This week we revealed the winner of the Royal Gold Medal

This week on Dezeen, we revealed that Irish architect Niall McLaughlin has been named the recipient of the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for architecture awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

McLaughlin, who is the founder of Niall McLaughlin Architects, was recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) "for the resounding impact he has had on the profession".

In an interview with Dezeen, McLaughlin said that a focus on creating meaningful architecture united all of his projects.

"I think people want buildings to be meaningful," he told Dezeen. "Okay, I know that sounds almost trite, but it's true that people want to feel that a building is something that helps them to communicate meaning to each other."

This week also saw the postponement of the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were scheduled to be held at the unbuilt Trojena ski resort in Neom, Saudi Arabia.

"The Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia have agreed on an updated framework for future hosting of the Asian Winter Games, confirming the postponement of the 2029 edition to a later date to be announced in due course," said the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee in a statement.

In the US, numerous well-known architecture studios, including Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw, responded to president Donald Trump's call for a redesign of Washington Dulles Airport.

A proposal submitted by Bermello Ajamil & Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects included renders of a terminal building with the name Donald J Trump Terminal attached.

Ahead of next month's Winter Olympics in Italy, architecture studio David Chipperfield Architects and engineering studio Arup revealed photos of the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

Italian architect Carlo Ratti also unveiled a "mobile relay cauldron" that will accompany the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic touches at events ahead of the games.

We also spoke to the creators of buzzy gay ice hockey romance Heated Rivalry, who explained how they struggled to find an appropriate cottage to feature in the show.

"We had a hard time finding that spot," said production designer Aidan Leroux. "It would be a daily thing like: have you found the cottage yet? And we'd be like: nope."

"Glenn Carter, the location guy, would show us stuff, and it was just not quite right," he remembered. "But we knew it was important, and Jacob was willing to just keep looking and not settle."

Popular projects this week included a pair of giant brick shoes created by Crocs and Lego, a tiny moveable cabin in Byron Bay and the renovation of the lower observation deck of the iconic CN Tower in Downtown Toronto.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.

The post This week we revealed the winner of the Royal Gold Medal appeared first on Dezeen.