By Oscar Holland, CNN

(CNN) — For American architecture, 2025 may be remembered for the deaths of icons Frank Gehry, Robert A. M. Stern and Ricardo Scofidio, a mastermind of New York’s High Line. More likely, however, it will go down as a year dominated by Donald Trump — his preference for classicism and disdain for brutalism; his controversial demolition of the White House’s East Wing; his clashes with the designer of the ballroom replacing it; and his administration’s move to exclude architecture from its list of “professional” degrees.

Much of this has brought the presidency into direct conflict with the industry’s largest professional body, the American Institute of Architects (AIA). It perhaps came as no surprise that, amid the threat of national navel-gazing, the organization announced that it is awarding this year’s prestigious AIA Gold Medal to a non-American, Japan’s Shigeru Ban, for the first time this decade.

Globally, there has been lots to celebrate. China’s Liu Jiakun won the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel of architecture,” for his understated academic and cultural buildings. A social housing development in London and a humble concrete church in Spain’s Canary Islands meanwhile beat out flashier competition to win two of the profession’s other biggest prizes.

But 2026 may be shaped by bigger, blockbuster buildings. Among them are long-awaited museums, record-breaking skyscrapers and a soaring Catholic basilica almost 150 years in the making. Here are 11 of architecture projects — in the US and beyond — set to become the year’s most talked-about:

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Some 144 years after it broke ground, the world’s longest-running construction project is nearing completion. Well, in a sense.

Work on Sagrada Familia’s sculptures, decorative detailing and proposed main staircase will likely stretch into the 2030s. But this year should see the 564-foot-tall Tower of Jesus of Christ, the basilica’s 18th and final spire (the 17 shorter ones are dedicated to the 12 apostles, four Evangelists and the Virgin Mary), finished in time for the centenary of architect Antoni Gaudí’s death in June.

Gaudí only lived to see the first tower completed. The sheer complexity and decorative intricacy of his design, a surreal marriage of Gothic, Art Nouveau and nature-inspired forms, is partly behind the mind-boggling construction timeline. But funding shortfalls, bureaucratic hurdles and the Covid-19 pandemic all contributed, too.

Perhaps the greatest challenge was the destruction of Gaudí’s drawings and plaster models in 1936, when his workshop was set on fire amid the Spanish Civil War. Whether he would have approved of the church’s final form — which is the best estimation of his plans by subsequent generations of architects — will never be known. Though he probably wouldn’t have minded the wait. “My client is in no hurry,” Gaudí famously once said. He was, of course, referring to God.

Juan Montesló

Palm Springs, Calif. (KUNA) – Con la llegada del año nuevo, Agua Caliente Casinos se preparó para recibir a miles de visitantes en una noche llena de celebración.

Mientras que en la sede de Palm Springs, los asistentes podrán disfrutar del tradicional espectáculo de fuegos artificiales, el casino de Cathedral City ofrecerá un show de drones, donde más de 500 van a estar en el aire, convirtiéndose en el primer y más grande show de drones de Año Nuevo en el Valle de Coachella.

Lo que para algunos es importante celebrar el año nuevo con la quema de fuegos artificiales, grupos sensibles y con problemas respiratorios, difieren en emplearlos, el efecto negativo que producen los fuegos artificiales en la salud de quienes padecen problemas respiratorios es colosal.

“En los últimos ocho años que llevamos a cabo el monitoreo, las horas más contaminadas de la  ciudad son las noches del 24, la mañana del 25 de diciembre, el 31 de diciembre y la mañana del primero de enero”, comentó Alberto Mexia, director de la asociación civil REDSPIRA, encargada de monitorear la calidad del aire.

Según datos de Riverside University Health System, el Valle de Coachella presento durante su último estudio un total de 424 visitas mensuales a emergencias medicas, relacionadas con la mala calidad del aire.

“Hay una discusión eterna entre los que están a favor de la pirotecnia y los que estamos pues no a favor”, expreso Mexia.

Manténgase al tanto de las novedades en telemundo15.com

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By Martin Goillandeau, James Legge, Sandi Sidhu, Laura Sharman, CNN

(CNN) — Several people have been killed and others injured in a fire at a new year’s party at an Alpine ski resort in southern Switzerland, a police spokesperson said Thursday.

Gaetan Lathion, spokesperson for police in the canton of Valais, said the “fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. at Le Constellation lounge bar in Crans-Montana.” He said about 100 people were inside the venue at the time.

