The year 2020 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Events
November 16 – Work to dismantle the flanking walls of a pavilion erected by Tadao Ando at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre in England (2002) begins.
Buildings and structures
Australia
Australia 108, the tallest building in Melbourne, completed. Crown Sydney, the tallest building in Sydney, completed. Belgium Alex guesthouse (private garden building), Berlare, designed by Atelier Vens Vanbelle, completed. Canada Vancouver House, designed by Bjarke Ingels. Germany Berlin Brandenburg Airport completed and opened on 31 October. Hong Kong M+ museum scheduled for completion. India World One in Mumbai, the tallest building in India, is completed. Italy Genoa-Saint George Bridge by Renzo Piano, over the Polcevera River in Genoa, replacing the Ponte Morandi which collapsed in 2018, completed and open to traffic on 3 August. Japan The Kadokawa Culture Museum at Tokorozawa Sakura Town in Tokorozawa, Japan partially opened on 1 August and then fully opened on 6 November. Lebanon Stone Garden (apartments), Beirut, designed by Lina Gotmeh, completed. Mexico Torres Obispado in Monterrey, the tallest skyscraper in Latin America, completed. 'OUM Wellness', built by the consortium Edificios Cero Energía in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, the first net-zero energy building (NZEB) in Latin America. Norway Powerhouse Telemark, "energy positive" project in Porsgrunn designed by Snøhetta. People's Republic of China Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Center, designed by Ma Yansong. 1000 Trees, designed by Thomas Heatherwick in Shanghai. "Crystal" skyway at Raffles City Chongqing, designed by Moshe Safdie, opened to public June. Sweden Norra Tornen, a pair of residential buildings in Stockholm designed by OMA, is completed Taiwan Tainan Spring (adaptive reuse), Tainan, designed by MVRDV, completed. United Arab Emirates The Opus, Dubai, including a boutique hotel with interiors designed by Zaha Hadid. Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. United Kingdom 100 Liverpool Street office redevelopment in the City of London, designed by Hopkins Architects. Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road (apartments), East London, designed by Henley Halebrown, completed. Newfoundland Quay diagrid skyscraper rental apartments in London Docklands, designed by Horden Cherry Lee, projected for completion. Town House, combining a library and dance studios, Kingston University London, designed by Grafton Architects (Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell), opened to students 6 January. Wolfson Building, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, designed by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt), opened 5 March. Falkirk Campus, Forth Valley College, Scotland, designed by Reiach & Hall, officially opened January.
Awards
AIA Gold Medal – Marlon Blackwell (U.S.) Architecture Firm Award AIA – Architecture Research Office Driehaus Architecture Prize for New Classical Architecture – Ong-ard Satrabhandhu
Grand Prix de l'urbanisme –
Grand Prix national de l'architecture –
LEAF Award, Overall Winner – Postponed until October 2021
Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate –
Pritzker Architecture Prize – Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara
RAIA Gold Medal – John Wardle
RIAS Award for Architecture – cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Grafton Architects (Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell) Stirling Prize – RIBA announced that the Stirling Prize awards had been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – WEISS/MANFREDI Twenty-five Year Award AIA – Eric Owen Moss Architects for Conjunctive Points – The New City
Exhibitions
20 February until 14 August – Rem Koolhaas and AMO: "Countryside; the Future" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.