11 Landmark Architecture Projects That Will Define 2026

2025 was a turbulent year for architecture: the field lost several influential figures, public debates over presidential preferences for classical design intensified, and professional organizations reassessed their priorities. At the same time, international prizes celebrated architects such as Shigeru Ban and China’s Liu Jiakun. Looking ahead, 2026 promises to be shaped by a slate of high-profile completions — from long-delayed cathedrals to record-breaking skyscrapers and ambitious cultural centers. Below are 11 projects likely to dominate conversations about design, legacy and urban change next year.

1. Sagrada Família — Barcelona

Some 144 years after construction began, Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família nears a symbolic milestone. While sculptural detailing and interior elements may continue for years, 2026 is expected to see the completion of the 564-foot Tower of Jesus of Christ, the church’s 18th and final spire, timed for the centenary of Gaudí’s death. Decades of complexity, funding pauses, bureaucratic obstacles and the loss of Gaudí’s originals in 1936 all contributed to the long timeline — a history summed up by Gaudí’s famous quip: “My client is in no hurry.”

2. 520 Fifth Avenue — New York

New York’s skyscraper aesthetic is shifting from glass boxes to more monumental, historically resonant towers. Rising to roughly 1,002 feet, 520 Fifth Avenue channels Beaux-Arts and Palazzo precedents with terracotta arches and a rhythm that nods to its 19th-century neighbors. Kohn Pedersen Fox cites Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library and the massing of Hugh Ferriss as inspirations for this return to a more textured, civic urbanism.

3. Milan Olympic Village — Milan

For the 2026 Winter Games, an 11.5-acre former rail yard in southeast Milan will host thousands of athletes. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) designed the village with conversion in mind: after the Games it will become a 1,700-bed affordable student residence, with developer Coima targeting occupancy for the fall 2026 semester. The plan includes six new buildings, restored historic structures and a porous urban block of public paths and green space intended to integrate with the Porta Romana neighborhood.

4. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi — Saadiyat Island

Frank Gehry’s long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi reads like a late-career statement: an assembly of curvilinear and angular volumes with varied textures and covered courtyards inspired by regional precedents. Gehry’s use of cone-like volumes also references traditional barjeel wind towers in abstract form. The emirate hopes the museum will replicate the “Bilbao Effect” — transforming cultural identity and attracting tourism — though official statements avoid committing to a precise 2026 opening date.

5. Tour F (Tower F) — Abidjan

Designed by Pierre Fakhoury, Tour F will become Africa’s tallest building at about 1,381 feet and 64 stories. Its angled glass facade evokes a stylized African mask and the tower is intended as both an architectural symbol and a signal of economic stability for Ivory Coast after decades of political turmoil. The project forms part of wider urban ambitions — including rapid transit plans and regional transport corridors — aimed at strengthening the Abidjan–Lagos economic axis.

6. Shanghai Grand Opera House — Shanghai

Norwegian firm Snøhetta brings a riverside opera house to Shanghai with a low, emerging profile, abundant white surfaces and public rooftop spaces. Its signature feature is a dramatic spiral staircase that leads to a large rooftop plaza and anchors a radial plan. The complex will include three performance halls, including a 2,000-seat main auditorium programmed for both Western and Chinese operatic traditions.

7. Obama Presidential Center — Chicago

The Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side has been politically charged from the start. Critics have questioned its cost, the absence of a conventional research library for unclassified archives, and the decision to place operations under the Obama Foundation rather than the National Archives. The site’s centerpiece is a 225-foot marble tower — dubbed the “Obamalisk” by some — whose facades include lines from Barack Obama’s Selma anniversary speech. The nearly 20-acre campus also features community-oriented elements: an auditorium, a public library branch, gardens and large-scale public art commissions.

8. Central Bank of Iraq Tower — Baghdad

The Central Bank tower is a poignant, symbolic building for Iraq and the late Zaha Hadid: it is Hadid’s only realized project in her native Baghdad. Rising to about 558 feet, the exoskeletal tower flares from a narrow base and stands out on the city’s traditionally low skyline. The building carries historical resonance for an institution with a fraught recent past and has become a point of civic pride for many Iraqis.

9. Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — Los Angeles

George Lucas’s $1 billion museum opens in September in Exposition Park. Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the building’s sinuous, floating form echoes the firm’s anti-rectilinear philosophy and the concept of “Shanshui” (mountain and water) landscapes. With more than 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Lucas Museum will be among the most significant US projects by a Chinese-born architect.

10. Melbourne Metro Tunnel — Melbourne

Australia’s largest rail upgrade in four decades, the A$13.48 billion Metro Tunnel links suburban lines through two parallel 5.6-mile tunnels that dive deep beneath the city center. After a November soft launch, operators will enact a major service integration and capacity increase in February — the so-called “Big Switch.” The project includes five new downtown stations designed to connect visually to the street with generous entrances, skylights and cathedral-like concourses, easing Melbourne’s growing transport demands.

11. Oppo Dongguan Campus — Dongguan

China’s Oppo is building a 115-acre R&D campus by Kohn Pedersen Fox comprising 10 structures, seven of which are residential towers for roughly 6,000 employees. The masterplan emphasizes circularity and interconnectedness: work, education and amenities are linked so staff can move across the campus without stepping onto surrounding city streets. Oppo’s investment reflects a broader trend of Chinese tech companies commissioning signature architecture to express corporate identity and urban ambition.

Context and Themes

Alongside these projects, 2025’s professional headlines included the AIA awarding its Gold Medal to Shigeru Ban and international prize recognition for Liu Jiakun and several modest but notable projects. The developments above combine concerns about legacy, sustainability, public benefit and the signaling power of monumental architecture. Whether these buildings become beloved civic assets or contested symbols will shape architectural debate well beyond 2026.