The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced the winners of the 2020 President’s Medals. The annual awards for the world’s best student architecture projects, gathered in this edition, the highest number ever of entries with 336 nominations from 118 schools of architecture located in 32 countries.

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The Magazzino Italian Art museum is expanding its campus in Cold Spring, NY with a new pavilion by Spanish architects Alberto Campo Baeza and Miguel Quismondo. Following the museum's public opening in 2017, the new pavilion will be dedicated to special exhibitions and public and educational programs. The free-standing structure will feature flexible programming to enable the nonprofit museum to support its growing program and better serve its visitors.

The Leonel Brizola National Library, designed by Oscar Niemeyer —a building that integrates the Cultural Complex of the Republic, a cultural center located along the Eixo Monumental, in the city of Brasília, Brazil— is covered in cracks. The lack of preventive maintenance has caused several cracks throughout the building, according to an article published in the newspaper Metrópoles.

The cracks were identified by local firefighters on November 19th and have spread all over the building, especially on the walls of the elevator machine room and the roof. The library receives an average of 102,000 visitors per year, and the building administration has been notified of the problem. An inspection was carried out to determine whether there is any structural damage to the building.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a disruptive moment for our world, and it’s poised to spur transformative shifts in design, from how we experience our homes and offices to the plans of our cities. The webcast series Design Disruption explores these shifts—and address issues like climate change, inequality, and the housing crisis— through chats with visionaries like architects, designers, planners and thinkers; putting forward creative solutions and reimagining the future of the built environment.

Kjellander Sjoberg has revealed plans to transform the historical building Gjuteriet into an innovative, open public meeting place. Located in the Varvstaden district, a new sustainable neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, the project will become a contemporary and versatile work environment. Fitting 300 workspaces across 4,600 sq. m., the building also includes meeting rooms, open lounges, conference rooms, a conservatory, studios, exhibition spaces, a test kitchen, and wellness facilities.

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Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled the design for the new Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum in Guangming Science City, China. Designed to become a landmark institution in the city, the project is made for the Guangzhou–Shenzhen Science Technology Innovation Corridor. The museum aims to be a key destination to explore science and technology as part of the region's World Class Science City.

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On November 20, the 2020 Panamerican Architecture Biennial of Quito (BAQ 2020) announced the winners of the present edition. Every other year, the BAQ "invites to discuss contemporary production of the built environment, aiming to improve the practice of our profession" in the Americas.

Henning Larsen’s proposal for Seoul Valley was selected as the winner of the Central Seoul Development Competition. Seeking to become a new home for the public in the center of the city, the mixed-use development “merges Seoul’s global commercial profile with an ecological return to downtown pedestrian life”. Other entries included schemes by MVRDV and SOM.

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Liu Yihuan, Zhang Xingwang and Lin Zichun from the Harbin Institute of Technology in Shenzhen have won the Covid-19 Community Memorial Design Competition. DesignClass hosted the competition to create a local memorial that honors the individuals and families affected by the virus. 145 designers entered from dozens of countries.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has uncovered the Arizona State Capitol project, a never seen before unbuilt proposal by Wright. An “oasis of democracy in the Sonoran Desert”, the intervention revealed in the latest issue of The Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly, has been digitally remodeled, with photorealistic visualizations by David Romero.

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The Ford Motor Company has released a new plan for an innovation and mobility district in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. Designed by the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), the "Michigan Central" plan involves a multiyear development that includes the restoration of the iconic Michigan Central Station. Gensler is reimagining the Book Depository building, while PAU is master planning the Michigan Central development as a whole. The vision is an open platform for startups and entrepreneurs to develop, test and launch new mobility solutions.

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After 3 weeks of voting, the results are finally in. The ArchDaily Architectural Visualization Awards has just selected the winners of its first edition. Out of 750 visualizations submitted from all over the world, 6 winning images were chosen, two for each of the following categories: Exterior, Interior, and Conceptual.

Gathering more than 10 000 votes, This awards has come to an end. Presented by IPEVO, Cove.tool, and Concepts, the contest aimed to find the most talented individuals, who inspire us and help us visualize the future of our cities and buildings.

3XN, B+H, and Zhubo Design were selected as first-place winners in an international design competition for the new Shenzhen Natural History Museum. Attracting over 70 proposals from around the world, the contest first nominated fifteen teams for the bidding stage, representing 18 countries, before choosing the best proposal.

Architect Carlos Zapata has unveiled a new, mixed-use residential tower in Quito, Ecuador. Located on the northern edge of La Carolina Park, the design has become one of the city’s tallest buildings. The 24-story tower is defined by a three-story opening at its midpoint that creates an communal pool and lounge area, as well as a series of vertical gardens. The new tower was made to embrace Quito’s open sky and striking views of the Andes mountains.

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Snøhetta has revealed its first built project in Hong Kong, Airside, a 176,000 square meters mixed-use building. Located in the center of the former Kai Tak airport, the project commissioned by Nan Fung Group comprises a 200-meter tower merged seamlessly with its base.

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Paul Revere Williams’ incredible architectural career spanned the growth of Hollywood. Artist Ibrahim Rayintakath illustrated 43 of Williams’ most notable California homes for HomeAdvisor, including addresses and an illustrated map so architecture buffs can check out these historic buildings in person. Between the 1920s and his retirement in 1973, Williams designed over 2,000 private homes - many for Hollywood creatives such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Johnny Weissmuller.

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Oyler Wu Collaborative and Taiwanese partner Ren Lai Architects have won a competition to re-envision the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan. Selected among finalists including Asif Khan with C.M.Chao Architects, Sou Fujimoto Architects with WSAA Design Team, and Liao Architects and Associates, the winning project proposes a newly renovated exterior that seeks to reconnect the building with its evolving context.

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Architecture practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) has won the competition to design the next building at the Paradise site in Birmingham. The £700 million Paradise redevelopment is being made through a private-public joint venture with Birmingham City Council. The team's vision for Three Chamberlain Square is to create a new standard for a sustainable workplace in the city.

On November 18, the Panamerican Architecture Biennial of Quito announced the winning projects of the 2020 Oscar Niemeyer Award for Latin American Architecture.

Foster + Partners has just unveiled its winning design scheme for a new urban destination in China, the Guangming Hub located on the high-speed rail connecting Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. In fact, the Transport Oriented Development proposal generates a “smart city that supports the flow of people and goods with robust infrastructure, effective transport networks, reliable public services, and lush greenery”.

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