14 of the Finest Design & Architecture Events You Can't Miss in 2023

Attending architecture events is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone interested in the field. A scholar or practitioner who isn’t interested in architecture but attends a conference on the subject can nonetheless get a lot from experience.

©Anna Positano

2023 Unmissable Architecture Events

Whether you’re in the market for cutting-edge insights and breakthroughs or connecting prospects for creating brand-new projects, this article will lead you to the 15 architecture events you must attend in 2023.

All the architecture events we’ve chosen provide unique experiences in the realm of architecture and design and opportunities for professional and creative development, thanks to the sheer variety of activities and exhibitors they feature.

1) Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy (20 May-26 November)

©Venice Biennale

The 18th Architecture Biennale in Venice features a Lesley Lokko exhibition (a Scottish-Ghanaian architect) and several excursions and seminars to educate the public about architecture. Giardini della Biennale and Arsenale di Venezia will play host most of the biennale’s events. The event will be spread out across the city of Venice, Italy.

2) Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (September 1 to October 29)

SBAU 2023 Director, Byoung Soo Cho ©Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism

Byoung Soo Cho, the show’s director, and other prominent architects will examine how Seoul may best be prepared for the next century by creating a plan for the megapolis to become an ultra-densely populated and environmentally friendly city under the topic of Land Architecture and Land Urbanism.

3) Herzog & de Meuron, Royal Academy of Arts, London (July 14 2023-October 15, 2024)

©Iwan Baan

The work of Herzog & de Meuron will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the prestigious London institution, with the architects themselves collaborating on the exhibition’s conceptual design. The show takes an experimental approach and displays some of their finished and unfinished works.

It will encourage us to investigate how we understand and interact with buildings and their environments through video and digital experiences supplemented by models, material samples, and prototypes.

4) Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (September 21- December 2024)

Tribune Tower, 6a architects ©Chicago Architecture Biennial / Tom Harris, 2017

This year’s architecture events mark the return of The Chicago Biennial for its fifth edition under the direction of the city’s art organization, Floating Museum. A varied group with distinct artistic and academic backgrounds, already at the forefront of forward-thinking projects that combine art, craft, architecture, education, and the sociology of the region in an organic whole.

5) AIA Conference on Architecture 2023, San Fransisco (June 7-10)

©American Institute of Architects

After Chicago hosted the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) highest public architecture conference in 2022, the organization discussed “architecture’s power to promote innovative thoughts in perhaps the most design-forward, sustainable cities in the country.” The next one will be in San Francisco, California, as that location has already been decided upon.

6) “Architecture Now: New York, New Publics,” MoMA, New York (19 February-29 July)

The Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center. ©Michael Moran

On February 19, the Museum of Modern Art in New York will launch the first in a new series of exhibitions meant to showcase exceptional talent and the most innovative ideas in modern architecture, an exhibition devoted solely to public space in the US capital.

Exhibits from Adjaye Associates, Agency-Agency, SO-IL, and James Corner Field Operations will be on display as part of “New York, New Publics,” taking a closer look at the approaches in which New York City firms have actively enlarged the relationship of urban architecture.

7) Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE (November 2023)

©Limbo Accra

After a successful debut in 2019, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial is set to return in November. The festival celebrates sustainability, creativity, and reuse through the lens of its theme, “The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability.”

8) Aldo Rossi: Insulae, Berlin, Germany (4 February-14 May)

©Eredi Aldo Rossi, courtesy Fondazione Aldo Rossi

The Museum of Architectural Drawing and the Fondazione Aldo Rossi in Milan is presenting an exhibition of the well-known modern architect Aldo Rossi’s work, which features more than 110 pieces, the vast majority of which are making their public debut.

The exhibition’s name, Insulae (Italian for “islands”), alludes to both the series of works on display and one of the series of drawings on view while also alluding to the term isolato (Italian for “isolated”), which describes the concentration of most of Rossi’s projects in a single location, such as the Schützenstraße neighborhood.

9) Helsinki Design Week, Finland (1-11 September)

©Helsinkidesignweek.com

Helsinki Design Week is one of the architectural events you can’t miss; the exhibition features various design forms in Finland’s capital city. These forms include but are not limited to architecture, fashion, graphic design, product design, interior design, and textiles.

This year marks its 19th year running, and each year has had a specific focus, such as “Co-Creation,” “Action and Commitment Matters,” and so on. Throughout the course of the 11-day festival, there will be hundreds of presentations, including displays, seminars, open workshops, fashion shows, and talks.

10) “Angelo Mangiarotti. Quando le strutture prendono forma”, Milan (27 January-23 April)

©Studio Mangiarotti

Angelo Mangiarotti, an Italian architect, designer, artist, and educator, was a significant figure in worldwide urban design and construction development.

The Angelo Mangiarotti Foundation has made available a wealth of previously unseen works, projects, documents, and materials, making this exhibition one of the most comprehensive compilations ever undertaken on the subject of the Milanese architect.

11) State-of-the-art architecture from the BBPR, Dardi, Monaco Luccichenti, and Moretti archives (December 7 2022-October 15, 2023)

©SIAE

Architetture a Regola d’arte features the works of BBPR, Costantino Dardi, Vincenzo Monaco, Amedeo Luccichenti, and Luigi Moretti. It was inspired by the need to highlight and publicize the invaluable resources that have recently been added to the MAXXI Architecture Collection, in particular, the archives of a few of the most influential Italian architects of the 20th century.

12) Milan design week (17-23 April)

In 2023, Milan Design Week, the world’s biggest yearly design festival, will return with dozens of events. The festival includes the Salone del Mobile design fair, which takes place at the Fiera Milano exhibition center and features more than 800 brands. The design week also includes outstanding events, such as exhibitions, installations, conferences, and seminars.

13) Metro! Greater Paris in Motion (November 2, 2023- April 28, 2024)

In celebration of the completion of the first stations of the Grand Paris Express, the Cité de l’architecture et du Patrimoine and the Société du Grand Paris will host a one-of-a-kind exhibition focusing on the metro, its history, and the urban transformations it has wrought.

14) UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen, Denmark (2-6 July)

The World Congress’s overarching ambition is to elevate architecture to a position of strategic importance in the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The conference features prominent sponsors, thought-provoking keynote speakers, opportunities to network across industries, and cutting-edge information on emerging technologies, techniques, and materials.