The year 2012 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Events
Buildings and structures
Buildings opened
- January
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum extension in Boston, Massachusetts, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
- JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, the tallest hotel in the world, in Dubai.
- January 1 â Ada Bridge, one of the tallest bridges in Europe, in Belgrade, Serbia.
- January 5 â Baluarte Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Latin America.
- February â Extension to Städel art gallery in Frankfurt, Germany, designed by schneider+schumacher.
- January 6 â Porta Macedonia, Skopje, designed by sculptor Valentina Stefanovska.
- February 28 â Halley VI Research Station, designed by Faber Maunsell and Hugh Broughton Architects, becomes operational in the Antarctic.
- March â Jerwood Gallery on The Stade in Hastings, England, designed by Hana Loftus and Tom Grieve of HAT Projects.
- March 18 â Bharati (research station) in Antarctica.
- March 19 â Western concourse, London King's Cross railway station, designed by John McAslan + Partners.
- March 24 â Maria SkÃ
Âodowska-Curie Bridge, Warsaw, the eighth road bridge in the capital of Poland.
- March 29 â Refurbished Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney with new Mordant Wing, designed by Sam Marshall.
- March 31 â Sandworm by Marco Casagrande, in the Beaufort04 Triennial of Contemporary art in Wenduine, Belgium. The work is both architecture and environmental art.
- April 4 â Twin Sails Bridge, Poole, England, by Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
- April 10 â SeaCity Museum, Southampton, England, with extension by Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
- April 20
- Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, Tokyo, designed by Kengo Kuma.
- Belfast MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre) in Northern Ireland, by Hackett Hall McKnight.
- May 10 â Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, designed by Zaha Hadid.
- May 11 â ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower and sculpture in Olympic Park, London, designed by Anish Kapoor with Cecil Balmond and Ushida Findlay Architects.
- May 22 â Tokyo Skytree in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan.
- June 29 â Cloud Forest and Flower Dome Bay South Conservatories at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects (landscape design by Grant Associates).
- July 3 â Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre in Northern Ireland designed by Heneghan Peng for the National Trust.
- July 5 â The Shard, designed by Renzo Piano, the tallest building in the European Union at the time.
- July 18 â Tate Modern, London, opens The Tanks performance art/installation space, refurbished by Herzog & de Meuron.
- July 27 â Opening of 2012 Summer Olympics based at Olympic Park, London, England, with site design by the EDAW Consortium (including EDAW and Buro Happold), working with Arup and WS Atkins; taken over by LDA Design in conjunction with Hargreaves Associates. Individual buildings include
- Olympic Stadium, designed by Populous
- London Aquatics Centre, designed by Zaha Hadid
- London Velopark, designed by Hopkins Architects, Expedition Engineering, BDSP, and Grant Associates
- ArcelorMittal Orbit tower, designed by Anish Kapoor (see above)
- August 3 â Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, Brisbane, Australia.
- September 21 â Islamic art gallery at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, designed by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti.
- September 23 â Renovation and new wing for Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, designed by Benthem Crouwel Architekten.
- October 11 â Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum, India, built by B.G. Shirke Construction Technology Pvt. Ltd.
- October 17 â Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in New York City, designed by Louis Kahn.
- October 24 â ("Book mountain") public library in Spijkenisse, Netherlands, designed by MVRDV.
- December 3 â United States Courthouse, Austin, Texas, designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam.
- December 11 â Le Louvre-Lens art gallery in Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France, designed by SANAA.
- date unknown
- Flame Towers, Baku, Azerbaijan, designed by HOK.
- ME Hotel, London, designed by Foster and Partners.
- Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art new buildings are opened in Oslo, Norway.
- Statoil (now Equinor) Regional and International Offices, Oslo, Norway, by A-Lab Architects, winner of 2012 WAN Award for best office building
Buildings completed
- January 6 â Porta Macedonia, Skopje, Macedonia.
- February 29 â Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world, is completed in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan.
- June â Airport Link, a 6.7 km road tunnel in Brisbane, the longest in Australia.
- September â NEO Bankside apartments in London, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
- November 1 â Mercury City Tower, in Moscow, topped-out to become the tallest building in Europe (2012âÂÂ2014).
- date unknown
- Abraj Al Bait in Mecca, the tallest buildings in Saudi Arabia.
- Absolute World in Mississauga, Ontario, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Studio.
- Church of Pentecost, Vinkovci, Serbia, a replica of the 18th century church that was destroyed during the Croatian War of Independence.
- Princess Tower, the world's tallest residential building, is completed in Dubai.
- The Bow (skyscraper) in Calgary, Alberta
- Soleil, the tallest building in Brisbane, Australia (until 2014) designed by DBI Design.
- Community in a Cube, RiversideOne, Middlesbrough, England, designed by FAT.
- Astley Castle in North Warwickshire, England, refurbished for the Landmark Trust by Witherford Watson Mann Architects (winner, Stirling Prize, 2013).
- University of Limerick Medical School in Ireland designed by Grafton Architects.
- Sarajevo City Center.
- The Wilson art gallery and museum extension and refurbishment in Cheltenham, England, designed by BGS Architects.
Awards
Deaths
- January 4 â Rod Robbie, Canadian architect (born 1928)
- January 8 â John Madin, English architect (born 1924)
- February 6 â Norma Merrick Sklarek, African American architect (born 1926)
- March 21 â Bruno Giacometti, Swiss architect (born 1907)
- June 4 â Peter Beaven, New Zealand architect (born 1925)
- June 15
- Francis Bonaert, Belgian architect (born 1914) was a Belgian architect.
- Günther Domenig, Austrian architect (born 1934)
- June 19 â Gerhard M. Kallmann, German-born American architect (born 1915)
- July 2 â Angelo Mangiarotti, Italian architect and industrial designer (born 1929)
- August 20 â Dom Mintoff, Maltese architect and Prime Minister (born 1916)
- August 26 â Peter L. Shelton, American architect and interior designer (born 1945)
- October 6 â Ulrich Franzen (born 1921), German-born American architect
- October 26 â John M. Johansen, American architect (born 1916)
- October 30
- Wayland Tunley, British architect associated with Milton Keynes (born 1937)
- Lebbeus Woods, American architect and artist (born 1940)
- November 1 â Gae Aulenti), Italian architect, interior and lighting designer (born 1927
- November 4 â David Resnick, Brazilian-born Israeli architect and town planner (born 1924)
- December 5 â Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect (born 1907)
- December 14 â Alan Colquhoun, British architect (born 1921)
See also
References