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Another year, another successful ArchDaily China Building of the Year Awards! With more than 50,000 votes gathered over the past weeks, the results of the 2024 edition are in! Once more, the award has proved to be the largest architecture prize centered around people’s opinion. Crowdsourced, the most relevant projects of the year were nominated and selected by our readers.

The 2024 China Building of the Year Awards is brought to you thanks to Dornbracht, renowned for leading designs for architecture, which can be found internationally in bathrooms and kitchens.

The satellite practice of Stefano Boeri Architetti in China has won the tender for the Culture CBD Modern Technology Experience Centre in Xi'an, the capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The new technology-focused museum is set to become a hub for scientific and cultural exchange. The winning project takes inspiration from the area's natural landscape, characterized by a tortuous system of rivers and mountains, as well as the culture of the ancient city of Xi’an.

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Construction has just begun on the Tor Alva, or the White Tower, the world’s largest 3-D printed tower. Designed by architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger and printed with concrete by the technology university ETH Zurich, 8 out of 32 structural columns have been completed. Nestled in the village of Mulegns in the Swiss Alps, the White Tower is designed as a venue for music and theater events. Standing at 30 meters, the design features 32 distinct Y-shaped columns, each boasting a pattern of textured details.

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Formally, transparency usually takes the shape of a window, a door, a curtain wall, or a skylight. These are commonly created through rectangular punched openings or in the form of glass curtain wall systems or translucent screens. The following projects play with traditional notions of transparency and window-making in playful and unconventional ways. They create visually striking facades and dynamic relationships between their exterior and interior. They filter light and frame views through their glazing and opening articulation to craft memorable architectural experiences.

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CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Who Learn from Exemplary Cities and Their Makers, is working with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam. The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are studied in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses" made by CityMakers. On this occasion, Victor Restrepo, Coordinator of CityMakers in Medellin, presents his article "Medellin: A Case Study".

Medellín stands as an inspiring example for many cities worldwide. It is a city that transitioned from deep collective fear to hopeful enthusiasm for urban and social life characterized by quality and coexistence. The city's crisis has always been associated with violence and drug trafficking. However, this crisis is more structural and profound, it responds to many more factors, some of which are associated with the accelerated growth of its population, as in many Latin American cities.

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In collaboration with MassLab, OODA has been awarded first place in the Barrosinha Agricultural Company competition, aimed at creating a 2,000-hectare development seamlessly integrated into the agro-forestry heritage of Alcácer do Sal, Portugal. The master plan, covering a variety of functions for tourism, housing, commerce, and leisure, is designed in harmony with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, striving to transform Herdade da Barrosinha into a model of sustainable renewal.

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The Victoria & Albert Museum is set to present an expansive exhibition focused on Tropical Modernism, an architectural movement that emerged in the late 1940s. British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry were instrumental in developing this approach, combining modernism’s functional goals with local climate adaptations in warm and humid weather. This movement, which embodies Britain's unique contribution to international modernism, evolved against a backdrop of anti-colonial resistance, blending colonial architectural principles with local needs.

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Surface preparation is crucial in ensuring the longevity and effectiveness of coatings in construction. In fact, studies show that up to 80% of premature coating failures can be attributed to inadequate surface preparation. These failures typically manifest in the form of peeling, blistering, and cracking, which diminish a building's appearance and compromise structural integrity.

Building façades are highly visible and exposed and bear the brunt of environmental factors. Poor surface preparation has a direct impact on the long-term performance and appearance of façade finishes, which can in turn suffer from accelerated degradation, necessitating frequent maintenance and repairs.

Populous has unveiled its design for the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, a 210,000-square-foot facility slanted to become the world’s largest training center. Created through a collaboration between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Clinic, and Bedrock Real Estate, the venue will be located along the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. Pending approval, the groundbreaking is expected to happen before the end of 2024.

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The renowned Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has entrusted Sasaki with the task of designing a comprehensive design for Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Deemed a world heritage site, the location is a testament to the cultural and architectural legacy of the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, serving as his winter retreat and experimentation hub. The design seeks to pay homage to the heritage of Taliesin West while ensuring its longevity and relevance for generations to come.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has unveiled their proposal for the expansion of The Broad, a contemporary art museum founded in 2015 by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The project is set to adapt the existing museum, also designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, to the growing expectations of the public, as the institution has far exceeded its projections, now regularly attracting nearly four times more visitors than originally envisioned. The intervention aims to enhance public accessibility and offer the opportunity to host live performances and events, while also accommodating the institution’s growing collection. The expansion is expected to open before the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Officials have just confirmed that Antonio Gaudi’s iconic Sagrada Família's final stage of construction has commenced, on track to be completed in 2026, 144 years after its establishment. The announcement was made last Wednesday, aligning with the centenary of the architect’s passing. According to the annual report, construction efforts have resumed, finalizing the Evangelists towers in November 2023. Additionally, active construction is ongoing for the Chapel of the Assumption and the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ, which are on track to be completed in 2025 and 2026, respectively. The towering 172.5-meter central spire is included in the project, planned to stand as the tallest edifice in Barcelona, Spain.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Chinese temples have stood for centuries, battered by wind and earthquakes, without a crack or timber out of place. They employ an ancient technique called “bracket set construction” that requires no nails or metal parts to connect wooden structural elements. Scandinavian stave churches are nearly as durable. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of trees in Sweden and all over China.

So what is with the hype about innovation in “mass timber” construction over the past few years? As Boyce Thompson argues in his thoughtful new book, Innovations in Mass Timber: Sequestering Carbon with Style in Commercial Buildings (Schiffer Publishing), this will be the next big thing in “green” tech for architects feeling guilty about their costly titanium skins and outsized carbon footprints. The color photos show some impressive buildings in places where the wood industry has always been healthy, such as the Pacific Northwest and Scandinavia. The Japanese build log cabins with imported material that might as well be gold.

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The desire for fluid integration between spaces has become increasingly relevant in contemporary architecture. This reflects a search for more connected and harmonious living experiences, especially in urban environments, where the cityscape can saturate us. By transcending conventional boundaries and blurring the lines between interior spaces and the vast outdoors, living environments can be created to celebrate connectivity, sustainability and the well-being that comes from being alongside nature. These types of integration not only make it possible to unite spaces with their surrounding contexts, but also to segment indoor environments when necessary, maintaining a visual connection while keeping them functionally separate. By creating these integrations, architects and designers allow spaces to merge with each other or with nature, promoting a sense of tranquillity, balance and rejuvenation, as well as integration and fluidity—a seamless transition that blurs the distinction between the two. This is achieved through architectural elements such as large windows and doors, which dissolve barriers through the simple action of opening and closing.

The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 has announced its category winners and shortlist, showcasing the best single images from around the world captured during the last year. With over 395,000 submissions from 220 countries and territories, the competition aims to highlight established and emerging photographers from around the world. The Open Competition is divided into 10 category sections, covering a diverse range of themes, from Architecture and Landscape to Portraiture, Lifestyle, and Wildlife photography.

For the Architecture category, ArchDaily collaborator Ana Skobe has been declared the winner with a photograph titled “Falling Out of Time.” Bathed in the soft hues of evening light, a sleek geometric structure rises from the coastal landscape, its clean lines contrasting with the natural elements surrounding it. Positioned at the base of the lighthouse, a solitary figure gives a sense of scale to the composition, as it contemplates the vastness of the ocean.

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