A rendering of architect Ole Scheeren's Urban Glen in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.The past year has seen the opening of the world’s second-tallest skyscraper, the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral and the announcement of countless futuristic urban mega-projects. Yet, the architecture world has, increasingly, recognized the value of altogether humbler pursuits.
In March, the industry’s most prestigious accolade, the Pritzker Prize, was unexpectedly awarded to Japanese housing pioneer Riken Yamamoto, while a small school in suburban Australia was later named the best new building at the World Architecture Festival. So, while 2025 will, as ever, be one that celebrates grand infrastructure projects and feats of engineering, smaller-scale designs — and those with genuine environmental credentials — may also find themselves in the global spotlight. From innovative timber buildings to one of Asia’s largest new airports, here are 11 projects opening in the next 12 months.More than eight years after the New South Wales government announced the relocation of Sydney’s historic fish market — which dates to the 1870s but has been on its current site since 1966 — the gleaming new four-floor building is opening on an adjacent 3.6-hectare site. visitors a “multi-sensory fish market experience”), the reimagined facility balances tourist infrastructure with the functional realities of a working wholesale market. Logistics and operations are hidden away in the basement, while the upper floors contain a market hall for visitors and an auction hall where restaurateurs and retailers bid on fresh catches as they arrive via pontoons. The project will also help rejuvenate an industrial part of the harbour with shops, restaurants, a promenade and an urban park, while the distinctive undulating roof is topped with 350 triangular solar panels