Topics

Everything DETAIL publishes, opened up by topic — from sustainable construction and prefabrication to structural engineering, light and urban design. Each topic leads into the search, with the articles, projects, drawings and images tagged for it.

  • The Lost Shtetl Museum in Lithuania

    The Jewish Museum in Šeduva commemorates the culture of Eastern European towns before World War II. With their building, Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects from Finland reimagine the small-scale structure of one such village. Its residents were murdered in 1941 by Nazis and their local collaborators.

  • „Initially, Reuse is Like Guesswork"

    Used cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs and roof tiles as facade cladding: the LysP8 housing development is a pilot project for circular construction. Project manager Tenzin Tsamdha from Loeliger Strub Architektur talks about the challenges of planning with reclaimed materials.

  • Basel's high art in the side light

    The Beyeler Museum, designed by Renzo Piano, is considered an architectural icon. However, since September 2026, it will no longer be the only building reflected in the ponds of the unique museum park. Peter Zumthor is extending the ensemble with three new buildings, in which art will glow in the side light. Nils Freiwald takes a first look at the new museum landscape in Riehen.


Prefabrication and Modular construction

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  • Modular assembly on a construction site by Riehle Koeth

    With a Safety Net

    Speed comes at a price, and the magic box has its limits. Modular construction is both a blessing and a curse. For years, politicians have promised that modular building would deliver housing faster and more cheaply, yet in 2026 the number of new homes is heading for its lowest level in years. Extremely fast building sites on the one hand, greater planning effort on the other. A look at modular construction, between promise and the reality on site.

  • Routine School Construction as a Renovation Project

    In 1980, Jean Nouvel's Collège Anne Frank in the south of Paris reduced the state-mandated model for industrialised school buildings to the level of farce. Mars Architectes has now renovated the dilapidated building and helped to give new relevance to this architectural provocation.

  • The Social Heart of Markelfingen

    From yoga to retro parties: with the Markelfingen multi-purpose hall on Lake Constance, Steimle Architects have designed a meeting place for all generations. Beneath the widely cantilevered coffered ceiling, adaptable spaces have been created using timber construction.


Cultural Buildings

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Building in Existing Contexts

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  • Un Aperitivo in the Greenhouse

    Herzog & de Meuron has extended the Mandarin Oriental restaurant on Lake Como. Using local materials plus a new lighting and colour scheme, they draw attention to the surrounding landscape.

  • The Rebirth of a Multi-Storey Car Park

    One of Switzerland's largest reuse projects is currently under construction in the southeast of Basel. Commissioned by the cantonal property management authority, the architectural practice Parabase is planning around 150 flats using the concrete elements from a demolished multi-storey car park.

  • Planning process as a total work of art

    The commissioned conversion of a metal workshop in Madrid goes far beyond architecture. With its combination of office space, cultural offerings, and catering, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation is making a - rather ambitious - statement about process culture in the construction industry.


Sustainable construction

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  • Caparol Architecture Award Presented

    The Caparol Architecture Award 2026 highlighted just how closely aesthetics, renovation and circularity are now intertwined. The prize for the winners is architecture - to be experienced on a joint trip to Ghent and Antwerp.

  • Visitor Centre in the Basque Country by V2S Architectes

    With the Landscape House in Ostabat-Asme, V2S Architectes have designed a visitor centre that blends seamlessly into the topography of the Pyrenean foothills. Regional materials, flexible exhibition spaces and a collaborative energy concept characterise the timber structure, which frames the view of the cultural landscape of the Basque Oztibarre Valley.


Masonry and Concrete

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