Above the stone island, fabric became form. Layered, tensioned and illuminated from within, a custom light installation introduced an unexpected softness to nuuma ’s showcase at Decorex Johannesburg 2026.

Created specifically for the show, the piece responded to the kitchen beneath it. Its scale related to the island and the generous height of the surrounding architecture, while its organic shape contrasted with the precision of cabinetry and stone. Concealing the light source allowed the fabric itself to carry the glow.

That relationship between apparent weight and lightness became a compelling way to read the installation. Stone grounded the composition; the suspended fabric drew attention upwards without making the kitchen feel secondary. Rather than adding another hard-edged element, it brought a different material sensibility into the space.

The N30 kitchen range formed the centre of the installation, which received Best Overall Stand. Rooted in an earthy palette and a welcoming material language, N30 provided a considered foundation for this exploration. Textile weave glass introduced a finer texture alongside the broader gestures of fabric and stone.

Rounded cabinetry and softened architectural corners found an echo in the fabric overhead. The repetition of curves established continuity across different materials and scales, while integrated lighting drew attention to the quieter textures below.

This was less an exercise in designing a statement fitting than in resolving the space around an island. The light mattered because of what surrounded it – and because of the atmosphere it helped create.

For the South African kitchen design brand, the installation expressed a broader position: a refined interior depends on relationships between materials, not simply the selection of individually beautiful finishes. Even an expressive element can belong to a restrained composition when its proportion and purpose are clear.

Explore nuuma’s approach to modern luxury kitchens at its Bryanston showroom campus in Johannesburg, where fully realised environments bring these material relationships into focus. | nuuma.co.za

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WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Lea Crafford and Nanje Nowack/Courtesy of Southern Guild

As the recipient of Southern Guild’s international residency programme in Cape Town, the GUILD Residency, Simphiwe Buthelezi will present her solo exhibition at the gallery.

Born in Johannesburg, Simphiwe is a sculptor and installation artist whose rise in the art scene began in 2018, when she was awarded the Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize, which led to a residency at The Bag Factory Artist Studios in Johannesburg. Her work has been exhibited around the world, with her wider exhibition history including presentations in Kinshasa, DRC, and Miami, USA.

Her work is rooted in material exploration, cultural continuity, African spirituality and processes of self-discovery. She works with natural materials, including ‘icansi‘ (traditional hand-woven reed mats), glass beads, ‘tankrali‘ (Zulu seed beads), sea sand, seashells and metal. To retain their agency and sculptural integrity, she avoids bright paint, opting instead for natural, earthy tones and letting the materials lead her work.

“My work is always in dialogue with the sacredness of the reed mat,” Simphiwe says. “It fascinates me how a single object can unravel and transform into many forms – just like the people to whom it belongs: boundless, adaptable, enduring.”

She uses a creative process closely related to a practice called ‘ukubuyela e masisweni‘ – or ‘returning to the source’ – an existential and spiritual undertaking through which intergenerational materials become vessels for cultural memory, ancestral knowledge and new forms of meaning.

The new body of work for Kala, whose isiZulu translation is ‘weigh it’ or ‘measure it’, includes the work Mhlaba, the focal form for the exhibition’s central themes. It is a monumental sphere whose surface is layered with tactile constellations built from cut segments of ‘icansi‘, traditional mats hand-woven from ‘iNcema‘ bulrushes – a material that extends beyond its everyday function, as the mats are not only used in domestic contexts but are also used in ceremonies and rituals across South Africa. The artwork appears neither complete nor intact, looking as if suspended in a state between formation and erosion.

Another work, Abacus, is an extensive wall-hung installation made from ebonised, handmade clay beads that shift across a series of open contour lines. Released from the confines of the abacus’s conventional four-sided boundary, the instrument becomes mutable and porous, exposed to forces of motion, time, deduction and addition – transforming an ancient tool of calculation into a distorted meditation on what cannot be counted.

