L’Oréal Paris has marked a defining milestone in Lebanon with the fourth edition of the “Women of Worth” initiative, honoring six exceptional leaders whose work is driving positive change across society. Hosted at the historic Résidence des Pins in Beirut in the presence of the Ambassador of France, ministers, diplomats, and civil society partners, the gala brought the program’s total network of celebrated Lebanese women to 25 across four consecutive editions.

Opening the evening, Ms Emilie Wahab Harb, Managing Director of L’Oreal Liban, shared the core conviction behind the initiative: «At the heart of Lebanon’s challenges, when so much comes to a halt, our women keep moving forward. For over fifty years, L’Oréal Paris has been telling women: “Because you’re worth it.” Tonight, that conviction has faces, names, and stories. This is the true meaning of leadership: enabling another woman to say: “I can too, I am worth it too, and I can make a difference.” When a woman owns her worth, she lifts an entire society with her.» Rooted in the brand’s founding philosophy that self-worth is the cornerstone of female empowerment, “Women of Worth” goes beyond the world of beauty to champion women taking their rightful place in society. Through this platform, L’Oréal Paris provides leaders addressing Lebanon’s most critical challenges with national visibility, institutional support, and an enduring collective network.

Hosted by Ms Annabella Hilal, the evening honored six trailblazers through dedicated documentary portraits:

• Ms Rima Bikhazi Azar (Healthcare & Community Impact): Modernizing Beirut’s Fouad Khoury Hospital through acute systemic crises, protecting critical patient care while championing nationwide healthcare sustainability.
• Ms Gemy Maalouf (Fashion & Creative Vision): Translating Lebanese textile heritage into an internationally celebrated luxury fashion house showcased across global capitals.
• Ms Rouba Khalil (Culinary Arts & Entrepreneurship): Pivoting from Manhattan finance and engineering to build an acclaimed culinary and hospitality enterprise spanning Beirut and Dubai.
• Ms Tiffany Saade (AI, Cybersecurity & Global Policy): Guiding international policy at the intersection of cybersecurity and ethical artificial intelligence to build safe, resilient digital futures.
• Dr Zeina Zeidan (Business Leadership & Corporate Governance): Pioneering executive inclusion as the region’s first signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, opening boardroom doors for female leaders.
• Ms Zeina Daccache (Drama Therapy & Social Change): Pioneering drama therapy and documentary cinema inside correctional institutions to restore human dignity and catalyze landmark legislative reform.

By spotlighting the women who shape Lebanon from within, L’Oréal Paris confirms that true beauty lies in the courage to act, to lead, and to inspire collective progress.

The Songshan Lake Exhibition and Convention Center in Dongguan, located within China’s Greater Bay Area, appears to have captured a gesture mid-flight. On the building’s western side, the volumes rise, flare outward, and converge to frame the grand theater and the exhibition hall. Zaha Hadid Architects draws this fluidity from a deeply rooted local heritage: that of Cantonese opera, an art form born in the region over seven centuries ago. The movements of the long white sleeves worn by Cantonese opera performers influenced the building’s forms. A vast roof overhang – echoing the design language of traditional Chinese architecture – shields outdoor areas from sun and rain. Far from being a mere stylistic homage, this feature mitigates heat, allows for abundant natural light, and creates sheltered zones suited to the humid subtropical climate. Seamless pathways connect the various levels, leading to the covered plaza, garden terraces, and the Songshan Lake promenade.

Conceived as a civic anchor for a major revitalization project along the shores of Yuehe Lake, the complex opens culture up to the city, transforming its surroundings into a year-round gathering place. Behind this airy silhouette lies a highly versatile program. The 1,200-seat Grand Théâtre and the exhibition hall host major productions, exhibitions, conferences, professional forums, and sporting events, while a versatile 400-seat hall is suited to smaller-scale performances and events for young audiences. Inside the main auditorium, the experience becomes almost tactile: 100,000 slender rods – varying in length, density, and hue – sculpt the walls and ceiling. This textured arrangement diffuses sound, minimizes echoes, and ensures consistent acoustic clarity at every seat. Technical precision extends to a measured approach to construction: prefabricated ultra-high-performance concrete elements, cast in reusable molds, reduce timelines, waste, and site-related emissions.

Light-gray aluminum roof elements shield the building from sunlight, while the facades and an intelligent climate-control system further reduce energy consumption. On the roof, photovoltaic panels sit alongside a rainwater harvesting system. At ground level, permeable surfaces and replanted wetlands help prevent flooding and revitalize biodiversity. Inaugurated with a concert by the China National Symphony Orchestra, this new cultural venue brings together urban planning, heritage, and contemporary creativity.

