Magazine

Subtitled “Architecture of Optimism, 1919-1939,” Modernist Kaunas is one of 42 newly inscribed properties on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as approved by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee during its annual meeting in Riyadh last week. John Hill

Construction of Kingdom Tower, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is set to resume, as reports indicate contractors have been invited to bid for completing the 1,000-meter-tall tower. John Hill

The recipient of the fifth Obel Award, created in 2019 to honor “outstanding architectural contributions to human development” around the world, is “a visionary green infrastructure project” off the shore of New York's Staten Island. John Hill

Gando-born, Berlin-based architect Diébédo Francis Kéré has been named a recipient of Japan Art Association’s 2023 Praemium Imperiale, one of the world's most prestigious awards for architects and other artists. John Hill

Landscape architect Alan Ward, a partner at the Boston interdisciplinary firm Sasaki, has donated approximately 2,500 photographs of landscapes he shot in thirteen countries to The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). John Hill

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the six buildings in the running for the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize, considered "the UK’s most prestigious architecture award." John Hill

Author, critic, curator, and editor Peter Buchanan died on August 23, 2023, at the age of 80 following a bout with cancer. John Hill

Tom Lee Park, a 31-acre green space along the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, opened to the public on September 2, 2023, following a major overhaul by Studio Gang and SCAPE. John Hill

The New York City Planning Commission has approved plans for the renovation of 60 Wall Street, a 1989 office building designed by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo with a striking Postmodern lobby. John Hill

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced the winners of the 2023 National Design Awards, which “recognize design innovation and impact” in ten categories, including architecture and landscape architecture. John Hill

The Dallas Museum of Art has selected Spain's Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos to radically transform and sustainably preserve the institution's nearly 40-year-old Edward Larrabee Barnes building. John Hill

The European office of Oppenheim Architecture, based in Basel, has won the competition to turn the Toptani Residence in Tirna, the capital of Albania, into the Besa Museum. John Hill

In Berlin, the famed “Mäusebunker” (Mouse Bunker), previously under threat of demolition, has been given protected status, while in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Harry Weese's nearly 50-year-old Village Hall now faces a similar threat. John Hill

Concept designs by the six shortlisted firms in the “Reimagining the Dallas Museum of Art International Design Competition” have been revealed, with a winner to be announced in August. John Hill

The Royal Academy of Arts in London has announced that Irish architect Shane de Blacam is the recipient of the 2023 Royal Academy Architecture Prize, which recognizes architects who have made "a significant impact on society." John Hill

During a ceremony in Venice on EUmies Awards Day, June 29, the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe announced the three winners of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards in the Young Talent category. A fourth award given by the Mies Foundation was also... John Hill

Two decades in the making, the International African American Museum (IAAM) opened to the public on June 24, 2023, in Charleston, South Carolina, on “hallowed ground” — waterfront land that centuries ago served as a port of arrival for enslaved Africans. John Hill

The Moynihan Connector, a new L-shaped pedestrian bridge designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations, opened to the public on June 22, 2023. It connects the High Line to Manhattan West and Moynihan Train Hall. John Hill

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has introduced the ‘‘Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act,’’ which would effectively resurrect former US President Donald Trump's revoked executive order mandating classical styles for federal buildings. John Hill

As announced on Friday, June 9, when architects were gathering in San Francisco for the AIA Conference on Architecture, Frank Gehry's iconic, game-changing Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the latest recipient of the AIA's Twenty-five Year Award. John Hill

The Smithsonian has announced that Perkins&Will will design the Bezos Learning Center at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, named for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos following his $200 million gift to the institution. John Hill

The 22nd Serpentine Pavilion opens to the public in London's Kensington Gardens on June 9, where it will host live music and other events until October 29, 2023. John Hill

The famous jeweler's flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street reopened at the end of April following the building's first comprehensive renovation since it opened in 1940. John Hill

The Whitney Museum of American Art is selling its landmark Marcel Breuer-designed building on Manhattan's Upper East Side to auction house Sotheby's for its new global headquarters. John Hill

Paolo Portoghesi died on May 30 at his home in Calcata, a medieval village north of Rome, at the age of 91. Though a prolific architect, historian and educator, Portoghesi will forever be known as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale who created the Strada Novissima. John Hill

Designs by Morphosis and other big-name architects for The Line, the flagship project of NEOM in Saudi Arabia, are on display in Venice as part of Zero Gravity Urbanism—Principles for a New Livability. John Hill

The City of New York is suing Steven Holl Architects over the additional costs needed to make parts of the Hunters Point Library, which the NYC firm designed and which opened in Long Island City, Queens, in 2019, fully accessible. John Hill

The Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Creative Europe announced the twelve finalists of the EUmies Awards Young Talent 2023 on May 19. The winners will be announced on June 29 during EUmies Awards Day. John Hill

On the morning of Saturday, May 20, the opening day of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, the international jury's choice for the exhibition's Golden Lions and other awards were announced. John Hill

In a press conference two days ahead of Saturday's opening of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, curator Lesley Lokko addressed recent controversies over the Italian government's denial of visas to members of her team from Ghana. John Hill

The Golden Lions and other awards of the Venice Biennale's 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be decided by these five individuals and given on opening day, May 20, 2023. John Hill

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari is the 2023 recipient of the Royal Gold Medal, which recognizes architects "who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture." John Hill

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American Library Association (ALA) have announced the five winners of the 2023 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards, coming at a time when libraries in the United States are facing censorship and other challenges. John Hill

In a ceremony on the evening of April 23, the Ordre des Architectes du Québec (OAQ) unveiled the ten winners of its awards of excellence for 2023, including two Grand Prix d'Excellence. John Hill

Studio Gang's transformation of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) opens to the public on April 22, the first day in a week-long celebration of the newly reimagined museum. John Hill

Frank Gehry and Bjarke Ingels are the big names among the five architecture firms vying to design the planned National Museum of the U.S. Navy in an “artistic ideas competition.” John Hill