Magazine

The City of London Corporation has announced the shortlist of "five world-class, international design teams" competing for a major renewal of the Barbican Centre, an icon of brutalist architecture. John Hill

A short film by 9sekunden presents the Kunsthaus Zürich extension that was designed by David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and opened in October 2021. Filmed during the preview last spring, the film highlights the contemplative nature of the building, which borders on the monastic as the... John Hill

Rocco Design Architects Associates’ Performing Arts Centre, flagship of the Bao’an Cultural Complex, opened on 17 September 2021 in Shenzhen, China. Overlooking Quanhai Bay and the South China Sea, the building anchors the southern end of the cultural complex. Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd

Long used for textiles, food, and medicine, hemp — when mixed with lime and formed into panels and bricks — is increasingly being seen as a viable renewable building material for achieving carbon-neutral and healthy-building goals. John Hill, Martina Metzner

On December 11, 2021, the City of Winter Park, just north of Orlando, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Winter Park Library and Events Center. Designed by the firm of Sir David Adjaye, the complex made up of three pavilions is marked by arching rose-pigmented concrete facades that... Adjaye Associates

Average annual price growth across 150 cities worldwide in the year to Q2 2021, according to a Global Residential Cities Index:... René Ammann

Parallect Design's LIM Café at Suzhou Bay Sports Park in Suzhou, China, has traditional gabled forms that recall the wooden structure originally in its location and modern mirrored glass facades that reflect its setting on the edge of Taihu Lake. John Hill

The Tate Gallery has posted a tender looking for an architect and lead designer for "Reimagining Tate Liverpool," the museum housed in a warehouse in Liverpool's former Albert Docks which was previously reimagined by James Stirling in the 1980s. John Hill

Creating a vibrant space for social interaction, education, and appreciation for the arts, Studio Gang’s design for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts transforms this premier cultural institution into a signature civic asset. Studio Gang

The answer, from director Altor Bigas in a short but dense film about the building at 43 Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudí nearly 120 years ago: "CASA BATLLÓ - This Is Not A House." John Hill

The Ponte della Costituzione in Venice, designed by Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2008, will have its glass steps replaced in favor of stone, after years of tourists and residents falling on the slippery surfaces. John Hill

MARABAR, Elyn Zimmerman's site-specific installation in Washington, DC, that was saved from demolition last year, has found a new home: the campus of American University, just four miles northwest of the monumental artwork's original location. John Hill

Interventions and Adaptive Reuse is a recently published that looks back at ten years of academic journalism focused on the “responsible practice” of adaptive reuse. Looking to the past, by virtue of an approach that has preservation at its heart, the book also provides perspectives... John Hill

Number of plants and trees the 75,000-square-meter "Valley" tower block in Amsterdam, featuring 200... René Ammann

In 2021 we presented 44 Buildings of the Week, featuring short Q&As with architects about recently completed buildings in the United States, most of them renovations and adaptive reuse projects. It's your turn to help us crown a US Building of the Year by voting for your favorite — the... John Hill

As 2021 segues into 2022, World-Architects looks ahead to a dozen notable buildings opening in the new year, including OMA's long-awaited Taipei Performing Arts Center, Herzog & de Meuron's flagship building for the Royal College of Art, and SANAA's Sydney Modern Project. John Hill

Are there any new architectural space prototypes that can be discussed? This is the starting point of this experimental project. This space experiment is located near the river in the tourist area of Jiangxin Island in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. In this project, architects give up the... LIN Architecture

The buildings of Richard Rogers, especially those of his early creative period, were often hardly accepted at first — before eventually becoming landmarks of modern architecture. Rogers died at his home in London over the weekend at the age of 88. John Hill, Falk Jaeger

A development plan preserving the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, a postmodern icon designed by Helmut Jahn, has been accepted in the State of Illinois's bid to sell the building. John Hill

The Board of La Biennale di Venezia has announced that Ghanaian–Scottish architectural academic, educator, and novelist Lesley Lokko will curate the next Venice Architecture Biennale, which will take place from May to November, 2023. John Hill

As 2021 — year two of the coronavirus pandemic — draws to a close, World-Architects takes a month-by-month look back at some of the stories that transpired over the last twelve months: awards, competitions, buildings, exhibitions, and passings.  John Hill

Located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of artist-philosopher Walter Anderson (1903-1965). In May the museum opened the Courtney Blossman Art Cottage, the renovation of a 19th-century house and the first stage in... Tall Architects

Price paid for a plot of virtual land in The Sandbox metaverse: $4.3 million (€3.8m) René Ammann

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced that Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa of California's Brooks + Scarpa Architects are winners of the 2022 Gold Medal, while Boston's MASS Design Group wins the 2022 Architecture Firm Award. John Hill

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that India's Balkrishna Doshi is the 2022 recipient of the Royal Gold Medal, which recognizes architects "who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture." John Hill

Moscow's newest cultural center opened on Saturday, December 4, in the former second city electric station, or GES-2. The transformation of the building was done by Renzo Piano Building Workshop for the V–A–C Foundation. Ulf Meyer

The House of Hungarian Music in Budapest's City Park will open to the public at the end of January. Sou Fujimoto's design is an undulating canopy above glass walls that is all about blending the new building into its natural setting near the city center. Ulf Meyer

The Gymnasium of South University of Science and Technology stretches horizontally; the huge roof slides down along the rock mountain, hangs in the air, and stretches out a large eave to the west, providing a shady space under the local hot climate condition.  Urbanus Architecture & Design

Hiroshi Sugimoto's redesign of the Hirshhorn Museum's Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, has been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, allowing the Hirshhorn to move forward with site development plans that have been years in the making. John Hill

The same week that Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth as head of state and became a republic, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced the creation of the Barbados Heritage District, featuring a slavery memorial designed by Adjaye Associates, which released a short film visualizing the... John Hill

Maison Edouard François has completed the new Le Ray neighborhood in Nice, France, the repurposing of the former Le Ray Stadium. Le Ray is home to a 25,000-m² mixed-use program including 350 apartments and 6,000 m² of commercial floor area. The 1.2-hectare site has Europe’s largest greened... Maison Edouard François

One of the newest buildings on the campus of Georgia Tech located in Midtown Atlanta, the Caddell Building houses the School of Building Construction, part of the university's College of Design. Although it looks like a new building at first glance, it is actually the adaptive reuse of a... BLDGS

Amount British street artist Banksy has offered to buy an empty prison in Reading, England, that features an uninterrupted 500-meter-long paintable surface, proposing to turn it into... René Ammann

Copenhill, also known as Amager Bakke, the waste-to-energy plant topped with a ski slope in Copenhagen, was judged the top prize at the annual World Architecture Festival that was held virtually this year. Here we present some images of the design by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and other winners... John Hill

Is idealism economically sensible? Yes, says Katharina Lehmann. In an interview with Swiss-Architects editor Elias Baumgarten she talks about values, what it means to be a female boss, and why coercive measures are not enough to stop climate change. Elias Baumgarten

The recipients of the 32nd annual Piranesi Awards have been announced, following the jury's deliberations on November 26 at Monfort Exhibition Hall in Portorose, Slovenia. John Hill