“Ultimately, Kala asks not how we measure the world, but what we choose to measure. It invites an alternative currency of value; one rooted in attention, care, and the belief that making remains a vital way of processing the conditions of the present,” says Simphiwe.

Kala will be on show at the GUILD Residency, Silo 5, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, from 18 September to 12 November 2026. | southernguild.com

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WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Supplied

The Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition continues to be an instrument for launching the careers of many South African visual artists, offering them an opportunity to showcase their talents and gain significant recognition and exposure within the art world. This year, 938 works were submitted at eight collection points across South Africa, of which 123 were selected to advance to the final round of judging and to appear in the 2026 exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum.

“Sasol New Signatures has provided a vital platform for emerging artists to share their perspectives, challenge convention and take the next step in their creative journeys. We continue to support the arts because we believe that creativity plays an important role in shaping society, encouraging new ways of thinking, inspiring dialogue and helping us better understand the world and one another,” says Nozipho Mlambo, Sasol Senior Manager: Group Brand and Sponsorships.

This September, Sphumelele Zondi, a Johannesburg-based visual artist who works primarily with sculpture and mixed media and holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Durban University of Technology, came out victorious. Entering for the first time, she was announced as the 2026 Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition overall winner for her mixed-media piece, The laundry of a nation.

“The work draws attention to clothing that carry these experiences, traces of labour, care, hardship, and survival that can become embedded within them. I was also interested in the idea of Abantu bazothini?, the awareness of being watched, judged, or questioned by others, and how this can influence young people from an early age. Through the work, I want viewers to reflect on what they have inherited from generations and circumstances before them, and to question what they are now carrying forward,” says Sphumelele.

Sive Ntombana, a painter and mural artist based in Makhanda currently completing a Master of Fine Arts at Rhodes University, is this year’s runner-up with his work titled Umlandeli.

“This work is informed by a philosophical approach. From this approach, I use Sihle Sogaula’s and Hugo Canham’s thinking of the Black Xhosa home as a space full of theoretical activity. Within the work, I am trying to make sense of the notion of trauma and healing through a reflexive narrative perspective that is informed by theoretical thinking,” says Sive.

Sasol has been a sponsor of the competition for the past 36 years and continues to provide emerging South African artists with a platform to express their unique perspectives and push the boundaries of creative expression.

2026 Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition Winners

• Overall winner Sphumelele Zondi walks away with a cash prize of R100 000 and an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2026.
• Runner-up Sive Ntombana takes home R25 000.

The five Merit Award winners receive R10 000 each, and they are:

• Charlie de Bruto – Pretoria, Ball buster, 2026 (Mixed media)
• Inga Lokwe – Pretoria, Qula kwedini, 2025 (Glass, metal, wood)
• Wisani Manyisi – Johannesburg, Dance of memory, 2026 (Mixed media on paper)
• Thomas Masingi – Polokwane, The desire to become one series, 2025 (Digital photography on true ivory)
• Charné Mungur – Gqeberha, Echoes of silence, 2025 (Steel)

The Sasol New Signatures exhibition, featuring the work of the 2026 winners and finalists, will take place at the Pretoria Art Museum from 10 September to 8 November 2026. | sasolsignatures.co.za

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Courtesy of Dulux

An ethereal, soft green shade, ‘Soulful Sage’ – Dulux’s Colour of the Year 2027 – has been designed to boost the mood of any room in your home.

Sitting at the heart of three carefully curated colour stories, Soulful Sage perfectly captures the mood for 2027, according to the results of Dulux’s annual trend forecast, run by AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center.

“Our 2027 Colour of the Year is all about creating lighter spaces for a lighter life,” explains Heleen van Gent, creative director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center. “Many people are feeling weighed down by world events and overloaded with information. We want to offer consumers a way to create lighter environment so they can feel that weight lifted off their shoulders.”