The new library’s primary goals are to modernize the municipality of Saint‑Adolphe‑d’Howard’s cultural services, address current environmental challenges, and resolve flooding issues associated with the site. It is designed to become a central hub for citizen services, a place for social and intergenerational interaction, and a venue that promotes cultural accessibility for both residents and visitors. Named in honor of Monica C. Gratton, a key figure in the cultural and community life of Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard, the library serves as a “third place” and contributes to revitalizing the municipality’s downtown area. The firm’s approach was to envision the library as a living institution. The architectural concept provides a flexible framework that can evolve over time. They believe that the building’s presence should be rooted in its surroundings, rather than serve as a showcase of architectural style.

The design draws inspiration from the site’s natural DNA, highlighting the mountains, lakes, and forest. With this mindset, the architect’s intention is to create a dynamic and purposeful sense of movement. Two geometries converge in the proposed volume. A sloping roof, characteristic of regional architecture, and a curve that echoes the sinuous lines of the mountains and lakes. Located at the northern entrance of the village, the building stands out as a landmark within the scenery. Positioned perpendicular to the road, it creates a forecourt that can host village activities. The side entrance, marked by a colonnade, gently guides visitors and students from the nearby school into a calm, introspective environment. Generous windows transform the open space with the changing seasons, offering a close connection to the outdoors and the richness of the natural setting. Inside, a wooden “canopy” shelters and comforts visitors as they read. To optimize energy efficiency, the building’s volume is kept simple and compact. The roof form establishes a harmonious dialogue with the surrounding mountains and the built morphology along the main road. As a result, the roof reveals a distinctly sloped profile from one perspective, and a sweeping curved form from another, emphasizing the building’s dual geometric expression. The parabolic roof, beginning at a high point and gently descending, is supported by a solid wood structure covered with tin plated copper. This material follows the curve seamlessly and is installed in the traditional Canadian roofing pattern.

Designed by Arkis Architectes to harmonize with the surrounding landscape, the 710 m² building integrates seamlessly into the rolling terrain of Sönghóll. Its roof is covered with turf sourced directly from the site. Accessible to visitors, the roof offers a magnificent panorama and creates a visual link to Vatnajökull National Park. The entrance plaza opens onto a covered terrace that is ideal for outdoor dining. A pathway also crosses the roof terrace, allowing visitors to move directly from one side to the other while enjoying breathtaking views of the surroundings. The center was built entirely in accordance with the international BREEAM certification standard, which emphasizes sustainability and environmental responsibility. Natural materials were used throughout the project, and construction waste was minimized, measured, and monitored. Ecological restrictions were also imposed on the contractor throughout the construction period. All interior and exterior wood cladding is of Icelandic origin – sourced from a nearby forest – ensuring responsible sourcing and full traceability throughout the production process. The building’s main structure consists of prefabricated concrete panels featuring a corrugated exterior finish. The exhibition hall floors are made of polished concrete divided into sections, each topped with gravel from the major glacial rivers in the western part of the park.

The roof structure is covered with turf, and runoff water is directed into landscaped basins. All materials were carefully selected for low maintenance requirements, eliminating the need to paint facades and allowing for a natural patina without compromising durability. The exterior wooden walls come from forests in southern Iceland, and the eaves are clad in Corten steel. Ultimately, the design fosters a deep connection with the location’s stunning natural beauty.

The exceptional beauty of the natural surroundings, the millennia-old human occupations, and the centuries-old tradition of wine production motivated an architectural project that honors the landscape and local culture and presents innovative and effective construction strategies for sustainability. The horizontal curvilinear shapes of the winery and the circuits between areas mirror the zigzags of the vineyards in the surrounding hills and valleys. However, we avoided literally quoting the landscape at the expense of daily routines, circulation, and communication. On the contrary, the downward movement of the building on the terraces of the land reflects its internal mechanics, where the winemaking process takes place by gravity, a common procedure on the banks of the River Douro. The gravitational wine production system, so characteristic of the region, is demonstrated here with its current operational capabilities. The configuration of the building is therefore a set of interwoven naves that follow the existing topographic slope, replicated on the various interior levels.

The geometry of the winery’s roof interprets the vernacular gable roof structured in wood. This structure has been incorporated over and exposed in this winery, becoming a sinuous, continuous, and organic sculptural element that flows through the tangential curves of the vineyard slopes. The winery’s materials replicate the natural palette of pinkish browns, greens and grays, underlining traditional skills and crafts, but updated by modern technologies. Schist and granite were used in the exterior elements and in the interior concrete retaining walls. The structure of the building’s naves is made of laminated wood frames and CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) panels, covered with prefabricated GRC (glass-fiber reinforced concrete) cladding panels, produced in the north, less than 150 km from the winery. This benefits the northern industry and community and reflects the sustainable practice of cutting down on the long- distance transportation of materials. These prefabricated building elements also saved on-site construction and reduced traffic on the property. Wooden structures have been used at the points where the building does not touch the ground to also minimize the use of concrete, which has reduced CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere by 40%, compared to what a building completely made of concrete would emit.

