This year showcased how landscape architecture is shaping public life in the built environment. In the first two decades of the 21st century, landscape architects created vibrant resiliency plans, rehabilitation projects, and new urban parks. As these twenty years come to a close, 2019 embodied many larger ideas and trends that will continue to influence the next decade of landscape design.

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Sky Green, WOHA’s first project in Taichung, Taiwan has just been completed. Commissioned by the developer Golden Jade, with Feng Chia University as an advisor, the project is the first green and sustainable mixed-use development in the city.

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MVRDV has won the competition to redesign the Tancheon Valley and Seoul’s waterfront. Called “The Weaves”, the design was made to knit together pedestrian and bicycle paths, the natural landscapes, and public amenities. Commissioned by the government of Seoul, the design introduces a combination of natural and human activity in the midst of the city.

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Qatar has been radically reshaped by growth and development. The sovereign state transformed since the second half of the twentieth century after the discovery of the Dukhan oil field in 1940. Capitalizing on over 70 years of economic development, Qatar now has the highest per capita income in the world. Reflecting the country’s wealth, its modern architectural projects are being built at a monumental scale.

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Sasaki has been selected by the government of Ho Chi Minh City to conceive the innovation district in the eastern part of the city, in collaboration with enCity, an international planning practice based in Singapore and Vietnam.

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The Royal Institute of British Architects has released the names of the 2019 winners of the President’s Medals, the annual awards for the world’s best student architecture projects. To showcase these achievements, an exhibition will be held in London, from the 4^th of December 2019 till the 1^st of February 2020, before touring throughout the UK and internationally.

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Kansas City has become the first major city in the United States to approve free public transit. Last week, the City Council voted unanimously to make the city’s bus system fare-free alongside the existing streetcar system that was launch in 2016. The Zero Fare Transit proposal aims to be a universal and system-wide fare-free scheme.

Adolf Loos (December 10, 1870 – August 23, 1933) was one of the most influential European architects of the late 19th century and is often noted for his literary discourse that foreshadowed the foundations of the entire modernist movement. As an architect, his influence is primarily limited to major works in what is now Austria and the Czech Republic, but as a writer he had a major impact on the development of 20th century architecture, producing a series of controversial essays that elaborated on his own architectural style by decrying ornament and a range of social ills. Adolf Loos’s minimalist attitudes are reflected in the works of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and many other modernists and led to a fundamental shift in the way architects perceived ornamentation.

Snøhetta was selected to design the latest landmark of Xingtai, one of China’s oldest cities that is undergoing rapid urban development. The Grand Theater, integrated into the master plan of the central and southern parts of the Hebei province, will become a new cultural monument.

JKMM’s “Atlas” proposal won the international design competition for the new extension of The National Museum of Finland. Organized by the Finnish Heritage Agency, the National Museum of Finland and Senate Properties, the competition entitled “New National” or “Uusi Kansallinen” in Finnish, gathered 185 entries from all around the world.

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KÂAT Architects has won first prize in the national competition to design a new wildlife research and rehabilitation center for Iztuzu Beach in Turkey. Created to help protect one of the rarest natural ecosystems in the world, the competition was organized by the the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey. The project aims to be an environmentally sensitive facility that will help ensure the cyclic continuity of the natural and cultural resources of Iztuzu Beach.

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As the founder of Steven Holl Architects, Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is recognized as one of the world's leading architects, having received prestigious awards for his contributions to design over the course of nearly forty years in practice, including the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal in 1998, the AIA Gold Medal in in 2012, and the 2014 Praemium Imperiale. In 1991, Time Magazine named Holl America's Best Architect. He is revered for his ability to harness light to create structures with remarkable sensitivity to their locations, while his written works have been published in many preeminent volumes, sometimes collaborating with world-renowned architectural thinkers such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Pérez-Gómez.

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Photographer Luciano Spinelli recently captured the futurist Soviet elevator tower of the Dagomys sanatorium. Located in the microdistrict of Sochi, Russia, the project was part of a larger recreation and hotel complex belonging to the State Committee for Foreign Tourism of the USSR. Spinelli's photos document the atmospheric qualities of the tower and views out across the landscape.

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The World Architecture Festival invites shortlisted architects from around the world to present their projects in a range of categories, the winners of which are invited to present in front of a Super Jury for final selection.

In the 2019 version of the festival, LocHal Public Library by Civic Architects has been named the World Building of the Year concluding this year's three-day event in Amsterdam. This year's winner was selected from a strikingly broad shortlist that included works from offices such as Heatherwick Studio, CEBRA, Nikken Sekkei, and Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners.

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Heatherwick Studio offered a first look at the freestanding glass lobby pavilion at Lantern House, the firm’s first residential building in the United States. The project consists of 2 volumes, an east structure standing at 10-stories and a west structure standing at 22-stories, connected under the High Line.

The Architectural Review has announced that Sala Beckett by Flores & Prats is the winner of the 2019 AR New into Old awards. The project was selected by a panel of judges for its inventive re-use, and it was awarded alongside two Highly Commended and three Commended buildings for sustainable alternatives to building anew. The AR New into Old awards celebrate the creative ways buildings are adapted and remodeled to welcome new contemporary uses.

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As the World Architecture Festival 2019 continues, we are happy to announce the winners of the second day of the event. Works by Herzog & de Meuron, Heathewick Studio, White Arkitekter and many more international practices inside!

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Architecture studio theMAAK has unveiled a new installation as part of the 2019 experimental Design & Make program Follies in the Veld (FITV) in Cape Town, South Africa. The team worked with makers and the community to collectively design and build a large scale ‘Folly’. Each year, a specific site and a unique material is used as the departure point for the hands-on creative program.

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Along with the municipality of Larvik, Mad Arkitekter has proposed new development plans for Martineåsen, a future new district west of Larvik City Center. The project celebrates the natural context of the site while creating a small-town community with all required amenities, within walking distance.

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The AWM or the Australian War Memorial will undergo a series of development and refurbishments works, in order to renovate its galleries and its buildings. COX architecture will design the new Anzac Hall with its connection to the main structure, while Scott Carver will be in charge of the southern entrance.

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As the world’s biggest architectural awards program, WAF 2019 brings together more than 2,000 architects and designers to Amsterdam for three days of conference programs, awards, and exhibition events from December 4-6.

As the event's Premier Media Partner, we are happy to announce today's programme of WAF and invite our readers to listen in through the live stream featured below. Read on to learn more about today's lectures and keynote addresses at the Main Stage of the Festival.

Ricardo Bofill (born 5 December 1939), a graduate of the Barcelona University School of Architecture and the School of Geneva, and the founder of interdisciplinary firm Taller de Arquitectura, is renowned for his extensive body of work and ever-changing design aesthetic. His career has spanned over 50 years, encompassing more than 1000 buildings in cities ranging from Lisbon and Boston to Tokyo and St. Petersburg. His architectural approach has evolved over the decades and has permeated dozens of countries worldwide.

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As the first day of the World Architecture Festival 2019 is coming to an end, we are happy to announce the winners of the sections already reviewed by the jury. Read on for the winning projects of the INSIDE, FUTURE PROJECTS and COMPLETED categories, among which are works by Heathewick Studio, Büro Happold, Nextoffice and many others.

The City of Sydney has chosen Adjaye Associates and contemporary Aboriginal artist Daniel Boyd to design a new public square, plaza building, and public artwork. The project attempts to uncover the lost history of the site, reconcile cultures and define identities.