The three colour stories centred around ‘Soulful Sage’ – Glow, Light and Lift – offer a harmonious, versatile palette that works in any room. “Glow is focused on earth tones to create a warm space, Light combines quiet, pale tones and darker shades for more of a healing space, while Lift features positive tones that evoke the joy of an inspiring space. And at the centre of it all is Soulful Sage – the ultimate versatile green,” explains Heleen. | dulux.co.za

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WORDS Neyani Mphephu PHOTOS Supplied (Zani Alberts), Shaun Wagne, Inge Prins (Ashleigh Lloyd), Georgia Dorward, Supplied (Karlien van Rooyen), Supplied (Sinegugu Ngxongo), Francis Marais (Mpho Vackier), Supplied, Inge Prins (Thabisa Mjo), Supplied, (Naledi Modupi), Suly Khan (Bonolo Chepape), Supplied (Keabetswe Seema), Sune van Tonder (Tanisha Neill)

South African women have always been problem-solvers – within homes, communities and cultures. That same ingenuity drives established and emerging designers and artists whose work is rooted in lived experience, heritage and emotional depth. The result is work that speaks from a specific place, earning them recognition at home and abroad.

Here, 10 South African creatives reflect on the ideas, experiences and beliefs behind their practices.

Zani Alberts

Co-founder of DEFT Studios in Gqeberha, Zani is a furniture designer and maker who came to the craft through architecture. She and her business partner, Martin Tallie, established the studio in 2020. Her distinction lies in closing the distance between designer and maker. “There’s a real proudness that comes with being part of the physical fabrication of furniture,” she says. “Not a lot of women are willing to engage in that physical realm of production. For me, design doesn’t happen at arm’s length – it happens on the workshop floor, while it’s being built.”

She believes South African design already meets international standards, and that smaller, more considered workshops frequently produce exceptional work. “Design has become more playful, more expressive, more willing to experiment, and that’s the part I’m most excited to see grow,” she says. “The next generation seems less interested in permission. What I’d really like to see alongside that is more local production. Please stop importing. We have the skill and we have the makers, so the pieces may as well be built here.” | deftstudios.co.za

Ashleigh Lloyd

Founder of Studio Lloyd in Cape Town, Ashleigh creates handcrafted, large-scale sculptural lighting she describes as “future heirlooms”. Being a first-generation South African has shaped her conviction that local design can stand confidently on an international stage. Her move into bronze reflects an instinct for permanence – objects that carry the marks of making and grow into their own histories. She sees a generation moving beyond trends towards work that is “highly individual, technically ambitious and made to last”, and wants South African design recognised “not because it is ‘South African’, but because it is simply exceptional”. | studiolloyd.com

Karlien van Rooyen

Karlien’s ceramic practice emerged from hardship: homelessness, gender-based violence and chronic illness. Each vessel she makes stands as what she calls “a determined and dignified declaration of our personal and collective ability to endure”. Trained in medical science and shaped by years of environmental activism, she sees South African design’s future defined by “uncompromising depth, textural integrity, and grounded social innovation”, with rural materialities elevated globally “not as exotica, but as authoritative voices”. | karlienvanrooyen.com

Sinegugu Ngxongo

Founder of Bambizulu, Sinegugu grew up watching women solve problems for their families and communities. “If something solves a particular problem while also bringing beauty into the solution, for me, that is a tick,” she says. Working with rural artisans in Hlabisa, she speaks of design’s “limitless possibilities” and the responsibility they carry. “I would love to see a future where technology and innovation don’t replace that human knowledge, but help us strengthen it.” | bambizulu.com

Mpho Vackier

Mpho founded TheUrbanative, a furniture and product design studio in Johannesburg, in 2016. She approaches design through cultural interpretation. “It has never been about reproducing those references literally, but about understanding them, interpreting them and allowing them to exist within a contemporary design language,” she says. She sees a shift away from the need to “explain or prove its Africanness”, and is excited by African narratives joining the wider contemporary design canon rather than being viewed merely as inspiration. | theurbanative.com

