8 urban stories of 2020. ‘Stockholm Metro’ photo-essay by ©David Altrath. T-Centralen Station.
Best of 2020 Architecture – We have rounded up 8 urban stories which have been unveiled or have inaugurated this year; from the masterplan of a Malaysian artificial archipelago to an Iranian corporate building connected to the city through a play of volumes and voids.
- RELATED STORIES: check our 2020 review featuring brilliant architecture and design!
‘Can Sau – Emergency Scenery’ facade project by unparelld’architects – photo by Jose Hevia.
The Can Sau – Emergency scenery project by unparelld’arquitectes in Catalonia transforms the ruins of a building into a new public space. The new inhabitable brick façade of three vaults and four niches frames a new square for various cultural activities and social interactions. Read more…
Photo by Jose Hevia – Courtesy of unparelld’architects.
Pritzker Prize architect Shigeru Ban has completed two transparent public toilets in Shibuya, Tokyo. When not engaged, the see-through loos allow users to check the cleanliness and whether anyone is using the toilet from the outside. At night, they light up the park like a beautiful lantern. Read more…
Transparent Public Toiltes by Shigeru Ban in Sibuya, Tokyo – Photo by Satoshi Nagare, courtesy of The Nippon Foundation.
For the Stockholm Metro photo essay, young German photographer David Altrath roamed for several nights the empty stations of the “world‘s longest urban art gallery” in the belly of the Swedish capital. Indeed, it just takes few steps underground to be mesmerized by sculptures, rock formations, mosaics, paintings and installations populating one of the most lively creative metros in the planet. Read more…
‘Stockholm Metro’ photo-essay: Solna Centrum Station. Photo by David Altrah.
The Quzhou Sports Campus and public park by MAD Architects in China features a stadium, a pool and other buildings, all hidden in gentle green slopes. Natural slopes and lush vegetation reflect Quzhou’s urbanscape which has 71.5% of its land covered in forest. All buildings are embedded into the ground, whereby the façade disappears into the terrain, covered by greenery so that it becomes the landscape itself. Read more…
Quzhou Sports Campus by MAD Architects – Image: courtesy of MAD Architects.
3deluxe has completed V-Plaza in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. The project invites pedestrians, cyclists and skaters to enjoy organically curved levels, oases of tranquility and water features – all surrounded by buildings reinterpreting Lithuania’s architectural heritage. Read more…
V-PLAZA by 3deluxe in Kaunas, Lithuania – Photo by Norbert Tukaj, courtesy of 3deluxe.
MoDusArchitects has completed TreeHugger an eye-catching concrete building for the Touring Information Office in Bressanone, in northern Italy. The building raises its body on tiptoe embracing an ancient tree creating a new urban fulcrum just outside the historical centre of the South Tyrolean city. Read more…
TreeHugger by MoDusArchitects: photo by ©Oskar Da Riz – Courtesy of MoDusArchitects.
Teheran-based studio Next Office has designed the headquarters of CEO – Construction Engineering Organization in the city of Mashad, Iran, as “a place where engineers can gather and communicate with each other”. The building consists into a concrete cube smoothly carved by a giant arch sheltering volumetric communal spaces. Read more…
Mashad CEO headquaters – image by Next Office.
Bjarke Inglels Group has unveiled the BIODIVERCITY masterplan for Penang south islands. The artificial architelago aims to become a sustainable destination where cultural, ecological and economic growth is secured and where people and nature co-exist in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Read more…
BIODIVERCITY masterlan for Penang south islands, Malaysia, by BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, Ramboll and Hijjas – image by BIG.
Quzhou Sports Campus by MAD Architects – Courtesy of MAD Architects.
TreeHugger by MoDusArchitects: photo by ©Oskar Da Riz – Courtesy of MoDusArchitects.
Mashad CEO headquaters – Image by Next Office.
