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Bai’etan Exhibition Center Landscape by Sasaki

Architecture

New Kid on the Block: 6 Ways Architects Are Reinventing the Public Park

By Zarkon Group,09/11/2023

The latest edition of “Architizer: The World’s Best Architecture” — a stunning, hardbound book celebrating the most inspiring contemporary architecture from around the globe — is now available. Order your copy today.

Square footage in the world’s most populous cities is a valuable commodity. There’s a pervasive urge to build bigger and better, extracting profit from every nook and cranny. Amid the frenetic pace of urban development, the public park is a radical thing. Democratic by its very nature, it’s a rare space open to all, where visitors can commune with nature and connect with their community without parting with a dime.

In the face of land scarcity and environmental challenges, the public park is changing. Architects are finding daring new ways to carve out pockets of space, preserve native terrain and shape compelling topographical experiences. Discover how these six winning projects from the 11^th A+Awards are reinventing one of our most valuable public typologies…

1. Incorporating the Industrial Past

Bai’etan Exhibition Center Landscape by Sasaki, Guangzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Landscape/Planning Project

Bai’etan Exhibition Center Landscape by Sasaki Once bustling with warehouses, factories and docks, this stretch of land on the banks of Guangzhou’s Pearl River has undergone a dramatic transformation. The former industrial lot is now a remarkable public park, imbued with the spirit of its commercial past.

The fabric of a historic warehouse has been preserved and integrated into a new plaza. Brickwork salvaged from the site extends the roofline down to the ground, creating a tactile connection with the land’s former life. Existing topographic features such as the ficus grove have been preserved along the water’s edge, while the restored timber dock evokes the memory of the energetic, working waterfront. Motifs inspired by the factories, water and native trees are integrated into the design of the metal railings and the floodwall panels. In this dynamic project, past and present are thoughtfully placed in conversation.

2. Elevating Thoroughfares

One Green Mile – Public Space and Streetscape Design by StudioPOD, Mumbai, India

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Transportation Project

One Green Mile – Public Space and Streetscape Design by StudioPOD In a densely packed metropolis like Mumbai, prioritizing the public realm amongst the city’s vast transport infrastructure is a far from straightforward undertaking. This innovative masterplan sought to readdress the balance, creating a street that fullfils the needs of all spatial users. Impressively, the project reclaimed almost 2.3 acres of land for municipal use.

The geometries of the public walkways were expanded to create a richer experience for pedestrians and cyclists. Trees and shrubs line the thoroughfares, punctuated by ‘micro destinations’ and meeting points. Redundant spaces below the flyover were repurposed into vibrant hubs for the neighborhood to enjoy, encompassing community gardens, socializing zones and play equipment. Within this busy urban jungle, a new public world is flourishing.

3. Preserving Native Ecology

Pima Dynamite Trailhead by Weddle Gilmore Architects, Scottsdale, Arizona

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

Pima Dynamite Trailhead by Weddle Gilmore Architects Poised on the boundary between the city and the desert, the Pima Dynamite Trailhead in Scottsdale is a gateway of sorts between two worlds. The beginning of the trail is marked by an angular volume, clad in a corten steel skin that rises out of the sandy wilderness. As well as accommodating restrooms and amenities within, the center’s slatted overhangs frame outdoor rooms, oriented to maximize the outlook and provide respite for hikers, cyclists and equestrians.

Preserving the ecology of the Sonoran Desert was of the utmost importance to the project. To this end, new construction was restricted to land that had already been developed. The building’s low, unraveling form was carefully positioned to harmonize with the site’s natural drainage flow. Where the organic topography was disturbed, native plants were brought in to restore the terrain. These small, sensitive interventions ensure nature remains the guiding force.

4. Emphasizing the Metaphysical

Eucalyptus Society Garden by SWA GROUP / Los Angeles, Guangzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

Eucalyptus Society Garden by SWA GROUP / Los Angeles This astonishing public park at the heart of a college community in Guangzhou is a contemplative space where the metaphysical takes center stage. Defined by sweeping, curvilinear pathways and undulating lawns, scale and form are skilfully handled, resulting in an immersive, thought-provoking design.

The project is infused with cultural symbolism. An ancient Eucalyptus tree anchors the site, evoking the tree that Confucius is rumored to have given lectures beneath. Rhythmic circles radiate out around the trunk. The innermost and outermost rings comprise glass bricks, emblematic of the manmade and natural landscapes colliding. From the meandering 131-foot-long (40 meter) Wisdom Bridge to the pebble-like benches, the park’s architecture is a catalyst for rumination.

5. Fusing Urban and Organic Realms

OCT Bao’an OH BAY by LAGUARDA.LOW ARCHITECTS, Shenzhen China

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Urban & Masterplan

OCT Bao’an OH BAY by LAGUARDA.LOW ARCHITECTS Sprawling across 128 acres, this pioneering project on the waterfront of Shenzhen challenges conventional notions of the public park. Rather than a distinct, green space set apart from the city’s commercial hubbub, the new Central District Park combines natural landscapes with retail and cultural functions.

The terrain is complex and multi-layered. From the sky, the land is defined by an intricate pattern of green plazas and rippling hills. But on the ground, their hidden depths are revealed. Beneath the undulations of earth, shop façades emerge from beneath living roofs. A myriad of pathways and promenades snake across the park, connecting the retail village, business center, cultural center and book market. Here, the natural and urban realms are one and the same.

6. Modernizing Heritage Typologies

Shenzhen Lotus Water Culture Base: Landscape Design for Honghu Park Water Purification Station by NODE Architecture & Urbanism, Shenzhen, China

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape

Shenzhen Lotus Water Culture Base: Landscape Design for Honghu Park Water Purification Station by NODE Architecture & Urbanism This whimsical floating garden within a municipal park in Shenzhen sits on top of a submerged water purification facility. The project had numerous complex facets to negotiate, including concealing the plant’s protruding infrastructure. Ingenious design solutions were devised to transform the industrial site into a picturesque retreat for the city’s residents.

The architects turned to historic local typologies for inspiration. The pagodas, pavilions and gazebos of the traditional Lingnan garden, a landscape aesthetic native to the province of Guangdong, were the perfect fit to disguise the cylindrical volumes. Reimagined through a contemporary lens, the forms read as art installations. The tallest vent has been skilfully utilized as a birdwatching platform, while the other shafts offer vantage points where visitors can admire the lotuses. Form and function combine in perfect harmony.

Reference

Architecture

Paper Architecture: Diversity of Drawing Styles Hint at New Directions for Visualization

By Zarkon Group,06/11/2023

We are thrilled to announce the winners of Architizer’s inaugural Vision Awards, the world’s biggest awards program dedicated to the art of architectural representation. Sign up to receive future program updates >

Drawing is a reflection of how we imagine new futures. When we leave spaces and lines open to different interpretations, it gives room for diverse meanings and ideas. In turn, drawing styles are wide-ranging, from sketching and more technical techniques to colorful collages and more. The style that a designer or artist chooses gives way to different readings of light, space, form and place.

Celebrating diversity and ingenuity in different drawing styles, Architizer launched the Vision Awards to recognize the students, professionals and studios that are boldly envisioning architecture. The following work represents the winning entries in a variety of categories, all exploring different drawing styles today. From hand drawing to computer-aided and more, they illustrate how to bring buildings and cities to life. Each visionary work is accompanied by the text teams submitted to give context to their drawings or further provoke new readings of the work.

The Last Resort

By Nikhita Sivakumar, Student Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

“The Last Resort, a black hole observatory located in Greenwich Park, is a testament to humanity’s quest for survival and a gateway between alternate dimensions. As the stars emerge each night, the observatory awakens, physicists gathering within hallowed halls and pooling centuries of knowledge into one goal: seeking an inter-dimensional refuge in the race against our planet’s dying climate.