Thabisa Mjo

Founder and creative director of Mash.T Design Studio in Johannesburg, Thabisa stumbled into design in 2015 when she entered the Nando’s Hot Young Designer Talent Search and won with her Tutu 2.0 pendant light, inspired by Xibelani skirts worn by Xitsonga women. She describes South African women as “collaborative, enterprising, and problem-solving” – qualities she sees as directly transferable to design. “The aesthetic is a result of an approach, a perspective,” she says. “The most interesting design and designers are those with a perspective, and I think that’s what the next generation of really stand-out design will be defined by.” | mashtdesignstudio.com

Naledi Modupi

A Johannesburg-based visual artist and illustrator, Naledi is best known for semi-abstract portraiture that celebrates the beauty and individuality of Black women. Her distinctive style pairs continuous lines with bold, vibrant colour, moving between digital and traditional media. Naledi uses colour as her primary language, telling stories about women with vivid, expressive palettes that feel gentle and confident at once. “I don’t see gentleness and boldness as opposites; I think they can exist beautifully together,” she says. She is energised by the way South African women are asserting their place in the conversation, and excited by the breakdown of boundaries between art, illustration and design. “I’m seeing more and more women coming through, creating their own visual language and making their mark.” | naledimodupi.co.za

Bonolo Chepape

Founder of the textile and lifestyle brand Lulasclan, Bonolo treats pattern as a storytelling tool. Her work has appeared on Nando’s restaurant facades, in Mr Price Home collections, and in the rain | VISI collection, which launched in August. “At the core of my practice is an ongoing exploration of mark-making and pattern as a language that connects people, disciplines, and places,” she says. “I find my tribe in women who choose to remain joyful and full of colour despite sometimes serious working environments.” That generosity of spirit shapes her design thinking too: “My thinking always leans on creating space for women to embrace every part of themselves, their strength, softness, ambition, joy and individuality.” She sees the future of South African design as many voices at once. “It is about allowing many perspectives to exist simultaneously and, through that diversity, creating something distinctly our own.” | lulasclan.com

Keabetswe Seema

Keabetswe works across collage, photography, sound, mixed media, printmaking and installation. She sits at the juncture of Afro-surrealism, Afro-futurism and Black feminist thought, constructing layered visual worlds that collapse archival, personal and imagined narratives. Raised in a matriarchal household, she foregrounds Black women to restore their agency. “They take centre stage time and time again in order to preserve and shift the dominant narratives that have marginalised them previously,” she says. She is excited by immersive world-building: “less items simply on the wall but active embodied engagements from the audience with the art and/or design.” | @_keaseema

Tanisha Neill

A furniture designer, Tanisha grew up surrounded by South Africa’s diverse landscapes and credits her mother’s instinct for interiors as a formative influence. She entered the industry at a moment of growth, with platforms like Cape Town Furniture Week and Design Week South Africa opening new doors for emerging designers. “The more designers look inward, understand their own perspective and build from there, the more distinctive and exciting South African design will become,” she says. Her advice: “Don’t wait until you have the perfect brand, the perfect plan or all the answers.” | nish.design

What connects these 10 women is a shared instinct to look inward before looking outward. Each studio, each practice, each piece is a statement about where South African design has come from and, more importantly, where it is capable of going.

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied

Founded by Peter van der Post in 2014, Indigenus is well known for its bespoke planters and collaborations with renowned local and international designers such as Laurie Wiid, SAOTA, Andile Dyalvane, Haldane Martin and Yabu Pushelberg.

Their latest collaboration, the Stellar collection, is with Zizipho Poswa, an internationally recognised South African sculptor and ceramic artist – and is one of their largest to date in terms of scale.

“We wanted a planter design with an anchoring soulfulness that Africa brings, and Zizipho was the obvious choice for us, especially given the beautiful large-scale pieces she has been creating more recently. The shape we were interested in was also very present in her work, so it seemed like a natural fit,” says Indigenus.

Zizipho, best known for her monumental ceramic and bronze sculptures that celebrate African womanhood, cultural heritage and ancestral knowledge, brings a unique textural element to the new collection.

