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 is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a few m ...

Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...

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 Berlare () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Berlare proper, and , as well as the village . The Donkmeer, a large lake and a regional tourist attraction, is located central ...

, designed by Atelier Vens Vanbelle, completed. ;Canada * Vancouver House, designed by

Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Bundgaard Ingels (; born 2 October 1974) is a Danish architect, founder and creative partner of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). In Denmark, Ingels became well known after designing two housing complexes in Ørestad: VM Houses and Mountain D ...

.The most anticipated buildings set to shape the world in 2020
CNN Style, Dec 31, 2019 ;Germany *

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...

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 The Genoa Saint George Bridge ( it, Viadotto Genova-San Giorgio) is a motorway viaduct that crosses the Polcevera river and the districts of Sampierdarena and Cornigliano, in the city of Genoa. It was designed by architect Renzo Piano. The bri ...

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 Tokorozawa Sakura Town is a pop cultural attraction complex in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan which opened in the fall of 2020. It is a joint project of the Kadokawa Corporation and the city of Tokorozawa. The development has five main components; ...

Tokorozawa is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 344,194 in 163,675 households and a population density of 4800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Tokorozawa is located in the ce ...

, 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 Torres Obispado, Spanish for Bishopric Towers or Diocese Towers, is a skyscraper complex in Monterrey, Mexico, which consists of a 305.3 m mixed-use supertall skyscraper called T.Op Torre 1 and a 156 m residential skyscraper called T ...

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.Tendrá Nuevo León el primer edificio ‘Cero Energía’ de México
El Mañana (Mexico), 12 Jan 2020 ;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 Raffles City Chongqing is suite of eight buildings in Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China, developed by Singaporean real estate developer CapitaLand. Raffles City Chongqing features a 300-metre-long horizontal skybridge called "Crystal" that con ...

, designed by Moshe Safdie, opened to public June. ; Sweden *

Norra Tornen Norra Tornen (in English, Northern Towers) are a pair of high-rise apartment buildings located in Vasastaden district of Stockholm, Sweden. Opened in 2018, the eastern tower is tall, consisting of 36 floors. The west tower opened in 2020 and is ...

, a pair of residential buildings in Stockholm designed by OMA, is completed ;Taiwan *Tainan Spring (adaptive reuse), Tainan, designed by

MVRDV MVRDV is a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1993. The name is an acronym for the founding members: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries. History Maas and Van Rijs worked at OMA, De Vr ...

, 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 The Newfoundland is a residential skyscraper, located between Westferry Road and Bank Street on the Isle of Dogs, London. South Quay Properties, Ltd., a subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group, submitted a planning application to Tower Hamlets Th ...

diagrid skyscraper rental apartments in

London Docklands London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London Borough of ...

, 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 Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) is a multi-disciplinary Australian design studio established in 2002 and noted for design excellence and a commitment to enhancing the public realm. fjmt has a reputation as an ideas-driven practice "with an agend ...

(fjmt), opened 5 March. *

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Campus, Forth Valley College, Scotland, designed by Reiach & Hall, officially opened January.

Awards

* AIA Gold Medal –

Marlon Blackwell Marlon Blackwell (born November 7, 1956) is an American architect and university professor in Arkansas. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He is founder and principal at Marlon Blackwell Architects, a design firm establishe ...

(U.S.) * Architecture Firm Award

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ancient town in Greece * ''Aia'', the collected ed ...

– Architecture Research Office *

Driehaus Architecture Prize The Driehaus Architecture Prize, fully named The Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame, is a global award to honor a major contributor in the field of contemporary traditional and classical architecture. The Driehaus Prize was ...

for

New Classical Architecture New Classical architecture, New Classicism or the New Classical movement is a contemporary movement in architecture that continues the practice of Classical architecture. It is sometimes considered the modern continuation of Neoclassical architec ...

– Ong-ard Satrabhandhu *

Grand Prix de l'urbanisme The Grand prix de l'urbanisme is awarded for urban planning in France by the Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Planning. The prize has been awarded annually since 1989, except during the period from 1994 until 1998, when it ...

– * Grand Prix national de l'architecture – * LEAF Award, Overall Winner – Postponed until October 2021 * Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate – *

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

– Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara *

RAIA Gold Medal The Gold Medal is the highest award of the Australian Institute of Architects, awarded annually since 1960. The award was created to recognise distinguished service by Australian architects who have: * designed or executed buildings of high merit; ...

– 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 The Twenty-five Year Award is an architecture prize awarded each year by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to "a building that has set a precedent for the last 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architect ...

– Eric Owen Moss Architects for Conjunctive Points – The New City

Exhibitions

* 20 February until 14 August –

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...

and

AMO Amo or AMO may refer to: Places *Amo, Indiana, United States, a town in Hendricks County * Amo Creek, a river in Alaska *Amu Darya, a river in Central Asia, sometimes referred to as "Amo" *Amo Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota *Kampong Amo, ...

: "Countryside; the Future" at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

in New York City.

Deaths

* February 21 –

Yona Friedman Yona Friedman (5 June 1923 – 20 February 2020) was a Hungarian-born French architect, urban planner and designer. He was influential in the late 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his theory of "mobile architecture". Early years Born in B ...

, 96, Hungarian-born French architect and architectural theorist ("mobile architecture") (born

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

) * March 15 – Vittorio Gregotti, 92, Italian architect (born

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

) * March 26 –

Michael Sorkin Michael David Sorkin (August 2, 1948 – March 26, 2020) was an American architectural and urban critic, designer, and educator. He was considered to be "one of architecture's most outspoken public intellectuals", a polemical voice in contemporar ...

, 71, American architect (born

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

) * March 28 –

Michael McKinnell Noel Michael McKinnell (December 25, 1935 – March 27, 2020) was a British-born American architect and co-founder of the Kallmann McKinnell & Wood architectural design firm. In 1962, McKinnell, who was a Columbia University graduate student at ...

, 84, American architect (born

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

) *

April 4 Events Pre-1600 * 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. * 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. * 611 – ...

–

Bashirul Haq Bashirul Haq (24 June 1942 – 4 April 2020) was a Bangladeshi architect, town planner and educator. He is regarded as one of the most influential architects in South Asia. Early life Haq was born in Brahmanbaria (now a district of Bangladesh) ...

, 77, Bangladeshi architect (born

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

) * April 10 – Rifat Chadirji, 93, Iraqi architect (born

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

) * April 12 – Justus Dahinden, 94, Swiss architect, teacher and writer (born

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) * August 4 –

Jean-Marc Bonfils Jean-Marc Bonfils (1963 – 4 August 2020) was a Lebanese architect of French ethnicity, based in Beirut, known for his work in the city during the rebuilding after the Lebanese Civil War. He was killed by an explosion that occurred near his hom ...

, 57, Lebanese architect (born

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

) *

September 2 Events Pre-1600 *44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. * 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his ''Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them ...

– Christian Liaigre, 77, French architect and interior designer (born

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

) * December 27 – Vikram Lall - Indian architect (

Akshardham temple Swaminarayan Akshardham is a Hindu temple, and spiritual-cultural campus in Delhi, India. The temple is close to the border with Noida. Also referred to as Akshardham Temple or Akshardham Delhi, the complex displays millennia of traditional an ...

), (Birthdate not disclosed) * December 29 – Luigi Snozzi, 88, Swiss architect (born

)

References