Scientists turn to the God Particle monument, a historic symbol of faith that bridges metaphysical understanding with spiritual reflection. The engineering facility, buried below the surface, aims to develop a voyager that may embark on this journey, whilst the telescope above decodes the nature of Sagittarius A*, located at the galactic centre of our own Milky Way. The Last Resort exists to bind science with the spiritual, drawing on the hope that brings these two worlds together.”

The Iceberg

By CEBRA architecture, Studio Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

“The Iceberg is among the first completed projects in the redevelopment of Aarhus’ former container port for 7,000 residents and 12,000 workplaces, spanning 800,000 meters square — one of Europe’s largest harborfront developments. The client, PensionDanmark, assigned CEBRA to maximize views and sunlight for every apartment. Challenging the master plan of closed blocks, The Iceberg consists of four L-shaped wings. The street spaces between the parallel wings open towards the water.

Founding Partner Mikkel Frost used watercolor to create a cartoonish concept drawing merging ancient techniques and contemporary styles, uniting problem-solving with artistic ambition. To obtain optimal daylight conditions and views over the bay, the angled volumes are cut up by a jagged roof profile. The structure offers well-arranged lighting and views to most apartments — even in the back row. The simple algorithm in the design created a stunning structure of eleven white peaks — like a floating iceberg.”

Fable or Failure

By Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing, Student Winners, 2023 Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

This imaginative drawing “Fable or Failure” by Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing won the 2023 Architizer Vision Award for a Student Drawing in the Computer Aided category. Jeong and Hing’s rendering reimagines a multitude of fantastical scenarios through space travel. As the duo notes, “Fable or Failure is a project that seeks to reimagine how space travel can be conceptualized in the distant future of societal development.” Taking the shape of an exploded axonometric drawing, the winning entry uses black, white and grey linework and shading, as well as a single color to denote outer space.

Together, Jeong and Hing are curious in how a visualization can pose questions of space, community and gathering. “Will space travel be dominated by the rich and corrupt with the ability to experience otherworldly and transformative events, commodifying it? Can we imagine a future of space travel dominated by imaginative individuals or kids, optimistic in carrying the hopes of the future of the earth with them to space? Through three distinct parts: navigation, archival and extension, the organization of the shuttle is designed for a plethora of humanity’s desires in space travel.”

Amsterdam City Centre Pub

By Olivia O’Callaghan, Student Creator Of The Year, 2023 Vision Awards

“Where do we go when we read? The pub designed for Amsterdam’s city centre aims to answer this, creating a bar residing in the metaphysical, that through its drawings invite you in, wherever you may be visiting the pub from. The pencil drawings emerge from data collected within the site at dusk when the pub opens. Small devices constructed from black mirrors and poetic fragments were taken to the site at this time and created textual openings to it, using the fragments as locators.

As the site darkened, the black mirrors became more intangible and only came to life out of the amorphous backdrop when aligned with the light from the surrounding nightlife. The data collected by these models at their points of activation became the information from which to tease out a sublime architecture dwelling in the textual world, activating the imagination just as reading does. But, just as when we become aware of the flow of our own reading, we lose access to the imagination of the text, and the entry to the bar. This is a bar that serves up drinks that intoxicate the imagination imagination and make visitors drunk from words alone.

The work aims to use the architect’s imagination as a field of play for data collection of responses to the site that becomes reworked through drawings. All the drawings are created and worked into simultaneously, creating a world in the drawings that is fully realized. Some drawings work to describe how the architecture looks whereas others, through their process, aim to investigate how the architecture operates.

I invite you now to look at the drawings and in visiting and revisiting them, entertain you and draw you in to the pub. The drawings become a condition of entry to the bar.”

VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go”

By LWD.Co.,Ltd, Studio Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

“Underlining the idea that CAD drawings can be done in many different styles, the drawing VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go” by LWD.Co was the Vision Awards Studio Winner this year for Computer Aided Drawing. As the team outlines, it was made as an “inspired design that tells the story of a beautiful farming village nestled in the valley alongside the Shokawa River, where one might find an old house reminiscent of a childhood fairy tale.” Reading like a comic, the juxtaposition of angles, moments and frames moves the eye through the drawing and text.

LWD.Co. wanted to create an illustration that highlights the architectural design of Gassho-zukuri houses. “Built using the same architectural characteristics as traditional houses, this design employs the architectural style called Gassho-zukuri. Gassho means hands folded together in prayer. The distinctive feature of this traditional Japanese architectural style is the large gable roof that looks like hands folded together. This creates a beautiful blend between the wooden Japanese frame and the architectural style of a traditional Thai house. This combination is perfect for the hot and humid climate of Thailand; the elevated structure which creates a faux-basement space underneath the house is just one of the unique characteristics of Thai-style houses.”

Treehouses Without Trees

By Thomas Wells Schaller, Professional Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

“There is a universe of possibility that spans the distance between what we look at and what we see. And in that space is our experience of the world. This is what I try to paint — the experience of seeing my world — from perspectives both external and from within. And as such, dreams, memories, and pure imagination are every bit as valid as is anything that can be physically observed.”

Thomas W. Schaller is an artist, architect, and author based in New York City. This work, Treehouses Without Trees, was created in response to lockdowns and inspired by the works of writer Ishiguro. It is a study of connection and isolation, the triumph of aspiration and resource over circumstance, and the looming prospect of an unknown future in a world under siege.

Reference

© Stan Zajączkowski (http://zajaczkowski.eu)

Architecture

30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland

By Zarkon Group,04/11/2023

Poland is a country that has been through severe political, economic and social turmoil in Eastern European history. The constantly shifting borders, postwar destruction and the catalytic role of the communist party, played a major in shaping the country’s identity. Emerging from the post-war ruins, Polish architecture was mainly a series of Brutalist structures, symbolizing the power and dominance of the governing totalitarian regimes. The famous book Brutal Poland is a photographic exploration that captures and exhibits the country’s distinctive Brutalist legacy.

However, after the 1950s and the country’s gradual de-Stalinization, architects were progressively crossing to the other side of the Iron Curtain, bringing elements of western modernism into their architecture. A large series of housing construction initiatives as well as high profile public buildings took place leading to the now iconic contemporary works of Polish architects Karol Żurawski, Krzysztof Ingarden and Daniel Libeskind. Undoubtedly, contemporary architecture firms hold great respect of the country’s iconic Brutalist character. Still, during the past two decades, they have transformed the Polish built environment into a collection of sensitively designed buildings, which have broken free of the massive forms and the raw concrete surfaces that had once been the norm of Polish architecture.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Poland based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Poland architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in Poland:

30. PORT

PORT means openess to us. The courage to gaze far into the unknown.Breathing fresh air. A place where different units arrive and depart. Many meanings are contained in the port. Variety and stabilization, technique and elemental strength, freshness, smell and taste of the ocean… Cooperation and individualitthe ocean… Cooperation and individuality. Freedom, joy, sometimes longing.

By saying Christian Norberg-Schulz ‘ ”Port” is, moreover, one of the most recognizable types of space, and in many languages this word is used as synonyms for security and belonging. (…) For people growing up in ports, the boat becomes a significant means of communication, giving them great freedom to choose the roads. Each project is part of our life-time, therefore every time we work hard to achieve something beautiful, important and interesting.

Some of PORT’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped PORT achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	4

29. Toprojekt

We work within the scope of the budget and the scale of the project. Sometimes we need to use a brick known for millennia, and in other place parametrically designed panels. We are interested in the processes from the emergence of the need, through all stages of the investment, to the operation of the building and the aging of materials. Even if we use the most common and long-proven methods, we always wonder if this is really a good choice, or if it can be done in better way. We still have more questions than answers.

Some of Toprojekt’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Toprojekt achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	17

28. ANALOG

ANALOG is an architecture studio run by Piotr Smierzewski. The projects by Piotr Smierzewski stand out for a strong sense of “place” and deep knowledge of the theory of architecture, what allows to reduce architecture to its very essence.