“By shaping contemporary planters from the silhouettes of African traditional beer pots as a sanctuary for growth, these pieces carry forward both the communal warmth of my heritage and my mother’s love for nature,” says Zizipho.

“We believe that texture and evidence of handwork are becoming more important in design, so this offered us the opportunity to combine these elements and simultaneously stretch ourselves to create a handmade, textural planter that was repeatable in production,” says Indigenus.

The calabash-shaped Stellar has a distinctly African aesthetic but feels universal, making it ideal for hotels and resorts, game lodges, and anywhere surrounded by natural beauty.  | indigenus.co.za

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Mariela Apollonio

This 1920s home in Turís has a storied past – its old walls have seen generations of everyday life, family holidays, summer gatherings and even a medical practice – and now, almost 90 years later, it has been returned to its former glory, allowing the house to continue its long tradition as a place of gathering.

In 1941, Nilda’s grandparents rented this house, a dwelling built fifteen years earlier and distinguished by its generous backyard, which at the time still opened onto surrounding farmland. A few years later, they purchased the property and carried out the first major transformation, extending the house towards the garden. As the village doctor, her grandfather devoted part of the home to his medical practice, a common arrangement at the time. In the late 1970s, after his retirement, the family moved to Valencia, and the house became more of a holiday home than a permanent residence.

Small adjustments were made over the years, but as the family visited less and less, the house gradually fell out of step with contemporary living. Decades later, Nilda decided to return and make the house a home once more.

Jose Costa ARQ Studio was tasked with restoring the 300 m² home so that it could serve as both a primary residence for Nilda and a shared space for the extended family during summers and holidays.

The street-facing volume, with its brick facade, timber windows and tiled roof, now serves as accommodation for visiting family members, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The entrance gate and carpentry were restored, while original tiles and flooring were carefully preserved and reused.

The main living areas – living room, dining room, kitchen – and Nilda’s primary bedroom are all contained in the garden-facing half of the house. Due to its deterioration, this section required a more substantial intervention. The architects replaced the roof and opened up the facade to strengthen the relationship with the garden. To bring natural light deep into the interior, a new courtyard was carved out above the kitchen. Enclosed in glass, it takes on the character of the garden beyond. The staircase, a central element in the house, links both halves of the home while establishing a visual dialogue with the courtyard.

With the renovation completed last year, the home is now a meeting point between past and present – a contemporary space where the family continues to come together, just as they always have. | josecosta.es

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WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Open Doors Collective

Pineapple House Boutique Hotel – a 14-bedroom boutique hotel in a restored 1920s Victorian house in Sea Point – is known for its distinctive, character-filled interior that celebrates colour and craftsmanship.

From the outset, owners Les and Rupert Sykes worked closely with South African makers, artists and suppliers, filling the hotel with pieces that feel collected and thoughtfully curated rather than simply decorated. And it wasn’t long before guests began asking where they could buy the inspired decor pieces.

What started with making selected pieces from the hotel available to guests soon developed into something far greater. “We did not set out to open a shop. We built the hotel around pieces we loved and the work of talented makers, and guests kept asking if they could take a little of it home. At some point, we realised that idea had legs for something even bigger,” says Les.

That idea eventually grew into Pineapple House Interiors: a richly layered collection of bespoke furniture, authentic Indian block-printed textiles and handcrafted pieces that gives people the opportunity to take the hotel’s aesthetic and the stories behind its pieces home with them.

For Les and Rupert, the story behind a piece is as important as the piece itself. They want customers to know where something comes from, where its journey began, who made it and the craft and traditions that went into creating it.

“We want people to know the story of what they are bringing into their homes,” says Les. “Where did it start? Who made it? What hands has it passed through? When you understand the journey of a piece, you form a completely different connection with it.”

That sense of discovery runs through Pineapple House Interiors. Rather than simply presenting a collection of beautiful objects, Les and Rupert share the people, places and processes behind them, allowing customers to understand the provenance of each piece and, ultimately, continue its story in their own homes.

