The year 2026 promises to be a landmark period for architecture enthusiasts worldwide, with an impressive roster of fifteen major projects scheduled for completion. These structures range from century-long construction sagas to innovative cultural venues that will redefine their cityscapes. Leading the pack is Antoni Gaudí's iconic Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which will finally be finished a full century after the architect's death, marking the end of one of history's most ambitious building projects. This collection of upcoming openings spans five continents and showcases the work of some of the world's most celebrated architectural firms, including Snøhetta, Foster + Partners, and Herzog & de Meuron.
Several museum and cultural projects will make their debut in 2026, transforming the cultural landscape of major cities. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will unveil its highly anticipated redesign by Peter Zumthor, a project that has been more than two decades in the making and required the demolition of four existing buildings. In London, the Victoria and Albert Museum will expand with VA East, a five-story angular structure designed by O'Donnell + Tuomey in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. China will welcome multiple cultural institutions, including Snøhetta's Shanghai Grand Opera House with its dramatic helical staircase, and Herzog & de Meuron's Grand Canal Museum Complex in Hangzhou, featuring a rippling glass facade that mimics water movements.
Some of the most unconventional designs scheduled for completion include OMA's Casa Wabi Mushroom Pavilion in Mexico, a curved structure dedicated to fungi cultivation that demonstrates optimized interior organization for biological processes. MVRDV will finish its extraordinary Skanderbeg Building in Tirana, Albania—a tower intentionally shaped like a face to honor the national hero Gjergj Kastrioti. Studio Gang will complete the Samuel H Scripps Theater Center in New York's Hudson Valley, an open-air venue featuring a mass-timber domed roof that blends natural materials with performance space functionality. These projects push the boundaries of what architecture can represent and accomplish.
Infrastructure and mixed-use developments also feature prominently in 2026's architectural calendar. Zaha Hadid Architects will complete the Danjiang Bridge in Taiwan, set to become the world's longest single-tower cable-stayed bridge, significantly improving transportation across the Tamsui River. The long-awaited Lucas Museum by MAD Architects will finally open in California after more than a decade of development, showcasing its distinctive spaceship-like form clad in robot-fabricated fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels. BIG's CityWave office complex will launch in Milan as part of the CityLife development, while Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC will transform London's historic Olympia exhibition center with rooftop plazas and new performance venues.
The medical and educational sectors will also see significant additions. Foster + Partners will complete the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre in Cairo, a hospital designed with biophilic principles to connect patients with nature and improve clinical outcomes. Kéré Architecture will open multiple projects, including the Centre des Cultures et Spiritualités Ewés in Togo, a 7,000-square-meter complex celebrating Ewé heritage with temples and an amphitheater, and the delayed Benin National Parliament. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Frank Gehry's final major cultural project, may finally complete on Saadiyat Island, joining the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum in creating a world-class cultural district. These diverse projects collectively demonstrate architecture's evolving role in addressing cultural, social, and environmental needs.