Some of ANALOG’s most prominent projects include:

Factory Full of Life, Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland
A1, Koszalin, Poland
Music School, Rybnik, Poland
LO06, Kolobrzeg, Poland
AZ15, Koszalin, Poland

The following statistics helped ANALOG achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

A+Awards Winner	1
Total Projects	12

27. 90 Architekci, Piotr Czarnecki

90 Architekci is the sum of our team’s experience. The variety of issues we deal with allows us to take a comprehensive look at the tasks set before us. Design drawings are for us a record of the total vision of the future object, so that meeting the expectations of the investor, which we meet, becomes a new, attractive and unique element of the surrounding space.

Our goal is to create architectural and urban projects, interior designs and industrial design at the highest level, both in terms of aesthetics and functions, as well as economics and management of the entire design process. The experience gained in the projects of public buildings, hotels, office and residential, projects of single-family houses and interior design, allow us to move freely in any design situation.

We provide the creation of complete documentation, cooperating with an experienced team of industry engineers. We are responsible for coordinating all industries and the project budget at all stages of its creation, as well as during copyright supervision on the construction site. Architecture is a field that combines art with technology, everyday life, economics and market laws. Aware of the complexity of all the elements that make up good architecture, we are at your disposal at every stage of design.

Some of 90 Architekci, Piotr Czarnecki’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped 90 Architekci, Piotr Czarnecki achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

26. TTAT

TTAT is an architecture firm based in Katowice, Poland. Its work is mainly centred around residential architecture.

Some of TTAT’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped TTAT achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

25. ARCHITEKT.LEMANSKI

Architectural office ARCHITEKT.LEMANSKI has been operating continuously since 2001. The team of architects specializes in the design of multi-family residential buildings, large-scale commercial buildings, production plants, warehouses, office buildings and industrial buildings. We also design single-family houses.

Some of ARCHITEKT.LEMANSKI’s most prominent projects include:

DOMO DOM, Kraków, Poland
NOWA Nowa Huta, Kraków, Poland
GG HOUSE, Krakow, Poland
BOXES, Krakow, Poland
DoPi House, Kraków, Poland

The following statistics helped ARCHITEKT.LEMANSKI achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	5

24. TEŻ ARCHITEKCI

TEŻ ARCHITEKCI is an architectural practice based in Poznań, Poland. Its three partners, Małgorzata Siekanko, Paulina Wielgosz-Konewka and Marta Sękowska-Kulińska, officially opened their office in January 2010.

Some of TEŻ ARCHITEKCI’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped TEŻ ARCHITEKCI achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	5

23. RYSY Architekci

“Hans Castorp leaned out so that a pair of petals fell on his sleeve; wanted to see them through the eyes of an expert (…) And among those millions of wizarding stars, in their invisible to the human eye, secret, miniature magnificence, there was no one similar to the other; it reigned here
infinite ingenuity in modifying and the subtlest shaping still one and this zamego scheme, equilateral and equiangular hexagon, and each of these cold creations was absolutely proportional and Iodically vulgar, and that was in them amazing, inorganic, hostile to life.”

Some of RYSY Architekci’s most prominent projects include:

Transport Hub, Solec Kujawski, Poland
The Health Resort Park, Horyniec-Zdrój, Poland
Observation Tower, Warsaw, Poland
Integrated Nursery School by RYSY Architekci, Góra Kalwaria, Poland
Market Town in Żołynia by RYSY Architekci, Górska, Żołynia, Poland

The following statistics helped RYSY Architekci achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	6

22. BudCud

BUDCUD is a contemporary architecture practice led by Mateusz Adamczyk and Agata Wozniczka, it has been operating from Cracow, Poland since 2011. The office is concerned with exploring contemporary conditions through spatial design, furthering architecture’s agency and currency. The name BUDCUD is indicative of our area of expertise and our design strategy.

‘Bud’ is a prefix that was added to many construction company’s names during the period of early Polish capitalism. While ‘bud’ is derived from the Polish word meaning ‘to build’, ‘cud’ on the other hand, means miracle, a wonder! The combination highlights our desire to imagine architecture as a promise of multi-threaded journeys and interactions, informal activities and unpredicted events.

Some of BudCud’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped BudCud achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	9

21. KMA Kabarowski Misiura Architekci

We specialize in projects for single and multi-family houses — modern, functional and adjusted to the needs of future inhabitants. Also, our team designs public buildings, such as office blocks and hotels as well as it prepares adaptation projects of existing buildings to new functions. Regardless of whether we work on a concept of a cosy villa or a green office building our aim is to always create a unique place where original form is harmonically combined with a logical plan and optimal construction solutions.

An area of equal importance in our activity are office and home spaces. Owing to our vast experience gained during cooperation with many investors we can economically and impressively transform the interiors of houses, medium and large companies as well as of public buildings.

Some of KMA Kabarowski Misiura Architekci’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped KMA Kabarowski Misiura Architekci achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

20. Meteor Architects

Meteor Architects is a team of people who share the commitment, optimism and the same vision of modern architecture. In our opinion, the fundamental value is a dialogue. Establishing positive relations between the building and surrounding , its history, tradition and atmosphere of the place, it is a true determiner of architecture’s quality. The dialogue with the future user, considering of his needs, habits and dreams is a guarantee of a well-served architecture.

Some of Meteor Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Meteor Architects achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

19. MOOMOO Architects

We are the only one office from Poland we have been awarded as one of 30 best young architects office in the world. All designs in our office are prepared in cooperation with qualified professionals. International experience allows us to develop private, commercial or housing projects in Poland and abroad.

Some of MOOMOO Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped MOOMOO Architects achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	3

18. Studio GAB

GAB is an emerging architectural and urban design firm, founded in 2016. Studio led by Katarzyna Osipowicz-Grabowska and Piotr Grabowski is focused on creating space for living, culture, work and leisure. In our projects, we are looking for the most appropriate spatial, material and semantic solutions.

Some of Studio GAB’s most prominent projects include:

House in Nowa Gorka, Poland, Nowa Górka, Poland
Warsaw Univerity’s Courtyard, Warsaw, Poland
House in Konin, Konin, Poland
Social housing estate, Wrocław, Poland
International Centre of Music, Żelazowa Wola, Poland

The following statistics helped Studio GAB achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	8

17. Atelier Starzak Strebicki

Atelier Starzak Strebicki is a practice for architecture, urbanism, research and design, based in Poznań, Poland. The team is led by Jola Starzak and Dawid Strębicki. The studio is working on variety of projects and research tasks in different scales, from furniture design to architectural projects to urban masterplanning and public space design. For three years they have also been realizing a temporary public space project on Wolności Square in Poznań for theater festival Malta.

Some of Atelier Starzak Strebicki’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier Starzak Strebicki achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	20

16. Superhelix Pracownia Projektowa – Bartłomiej Drabik

Bartłomiej Drabik, a Krakow native and architect and designer of industrial forms, has run his own design studio, Superhelix, since 2015. In addition to creating projects of buildings, interiors and products, he participates in architectural and design competitions, of which he has already won 15 awards.

The scope of Superhelix activities includes mainly architectural and design projects in the full range — from analysis, through concept, construction design, tender to executive and author supervision, graphic and marketing presentations, sales strategies, workshop drawings and three-dimensional models, prototyping and supervision of production. Each of these elements symbolizes a single DNA helix of the project, combined together to form a Superhelix.

The work is always done with great care — personally by Bartłomiejor with the support of a professional and trusted team — for the sake of achieving fulfillment and customer satisfaction.

Some of Superhelix Pracownia Projektowa – Bartłomiej Drabik’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Superhelix Pracownia Projektowa – Bartłomiej Drabik achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	4

15. WIZJA architectural office

“Wizja” Sp. z o.o. architectural office was founded by Stanisław Deńko and American architect Glenn Lewis in 1993. At the time, Stanisław Deńko had just come back from the US, where he had been invited by Professor Bill Rudd, Dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, to conduct classes on urbanist and architectural designing.

