Archinect - News

Architecture's biggest project completions and openings of 2022

2022-12-27T20:25:00-05:00

2022 saw so many new construction projects finally reach completion as the further easing of pandemic restrictions around the globe continued to unclog backlogs and delays.

From the myriad of projects published on Archinect this year, we have picked some of the stand-out newly-opened buildings by noteworthy architects in New York, Taipei, London, Shenzhen, Sydney, Amsterdam, Quito, Sharjah, Los Angeles, Singapore, Paris, and more.

Foster + Partners

425 Park Avenue. Photo: Alan Schindler.

Foster + Partners had a heck of a year, making the Archinect news section 25 times with copious new commission announcements as well as (often record-shattering) completed projects worldwide, including the long-awaited 425 Park Avenue and 50 Hudson Yards towers in Manhattan; Varso Tower, the European Union's tallest building in Warsaw; Budapest's tallest structure; the new headquarters for drone maker DJI in Shenzhen; the Brompton Road Apple store in London; the pyramid-like Datong Art Museum in Chi...

In memoriam — those we lost in 2022

2022-12-26T08:00:00-05:00

Each year, the industry loses a host of leading figures whose careers as practitioners, educators, theorists, and writers have brought architecture and design to the place it occupies today. Annual remembrances are a valuable means of examining the luminaries and thought leaders who gifted us with award-winning architecture, groundbreaking intellectual dialogue, and social achievements. This year’s list was no exception.

Below is a summary of the prominent figures we said goodbye to in 2022.

Ricardo Bofill (1939–2022)

Ricardo Bofill

Known for the optimism and complexity of his detail-oriented designs, Bofill’s work was shaped early on by the changing political landscape of his native country before evolving in scale, materials usage, and vernacular inspiration by the dawn of the new Millennium that would bare some of his best-received buildings. Walden 7, La Fábrica, La Muralla Roja, and his 1997 design for the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya were among the projects that cemented his...

Unpacking 2022's highs and lows of social justice, equity, and representation in professional practice and architectural academia

2022-12-25T08:00:00-05:00

As the architecture industry reviews another year filled with a range of ups and downs, it's an important time to reflect on what progress has been made when it comes to important topics such as social justice, activism, equity, and diversity initiatives within architecture. While we've already highlighted this year's controversies, it's important to ask: Has the architecture industry made advances toward social justice, diversity, and inclusion in 2022?

Effective change takes time. Continuing with our 2022 year in review, let's look back at the challenges, obstacles, and successes that the industry faced surrounding inclusive design, diverse leadership, social justice, and representation.

Architecture organizations aiming to make change

Image courtesy of the AIA.

AIA issues a supplementary guide addressing issues in architectural education

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) worked together with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to establish a set ...

Mass timber rose to new heights in 2022

2022-12-24T08:00:00-05:00

In 2022, hardly a week passed on Archinect without the hottest construction material of the year making the news: Mass timber was everywhere — in novel conceptual proposals, competition-winning entries, experimental school projects, and, increasingly so, in completed, real-life, and often record-shattering buildings.

And for a good reason. With the world finally realizing the built environment's profound impact on global carbon emissions, more and more architects (and clients!) started ditching the long-time darling concrete due to its abysmal environmental performance and favoring carbon-trapping timber products, which have also been attributed to increased building comfort for its occupants.

As part of Archinect's ongoing 2022 Year in Review series, let's take a look at some of the mass timber story highlights in our news this year.

A selection of completed buildings this year

Ascent tower when it structurally topped out in December 2021. Image courtesy Thornton Tomasetti/Twitte...

Archinect's best fun culture news of 2022

2022-12-23T08:00:00-05:00

And just like that, 2022 is coming to an end. As quickly as it went by, this year was equally prolonged by many of the same issues that have plagued the world over the last couple of years. In addition to the ongoing pandemic, which society is still adjusting to, we have been witness to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its economic repercussions, a surge in inflation, increased climate change-related disasters, and more regressive politics.

