation generate the complex repetition of patterns evident in the natural world. Providing optimal comfort at minimum energy demand, the station combines effective passive design features with a high-efficiency cooling system that is powered by renewables and automatically adjusts to differing passenger levels throughout the day, while sliding door panels on each platform retain cool air within the station. The KAFD Metro Station has achieved LEED Gold certification by the US Green Building Council. Stunning video reposted from amr allam Photo HuftonandCrow

The Grand Canal Gateway Bridge in Hangzhou is one of three ZHA projects to win 2026 ‘Rethinking the Future’ Awards. The 390-metre-long bridge unites the 800,000 sqm Seamless City masterplan under construction on the east and west banks of the canal. The centrepiece of the city’s new 14.7-hectare public park & river promenade, the bridge & masterplan by ZHA reconnects the city with its historic Grand Canal & Qiantang River waterfronts, integrating homes, workplaces & community amenities with places for recreation & tourism. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Grand Canal is China’s most ancient & longest man-made waterway—dating from the 5th century BC—flowing south from Beijing to connect with the Yellow & Yangtze Rivers before joining the Qiantang River at its southern gateway in Hangzhou. The Qiantang River is renowned for its ‘Silver Dragon’, the world’s largest tidal bore, generated by tides from Hangzhou Bay surging upstream, creating waves up to 9m high travelling at 40 km/h. The bridge’s walkways & plaza mark the gateway to the Grand Canal and provide vantage points to safely experience the ‘Silver Dragon’s force of nature. With the city of Hangzhou’s heritage in silk embroidery, the bridge’s design reinterprets traditional stitching techniques—its structure weaves & binds to support a bridge for pedestrians & cyclists. The footbridge is a steel, tied three-arch system lighter than concrete alternatives. Its geometry minimises lateral forces within the foundations by preventing powerful wind forces that blow inland from the river transferring to the sensitive historic site at the confluence of the Grand Canal and Qiantang River. Prefabricated modular construction minimised waste & build time, eliminating disruption to traffic on the Grand Canal, currently used by 100,000 barges each year to transport 260 million tons of cargo sustainably within China. Photos: Xue Liang

#MondayMotivation #ICYMI: The new Capital International Exhibition & Convention Centre (CIECC) in Beijing is one of five ZHA projects nominated for 2026 ‘World Architecture News’ awards. CIECC is also one of four ZHA projects winning 2026 ‘Rethinking The Future’ awards. Beijing’s largest exhibition & convention venue, CIECC expands the city’s existing facility to over 611,000 sq. m with 9 new exhibition halls, 3 reception halls, a conference centre for 9,000 delegates and an on-site 410-room hotel. Located on Line 15 of the Beijing Subway and adjacent to the city’s Capital International Airport, CIECC’s central north-south axis serves as the primary connector between the nine exhibition halls; creating a central courtyard with sheltered outdoor event spaces and landscaped gardens. Bridges above this central courtyard providing indoor circulation between the exhibition halls, conference centre and hotel. The movement of people, goods, & vehicles throughout CIECC is divided into three distinct routes to aid circulation, provide optimal adaptability and avoid disruption to concurring events. CIECC’s composite roof system of symmetric geometries creates an insulated, lightweight, large-span structure providing column-free spaces that can be quickly adapted to changes in exhibitions and nature of use. This modular fabrication and construction minimized the centre’s development time, investment, and operational costs. The centre’s fluid architectural language incorporates a pleated, deep copper-coloured façade with large, recessed windows. Achieving the highest certification of China’s Green Building Program, the centre uses smart building management systems with hybrid natural ventilation. Rainwater collection throughout CIECC’s extensive footprint, grey water recycling, and photovoltaics for on-site energy generation reduce water and energy demand from the city’s municipal supply. Stunning photos by Virgile Simon Bertrand

Z8 Tower construction to begin. Located in the core of Beijing’s Central Business District (CBD) at the intersection of Jianguo Road and Jinhe East Road, the new Z8 Tower faces the CBD’s central park and is defined by the historic alignment and urbanism of the city’s Chang’an Avenue. The tower’s design by ZHA creates an integrated mixed-use ‘vertical city’ of office floors together with shopping, dining, cultural and leisure facilities that are connected with the Beijing Subway system and the national rail network. Combining open office floors with shared atrium spaces and civic amenities, the 140-metre-tall Z8 Tower creates a highly adaptable spatial framework to accommodate the diverse and evolving requirements of modern enterprises. The western façade incorporates a series of verandas and atria that bring the adjacent central park into the tower’s core to define a gallery of planted terraces that extends through the full height of the building and connects with the sunken courtyard at the base of the tower. Integrating Z8’s architecture with the natural landscaping of the district’s central park, the design welcomes the city into the heart of the building and establishes an inviting new window into the dynamism of Beijing’s Central Business District. Vertical external fins extend from the mullions supporting Z8’s unitised glazed system to provide effective solar shading during the summer months of Beijing’s continental climate. The optimized thermal enclosure of Z8’s design minimizes heat-loss during the city’s cold winter months when temperatures average below freezing. Extensive public galleries and atria throughout the design enhance natural daylight and ventilation to optimize the comfort of occupants and further improve the tower’s environmental performance. Renders by ATCHAIN and DEVISUAL