Some of WIZJA architectural office’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped WIZJA architectural office achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	4

14. STOPROCENT Architekci

We are a small Warsaw studio. We have gained experience in renowned foreign and Polish architectural offices by working on large facilities. We are also happy to undertake smaller, ambitious topics. We are primarily interested in design. Whatever we do, we are always 100 percent committed!

Some of STOPROCENT Architekci’s most prominent projects include:

S House, Warsaw, Poland
K-House, Konin, Poland
Flamingo House, Zory, Poland
House X, Warsaw, Poland
House Z, Warsaw, Poland

The following statistics helped STOPROCENT Architekci achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	9

13. BXB studio Boguslaw Barnas

BXB studio established by Bogusław Barnaś in December 2009 is an interdisciplinary design studio which attempts to creatively challenge issues in the fields of urbanism, architecture, art, design, graphics and publishing. In design work, the studio draws inspiration from Polish history and tradition, re-thinking traditional motifs and adapting them to contemporary design. In recent projects, the studio dwelled on folk notions such as the Zakopane Style or timber sacral architecture.

In creative practice, BXB studio places great emphasis on the relationship between man and nature. This aspiration is reflected in the character of places created – from urban schemes, to built forms and interiors.

Some of BXB studio Boguslaw Barnas’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped BXB studio Boguslaw Barnas achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	11

12. wiercinski-studio

wiercinski-studio is a versatile design studio founded and run by architect Adam Wierciński in Poznań. The studio creates projects of various themes and scales, from buildings to interiors and furniture. The spaces and functions designed by the studio are complemented by individual series of equipment such as furniture, lighting and details that affect the unique and individual character of the place. wiercinski-studio is expressed through unconventional solutions, sculptural and author’s objects, simple construction, natural, sincere and raw materials, and handicrafts of local craftsmen.

Some of wiercinski-studio’s most prominent projects include:

Yezyce Kuchnia, Poznań, Poland
Pavilion Szelag Garden, Poznań, Poland
Kontenerart 19, Poznań, Poland
Portable Cabin, Poznań, Poland
Proznosc Club, Poznań, Poland

The following statistics helped wiercinski-studio achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	7

11. Gornik Architects

Górnik Architects Studio was founded in 2009 by Mateusz and Magdalena Górnik. With the team of experienced architects and engineers they create residential buildings, detached houses, multi-family buildings, office buildings, hotels, urban and industrial architecture. The studio is a part of GF project group- the industrial engineering centre. Cooperating with Polish, Italian, Irish and Scottish design studios, architects gained their professional experience, worked out multiple techniques of designing and innovative attitude to work.

They are one of the first architects in Poland creating contemporary barns. Each of their projects is unique and adapted for specific needs of investors. Architecture for us is the tool for developing imagination and awareness, breaking stereotypes and fears of innovative solutions.

Some of Gornik Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Gornik Architects achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	8

10. major architekci

We are an architectural studio founded by Marcin Major in 2004. Since then, our projects have won numerous awards.

Some of major architekci’s most prominent projects include:

multigenerational social housing, Wrocław, Poland
Sports and Leisure Building at High School No.3, Wrocław, Poland
Industrial Hall W-7 Refurbishment, Wrocław, Poland
Bar Barbara, Wrocław, Poland
Acoustic House, Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

The following statistics helped major architekci achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	6

9. Zarysy

We are an interior design studio, a place where creativity is complemented by courage in design. We want to develop awareness and sensitivity to design, we are constantly looking for new inspirations and solutions so that our projects are characteristic, unique and surprising. At the same time, we know that even the most modern interior should remain “home.”

We put our heart and commitment into each project, so that the space we design is cozy and personal, but also one of a kind each time. For this reason, we undertake only a few projects each year, on which all our attention is focused.

Some of Zarysy’s most prominent projects include:

Top Of The Lake, Sroda Wielkopolska, Poland
Boroteka, Jamborek, Poland
KINO, Poznań, Poland
XIX Century Prairie, Warsaw, Poland
Koko Kanso, Poznań, Poland

The following statistics helped Zarysy achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	5

8. Piotr Hardecki Architekt

The award-winning architectural studio carries out multidisciplinary projects in urban planning, architecture and landscape design. Piotr Hardecki is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology.

Some of Piotr Hardecki Architekt’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Piotr Hardecki Architekt achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	12

7. FAAB

Founded by architects Adam Białobrzeski and Adam Figurski, FAAB creates innovative architecture and urban environments.

Architecture/ prototype architecture development/ landscape and urban environments/ interiors/ engineering and consultancy. As a constantly evolving practice we look for solutions responding to rapidly shifting and advancing modern life with the aspiration to look beyond the present.

Some of FAAB’s most prominent projects include:

WAVE 1, Sopot, Poland
Foundation for Polish Science Headquarters, Warsaw, Poland
PGE GiEk Concern Headquarters, Bełchatów, Poland
Blood Center, Raciborz, Poland
MOSS Salon, Kraków, Poland

The following statistics helped FAAB achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	6

6. Roark Studio

We are an architectural studio interested in neuroarchitecture, weel-being and healthy cities. We work with various scales and functions.

Some of Roark Studio’s most prominent projects include:

Nowe Kolibki, Gdynia, Poland
Atrium Oliva, Gdańsk, Poland
Creative Cluster, Gdańsk, Poland
Kielecka, Gdynia, Poland
Chlebova, Gdańsk, Poland

The following statistics helped Roark Studio achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	12

5. Neostudio Architekci

Neostudio was officially established in 2005 as an effect of a long-term cooperation between young and creative Polish architects: Paweł Świerkowski and Bartosz Jarosz.Having previously worked at various award winning architectural offices, Pawel and Bartosz gained practical experience of creating aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective solutions. Supported by the knowledge and experience of other architects and engineers, we offer our clients a full range of architectural, engineer, cost-estimate and analytic service. Neostudio Architects has an expanding network of clients including public and corporate sector clients. We guarantee them the highest quality of serivce.

Some of Neostudio Architekci’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Neostudio Architekci achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	15

4. xystudio

The xystudio architectural studio was founded in 2004 by Filip Domaszczynski, Marta Nowosielska and Dorota Sibińska. For years, we have devoted ourselves to the passion of designing in various fields. We deal in particular with public facilities. These are nurseries, kindergartens, help houses, representative facilities such as embassies and single-family houses for demanding customers. Years of work have taught us to design that puts the needs of the viewer in the foreground. The experience gained helps to combine architecture with its more fleeting partner: psychology.

We perform projects comprehensively, often enriching them with interior designs tailored to the needs of our unusual clients, solving executive details – such a path guarantees the execution of consistent implementations that we can boast of. We are winners of the Architectural Award of the 2015 Polityka, the Grand Prix of the Polityka Award from 2020, the Life in Architecture competition in 2015-2020, the Grand Prix of the Architectural Award of the President of Warsaw in 2020, the Brick Arard 2021 award, many SARP awards, the Accessibility Leader, the PLGBC Award and the “Must have” award.

Over the past years, we have put into use over several dozen nurseries and kindergartens, which have introduced new design standards for the youngest. For our customers, a brand of certified Locomoco furniture was created, which complement our projects with their design. Work is our way of life. We invite you to cooperate.

Some of xystudio’s most prominent projects include:

Suwalki Kindergarten, Suwalki, Poland
Yellow Elephant Kindergarten, Ostrów Mazowiecka, Poland
The nursery in Wesoła, Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Primart School in Wesoła, Warsaw, Poland
Nursery in Adamów, Adamów, Poland

The following statistics helped xystudio achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	9

3. Robert Konieczny KWK Promes

Robert Konieczny is an architect, graduate of Architecture at Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. In 1996 he received the certificate of New Jersey Institute of Technology. A leader and a founder of KWK Promes architecture studio established in 1999. In 2012 he became an independent expert for The Mies van der Rohe Foundation.

