2020 in architecture

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.

Deaths

 * February 21 – Yona Friedman, 96, Hungarian-born French architect and architectural theorist ("mobile architecture") (born 1923)
 * March 15 – Vittorio Gregotti, 92, Italian architect (born 1927)
 * March 26 – Michael Sorkin, 71, American architect (born 1948)
 * March 28 – Michael McKinnell, 84, American architect (born 1935)
 * April 4 – Bashirul Haq, 77, Bangladeshi architect (born 1942)
 * April 10 – Rifat Chadirji, 93, Iraqi architect (born 1926)
 * April 12 – Justus Dahinden, 94, Swiss architect, teacher and writer (born 1925)
 * August 4 – Jean-Marc Bonfils, 57, Lebanese architect (born 1963)
 * September 2 – Christian Liaigre, 77, French architect and interior designer (born 1943)
 * December 27 – Vikram Lall - Indian architect (Akshardham temple), (Birthdate not disclosed)
 * December 29 – Luigi Snozzi, 88, Swiss architect (born 1963)