Architecture’s Future in Focus: MoMA Hosts The World Around Summit (April 27)

Header: Free Air Pavillion photo by Jose Hevia © Daryan Knoblauch

Non-profit architecture platform The World Around announced that its Summit 2025 will take place at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City on April 27, 2025. Curated with the museum’s Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and Natural Environment, the all-day annual conference will convene an interdisciplinary program of talks from speakers at the vanguard of ‘Architecture’s Now, Near & Next,’ including architects Anne Holtrop, Salima Naji, Douglas Cardinal, Jung Youngsun and the winners of the Young Climate Prize.

Beatrice Galilee, founder and executive director of The World Around says, “As we prepare for our sixth summit, I am so proud to see The World Around growing into a powerful platform for global architecture. From the start, my vision was to showcase the vital and inspiring role that architecture and design play in reflecting back the values and goals of our society and addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Our mission is to highlight the best in our field and foster strong connections between academia, government, business, and cultural institutions. Most importantly, we aim to break down barriers and enable the free exchange of ideas and opportunities.”

What Galilee means by removing barriers to critical ideas is reflected in all aspects of The World Around’s platform, including ‘pay-what-you-can’ tickets to the summit and a free live stream of the day’s events. The information-rich content from the Summit will join the dense library of free content available on The World Around website and social channels, which have so far garnered hundreds of thousands of views from an audience dispersed across six continents.

Actionable ideas for an audience with the power to change things.  

This year’s summit will be an engaging day of presentations and moderated conversations that will spotlight some of the most impactful projects and innovative, actionable ideas from the past year across the fields of architecture, design, and the environment. The program is co-curated by Galilee and Carson Chan, director of Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment at MoMA. The event marks the first curatorial collaboration between the two organizations. Galilee says, “We hold the Summit in New York because of the sheer density of decision-makers that impact global development. Our goal is to program the most innovative and actionable ideas into a nutrient-rich day. This year, we’re delighted to be realizing that ambition in collaboration with the Ambasz Institute, an organization that ardently champions The World Around’s shared values of social and environmental justice.”

“Expanding on our annual Earth Week programming and joining forces with The World Around to co-curate Summit 2025 at MoMA marks a landmark achievement for the Ambasz Institute. Over the years, we have engaged with so many of the speakers featured at MoMA, and bringing them together at the museum to collectively address the environmental, ecological, and social urgencies of today’s climate polycrisis will forge a powerful moment of solidarity. This convergence underscores the architecture community’s shared commitment to advancing a just and livable future.”

—Carson Chan, Director, Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment – MoMA.

Fondation Cartier + The World Around: Powerhouse platforms unite to elevate groundbreaking creatives.

As part of The World Around’s ongoing global cultural partnership with Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Summit 2025 will feature a conversation moderated by Béatrice Grenier, the Fondation’s director of curatorial affairs.

“We are pleased to be a part of The World Around as we align in our focus to elevate diverse creative voices who are changing our environmental and cultural landscape. The team at The World Around not only facilitates imperative conversations around architecture but is building partnerships to break ground on these meaningful ideas.”

—Béatrice Grenier, Director of Strategic Projects, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

Young Climate Prize Winners sponsored by MillerKnoll: Hear incredible stories from the front lines of the climate crisis.

This year’s summit will feature the four winners of Young Climate Prize Cycle 02 whose projects are transforming lives in their communities.  For its second cycle, 25 finalists from the far reaches of the globe were selected and partnered with a mentor to develop their ideas. The four winners will present their solutions including “sandponic” and hydroponic systems to grow food in a desert refuge camp, to a smokeless cooking solution that will revolutionize access to energy in rural Nigeria.

“Our partnership with Young Climate Prize underscores MillerKnoll’s commitment to empowering youth in design,” said Ben Watson, Chief Creative and Product Officer at MillerKnoll. “These young leaders inspire us with their ingenuity, resilience, and commitment to creating positive change.”

There is a place for everyone at The World Around: Join Circles

For the first time, donations from The World Around Partners and Circles members have enabled the 501(c) non-profit organization to release tickets to the Summit for free, advancing its mission to “make the best ideas in architecture accessible to all.”  The design community can join its mission for as little as $250 for a Friends & Family membership to Circles. Studios, manufacturers and philanthropic organizations are all encouraged to look at all the benefits of joining the platform.

Summit 2025 Speakers

Douglas Cardinal, Architect (Ottawa, Canada)

Alejandra Castrodad-Rodríguez, Executive Director, Resilient Power Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Chatpong Chuenrudeemol, Director, CHAT Architects (Bangkok, Thailand)

Chris Cornelius, Founding Principal, studio:indigenous (Albuquerque, USA)

Béatrice Grenier, Director of Strategic Projects, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris, France)

Anne Holtrop, Founder, Studio Anne Holtrop (Muharraq, Bahrain)

Jung Youngsun, Landscape Architect (Seoul, South Korea)

Josh Kline, Artist (New York, USA)

Daryan Knoblauch, Director, Daryan Knoblauch Studio (Berlin, Germany)

Alina Kolar, Campaign Manager, HouseEurope! (Berlin, Germany)

Nzinga B. Mboup, Curator and Co-Founder, Worofila (Dakar, Senegal)

Salima Naji, Founder, atelier Salima Naji (Rabat, Morocco)

Vyjayanthi Rao, Anthropologist and Kush Badhwar, Artist; Directors of Beneath the Placid Lake (Mumbai, India)

Mauricio Rocha, Founder, Taller de Arquitectura (Mexico City, Mexico)

Zoë Schlanger, Journalist and Author of ‘The Light Eaters’ (New York, USA)