Konieczny was six times nominee of the European Award of Mies van der Rohe Foundation (for Aatrial House, OUTrial House, Komoda House, Broken House, Safe House and Auto-Family House). Moreover he is a holder of the prestigious award for the House of the Year 2006, winning with the Aatrial House as the best housing project in a competition organized by World Architecture News. In 2007 the KWK Promes office was listed among 44 best young architects of the world published by ‘Scalae’.

Some of Robert Konieczny KWK Promes’s most prominent projects include:

Top image: Dialogue Centre Przełomy, Szczecin, Poland

The following statistics helped Robert Konieczny KWK Promes achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	14

2. mode:lina™

Show us your breakfast and we’ll show you your kitchen. We are the architects focused on your needs. We start every project by researching what it is you need and how you live – and we finish with you being happy with the results of our cooperation even 20 years later.

mode:lina™ – was founded in Poznań in 2009 by Paweł Garus and Jerzy Woźniak. Both architects were part of Liong Lie/123DV architectural studio in Rotterdam.

Some of mode:lina™’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped mode:lina™ achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	62

1. RS+ Robert Skitek

The original RS+ design studio was founded in 2001. The founder and main designer is architect Robert Skitek, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology (diploma 1999). Architect IARP – authorizations to design in architectural specialization without limitations. Member of the City Architectural and Urban Planning Commission in Tychy and the Council of the City Museum in Tychy.

Our team, which actively participates in the design of the project at every stage. It is created by ambitious and responsible people for whom designing is a passion and great pleasure.

Some of RS+ Robert Skitek’s most prominent projects include:

Water Playground, Tychy, Poland
XV House, Kraków, Poland
M House, Tychy, Poland
Footbridges in Jaworek Park in Tychy, Tychy, Poland
Two Barns House, Tychy, Poland

The following statistics helped RS+ Robert Skitek achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Poland:

Featured Projects	14
Total Projects	20

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

Project completed within the last 3 years
A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
High quality, in focus photographs
At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

Reference

Architecture

7 Public Buildings Redefining the Architectural Identity of Amman, Jordan

By Zarkon Group,01/11/2023

Architizer’s new image-heavy daily newsletter, The Plug, is easy on the eyes, giving readers a quick jolt of inspiration to supercharge their days. Plug in to the latest design discussions by subscribing.

Considered one of the fastest-growing cities in the region, the capital of Jordan is striving to find its place in the modern world while holding on to its heritage and culture. The architecture in Jordan has been shaped by these two polarities, developing and transforming in response to the needs of the people and their shift towards a more globalized way of living. In Amman, stone has always been considered the marker of the city’s identity, used widely in construction as one of the country’s natural resources and the most reliable building material in terms of efficiency and performance.

Through this collection, 7 public projects in Amman will be showcased, designed by local and international offices, as examples of projects that are changing the face of architecture in the city through their innovative designs, building technologies and ability to strike a balance between the local and the universal.

Amman Compound

By UPA Italia, Amman, Jordan

Located directly adjacent to the 3rd circle in Amman, at the threshold between the old historical center and the more recently developed areas of the city, this compound was designed to reflect the spirit of the place and its location. Housing a number of floors of serviced apartments on top of a commercial center, spa, gym and underground parking, the mass of the building is divided over a number of layers with free curves that dynamically change shape around the building’s edges. On the plot, an existing historical building was reserved, turned into a restaurant with a commercial area.

Queen Alia International Airport

By Foster + Partners, Amman, Jordan

For anyone visiting Amman for the first time, the experience of arriving at Queen Alia Airpot is one that welcomes passengers with open arms, which might have been a notion that inspired the airport’s layout. Inside the airport, activity seems to seamlessly flow across the terminals’ multiple platforms, which are together covered by a massive concrete shell structure that imitates the traditional design of domes.

Inspired by the vernacular architecture of the region, the designing team utilized a number of passive design strategies that helped regulate the indoor environment, with the use of courtyards, horizontal louvres, vegetation and the openings in the roof that allow sunlight in and help regulate the temperature.

Al Rawda Mosque

By Uraiqat Architects, Amman, Jordan

How can the design of a mosque become more contemporary and reflective of its time? That was the question that guided the local designing team of Al Rawada Mosque in Amman, who worked together to create what they described as the first contemporary mosque in Amman.

After a process of extensive research, the team deduced a number of progressive practices that helped them abstract a mosque’s different components and reinterpret them in new ways that could be seen in the building’s exterior and interior. The team also used computational design to design and construct the modern geometrical patterns on the facade, which complemented the building’s dynamic geometry and unconventional aspirations.

Amman Rotana Hotel

By Architecturestudio, Amman, Jordan

Photo by Aiman AlAkhras

Photo by Antoine Duhamel

The new Rotana Tower could be spotted from almost anywhere in Amman, boldly imposing itself on the city’s skyline, erected as a strong landmark that signals the capital’s transformation towards a new era. Built as part of the new Abdali project at the center of Amman, Rotana Tower and the entirety of the Abdali development impose a new layer to the city’s identity, with its bold use of steel and glass among other elements of the international style.

Consisting of 615 feet (188 meter) tower on top of a platform, Amman Rotana hotel offers a 360 view of the city of Amman, opening a window towards the city’s past through views to its historic center, while opening another towards the city’s globalized future.

Amman Baccalaureate School – IB Diploma Collage

By Tahhan and Bushnaq Architects, Amman, Jordan

Through the design of this school, the designing team proved that less is more. Consisting of simple rectilinear forms, the design of the school depended on the use of strong horizontal and vertical lines that produced the building’s geometry and guided the process of designing the openings.

The buildings’ form was further emphasized by the use of motorized vertical louvres that helped regulate temperature between summer and winter, while also stressing on the rectilinearity of the building. Stone was used in the design of the facades, in a manner that reflected the local identity of the city, nicely contrasted with the shape and color of the tall vertical trees that further integrated the buildings into their setting.

Farah General Hospital

By Tahhan and Bushnaq Architects, Amman, Jordan

The designing team of Farah General Hospital understood the healing powers of nature, and for those reasons, designed a hospital that was in conversation with its environment, utilizing green strategies that maximized patient comfort and care. The design of the building also made use of advanced medical technologies that helped serve the patients, while also allowing the building to enhance its environmental efficiency and performance.

Stone was used as a cladding material for a number of the hospital’s buildings, in a manner that better integrated the hospital with the surrounding context and created a more grounded relationship with the neighbourhood at entry level.

The Commercial Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

By maisam architects & engineers, Amman, Jordan

Within the walls of this complex sits the Visa Center for the Republic of China-Taiwan, the ambassador residence and a public garden. Through an intricate yet dynamic design, the local design office managed to organize the space in a manner that ensured the needed privacy for the embassy and ambassador residence, while also opening up the space for the public to enjoy the garden and access the visa center. The architecture of the buildings also aimed to celebrate the Taiwanese and Jordanian culture, and present a space that merged notions and values of both nations.

Reference

Architecture

Transcending Typology: 6 Ways Architects Are Transforming New Spiritual Spaces

By Zarkon Group,17/10/2023

Religion is steeped in symbolism, and places of worship are, by extension, physical manifestations of these belief systems. Architecture is a powerful vehicle for spirituality. It allows the ethereal, the conceptual, to be made tangible and concrete. Spatial design can give form to the cornerstones of faith, orchestrating vast volumes of veneration and shaping intimate nooks for introspection.

Yet, we’ve moved far beyond traditional, time-honored typologies of religious space. Architects continue to experiment with light, scale and form to create subversive and surprising sacred structures. From awe-inspiring parametric projects to a meditative woodland retreat, discover the ways these wonderous places of worship, recognized at the 11^th A+Awards, are forging new pathways to architectural enlightenment.