Exposed to the effects of the climate, all these materials take on beautiful shades of tone and texture that better integrate the winery into its natural surroundings and allow the building to improve its quality over time, just like a good Port wine. This building encourages an involvement with nature by framing views from inside the winery, and outside, there are trails, nooks, and patios that invite introspection, contemplation, meditation, walking, and socializing. The winery’s energy optimization implemented and combined preservation and energy production solutions, selecting the lowest energy consumption and reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The energy solutions explore the potential of architecture to take advantage of passive strategies to preserve the interior space of the wine ageing area with a temperature between 14 and 16 °C, when the outside temperature ranges between -5 °C and 45 °C from winter to summer. Local electricity production solutions managed by a central system were implemented and combined to save energy and better control and monitor the energy modus operandi. The partially buried building takes advantage of the thermal stability of the ground, and a low-enthalpy geothermal solution produces, recovers, and stores electricity. The high initial cost of this energy program is recovered in the short term, as it has high renewable potential, requires little maintenance, and ensures ideal hydrothermal levels for the wine industry and human comfort. This combination of passive and active systems has significantly reduced the thermal power and energy consumption of the mechanical systems installed. For this winery with no public water supply infrastructure, solutions were created to use rainwater, obtain drinking water from artesian boreholes, and treat and recycle water for irrigation, cleaning and firefighting. The landscape design recovers species of native flora that add color and perfume to the landscape, which serve as a habitat for animals that are beneficial to the vineyards, and which support activities that run parallel to wine production. On the main façade of the winery is the entrance to a visitor center with a reception desk and a wine store. From here you go up to a meeting room with an all-glass wall and to the wine tasting area in a spacious balconied gallery, overlooking both the wine aging area in the central nave of the building and the vineyard and river. These rooms have access to the outside, to the vineyards and the chapel, via a large terrace overlooking the Douro. Events are hosted here that promote the winery and the region, celebrating both the landscape and the architecture and promoting prestigious wine tourism.

The ‘Ciénaga de Mallorquín’ Ecopark is a system of paths that make up a living boundary between the ecosystem and Barranquilla’s urban life. The project opens the doors to a new relationship between the city and the natural space it contains in a way that allows an adequate development for both parties. This active border interweaves with the landscape to respond to particular circumstances of the place, generally acting as a barrier to prevent urban growth from conquering over the mangrove and allowing the ecosystem to develop, at the same time it is an entrance for city life into the natural world of the swamp with the necessary care and respect.

The Ciénaga de Mallorquín is a fundamental part of the identity of the city of Barranquilla, not only is it its most biodiverse natural space receiving more than 200 species of birds each year, but also its location at the meeting area between the Atlantic Ocean and the Magdalena River is something that makes the city unique and has defined it throughout its history. This relationship has been complicated during the last century since the construction of Bocas de Ceniza, a project in which the morphology of the natural space was aggressively modified until it became unrecognizable. Today we witness the resilience of this natural space that survives despite being forgotten and polluted; a living and striving biodiverse ecosystem that makes visible its capacity for recovery if it is allowed the time and space it needs.

The Ecopark acts as a transitional intermediate layer between the chaos of the city and the stillness of the swamp. Its program allows the development of new civic activities that coexist with the pre-existing habitat such as ecosystem flows and artisanal fishing. The park’s entrances continue the layouts of vegetation and public space that come from the city, nourishing its open areas by connecting them to the life of the ecosystem. A large border system, flexible and constantly changing, with the aim of proposing a sustainable relationship between the city and one of its most important natural spaces: the Ciénaga de Mallorquín.

From the glow of daylight to the mystery of nightfall, STARS offers a refined and ever-shifting atmosphere suspended above the city. At the heart of the design lies the figure of the astronomer, gazing skyward in search of patterns and meaning among the constellations. This poetic lens guided a palette of warm gold recalling astronomical instruments, balanced with accents of deep night blues and silvery moonlight. These narrative threads gently across the project, from the prominence of an observatory bar to the quietude of an astronomer’s living room and the expansive celestial gardens, guiding guests on a journey that reveals itself space by space. The journey begins at the threshold on the 30th floor, where a polished reception desk with mirrored curves greets visitors beneath a softly glowing backdrop, striking a balance between refinement and anticipation. Beyond it, the corridor acts as a passage into another realm: a mirrored ceiling stretches the perspective while reeded glass walls blur the outlines of the garden outside. Cutting across the surface, a luminous glass “belt” etched with solar system motifs anchors the design with a delicate nod to astronomy. These materials shift in character with time – by day, shimmering with natural reflections that suggest openness and clarity; by night, glowing softly as the circular ceiling light transforms into a floating cosmic feature that ushers guests deeper into the atmosphere of STARS. Framed by sweeping views of the mountains and city, the lounge bar is envisioned as an observatory at the heart of the venue.

