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Across continents, architects are embracing porous edges, hybrid typologies, and participatory spaces that invite the public to inhabit them in unexpected ways. From the preservation of iconic modernist buildings and the debut of major cultural centers in Asia and Europe, to community-driven religious spaces and theatrical interventions in industrial ruins, the 2025 selection reflects a discipline increasingly attuned to memory, access, and transformation. Read on for designboom\u2019s top 10 public spaces of the year.<\/p>\n
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An\u00a0icon\u00a0of Brutalist architecture in\u00a0New York, the Breuer Building reopens this week as the new global headquarters of Sotheby\u2019s. The\u00a0Marcel Breuer<\/a>-designed\u00a0museum\u00a0has stood at 945 Madison Avenue since 1966, and has since been home to the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Frick. Its latest\u00a0transformation\u00a0by\u00a0Herzog & de Meuron<\/a>\u00a0marks the continuation of its public legacy.\u00a0designboom attended a preview of the renovated building to learn about the project from the teams at Herzog & de Meuron and Sotheby\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018This building is an example of postwar modernism and Brutalism with a very distinct beauty,\u2019\u00a0says architect Wim Walschap, Senior Partner at Herzog & de Meuron. \u2018It has endured as an icon and much-loved landmark in New York. Our goal was to preserve the building\u2019s integrity, its purpose, and legacy, while preparing it for a dynamic new use that puts art at the center.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On May 16th, 2025, Rotterdam<\/a>\u00a0officially opens Fenix, a\u00a0museum\u00a0dedicated to the art and stories of migration, marking\u00a0MAD<\/a>\u2019s first cultural building in Europe.\u00a0Ahead of the public opening, designboom previewed of the museum to experience the space firsthand and speak<\/a>\u00a0with architect Ma Yansong on site.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Activating a 1923 port warehouse in the historic Katendrecht district of the city, the project is a milestone in the regeneration of Rotterdam\u2019s waterfront and reflects the layered history of the site, once the departure point for millions of emigrants crossing the Atlantic.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Tornado, a dramatic double-helix staircase, crowns the Fenix museum. This centerpiece pierces through the old warehouse and flows upward, culminating in a rooftop platform, offering views over the city. \u2018The people\u2019s behavior and reactions complete the work,\u2019 Ma Yansong tells us.\u00a0\u2018Otherwise, it\u2019s just a staircase.\u2019 See designboom\u2019s coverage of the museum as it came alive in Rotterdam here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SANAA<\/a>\u00a0unveils Taichung Art Museum, part of the newly completed\u00a0Taichung Green Museumbrary<\/a>, set to open on December 13th, 2025. Located in\u00a0Taiwan\u2019s\u00a0second-largest city, the project integrates the city\u2019s central\u00a0library\u00a0with a metropolitan art\u00a0museum, establishing a combined cultural facility that presents a new institutional model.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Taichung Green Museumbrary sits on the northern edge of Central Park, a 67-hectare green space within the 254-hectare Shuinan Trade and Economic Park, formerly a military airport decommissioned in 2004. Positioned at the heart of this redevelopment area, the project has been described as Taiwan\u2019s most significant cultural initiative of 2025.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SANAA\u2019s design follows the guiding idea of creating \u2018a library in a park and an art museum in a forest.\u2019 The building is lifted above ground level, allowing natural light and park breezes to move freely through shaded plazas that provide open, permeable access from all sides.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the heart of\u00a0Doha\u2019s\u00a0Education City,\u00a0designboom steps inside the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women, a groundbreaking space designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R)<\/a>. Spanning 4,600 square meters, the project is built to empower women through worship, education, and community.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It is the first mosque built specifically for women in the Muslim world. The building combines traditional elements with a forward-thinking spatial language, reflecting Islamic values of sincerity (ikhlas), service (khidma), and knowledge (ilm), while also addressing the evolving needs of women in religious, educational, and social domains.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018To make a mosque for women was a really big challenge. It\u2019s the first purpose-built women\u2019s mosque anywhere, and we were very drawn to that. It\u2019s also a hybrid building \u2014 a place for education and work,\u2019\u00a0Elizabeth Diller, co-founder of DS+R tells designboom during our tour at the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women in Doha. \u2018Bringing those together under one roof, with classes and discourse and debate, was very important, because there was really no space for that to happen.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum opens within the Guangming District as a new major cultural and civic institution that highlights the scientific achievements, cutting-edge research, and innovation shaping the future. Situated at the southeastern edge of the city\u2019s new Science Park, the\u00a0Zaha Hadid Architects<\/a>-designed museum is built as a landmark for the district.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A solid, spherical form facing the city defines its urban presence, while to the west, the building opens outward into a series of undulating terraces overlooking the park. It is wrapped in a dual-colored stainless-steel skin \u2014 the first large-scale application of INCO technology in China. This skin features a subtle gradient from deep blue to gray, and is meant to evoke the movement of celestial bodies.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gentle Monster<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0parent company, IICOMBINED, launches Haus Nowhere Seoul in\u00a0Korea, marking the first architectural chapter of its long-term Future Retail vision. Conceived as\u00a0\u2018a space found nowhere,\u2019\u00a0the venue merges art, design, and commerce into an experimental environment.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Inside its multi-story building, visitors encounter\u00a0Max Siedentopf\u2019s<\/a> More Is More, a surreal landscape of swelling plastic bags animated by a hyperreal elderly man; Sunshine, a monumental dachshund who drifts between fairytale scenes and futuristic transformations; and Nudake Teahouse, a kinetic, color-saturated lounge that transforms the ritual of tea into a sensory performance.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"top](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/breuer-building-sothebys-herzog-de-meuron-new-york-opening-designboom-01.jpg\")
Breuer Building renovation, Sotheby\u2019s<\/a> HQ, Herzog & de Meuron<\/a>, image \u00a9 designboom<\/p>\n![\"top](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fenix-museum-mad-architects-rotterdam-stories-global-migration-designboom-04.jpg\")
Fenix<\/a>, MAD Architects<\/a>, image \u00a9 Iwan Baan<\/a><\/p>\n![\"TOP](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/big-top-10-public-spaces-2025-designboom-001.jpg\")
Taichung Art Museum<\/a>, SANAA<\/a>, image \u00a9 YHLAA \u2013 Yi Hsien Lee<\/a><\/p>\n