1. Calling on Curvilinear Forms

Sanctuario De La Salle by CAZA, Biñan, Philippines

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Sanctuario De La Salle by CAZA

Sanctuario De La Salle by CAZA In a dramatic departure from the historic cruciform plan, this remarkable church in the Philippines is defined by its striking, amorphous form. Shrouded by woodland, the mysterious edifice is veiled by a rhythmic curtain of white slats, eschewing precise angles for flowing, curvilinear lines. The building embraces organic shapes, while its permeable façade establishes a dialogue between the inner world of worship and the external landscape.

At the heart of the church is the drum-shaped congregation hall, framed by a sweeping clerestory window. Above, the tilted ceiling evokes the orbital arc of the planets, reinforcing the connection between the congregation and the wider universe. A series of spherical rooms flank the hall, situated within a larger circulatory area, the small pockets forming a communal space greater than the sum of its parts.

2. Experimenting With Glazing

Church of the Holy Family by ARQBR Arquitectura e Urbanismo, Brasília, Brazil

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Church of the Holy Family by ARQBR Arquitectura e Urbanismo A casualty of urbanization, the trees that once surrounded this site in Brasília were all but removed to make way for an adjacent expressway. The acreage’s new Catholic church seeks to reawaken the bucolic soul of the land and illuminate the relationship between the spiritual and environmental realms.

The circular nave, peaceful in its monolithic presence, is partially embedded underground, beneath the natural height of the plot. Inside, parallel ribbons of glazing encase the perimeter. Inset into the roof, a ring of skylights illuminates the ripple of wood panels below. A sweeping glass band rises behind the lectern, balancing on the horizon, drawing the external terrain in. This remarkable project recenters and internalizes the landscape, infusing it with religious significance.

3. Memorializing the Past

Saint Sarkis Church by David Hotson_Architect, Carrollton, Texas

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Saint Sarkis Church by David Hotson_Architect While this astonishing church stands in East Texas, it draws on an ecclesiastical tradition some 8,000 miles away. A homage to the historic Armenian church of Saint Hripsime, it features the same domed form, built some 1,400 years on from its counterpart. The structure’s sculptural interior, carved from glass-fiber reinforced concrete, follows the lead of its ancient inspiration. Lighting fixtures, air-conditioning ducts and other modern interventions have been skilfully concealed, creating an ethereal finish that transcends time.

The very fabric of this grand edifice was conceived as a moving memorial too. The west façade is clad in digitally printed porcelain rainscreen, depicting the traditional Armenian cross and motifs drawn from the country’s vernacular art. Yet, upon closer examination, a secondary layer of meaning unfurls — the design dissolves into 1.5 million infinitesimal pixels, representative of the victims of the Armenian genocide.

4. Honoring the Organic World

Meristem Chapel by MOTIV Architects, Surrey, Canada

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Pavilions

Meristem Chapel by MOTIV Architects This enchanting chapel in British Columbia was conceived as a peaceful place of reflection and reconnection with the organic landscape, at a distance from the frenetic hubbub of modern life. Its name, Meristem, references a plant tissue found in the roots and shoots of foliage, which instigates the growth of new cells. In the same way, this unassuming space seeks to instill spiritual growth in those who find refuge within its walls.

Nestled in woodland, the structure’s steeply pitched form mirrors the silhouette of the surrounding conifers. The materials used in its construction are deeply rooted in the chapel’s locale — plywood and nail-laminated timber panels were salvaged from deconstructed buildings less than 200 meters from the site. Exposed wood envelops the interior, forming a calming space for contemplation. Twelve skylights are embedded in the ridge of the roof, casting mesmerizing sunbeams across the woodwork.

5. Playing with Perforated Skins

Kol Emeth Center by Field Architecture, Palo Alto, California

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Cultural/Institutional Building

Kol Emeth Center by Field Architecture Envisaged as a progressive beacon, this extraordinary synagogue in California combines centuries-old tradition with modern values, articulated through cutting-edge construction methods. The project negotiated a number of restrictions, including an awkward, triangular plot, a single-story height limit and a tight budget. The result is a versatile place of worship that utilizes humble materials and honors the structure’s environmental context.

The building’s sleek, glazed frame is encircled by a striking perforated skin. A stunning example of parametric design, four tiers of rotating timber slats have been carefully calibrated to maximize the site’s light levels. In the prayer hall, a slatted dropped ceiling falls in organic undulations, allowing light from the glazing above to filter through. Thanks to the synagogue’s porous shroud, its spiritual spaces are punctuated with glimpses of the verdant woodlands and wildflowers.

6. Merging Unexpected Typologies

Madaline Terrace by Dake Wells Architecture, Springfield, Missouri

Special Mention, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Madaline Terrace by Dake Wells Architecture This innovative project sits at a juncture between contrasting worlds. Bridging Springfield’s energetic commercial district and a quiet neighborhood, the building fuses two surprising typologies: a private law practice and a chapel. Visually compelling, the modernist-inspired structure masterfully balances the needs of its client, a minister and attorney with a proclivity for Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.

The building reads as a tale of two functions, belied by a unifying architectural thread. A low pavilion houses the law office, accentuated by protruding fins that offer shade from the Missouri sun. Meanwhile, the chapel is expressed as a white cubic volume floating above the brickwork. Inside, the mass has been carved into a majestic, vaulted space. The sequestered glazing in the roof becomes a series of picture frames, capturing snapshots of the tree canopy while obscuring the hustle and bustle of the thoroughfare below.

Reference

Architecture

30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing

By Zarkon Group,14/10/2023

From the legendary Forbidden City and the narrow streets and hutongs to skyscrapers and one-of-a-kind cultural centers, Beijing has become one of the most transformed cities of the 21st century. After being a true site of architectural antiquity for 3000 years, shaped mainly by the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the 1950s, Beijing officially became the capital city of the People’s Republic of China and efforts for its “architectural modernization” were initiated.

Still, it wasn’t until the 2008 Olympics that the city became a testing ground for many renowned Western architects. Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid and many more were drawn to Beijing’s growing economy and global recognition, eager to contribute to its architectural legacy. The Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Galaxy SOHO and the CCTV’s Headquarters are some of the numerous architectural additions to the Beijing skyline.

Meanwhile, local studios still play prominent roles in shaping their city. Combining the thousand years of architectural tradition with contemporary modern practices, Beijing-based architectural studios design projects for all intents and purposes. Urban squares, modern residences and even siheyuan restorations are all part of their portfolios, aiming to transform what was once a city designed for pedestrians and camels to what came to be one of the leading “architectural melting pots” of the Eastern world.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in Beijing based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of Beijing architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in Beijing:

30. JANG Studio

JANG was founded in 1985 as family enterprise producing custom-made furniture. Today, JANG is an international design and production company run by two generations. We are a passionate team of designers and furniture producers led by architect Filip Galuszka. We specialize in furniture making, interior design and small scale architectural design. We work with the same commitment, both in Poland and China merging different cultures and production solutions. Welcome to our JANG profile.

Some of JANG Studio’s most prominent projects include:

ANCHORET 3.0, Beijing, China
YUNZHU, Beijing, China
ANCHORET 2.0., Beijing, China
ANCHORET 1.0. , Beijing, China
ANCHORET 4.0., Beijing, China

The following statistics helped JANG Studio achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	8

29. B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio

Founded in 2014, B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio was established in Beijing by Japanese architects Shuhei Aoyama and Yoko Fujii. It is an international architecture studio full of youthfulness and vitality oriented towards architecture and architectural interior design.

B.L.U.E. is the abbreviation of Beijing Laboratory for Urban Environment, and it is also the core design philosophy of the studio. Focusing on the intense collision of rich history and vanward thought of Beijing, B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio is working on the design practices of architecture, interior design, product design and art. In other to archive the research on urban physics, society, culture and environment, thus seek to create a design platform that truly connects the urban environments.

