For the 2028 edition, « Architecture Is Circularity » investigates architecture’s relationship to planning at every scale — from territories and cities to buildings, materials, and regenerative systems — advancing circular strategies that redefine how we design, transform, and sustain the world around us.

« Architecture Is Circularity » proposes a new way of thinking about cities and architecture as living, social, and regenerative systems, shaped by an awareness of planetary boundaries, ecological interdependence, and circular economies.

As ecological, social, and technological transformations redefine the environments we inhabit, architecture is called to fundamentally rethink its methods, values, and responsibilities. With the linear and extractive model reaching its limits, circularity emerges not simply as a technical strategy but as a new design paradigm — one that recognizes the complex relationships linking people, resources, territories, and ecosystems.

This situated approach invites renewed attention to materials, time, local knowledge, and participatory processes. It opens a broad field of experimentation in which architecture, in dialogue with science, the arts, and craftsmanship, becomes an active mediator, a driver of transformation, and a catalyst for regeneration.

Four Scales of Circularity

1. Territorial Circularities
   This scale explores how circular relationships between resources, infrastructures, and stakeholders strengthen local ecosystems and territorial resilience. Architecture acts as a catalyst for regenerative networks, local resource loops, and place-based development.
2. Process Circularities
   This scale examines how design, construction, and governance evolve from linear models to adaptive, collaborative, and regenerative processes. It values participation, shared knowledge, and interdisciplinary approaches that foster continuous learning and innovation.
3. Material Circularities
   This scale focuses on the life cycle of materials, promoting sufficiency, local sourcing, intelligent reuse, and right-tech construction. It seeks to extend material value while minimizing extraction, waste, and environmental impact.
4. Transformative Circularities
   This scale considers circularity as a driver of systemic change. It highlights practices that rethink governance, economic models, and the existing built environment as a renewable resource capable of long-term adaptation, reversibility, and regeneration.