Final few days to visit #LondonCreates 2026 — a major free-to-visit exhibition, talks and workshops showcasing the pioneering work of architects, engineers and designers shaping the future. Open until Sunday 26 July 2026 at The Truman Brewery #London Book your free visit tickets via the ‘WHAT’S-ON’ page at www.archisource.org listed in bio of Archisource Hosted by Archisource with HP, HP Z Workstations & Solutions, Intel ,D5 and Affinity, the exhibition explores how human creativity and technologies are transforming the creative process, from concept to fabrication and construction. Curated in collaboration with #ZHA, the exhibition brings together leading studios, engineers, designers and academic institutions from across the built environment. Through real-world projects, interactive virtual experiences, physical models, design drawings and digital tool demonstrations, London Creates presents new approaches to digital fabrication, structural computation, material innovation, climatic intelligence and design-led technological advancements. Showcasing #ZHA’s design process, AKT II and their collaborators, Mamou-Mani Architects and Fab.Pub alongside leading universities including AADRL Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London and the dfUEL. Photos by Archisource and Luke Hayes

The new 3D-printed ECHO Chair collection by #ZHA for Nagami explores an echo as a geometric condition rather than an acoustic phenomenon. Instead of repetition, an echo is understood as a transformation—a single geometric logic unfolding into multiple structural, spatial and material expressions. 3D-printing with recycled plastics, Nagami has created a new ecosystem for architecture and design—recovering what others have left behind, transforming waste into design, ready for a new life. From residue, form is born. Generated from two continuous surfaces emerging from a shared structural edge, one surface of the ECHO Chair becomes an echo of the other; evolving from the same underlying geometry while assuming a different role. From this line of contact, one surface forms the seat and base, while the other develops into the backrest and supporting structure. Conceived as a single continuous system, the chair dissolves the distinction between structure, surface and ergonomics. Developed through an iterative research process at ZHA Lab, the ECHO Chair combines computational design with large-scale additive manufacturing. Produced through continuous-extrusion 3D printing, the chair is fabricated as a single uninterrupted process, where geometry, structure and fabrication emerge simultaneously rather than through the assembly of separate parts. The ECHO Chair collection by ZHA for Nagami is currently showcased within the free-to-visit LONDON CREATES exhibition curated by ZHA and Archisource at The Truman Brewery, London until 26 July 2026 (11am–7pm). #LONDONCREATES exhibition and event tickets (free) can be booked via the ‘WHAT’S-ON’ page at www.archisource.org in Archisource bio. Video & photos courtesy #Nagami and MARIA DOCAM

London Creates 2026 is a major free-to-visit exhibition showcasing pioneering architects, engineers and designers shaping the future. 16-26 July 2026 at The Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London Free to visit. Book your tickets via the ‘WHAT’S-ON’ page at www.archisource.org listed in bio of Archisource Hosted by Archisource collaboration with HP, HP Z Workstations & Solutions, Intel, D5 and Affinity, the exhibition explores how human creativity and technologies are transforming the creative process, from concept to fabrication and construction. Curated in collaboration with #ZHA, the exhibition brings together leading studios, engineers, designers and academic institutions from across the built environment. Through real-world projects, interactive virtual experiences, physical models, design drawings and digital tool demonstrations, London Creates presents new approaches to digital fabrication, structural computation, material innovation, climatic intelligence and design-led technological advancements. Showcasing ZHA’s design process, AKT II and their collaborators, Mamou-Mani Architects and Fab.Pub alongside leading universities including AADRL Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London and the dfUEL London Creates will also host a programme of talks, workshops and activations led by innovators, industry leaders and creative organisations from across architecture, engineering and design including: Keynote sessions by ZHA’s Patrik Schumacher and AKT II, roundtable discussions, a two-day build workshop led by play architecture and AKT II, a model-making workshop by Open City Education, and a wider series of sessions exploring creative practice, design technology and the future of the built environment.

The new Terminal 3B (T3B) at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in China marks the final large-scale expansion of the airport’s transformation into one of the country’s leading aviation hubs. T3B is the world’s largest satellite terminal by air-passenger traffic. Designed by ZHA to serve 35 million passengers each year, T3B almost doubles the airport’s capacity to now accommodate 80 million travellers and 580,000 aircraft movements each year. With airport’s existing facilities reaching capacity, the new terminal supports the expansion of the airport’s operations to serve Chongqing’s ongoing development as one of China’s largest cities and fastest growing regions. Arranged in an ‘X’-shaped floor plan with 71 aircraft gates and stands to maximise turnover rates and operational efficiency, while maintaining flexibility for the future. Connected to Terminal 3A via underground metro, T3B is arranged radially with short walking distances to departure gates providing streamlined transfers and processing. Passenger circulation separates departures & arrivals to minimise congestion during peak periods. Outdoor terraces and courtyards on the northern and southern sides of the terminal are provided for passengers. Each of the terminal’s four piers include class C & E aircraft stands to support flexible airline operations and rapid gate allocation. These stands, together with the terminal’s aprons and taxiways, have been designed for the most efficient aircraft movements. Informed by the city’s dramatic mountain and river landscapes, the undulating roof incorporates skylights that bring natural light deep into the terminal. Within Chongqing’s humid subtropical climate, the terminal operates with a zero-carbon air heat source system supporting hybrid natural ventilation. This system eliminates the direct emissions from traditional boilers that would have burned 1.4 million cubic meters of natural gas annually. Constructed from locally sourced materials, T3B incorporates advanced systems and technologies for greater energy efficiency that includes thermal dimming glazing that adapts to temperature and sunlight for optimal shading. Photos HuftonandCrow