Some of B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	9

28. Vector Architects

We still have faith in the primitive, tranquil and eternal power embodied within architecture itself. It can travel through time and resist unrest and uncertainty. Architecture needs to address the context and respond to the realistic problems of social, political and environmental parameters. However, after solving all the problems, architecture needs to eventually retain its capacity of going beyond the constraints of reality, to reclaim its raison d’être, that is, to soothe our body and soul.

Architecture is a medium to closely connect ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally with the world we live in. In our view, this is the courage as well as the ultimate responsibility that architecture should have. Since the establishment of Vector Architects in 2008, among the miscellaneous clues in architecture, we focus intensely on the issues of site, light and making during the fifteen years of practice.

Some of Vector Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Vector Architects achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	2

27. PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE

Founded in 2009, PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE is actively engaged in a broad range of projects of various scales, from offices, artist studios, exhibition spaces to installation, furniture, etc. Our design begins with identification and analysis of cultural and physical context of the site and drawing inspiration from it. Then a theme of design is to be acquired. This theme will be tangibly represented through the device of architecture and determines the nature of material, light and space. The theme will be transformed as a result of the reaction when it confronts with site, programmatic requirements, and other external forces. Design process is to discover, during the “reaction,” the threshold between perceptibility and imperceptibility of the theme.

Some of PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE’s most prominent projects include:

Praxis d’ Studio renovation, Beijing, China
Ying gallery renovation, Jiangshan, Quzhou, China
Lake Shore Artist Studio, Miyun, Beijing, China
TIANYUN COMPLEX, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped PRAXiS d’ARCHITECTURE achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	4

26. CAA Architects

CAA Architects is an architecture studio focusing on all aspects of design, from product, interior, architecture and urban planning, with a strong intention on merging architecture and art, whilst redefining how these two disciplines work in the age of digital technology and content.
CAA Architects was founded by Liu Haowei in 2005, and has established its main office in Beijing following the concept of “Design for Tomorrow”. CAA Architects is made up of a culturally diverse group of designers with both extensive local and international experiences, all looking to merge architecture and art into an experiential solution.

Some of CAA Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped CAA Architects achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	9

25. PLAT ASIA

Being an international team of architects and designers, PLAT ASIA was founded in Beijing in 2010, by Baoyang Bian and Donghyun Jung, who share the oriental cultural background. Based on the constant research and analysis of the bewildering social backdrop nowadays, PLAT ASIA has been endeavoring in optimizing the living conditions without sacrificing the future living environment. Moreover, PLAT ASIA not only designs to discover new opportunities and means of land occupation, but to carry forward oriental philosophies of nature, architecture and value as well.

Some of PLAT ASIA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped PLAT ASIA achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	8

24. ARCHISTRY design&research office

ARCHISTRY design& research office is a diverse design studio based in Beijing, China. It provides overall services of international planning, architecture, interiors, lighting, landscapes, exhibitions, graphic and product design.

ARCHISTRY design&research office at the center of this multi-element and contradiction can easily invite integrating local culture, city and historical background as pioneering design inspirations. Considering our recent construction-related issues, approaching beyond the delimitation of traditional design, we are trying to challenge and interpret the traditional boundaries of architecture in other complementary ways.

ARCHISTRY design&research office always focus on the main business of architectural space design integration since its establishment, and has maintained good cooperative relations with many cultures, art teams and institutions.

Some of ARCHISTRY design&research office’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ARCHISTRY design&research office achieve 24th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

23. Z’scape

Z’ scape was founded by Mr. Zhou Liangjun and Ms. Zhou Ting in Beijing. Cooperating with world-class architectural and planning firms as well as consultant teams, we are devoted to providing high-quality landscape planning and design for cultural tourism developers, real estate developers and the government. Our works include public spaces, cultural projects, boutique hotels, urban renovations, mix-used and residential projects, etc.

Our team has international perspective, overseas educational background and working experience, rich experience in management and construction, excellent professional expertise and unique creativity. Z’ scape has always kept a moderate size to ensure the involvement of the chief designers and the control of details, which will effectively guarantee the execution and realization of the design ideas.
Firmly believing that design is of great value, Z’ scape is committed to the research and practice in the fields of landscape, art and design.

Some of Z’scape’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Z’scape achieve 23rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	2

22. Yuan Ye Architects

© China Construction Engineering Design Group Corporation Limited, Yuan Ye Architects

Yuan Ye architects is a studio with members from different countries.Our business wisdom comes from our insistence on the originality of design, in-depth research and insight into culture, and optimism for technological progress and social innovation. We do our best for any project to meet the challenge with the greatest attitude, and show our innovative spirit and professionalism. The studio has been focusing on cultural projects for a long time, and has made achievements in this field, accumulated a high professional reputation, and won market reputation and social recognition.

Some of Yuan Ye Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Yuan Ye Architects achieve 22nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	1

21. WAY Studio

WAY Studio is an innovative architecture and design studio with a focus on coalescing architecture with art and technology. With consideration for artistic representation at its core, WAY Studio has focused on discovering new possibilities through cross-disciplinary collaborations. We are highly experienced in interdisciplinary work alongside artists, designers, consultants, engineers and more, seeking new possibilities in every situation. We are interested in looking towards what is next, to pioneer a new WAY, and to find the balance between people and nature, culture and technology. WAY Studio currently has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Vancouver.

Some of WAY Studio’s most prominent projects include:

Dreaming Someone, Beijing, China
WAY-out-of-the-box, Shanghai, China
“Tales from the Loop”- Living Amongst Ancient Trees, Huizhou, China
Lianyi – moody MOONCAKE pavilion, Shanghai, China
MTG Learning Center, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped WAY Studio achieve 21st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	9

20. Cun Design

We mainly compose the interior design for front business space and back office space, front business space including: the core business flagship stores, display and sales space and other business environment design; the back office space including like: R & D base, office headquarters, corporate chambers and other overall working environmental design.

At the same time, we pay attention to and focus on urban renewal construction. In the process of urban renewal and construction, CUN 寸DESIGN has spent a lot of time doing ma ssive research and summarization on Chinese’s 50 to 100-year-old historical buildings, and also proposed that space designers need to pay more attention and advocacy to the past. Designers, through good design, should let the emerging business industry regain its life in the old buildings of the city, and make the city become a more ecological existence. The city’s self-renewal will inevitably need our efforts and reflections.

Some of Cun Design’s most prominent projects include:

Office design for Blue Moon Films: A Line between Time, Beijing, China
Green Leopard Lighting’s flagship store, Zhongshan, China
Space Design of Elephant-Parade Office-the world’s leading marketing agency, Beijing, China
Encounter a beam of light in design- Portugal SERIP Lighting Exhibition Hall, Beijing, China
From Nature: Creative Interior Design of Rosemoo Office in Beijing, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped Cun Design achieve 20th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	6

19. MARS Studio

MARS Studio was founded in New York, USA, and later moved its headquarters to Beijing. It is an international architecture studio full of vitality and energy oriented towards architecture and interior design. The founding partner of the firm, Ma Ning, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in MAD Architects in Beijing and Bjarke Ingels Group (B.I.G) in New York. His past design projects include S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory in Italy, Harbin Opera House, Xiamen Xin he Headquarter, Manhattan 45 Broad St Skyscraper, Sanya Phoenix Island Villas, Taipei Bade Road Residential Towers, Brooklyn 205M Twin Towers, Ecuador super high-rise residence and so on.

In short years since opening MARS-Studio has won numerous international awards and has gained wide media including Archdaily, Designboom, Gooood, Dezeen, Inheritage, Aspects Media, AC Architecture, Hospitality Design Magazine, Global Design, IFDM, IDEAT and many others.