“Pineapple House Interiors is for people who notice the small details, the people who want to know where something came from, who made it and how it was created,” says Les.

Pineapple House Interiors brings that same approach to a wider collection, combining bespoke furniture, statement pieces, custom joinery, soft furnishings and upholstery with authentic Indian block-printed textiles and handcrafted objects.

Pineapple House Interiors is now open at The Palms in Woodstock. pineapplehouseinteriors.co.za | @pineapplehouseinteriors_ct

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WORDS Amy Rusch PHOTOS Jan Ras

Choosing these objects was easier than I’d imagined. They are belongings; I belong to them, and they belong to me. We inhabit the same living and making space. Each is a porthole of access to family, to memory, and to a sense of awe in relation to the living world. Many of the pieces were made, held, worn or formed long before my birth; in many ways, they have added to how I’m able to be who I am. They are valued beyond measure.

Bezoar Stone

Two days aft er my paternal grandmother Sunray passed away, my dad and I went to visit her sister, who said to choose anything from her home, saying she no longer needed “things”. I was immediately drawn to this round stone – which, once I held it, I realised was not a stone at all. Smooth and much lighter, it’s a bezoar stone – a hairball from the stomach of a goat from the family farm. Historically, bezoar stones are thought to have healing properties. A bezoar could be worn as a charm, ground into powder and consumed, or dropped into a drink that’s suspected to contain poison. They can be found in the stomachs of goats, oxen, snakes and porcupines. I feel incredibly grateful to be the custodian of this magical, mystical ball.

Bird-call Instrument

Just before my god-daughter Kino was born, my dad spent several days making and perfecting two little instruments made of wood harvested from a searsia tree growing in the garden. The correct amount of friction and rosin [pine sap resin] makes the wood call out like a bird. One instrument was given to Erin and Nic as a gift for the soon-to-be-born Kino – and in an uncomplicated moment when my dad walked me to my car that same afternoon, he handed me the second instrument. I was very moved.

Ancestral Threads

Receiving the first cotton threads on wooden bobbins from Nouchi, my maternal great-grandmother, was a catalyst. I began experimenting with these threads in high school; they were the access point to a form of expression mark-making using the thread line and imprint. I now have a collection of inherited threads from both sides of the family – a daily material access point to the female makers in my family.

Nana’s Chair

I inherited these chairs from my maternal grandmother Nana. I made new canvas covers for them, and replaced the worn arm strapping with blue rope. I have memories from childhood of these chairs in my grandmother’s home; of family members at the table. I love that they’ve held bodies, conversations, gatherings; that they’ve held family around a table in celebration… and in disagreement. They hold the potential to keep holding, and have been my studio chairs for 10 years.

Ammonite Fossils

These ammonite fossils were given to me and my sister when we were kids by John Parkington, my mother’s stepfather and a professor of archaeology. They are a connection to deep time, to life’s changing cycles, and to archaeology. They are reminders of continuous change, and how matter that feels permeable and fluid can change form, becoming stone under the right conditions. They feel like a starting point from all the way back to my present interest and work in archaeology.

Stone Pine Lino Print

This lino print was given to me by my maternal grandpa Marc, years before he passed away. On the day he passed, I sat watching the evening light change to darkness, the stone pines and the mountain turning from pink to orange to blue, and then to darkness. This is an image that transports me to a memory of a life’s transition – what it means to live a full and present life.

Twin Fish Quilt

My mom made this quilt 37 years ago while pregnant with me. They are the first transmissions I received through her womb – of working with hands and threads; of making in preparation for my birth. I feel that, in some ways, this piece is an early waypoint on the path towards my way of making now. This blanket holds so much of me and who I’ve become. It’s beautiful, and practical, and full of deep symbolism.