“There are several injuries and several fatalities.”

Large crews from the emergency services immediately responded and rushed to the scene. Rescue efforts are still ongoing and the area has been closed off with a no-fly zone in place over Crans-Montana, police said.

Officers confirmed the fire started inside the lounge bar but said the cause remains unknown. They did not give an exact figure for those killed and injured in the fire, which struck in an area known for high-end holiday resorts.

A press conference will be held with police and the regional public prosecutor at around 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET).

One of Switzerland’s most exclusive locales, Crans-Montana is famed for its year-round sunshine, which it owes to its position on a south-facing plateau in the Rhone Valley.

The area – 1,500 meters above sea level – offers sweeping Alpine vistas stretching from the Matterhorn to Mont Blanc, one of Europe’s highest peaks.

Tourists are drawn by its understated glamor, with high-end shopping and fine dining as well as extensive ski slopes and a lively apres-ski scene.

With a small population of around 15,000, the area is said to have a close-knit community as well as being a low-key place for celebrities to go skiing, golfing and dining.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

(CNN) — Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who campaigned on a promise to tackle the affordability crisis in one of America’s most expensive cities, was sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor early Thursday.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old immigrant from Uganda, makes history as the city’s first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor and the youngest mayor to hold the high-profile office in more than a century.

“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said moments after being sworn in.

The former state assemblyman from Queens captured the world’s attention and stunned the political establishment with his win in the Democratic primary last summer, running a campaign focused on affordability: He promised to create a universal childcare program, freeze the rent for roughly two million rent-stabilized tenants and make city buses “fast and free.”

Mamdani was sworn just after midnight during a private ceremony alongside his wife, artist Rama Duwaji. His parents, filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, were also in attendance.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who Mamdani has described as a “political inspiration,” administered the oath of office.

The setting was symbolic. Mamdani was sworn in on the platform of the old City Hall subway station underneath City Hall Park in Manhattan – an architectural marvel where tiled, arched ceilings, colored glass skylights and brass chandeliers have laid dormant since the station was shuttered in 1945.

The location, which is closed to the public except for the occasional guided tour, is one of New York’s 28 original subway stations that opened in 1904, ushering in a new dawn of innovation and growth in New York City.

Following his swearing in, Mamdani spoke about the significance of the setting, calling it “a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city.”

He also announced Michael Flynn, a longtime city planner, as the city’s next Department of Transportation Commissioner.

Mamdani has made public transportation a central focus of his agenda. In addition to proposing to make city buses free, he has said his administration would expand the city’s bicycle lane network and optimize streets for pedestrians.

A public ceremony will be held at City Hall Plaza on Thursday afternoon. At least 4,000 people are expected to attend, including high-profile leaders of the progressive movement: Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will introduce Mamdani, and the public oath of office will be administered by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

By Laura Sharman, Yumi Asada, CNN

(CNN) — Japan’s prime minister has joined more than 50 of her fellow female legislators to push for more ladies’ toilets in parliament, saying recent increases in women’s representation have led to long queues for the bathroom.

Just two cubicles currently serve 73 female members at Tokyo’s male-dominated House of Representatives, according to a petition filed by female members of parliament on December 12.

The country’s first female leader Sanae Takaichi, elected last year, is among 58 lawmakers to back the request, which has garnered support from members across seven parties and independent groups, according to the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.

“Before the main assembly session, a truly large number of female lawmakers line up in front of the women’s restroom,” female CDP member Yasuko Komiyama said.

Japan is a culturally conservative country, where both politics and workplaces have long been dominated by older men. It also maintained its low position on the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Index, ranking 118th out of 148 countries.

Last year saw the historic election of Takaichi, and a rise in female lawmakers to 73. Women still hold just under 16 percent of seats, in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet, according to IPU Parline.

The undersupply of toilets is “a critical issue that could potentially impact the conduct of proceedings and the performance of duties,” the cross-party petition read.

In a Facebook post, Komiyama said the issue impacts not only female lawmakers, but also female staff and a growing number of women journalists.

Female opposition MP Tomoe Ishii added in an Instagram post that the shortage has “long been an issue.”

“There is a prevailing reluctance to raise the issue of adding more women’s restrooms in workplaces and schools within society,” she added.

The National Diet building, in Tokyo, predates women’s suffrage in the country.

Completed in 1936, it stood for almost a decade before women gained the right to vote in 1945, followed by the election of the first female MP a year later.

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