Architecture's change makers bring hope and optimism to 2026

photo-collage for theme of hope and optimism in architecture wallpaper* design awards 2026 — Our three Architects of the Year are Je Ahn (top left), Marina Tabassum (bottom, centre) and Lina Gotmeh (top right). Three houses get the nod for Best Use of Material: Rammed Earth House by Tuckey Design Studio (bottom left), Sombra de Santa Fe by DUST Architects (top, centre) and Bin Nouh's Courtyard House by Shahira Fahmy

(Image credit: Mixed credit)

Architecture is an inherently optimistic profession – a quality instilled in me through training and flagged to me in many an interview over the years. Architects set out to change the world, often consciously and purposefully, quite literally shaping the environment around us. It helps to remember this essential positivity at a time when it is easy to get caught up in global events that weigh heavily on our minds.

view of Rammed Earth House by Tuckey Design Studio with tactile walls and earth tones — Rammed Earth House by Tuckey Design Studio wins a Best Use of Material 2026 award alongside two other exceptional homes using earth building techniques

We celebrate hope and optimism in architecture

At Wallpaper*, we are always keen to champion innovations, ideas and designs that bring hope and optimism, including architectural wonders that put a smile on our faces. There have been quite a few of those over the past year. The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale had its critics, but it also showcased the architecture world’s hunger for change. Meanwhile, Sarah Housley’s new book Designing Hope discussed specific scenarios that nod to a better outlook for us all.

views of Sombra de Santa Fe, new mexico house, with dark, minimalist geometric volumes and clean walls and long nature views — Sombra de Santa Fe, a New Mexico house by DUST Architects, was one of the three homes sharing our Best Use of Material 2026 award

Also in 2025, Finland was named the world’s happiest country for the eighth year in a row; its ambitious sustainability strategies surely play a role here (policy makers, take note). Elsewhere, ingenious initiatives, such as Retrofit House – a live showcase of sustainable homebuilding techniques, by Civic Square, Dark Matter Labs and Material Cultures – landed to give power to ordinary people.

views of mud brick house with warm hues in desert building style, Bin Nouh's Courtyard House by Shahira Fahmy — Bin Nouh's Courtyard House by Shahira Fahmy in Saudi Arabia's AlUla is another home using earth building techniques and sharing our Best Use of Material 2026 accolade

Above all, it’s the plurality of architectural voices and radical solutions by the world’s creative minds that brings the most hopeful message for a sunnier future. And what better way mark what we look forward to seeing more of than our annual Wallpaper* Design Awards?

portrait of architect Je Ahn — Je Ahn, one of our three Architects of the Year 2026

In that spirit, a series of our 2026 awards – newly announced in the February issue of Wallpaper* and featured over the coming weeks on Wallpaper.com – celebrates one of the many ways in which we can sustainably diversify building design and construction: working with earth. Once dismissed as ‘backwards’ and unfashionable, building with earth is making a strong comeback. Readily accessible, endlessly adaptable, and honed through generational wisdom, this construction method has many iterations across the world. Polished or textured, geometric or organic, today’s earth buildings look as aspirational as the finest, conventionally built 21st-century villas.

portrait of 2025 Serpentine Pavilion architect Marina Tabassum — Marina Tabassum, one of our three Architects of the Year 2026

Our Best Use of Material awards category spotlights three standout residential examples that use local soil – in the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia – with decidedly contemporary outcomes that show off the age-old technique’s potential.

black and white portrait of architect Lina Ghotmeh shot by Brigitte Lacombe — Lina Ghotmeh, one of our three Architects of the Year 2026

Also for the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026, we named three Architects of the Year, chosen for having commanded significant attention in 2025. Our winners are Je Ahn, who last year completed a modest yet infinitely glorious home on a British island; Lina Ghotmeh, whose studio is booming with new projects; and Marina Tabassum, who wowed us with her 2025 Serpentine Pavilion.

When we interviewed each of them, continuing in our pursuit of optimism, we asked them to name a building that made them smile. We were looking for spatial expressions of serenity – architecture that brings hope and a visceral twinkle. We also ended up talking about everything from height-specific kitchen counters and spilling wine on light-coloured floors to the revelation that architecture need not take centre stage, and we left feeling inspired. Here’s to a great year in architecture – join us as we raise our always-half-full glass.

The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026 winners are featured in full in the February issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 8 January 2025. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).