At its center, the circular bar counter and vaulted ceiling installation form a contemporary echo of the observatory’s dome: by day, the surface rests quietly within the space, while by night it opens to reveal a glowing Milky Way, inviting guests to look upward as if peering into the cosmos. Extending this spirit of discovery, an illuminated display wall recalls the idea of the astronomer’s library – serving as both a symbolic gesture and a striking showcase. As the vibrant core of STARS, the lounge bar also anchors the flow between the surrounding gardens, seamlessly connecting them. The journey then extends outward into two terraces, one alive with social energy, the other steeped in quiet contemplation. The larger Main Garden centers on a golden armillary sphere, its interlocking rings tracing cosmic orbits in a timeless expression of harmony and motion. Outward-facing seats encircle this sculptural centerpiece in a gesture of openness, extending the lounge’s embrace toward the views beyond, while a mix of seating styles invites guests to gather, mingle, and play.

In contrast, the Star-gazing Garden offers a more intimate retreat: a tucked-away outdoor living room where cozy arrangements welcome couples and small groups. Here, the atmosphere turns romantic and contemplative, drawing the eye – and the spirit – upward to the night sky. By capturing a duality of atmospheres – day and night, social vibrancy and private reflection, indoor comfort and outdoor expanse – STARS invites guests to chart their own passage across its constellation of experiences.

Traditional school campuses are typically composed of plazas, courtyards, and circulation roads with clearly defined boundaries. In contrast, the design of this campus seeks to accommodate the spatial demands of contemporary educational models, which emphasize interaction, exploration, and flexibility over static classroom instruction. The architectural response aims to create an environment that integrates various zones of activity and supports different modes of learning. LYCS Architecture organizes the campus along a west-to-east axis and employs a spatial concept referred to as the “Tree of Growth”. In this framework, teaching spaces represent the roots, transitional or hybrid spaces form the trunk, and innovation spaces make up the canopy. This conceptual layering informs the distribution and function of built elements across the site. Public and semi-public spaces are distributed at multiple scales, including pocket parks near classrooms, alcoves at corridor ends, and larger shared facilities for cultural and athletic use. These zones are designed to correspond with different periods of the school day, supporting informal interactions, transitions between activities, and larger gatherings.

The project introduces a primary circulation route conceptualized as a “campus street”, which serves as the main organizing spine. A winding main street running south to north connects key programmatic areas, educational, cultural, and communal. This path is supplemented by a network of secondary routes extending east to west, navigating changes in elevation and linking elements such as sunken gardens, semi-enclosed courtyards, and raised walkways. This circulation system not only facilitates movement but also introduces spatial variety along the way. Facades, vegetation, and structural elements are positioned to create shifting visual experiences. The layout promotes unplanned interactions and varied spatial encounters as part of the daily routine. The academic zone comprises two ‘E’-shaped building clusters aligned along one side of the main street. These clusters feature articulated gable-end facades that incorporate staircases, rest platforms, and open-air entry points. The design uses contrasts of material solidity and void, color, and form to emphasize the importance of these edge conditions. Above the main circulation, “sky pocket parks” offer informal outdoor learning environments on upper levels. These spaces vary in layout and design, supporting casual use and encouraging interaction. They contribute to a spatial rhythm across the teaching blocks: terminal space, internal corridor, and open rooftop park. The floor plates are staggered to create semi-open, transitional spaces where students can engage in activities such as discussion, informal performances, or small group work. These “grey zones” are designed to serve as extensions of the classroom, allowing for diverse modes of use.

Opposite the academic zone, the Cultural and Sports Center consists of four distinct volumes positioned across a landscaped slope. These buildings vary in geometry and function, supporting a range of activities in a non-linear configuration. The design addresses the site’s elevation changes through terracing, integrating outdoor play and activity zones within the natural topography. A stepped plaza known as the ‘Grand Steps’ functions as a transitional space between the sports field and indoor cultural facilities. In addition to facilitating daily circulation and events such as flag-raising ceremonies, this area is designed to accommodate flexible use, including group reading, small performances, and informal exercise. Quzhou No.6 Experimental School reconsiders the spatial organization of educational environments by incorporating adaptable layouts and multipurpose zones. Through a layered system of teaching, hybrid, and innovation spaces, linked by a continuous circulation spine and distributed open areas, the design supports both structured education and spontaneous activity. The campus layout by LYCS Architecture reflects an architectural response to changing pedagogical requirements and introduces spatial strategies intended to accommodate flexibility, interaction, and ecological integration.