While this does not paint a pleasant image of 2022, this year's events weren't all doom and gloom, and Archinect's coverage reflects that. So, we wanted to compile a selection of our favorite pieces that put smiles on our faces and injected joy into the editorial.

Check them out below.

Image: Pixabay.

Lumber shortage hits the metaverse, leads to construction delays

Though this is meant to be a compilation of fun, lighthearted articles, this news couldn't go unsaid. Lumber supplies hit unprecedented lows this year, which has been felt in places no on...

In 2022, breakthroughs in 3D printing and material science challenged how we build, and what we build with

2022-12-22T08:00:00-05:00

2022 was another productive year in laboratories across the United States and beyond, as colleges, manufacturers, and startups strove to challenge the orthodoxy of construction materials. While teams of students and researchers at institutions from Virginia Tech to ETH Zurich sought to push the boundaries of traditional materials such as timber and concrete, disruptive startups sought to broaden this palette with the introduction of everything from recycled plastic to mushrooms.

These investigations into material science were matched by equally impressive advancements in construction processes, marking 2022 as a year that asked ‘how’ we build as well as ‘what’ we build with. As with previous years, 3D printing featured heavily in 2022’s highlights of intriguing construction innovations, be it new nano-structural 3D printed systems that can sense their own movement, or a growing portfolio of real-world 3D printed homes which signal the arrival of the once-novel process as a viable ma...

Architecture's controversies in 2022: The industry continued to be scarred by strife and scandal

2022-12-21T08:00:00-05:00

The year’s end brings the chance to survey architecture’s progression and social impact through salient entryways that include labor, activism, and the development of topical building trends.

Another way of recapping things is by looking at the varied rows, discord, stories of ill-treatment, and critical reactions to certain projects that shape the way the architecture progresses and is viewed by the broader public. With everything from conflict to college dorms domineering the news cycle, our coverage has been as influenced by current events as it was by goings-on inside halls of higher learning and professional practice.

Previously on Archinect: Updated Munger Hall images show two floors removed as controversial project seeks approval

Twelve months ago, we documented what happened once the industry began to recover from a years-long pandemic-plagued economy. What followed was a year marked by new pinnacles and uncertainty within the industry. With an eye for the murkiness that ha...

Recognizing the grit and determination of architecture students and academic fellows in 2022

2022-12-20T08:00:00-05:00

2022 proved to be a year filled with reevaluating what it means to offer an architecture education as well as to receive one. Schools, students, and faculty across the globe continued to adjust to remote learning while students were also welcomed back to campus. This, however, didn't stop the innovative and inquisitive minds of students, academic researchers, and fellows from producing new and exciting work.

Each year comes with its own sets of challenges and questions. Nonetheless, the perseverance of students provides the industry with a glimpse into the future of architecture as a whole. To recognize and celebrate student work, research, and fellowship in architectural academia published on Archinect in 2022, we've curated a collection of stories worth revisiting.

Exploring Architecture Studio

Exploring and highlighting academic work has been one of Archinect's editorial pillars for years. Beyond exclusive interviews with students and graduates this year, our team launched a new...

In 2022, architecture's labor movement roared back to life

2022-12-19T12:34:00-05:00

In any future analysis of architectural workplace conditions, the impact of 2022 cannot be understated. Throughout the year, our editorial played host to a wide variety of labor-related developments in the profession, from top-down efforts to improve salary transparency to bottom-up unionization drives across the United States and the world.

Notwithstanding decisions by lawmakers and firm principals to reform laws and business structures, respectively, the seismic shifts in architectural labor conditions were predominantly the results of grassroots efforts. Union groups such as Architectural Workers United and Bernheimer Architecture Union set valuable precedents for workers seeking to collectively organize in the years ahead, while The Architecture Lobby set out a vision for the profession that dispels the employee-employer relationship entirely.

Beyond the U.S., meanwhile, grassroots groups led to the formation of a union in Portugal, strike action and salary disclosure platforms...