Magazine

Francis Kéré's design of the new national assembly building to be located in Porto-Novo, the capital of Benin, was inspired by the palaver tree, "the age-old West African tradition of meeting under a tree to make consensual decisions in the interest of a community." John Hill

As announced by the Obama Foundation on February 3rd, the years-long federal review process of plans to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side is complete, meaning the project will break ground later this year. John Hill

Adelaide’s Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) has released updated renderings of its proposed 11,500 square meter building designed by New York's Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Australia's Woods Bagot. John Hill

Three years after Amazon opened The Spheres at its downtown Seattle headquarters, the tech company has unveiled The Helix, part of its new HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia. NBBJ is the architect for both biophilic designs. John Hill

A list of 449 works nominated for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award has been released. A second list of nominees will follow in the fall in response to the coronavirus pandemic and a lengthening of the biennial award's timeline accordingly. John Hill

For the second year in a row, a building on Chicago's South Side has received the most votes in our Building of the Year poll on American-Architects.com. In 2019 it was an academic building at Illinois Tech. For 2020 it's the dynamic orange building that Juan Moreno's firm, JGMA, designed for... John Hill

The World Around's annual summit was held on Saturday, January 30, at the Guggenheim Museum, where the organization is in residence this year. Recorded presentations and live discussions were broadcast to the strictly online audience. John Hill

The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) has announced that the DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany 2021 has been awarded to MVRDV and N-V-O Nuyken von Oefele Architekten for WERK12, a five-story mixed-use building near Munich's Ost station. John Hill

The iconic high-tech building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers will close from late 2023 until 2027, the same year the Parisian institution will celebrate its 50th anniversary. John Hill

The deadline for voting for the US Building of the Year is January 31. The winner that you decide will be announced on the first day of February online and in our World Newsletter. John Hill

Scottish architect Kate Macintosh and Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and novelist Lesley Lokko are this year’s recipients of the Jane Drew Prize and Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, respectively, part of the W Awards given out by The Architectural Review and Architects’... John Hill

Winners in the seven awards and competition programs of the Tamayouz Excellence Award for 2020 have been announced. Established in 2012, the awards draw attention to architecture in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. John Hill

London's Design Museum has named the "Teeter-Totter Wall," designed by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo Chopeke, as the Beazley Design of the Year 2020. John Hill

The Vessel, the 150-foot (45m) tall climbable sculpture designed by Heatherwick Studio for the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's West Side, has closed indefinitely after a third suicide in less than one year. John Hill

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has unveiled THE LINE, a "170-kilometer revolution in urban living" that would house one million residents in a string of communities "with zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions." John Hill

During a virtual symposium held on Monday, January 11, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects announced the 24 winners in its 2021 AIANY Design Awards. John Hill

Governor Andrew Cuomo, in his State of the State address on January 11, proposed a $60 million extension of the High Line that would connect the elevated park to the newly opened Moynihan Train Hall two blocks away. John Hill

Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin is stepping down from the post he held for close to thirty years, leaving the Windy City with no architecture critics at its two main papers, which also includes the Chicago Sun-Times. John Hill

Designed by LMN Architects, the Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal, linking Whidbey Island to the Seattle-Everett metropolitan area, opened on December 29, the first new ferry terminal in Washington State in more than 40 years. John Hill

Munich's DETAIL magazine has published around 450 issues since its founding in 1961. It is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with special peeks into its archive, multimedia feedback from readers, and a "big" anniversary issue in June. 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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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