Magazine

Swiss architect Luigi Snozzi died on December 29, 2020, at a nursing home in Minusio after contracting the coronavirus. A short video portrait made when he was laureate of the Prix Meret Oppenheim 2018 captures the architect's passions and ideals. John Hill

In 2020 we presented 42 Buildings of the Week, featuring short Q&As with architects about recently completed buildings in the United States. It's your turn to help us crown a Building of the Year by voting for your favorite this month. The winner will be announced in February. John Hill

The Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (IIMA) has announced plans to raze 14 of the 18 dormitory buildings designed by Louis I. Kahn. The buildings are an integral part of the campus designed by Kahn and completed in 1974. John Hill

Although it will be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, BAU 2021 is still taking place over three days in January. Four short films, created in cooperation with World-Architects, explore the event's four main themes.  John Hill

In one of his last official acts as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump has signed the "Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture." John Hill

A team led by Milanese architect Stefano Boeri has designed a temporary pavilion with a flower logo as part of Italy's coronavirus vaccination program. The pavilion expresses the program's campaign slogan: "With a flower, Italy comes back to life." John Hill

Twelve years in the making, the freestanding building designed by David Chipperfield Architects Berlin for the Kunsthaus Zürich is now complete. The keys were handed over the museum on December 11, with an opening planned for October 2021. John Hill

For sure, 2020 is a year many people would like to soon forget, what with the coronavirus pandemic derailing the events that regularly attracted architects and leading to the deaths of some notable figures in architecture, among other things. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of the pandemic,... John Hill

Andi Schmied's forthcoming book, Private Views: A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan, documents Manhattan luxury apartment towers from the inside, after the artist gained access to them by posing as a Hungarian billionaire. A short film reveals some of those visits. John Hill

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced that Edward Mazria, founder and CEO of Architecture 2030, is recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. John Hill

Point Counterpoint II, a floating concert hall designed by Louis I. Kahn for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, has found a permanent home on the Delaware River in Kahn's hometown of Philadelphia. John Hill

A group of architects, designers, educators, and artists is calling on MoMA, Harvard GSD, and other US institutions to remove the name Philip Johnson from any titles or other honorifics due to the architect's "commitment to white supremacy." John Hill

As announced during an online presentation on December 3, the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London has awarded Dong Mei and Liu Xiaochuan of China's BCKJ Architects the 2020 Royal Academy Dorfman Award. John Hill

Landscape for Architects is an ambitious new book by Gabriele G. Kiefer and Anika Neubauer that provides an introduction to landscape architecture through a series of questions about design, answers in the form of precedents, and hundreds of schematic drawings across five trilingual... John Hill

The walls of the lobby for Maida Smiles in London's Maida Vale district are covered in more than 500 hand-crafted ceramic discs, appropriate for a clinic specializing in cosmetic dentistry. John Hill

Ten years in the making, The Circle at Zürich Airport, designed by Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, is now open to the public — in the midst of a pandemic that has seen passenger traffic at the airport reduced by more than 80%. John Hill

Without a new temporary pavilion this season — the first time in its short history — MPavilion is taking up residency in Parkade Carpark, an architecturally significant parking garage in Melbourne designed by Peter McIntyre. John Hill

Produced by the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), What It Takes to Make a Home is the first documentary in a three-part series that examines how people live in changing societies. First released in October 2019, CCA has made the half-hour film available online. John Hill

After canceling its 2020 edition, the next iteration of Milan's famous Salone del Mobile furniture fair has been postponed from April until September 2021 to "[guarantee] safety in light of the ongoing pandemic." John Hill

The team of 3XN, B+H, and Zhubo Design has been selected to design the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum in Shenzhen, China. John Hill

La Biennale di Venezia has launched Biennale Architettura Sneak Peek, a digital project that provides podcasts, videos, images — even a playlist of inspirational songs — leading up to the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale set to open on May 22, 2021. John Hill

The principal of Zaha Hadid Architects entered the news this week as a court case over the late Zaha Hadid's estate was decided, and Schumacher's pro-growth comments struck a nerve with other architects. John Hill

The newly opened WA Museum Boola Bardip at Perth's Cultural Centre was designed jointly by Hassell and OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture. A short film gives viewers a drone's eye view of the museum's glassy exterior and its exhibition spaces inside. John Hill

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has announced the establishment of the Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and the Natural Environment, enabled by a gift from the Legacy Emilio Ambasz Foundation (LEAF). John Hill

Artist Ben Weir's study of Casa Vilaró, the modern house designed by Sixte Illescas in the late 1920s, is on display at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. The exhibition is part of "Artists in Architecture," an interdisciplinary program focused on "re-activating modern European... John Hill

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) has announced that the team led by KPMB Architects has won the international design competition for the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Waterfront Arts District. John Hill

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens on November 21. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the building completes a campus masterplan a decade in the making.  John Hill

Architecture must change in order to address the climate crisis. But what directions do architects want to take? Snøhetta is making an interesting contribution to the debate: In southern Norway, the firm has designed an office building that produces more energy than it consumes over its life... John Hill, Elias Baumgarten

"A publicly accessible sculpture for visitors and residents of Kemerovo," Russia, Coop Himmelb(l)au's design for the Museum and Theatre Complex is depicted in a short film inspired by a 1930s painting by Meshkov Vasily Vasilievich. John Hill

The National Museum of the United States Army — billed as the first cultural institution to tell the story of the oldest branch of the US military — opened on November 11, Veterans Day. John Hill

Austria's state of Tyrol has been awarding exemplary buildings every two years since 1996. The winners of the 2020 awards were announced during an award ceremony held online on November 11. John Hill

What more can be written about Countryside, The Future, the highly ambitious and much anticipated exhibition by Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal/AMO that recently reopened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City? John Hill

The European Commission and Fundació Mies van der Rohe have announced that the next European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award will be postponed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. John Hill

Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, gives a brief tour of the building designed by Frank Gehry in 1989 and provides some context on why it's such an important piece of museum architecture. John Hill

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the twelve submissions shortlisted for the Architecture Drawing Prize 2020. Curated by Make Architects, Sir John Soane's Museum, and WAF, the winners will be announced in the new year. John Hill

Klapster is a space-saving auxiliary staircase that folds up neatly against the wall when not in use. Designed by Frankfurt's raumvonwert, the modular system is ideal for city dwellers living in small spaces.  John Hill