2015: The Architectural Year in Review

It’s been another eventful year for architects around the globe, full of controversy, conversation and contemporary design of the highest order. Here, we take a look back at some of the biggest events and most notable new buildings covered by Architizer over the past 12 months. Click on the hyperlinks provided to remind yourself of the most amazing, enigmatic, or just plain outrageous stories to emerge from the built environment in 2015.

January

Philharmonie de Paris, Paris, France; © Guy Montagu-Pollock

Following plenty of controversial moments throughout 2014, the profession started where it left off in France courtesy of Jean Nouvel. The angry architect boycotted the opening of his Philharmonie de Paris in protest against the “fakery and sabotage” that he believed had undermined the project. On the up side, Nouvel saw great progress on other projects in 2015 including the sublime Louvre Abu Dhabi and the National Museum of Qatar set for completion next year.

February

University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; © Andrew Worssam

Frank Gehry’s business school at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, opened to mixed reviews. Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove was impressed — calling it “the most beautiful brown paper bag I’ve ever seen.” Across the Pacific Ocean, Bjarke Ingels began his Canadian adventure, as the Telus Sky tower broke ground in the heart of Calgary. The spotlight was also cast on some treasured architectural history: 10 of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings were nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status.

March

Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, Calif., United States; © Mark Zuckerberg

As spring arrived, German architect Frei Otto was posthumously awarded the Pritzker Prize. Gehry landed with a second major project in as many months; this time, receiving rave reviews for a convention-busting office for Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Headquarters. Meanwhile, Dame Zaha Hadid caused a stir with some strong words during an in-depth interview with the Huffington Post. The standout line? “If you want an easy life, don’t be an architect.”

April

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, United States; © Karin Jobst

Renzo Piano’s multifaceted Whitney Museum of American Art welcomed thousands through its doors in New York City, and the architect also delivered a timeless piece of urban design in Malta’s capital with the impressive Valletta City Gate regeneration project (read more here). Herzog and de Meuron scored with its own landmark project as the spring moved on: the Bordeaux stadium maintained the firm’s sterling reputation when it comes to designing sporting arenas.

May

Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy;© Bas Princeton

The critics were out in force to assess the cultural value of countless pavilions at the Milan World Expo including attention-grabbing structures by Studio Libeskind, Nemesi and Partners, and Studio Link-Arc. While Jacques Herzog labeled the festival an “obsolete vanity fair,” some structures were received more positively — especially the UK Pavilion by artist Wolfgang Buttress and global firm BDP, which won the International Prize for Best Pavilion Architecture. OMA’s exquisite Fondazione Prada also went down a treat with the critics.

June

Rendering for Guggenheim Helsinki; © Moreau Kusunoki

Looking to Northern Europe, a big decision was announced by those in charge of the next Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki, Finland: Moreau Kusunoki was finally selected as the competition winner from an extraordinary field of 1,715 entries! Meanwhile, Rem Koolhaas unveiled a new cultural landmark for Russia in the shape of the Garage Museum, a polycarbonate-clad center for contemporary art in Moscow.

July

Messner Mountain Museum Corones, South Tyrol, Italy; © Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid was back in the headlines again during the summer, for mixed reasons: first, the British-Iraqi architect was dealt a major blow when her firm’s commission to design the 2020 Olympic Stadium in Tokyo was canceled in the midst of mounting dissent from the public and her fellow professionals. On the flip side, the architect completed one of her most unusual projects to date: the Messner Mountain Museum formed a fitting tribute to one of the world’s greatest adventurers.

August

Model for Nepal Shelters; © Shigeru Ban Architects

Following the devastating earthquakes that shook Nepal back in April, the issue of resiliency in architecture was brought to the forefront once again. Enter Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who proposed an innovative series of shelters for the victims constructed from cardboard tubes and the rubble of collapsed buildings. Meanwhile, the battle between political bureaucracy and great urban design heated up in New York as Snøhetta’s Times Square plaza was heartily defended by both professionals and the public.

September

Rendering of 432 Park Avenue, New York, United States; © Rafael Viñoly Architects

Staying in Manhattan, the world’s tallest residential building was completed on Park Avenue: Rafael Viñoly’s skinny skyscraper is the first among many soaring towers to be built in Midtown — with SHoP’s slender skyscraper on 57th Street, Moshe Safdie’s New York debut, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill’s Nordstrom Tower, and David Chipperfield’s “Tectonic Skyscraper” soon coming to the Big Apple.

October

Grace Farms, New Canaan, Conn., United States; © Iwan Baan

The beginning of October saw the opening of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial sweepingly entitled “The State of the Art of Architecture.” While some were full of praise for the eclectic exhibition of neo-postmodernist curiosities, the oft-outspoken Patrik Schumacher lamented a perceived preoccupation with what he believes is “moralizing and politicized” work. On a calmer note, Japanese minimalist SANAA completed the idyllic Grace Farms, a new center for faith and the arts flowing through the rolling hills of Connecticut.

November

© James Morris

Flint House, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom; © James Morris

On the east coast of China, Gensler completed the Shanghai Tower, a 2,000-foot-tall building full of “sky gardens” that constitutes a convention-breaking moment for super-tall buildings. In New York, Santiago Calatrava received the 2015 European Prize for Architecture for his contribution to architectural heritage across the continent. Meanwhile, Skene Catling de la Peña’s beautifully detailed Flint House was crowned the worthy winner of the RIBA House of the Year prize.

December

Rendering of the New Chelsea Stadium, London, United Kingdom; © Herzog and de Meuron

Herzog and de Meuron continued to rule the realm of stadium design by securing the commission to design English soccer giants Chelsea F.C.’s 60,000-capacity stadium, a “brick and iron cathedral of sport.” Some major names in the profession also received recognition for their contributions to the built environment: Tadao Ando was presented with the third annual Isamu Noguchi Award, Richard Rogers scooped the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, and, perhaps most significantly of all, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown were announced winners of the 2016 AIA Gold Medal.

What’s on the way in 2016? Keep following Architizer on Facebook and Twitter throughout January to find out …