Rock Pots

When gardening with my mom about seven years ago, digging in the earth I came across two rocks with holes in their centre. After a good scrubbing, it became clear that these were pottery pieces made by my grandmother, Nana, in 1976. There was something wonderful about finding them buried in the soil in my parents’ back garden – it felt like digging up treasure in a miraculous moment of discovery. There’s still soil that spills out of their centre holes.

Wind Rose Wooden Sea Kayak

Building Wind Rose felt like a rite of passage – a return to tactile, slow and meticulous making. Working on and off, it took me three years to build her, and it was this process that slowly shifted me closer to finding voice, allowing my making way to surface, and trusting that things will find their place in time – and that time is not linear. She was a transition marker, a guide, and a process of learning wooden boatbuilding from my father. Our kayaks – Little Leaf and Wind Rose – are built from the same plans, but slight adjustments that I made to the keelson and the cockpit coaming (the raised rim around the cockpit) make them different. Wind Rose has allowed me to follow ancestral threads of connection to the ocean, seafaring, boatbuilding and navigation. Both boats are built of 3mm Japanese marine plywood, with an Oregon pine keelson, coaming and gunwales.

Nutshell Sailing Boat

My dad built two little wooden nutshell sailing boats during my mom’s pregnancy. I learnt to sail in these boats – they were the porthole and my first interaction with sailing, working with wind, and the craft of wooden boatbuilding. Like the quilt my mom made while I was in utero, I feel that my dad’s process of building these wooden boats transmitted towards a growing Amy. As physical objects, they have been a practical access point to ancestral seafaring, navigation, and interaction with the ocean, rivers and lagoons – but symbolically, they hold so much more. Through both the Twin- Fish quilt and this pair of nutshell sailing boats, I feel very strong ties to who I am in the present, today. | @amy.rusch

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COMPILED BY Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Ishita Sitwala, PHX INDIA, Arch-Exist Photography, Jeanne Canto, Fernando Guerra, Avesh Gaur and Sohaib Ilyas Design, Andrés Cedillo, FLINK Studio, Studio CAPN, Paul Warchol, Andrés Cedillo

The 2026 WAF shortlist features 416 projects across categories ranging from best Creative Re-Use, Housing and Education to best Hotel, Health, Sports and Culture. Selected from over 630 entries, this year’s shortlist celebrates incredible, groundbreaking architectural and design achievements.

Among the entries, these remarkable buildings celebrate architecture that responds to its environment while creating distinctive, immersive and sustainable places:

Ayana

by aslam.sham architects in Coimbatore, India

Terra House

by Atelier Design N Domain LLP (ADND) in Kerala, India

The Mountain Fold – Nanshanli Community & Visitor Centre, Mount Emei

by Lacime Architects in Shanghai, China

Kiaora Residence

by STRANG in Coconut Grove, United States

ES House

by Jacobsen Studio in Guarujá, Brazil

The Hungry Caterpillar

by lyth Design in Delhi, India

Mercado Nicolas Bravo

by AIDIA STUDIO in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Bisate Sanctuary

by Black Sable Designs in Ruthengeri, Rwanda

Stöng – (Re)interpretation

by SP(R)INT STUDIO in Stöng í Þjórsárdal, Iceland

Chatham Residence

by Desai Chia Architects in Chatham, United States

Parque Quintana Roo

by AIDIA STUDIO in Chetumal, Mexico

The World Architecture Festival 2026

This year’s 205 shortlisted completed buildings include everything from an immersive tropical clubhouse in Vietnam to a landmark fish market in Sydney and a 1.2-acre oceanfront park in Florida.

The 48 shortlisted interiors range from an off-grid private wildlife sanctuary and guest lodge in South Africa to a design-led rooftop bar in Bangkok, while the 12 shortlisted landscapes include a clubhouse in Vietnam designed as a living organism and an ecological landmark in the Philippines that showcases the structural material qualities of bamboo.

The 151 future projects shortlisted include a climate-responsive home in Mumbai and an ambitious vision for a children’s hospital in Texas.

World Architecture Festival and Inside World Festival of Interiors will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 18–20 November 2026. | worldarchitecturefestival.com

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