10 can't-miss architecture & design events to see this December in Tokyo, NYC, LA, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, and Liverpool

Close out 2025 in style through this assemblage of exciting architecture and design events, exhibitions, conferences, and showcases on view throughout December and beyond into 2026.

From the roster of ongoing and upcoming events listed on Bustler, here is a brief curated selection of recommendations worth checking out this month.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Design Miami 2025 and Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 | December 3 (and 5, respectively) – 7, Miami Beach

An important fixture in the international design fair calendar is returning to the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 3rd. Catch up on design talks, explore new and exciting work by designers worldwide, participate in workshops, and — while you're in the neighborhood — take a stroll over to the accompanying Art Basel Miami Beach event starting on December 7th.

Designtide Tokyo 2025 | December 6–21, Tokyo

"By bringing together creators across generations, disciplines, and borders, DESIGNTIDE TOKYO creates a space for meaningful dialogue about the future of design. In today’s fragmented landscape — where no single trend defines the era, it’s more important than ever to preserve and evolve upon the creative legacies that have shaped the design world. DESIGNTIDE TOKYO is a platform for rediscovering the stories and contexts behind beautiful forms — and for renewing our collective imagination about what design can be."

Soak It Up: Los Angeles | December 4–6, Los Angeles

"The daylong conference, organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) in partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) and the SWA Group on Friday December 5, 2025, at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, will focus on landscape architecture’s leadership role in addressing critical urban flooding and water management. [...] Speakers include leading landscape architects, academics, and critics from Los Angeles and beyond, who will examine provocative solutions to urban flooding."

ONGOING EVENTS

The Buildings Show 2025 | Until December 5, Toronto

"For over 35 years, The Buildings Show has stood as North America's largest annual comprehensive exposition, networking, and educational event for the design, architecture, construction, and real estate industries, in both the commercial and residential sectors."

The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower | Until July 12, 2026, New York City

"At the heart of 'The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower' stands capsule A1305, a fully restored unit from the Tower’s top floor. The exhibition also brings together original drawings and models with ephemera, photographs, and films to explore how this unconventional structure became a hive of creativity, debate, and community. Video interviews with former residents and a three-dimensional model show how Kurokawa’s experiment evolved from a prototype for flexible urban dwelling to a case study in preservation."

Common Chicago | Until December 31, Chicago

"Common Chicago showcases a series of recently completed and newly commissioned projects for this exhibition by Chicago-based practices that envision a shared present and future. The exhibition will take place at the MAS Context Reading Room. The exhibition is presented within the context of SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, the sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial."

Speculative Artifacts | Until December 7, Los Angeles

"Speculative Artifacts presents 18 thesis projects from recent graduates of the M.Arch and B.Arch programs at SCI-Arc. Each work approaches architecture as a propositional medium. They are not final answers but artifacts of inquiry, carrying traces of experimentation and speculation. Drawings, models, films, and digital constructs are treated as sites where architecture thinks. They are not secondary to buildings, but the very places where architecture imagines, proposes, and rehearses possibilities."

Urban Design as a Development Strategy: The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture Campus by MASS | Until December 21, Cambridge, MA

"The 15th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design has been awarded to the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) campus in Bugesera, Rwanda, by MASS. In addition to detailing RICA’s innovations in sustainable design and its potential to transform agriculture in Africa, this exhibition highlights the process of the campus development as well as the project team’s commitment to experimentation within the field of urban design."

Alternative Guide to Japan | Until January 25, 2026, Montreal

"The exhibition 'Built Environment: An Alternative Guide to Japan' offers a unique perspective on Japan through innovative buildings, civil engineering projects, and landscaping. Organized by the Japan Foundation and presented in collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Montreal, this traveling exhibition explores the resilience of Japanese infrastructure and architecture in the face of natural disasters and climate change."

RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 Display | Until February 22, 2026, Liverpool

"Explore this year’s exceptional Stirling Prize shortlisted and winning projects through film, images and interviews all in one place. From the restoration of a London icon, to accessible housing, a pioneering research facility, a creative house extension and a university ‘factory for fashion’ along with the winning project, a transformative contemporary almshouse, explore the latest excellence in architecture. The Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious award for architecture, celebrating buildings that have made a significant contribution to the evolution of the built environment."

Do you have an architecture or design event you want to promote? Submit it to our event calendar via Bustler for review and a potential feature.