2021 in architecture

Events

• April - Restoration of the Royal Chapel at Versailles in France is completed.
• June 24 - Surfside condominium collapse: A 12-story condominium apartment building in Surfside, Florida, partially collapses leaving 98 confirmed dead.
• October 1, 2021–March 31, 2022 - Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
• October 14 - 2021 Kaohsiung tower fire in Taiwan leaves at least 46 dead.
• November 1 - 2021 Lagos high-rise collapse: A luxury apartment block under construction in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria collapses with fatalities.

Buildings and structures

• The One, the second tallest building in Brisbane, is completed.

• Wormhole library on Hainan, designed by MAD Studio, projected for opening.
• Spot #40 Waste-to-Energy Plant, Shenzhen East, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Gottlieb Paludan Architects, projected to commence operation.

• One Limassol in Limassol, the tallest building in Cyprus, projected for completion.

• Buried extension to Ordrupgaard art gallery near Jægersborg Dyrehave, designed by Snøhetta, projected for completion.

• Gallery for Pinault Collection of contemporary art inserted into the Bourse de commerce (Paris), designed by Tadao Ando in collaboration with Niney et Marca Architectes, Pierre-Antoine Gatier and Setec Bâtiment, opening mid-May.
• British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, designed by Liam O'Connor, inaugurated 6 June.
• New façade for La Samaritaine department store in Paris, designed by SANAA, projected for completion in February.
• LUMA Arles arts resource building, designed by Frank Gehry, opens 26 June.
• Le Dôme, a winery in Saint-Émilion, designed by Foster + Partners, projected for completion.

• Museum Küppersmühle extension in Duisburg, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, projected for completion.

• House of Hungarian Music, City Park, Budapest, designed by Sou Fujimoto, projected for completion December.

• Autograph Tower in Jakarta, the tallest building in Indonesia and the Southern Hemisphere, projected for completion.

• MOSE project intended to protect the city of Venice from flooding, projected for completion.

• Valley, a high-rise residential/mixed-use development in Amsterdam, designed by MVRDV, projected for completion.
• Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, Museumpark, Rotterdam, designed by MVRDV, projected for opening November 6.

• The Martyrs' Memorial, Niamey, Niger, designed by David Adjaye, projected for completion.

• The new Munch Museum in Oslo, designed by Estudio Herreros, opened October 22.

• Varso in Warsaw, the tallest building in Warsaw and Poland and in the European Union, projected for completion.

• Intempo apartment building in Benidorm, completed midyear.
• Caleido, in Madrid

• Sara Kulturhus in Skellefteå, designed by White Arkitekter.

• Tanzanite Bridge in Dar es Salaam, the longest bridge in Tanzania, projected for completion.

• Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok, the largest railway station in Southeast Asia, projected for completion.

• Ain Dubai in Dubai, the tallest ferris wheel in the world, projected for completion.
• Bee'ah Headquarters, a concept by Zaha Hadid Architects, projected for completion.
• The pavilion of Spain at Expo 2020 in Dubai by Amann Cánovas Maruri.

• Lambeth Palace Library in London, designed by Wright & Wright Architects, projected for official opening.
• New Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge, designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects, awarded Stirling Prize 2022.
• John Morden Centre, day care facility for residents of Morden College retirement homes, Blackheath, London, designed by Mae Architects, completed, awarded Stirling Prize 2023.
• Sands End Arts and Community Centre in Fulham, London, designed by Mae Architects, completed.
• F51, a multistorey skatepark and youth hub in Folkestone, designed by Hollaway Studio, projected for completion November.
• Cherry Groce Memorial Pavilion, Windrush Square, Brixton. Designed by David Adjaye.

• Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, designed by Renzo Piano in Los Angeles, opened to the public on September 30.
• Central Park Tower in New York City, the second tallest skyscraper in the United States and the tallest residential building in the world, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is completed.
• 111 West 57th Street in New York City, the fifth tallest skyscraper in the United States and the slenderest skyscraper in the world, designed by SHoP Architects, is completed.
• Little Island by Thomas Heatherwick in the Hudson River at Hudson River Park in Manhattan, New York City.
• The Rainier Square Tower, the second-tallest building in Seattle, Washington, is completed.
• Denny Centre, Seattle, Washington, expected to be completed.
• Green House, Tottenham, London, designed by Hayhurst & Co, is completed.

Awards

• AIA Gold Medal – Edward Mazria
• Architecture Firm Award AIA – Moody Nolan
• Driehaus Architecture Prize for New Classical Architecture – Sebastian Treese
• Emporis Skyscraper Award –
• European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture –
• Grand Prix de l'urbanisme –
• Grand Prix national de l'architecture –
• LEAF Award, Overall Winner –
• Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate –
• Pritzker Architecture Prize – Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal
• Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent –
• RAIA Gold Medal – Don Watson
• RIAS Award for Architecture –
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Sir David Adjaye
• Stirling Prize - Kingston University Town House, London
• Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – Diébédo Francis Kéré
• Twenty-five Year Award AIA – Will Bruder
• Vincent Scully Prize – Mabel O. Wilson

Exhibitions

• May 22 until November 21 - The Venice Biennale: "How Will We Live Together?"

Deaths

• January 1 - Paige Rense, 91, American editor .
• January 18 - Michael Bryce, 82, Australian architect.
• January 26 - Richard Holzer, 97, Austrian born Panamanian architect.
• March 4 - Hugh Newell Jacobsen, 91, American architect.
• March 29 - Constantin Brodzki, 96, Italian-born Belgian architect .
• May 8 - Helmut Jahn, 81, German-American architect .
• May 22 - Cornelia Oberlander, 99, Canadian landscape architect.
• May 23 - Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 92, Brazilian architect, Pritzker Prize winner .
• June 9 - Gottfried Böhm, 101, German architect, Pritzker Prize winner .
• June 19 - Isaac Fola-Alade, 87, Nigerian architect .
• June 29 - Émile-José Fettweis, 93, Belgian architect.
• July 15 - Gira Sarabhai, 98, Indian architect, co-founder of NID.
• October 8 - Owen Luder, 93, British architect.
• November 5 - Walter Brune, 95, German architect and urban planner
• November 27 - Ruy Ohtake, 83, Brazilian architect.
• November 30 - Oriol Bohigas, 95, Spanish architect.
• December 14 - Chris Wilkinson, 76, British architect, co-founder of WilkinsonEyre.
• December 17 - Alexander Garvin, 80, American urban planner.
• December 18 - Richard Rogers, 88, Italian-born British architect .