In the world there is a estimated number of 100 million buildings. This figure has grown very rapidly in recent years and is expected to continue to do so in the coming years. So you have to be a great building, with some very special characteristics, to attract attention and be admired as it deserves. We’ve done a sweep across the planet (from our writing table, of course), to select those that we believe deserve the consideration of «applauded in 2022», to see if you agree.
Royal College of Art, Battersea Campus, London, by Herzog & de Meuron
Royal College of Art.
Textured bricks, large north-facing spans from the workshop and studio building, introduce a unique yet contextual profile to Battersea Bridge Road, while on the upper levels, the metal fins of the research building create a distinctive identity on the skyline of the campus. The complex is conceived as two united buildings which include studios, workshops, laboratories and research centers. This avant-garde project, Herzog & DeMeuronoccupies 16 thousand square meters and has become a new home for innovation and design.
The Valley, Amsterdam, MRDV
TheValley.
The Valley is three skyscrapers in one. Three peaks of 61, 87 and 100 meters high signed by MVRDV and built in the Zuidas neighborhood, a financial district located in Amsterdam. The three towers are inspired by geology: natural stone tiles, with uneven shapes, covered with vegetation and forming an exotic valley that houses offices, luxury apartments, a shopping area, hotels and cultural facilities. Its peculiar design has earned it the choice of the best skyscraper in the world, according to the Emporis Skyscraper Award.
Taipei Center for the Performing Arts, Taiwan by OMA
Taipei Performing Arts Center.
The new Taipei Performing Arts Center OMA it was one of the most anticipated buildings of 2022 and its distinctive and powerful form branches with its three theaters raised from the central cube: multiform theater, great theater and proscenium theater, Globe Theater. Floating above the bustle of Taipei’s famous Shilin Night Market, the building commands attention from afar with a sphere-shaped auditorium. The arts center aims to challenge the standardized model of contemporary theaters and embraces «inclusiveness, reflecting the vibrancy and open-mindedness of Taipei and its people.»
Acciona Ombú offices, by Foster + Partners, Madrid
ombú.
Foster + Partners signed Ombú, a rehabilitation project of an old gas plant from 1905 designed by the architect Luis de Landecho, in an office building, developed for the Spanish infrastructure and energy company ACCIONA, unifying a mixture of private and public land with a green landscape that extends to the adjacent station of Méndez Álvaro, in Madrid. Ombú has a Planetary Ecological Footprint of 1.0, which means that its carbon emissions will be absorbed by the current capacity of the earth. According to the architects, this achieves the balance of sources and sinks required by the Paris Agreement, with an environmental impact compatible with the original target of +2°C.
Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, California, USA by Morphosis
Orange County Museum of Art.
the signature Morphosis, winner of the Pritzker Prize, opened the Orange County Museum of Art at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Led by Thom Mayne and Brandon Welling, the 5,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building, doubles the size of the former museum location. The building, made of folded, rotated and angular volumes, is complemented by the gallery spaces on the mezzanine and the galleries facing the street, which house exhibitions of temporary and permanent collections.
Sydney Modern Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney by SANAA
Art Gallery of New South Wales.
It’s just practically opened but it’s already a milestone and we applaud it in advance. SANAA Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architects are the creators of the major expansion project of Sydney Modern. Called the Sydney Modern Project, it has transformed one of Australia’s iconic art museums, revitalizing its much-loved late-19th-century neoclassical building, creating a new stand-alone building, as well as a public art garden next to the existing gallery. The building is light, transparent and open to its surroundings, responding to the topography of the site with a series of pavilions that cascade down towards Sydney Harbor with spectacular views.