Some of MARS Studio’s most prominent projects include:

SOMESOME Bar & Restaurant, Beijing, China
Tianfu Conference Center, Chengdu, China
Tarentum Bar & Restaurant, Shenzhen, China
Noodlology Restaurant, Beijing, China
The Summer Palace Restaurant, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped MARS Studio achieve 19th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	4
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	14

18. Golucci Interior Architects

Golucci Interior Architects brings spaces to life for some of the world’s most iconic brands. Tactile, layered and immersive interiors have established our reputation for masterful storytelling through design, and have made our hospitality and restaurant projects award-winning and time-tested.

Golucci Interior Architects is the Taiwanese designer LEE Hsuheng’s 20 years of experience imagining and realizing extraordinary interiors. Fueled by a singular vision to create unforgettable design experiences, we have cultivated award-winning projects based on partnerships with the world’s preeminent hotel and restaurant groups, hospitality companies and top chefs.

With an ever-expanding scope of work which now includes hospitality programming, architecture design, furniture, fixtures and equipment design, Golucci Interior Architects is simultaneous defining a new era of creative interiors while keeping a spirit grounded by the unending desire to tell authentic design stories.

Some of Golucci Interior Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Yijian Cafe, Shanghai, China
Si-Pu Nabe, Shanghai, China
The Goose Hut Bistro APM , Beijing, China
DianDianYiPin ChaChaanTeng, Beijing, China
Vitaland kid restaurant, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped Golucci Interior Architects achieve 18th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	33

17. DL Atelier

Beijing-based DL Atelier was found in 2012 by Liu Yang and Xu Dan. Our designs are all about feelings and memories. People relaxing under the shadow of trees with bucket loads of sunshine is the ideal scene for us, which leads us follow the flow of inspiration on our work.

Some of DL Atelier’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped DL Atelier achieve 17th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	3
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	11

16. Trace Architecture Office

TAO (TRACE ARCHITECTURE OFFICE) was founded by Li Hua in 2009 in Beijing. It is a design studio committed to architecture, urban, landscape and furniture design. Trace is surviving mark of things, and evidence of time fragments accumulation. The production of architecture is a process with confrontation of various will powers and values, full of contradiction and complexity. Architecture itself is a record of its time and nature.

Looking at “trace and process” suggests our approach to architecture. TAO is concerned with the social, cultural and ecological significance in making process of architecture from design to construction; While architecture always face the conflict between past, present and future, between regional and global, between individual and collective, TAO rejects a simple and brutal attitude and explores how to achieve a subtle balance.

Some of Trace Architecture Office’s most prominent projects include:

Museum of Handcraft Paper, Yunnan, China
Xinzhai Coffeee Manor, Baoshan, China
Swan Lake Bridge House and Viewing Tower, Shandong, China
Huandao Middle School, Haikou, Haikou, China
Xiadi Paddy Field Bookstore of Librairie Avant-Garde, Fujian, China

The following statistics helped Trace Architecture Office achieve 16th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

Featured Projects	11
Total Projects	6

15. DAGA Architects

As a pioneer and practitioner in the field of “Urban Renovation” in China, DAGA Architects is widely participated in architectural design, interior design, urban planning and landscape design projects, providing international standard design quality, focusing on creativity and details. DAGA Architects also track the whole process of the project. Especially in the practice of co-working and co-living renovation in Beijing hutong area, DAGA Architects find a way to balance the existing building and new design ,provide people with a more harmonious and shared lifestyle.

Some of DAGA Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Dongsi 5Lmeet, Beijing, China
Hangzhou Vanke Times Commune, Hangzhou, China
Transparent Hutong Installation: From Physics to Phenomena , Beijing, China
Gulou Office Renovation, Beijing, China
Qingdao Metro CR International Ocean Intelligence Zone Accelerator Office, Qingdao, China

The following statistics helped DAGA Architects achieve 15th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	21

14. Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM)

Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM) is an award-winning art, landscape and architectural design firm with offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Founded in 2007, BAM became anomalous as a locally grown design firm in China started by foreigners. The experience of establishing a design practice in a rapidly changing contemporary Chinese metropolis gives BAM a unique insight into the role of design in today’s cities.

BAM’s diverse team of designers has delivered projects for clients in China, Taiwan, the US, the UK, Iceland and Belgium. Since our founding BAM believes our collective idea of nature is gradually changing. As technology continuously shapes our environment, our perception of nature is becoming outdated.

Some of Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM)’s most prominent projects include:

Daxing Green Hub and Park, Daxing District, Beijing, China
Xiaoyunlu 8, MAHA Residential Park, Beijing, China
Play ‘n Learn Water Mountain, Tianjin 4A Sports Park, Tianjin, China
Legend Jiangbei Mixed-Use and Residential, Nanjing, China
Shoukai Vanke Daxing, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM) achieve 14th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	3
A+Awards Finalist	4
Featured Projects	12
Total Projects	20

13. aoe

aoe is equipped with a team of designers who balance scientiﬁc exactitude and creative innovation. Made up of an international background, the team provides solutions to modern urban life based on scrupulous in-depth research, its business includes commercial, complex, cultural, oﬃce, hotel, high-end housing, education, planning and interior design, project covers more than 20 provinces and cities in China, and each design project has won the praise of the owners and produced a good social impact.

Its insightful, market-ready designs are a testament to its all-around excellent service. In an era of rapid development, aoe is a vehicle of progress with its vision for human life in the twenty-ﬁrst century city.

Some of aoe’s most prominent projects include:

Chongqing Sunac One Central Mansion Sales Pavillion, Chongqing, China
ShuiFa Info Town Property Exhibition Centre, Jinan, China
Sino-Italian Cultural Exchange City Reception Center, Chengdu, China
Haikou International Duty Free Reception Center, Haikou, China
Heze Courtyard No.1 Sales Office, Heze, China

The following statistics helped aoe achieve 13th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	5
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	13

12. OPEN Architecture

© Jonathan Leijonhufvud Architectural Photography

OPEN is a passionate team of designers collaborating across different disciplines to practice urban design, landscape design, architectural design and interior design, as well as the research and production of design strategies in the context of new challenges. We believe in the innovative power of architecture to transform people and the way they live, while striking a new balance between the manmade and nature.

OPEN was founded by LI Hu and HUANG Wenjing in New York City. It established its Beijing office in 2008. Some built and ongoing projects by OPEN include: the Gehua Youth and Cultural Center, Garden School/Beijing No.4 High School Fangshan Campus, Tsinghua Ocean Center, Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Tank Shanghai, UCCA Dune Art Museum, Chapel of Sound and Qingpu Pinghe International School. OPEN has been widely recognized for its innovative work.

Some of OPEN Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

Garden School, Beijing, China
HEX-SYS, Guangdong, China
Stepped Courtyards, Fuzhou, China
Tank Shanghai, Shanghai, China
UCCA Dune Art Museum, Qinhuangdao, China

The following statistics helped OPEN Architecture achieve 12th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	14
Total Projects	12

11. He Wei Studio／3andwich Design

He Wei, PhD, is a practicing architect and a professor at the School of Architecture, China Central Academy of Fine Arts. He Wei is also Vice Chairman of the Rural Architecture Committee, The Architectural Society of China and Vice Director, Environmental Art Illuminating Committee, Beijing Illuminating Engineering Society, in addition to serving as Editor-in-Chief of the German Professional “Lighting Design” Magazine, Chinese edition and sitting on the Editorial Committee of “Community” Magazine.

Some of He Wei Studio／3andwich Design’s most prominent projects include:

Limestone Gallery, Anlong, Qianxinan, China
Stone Nest Amphitheatre for Community Activities , Weihai, China
Shangping Village Regeneration – Yang’s School Area, Jianning, Sanming, China
The Water Drop Library, Huizhou, China
Ding Hui Yuan Zen & Tea Chamber, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped He Wei Studio／3andwich Design achieve 11th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	11

10. CPLUS

CPLUS is an architecture firm with an international perspective, co-founded by Cheng Yanchun and Li Nan in Beijing in 2014. CPLUS believes that architecture aims to create a medium for dialogue between people and the environment. As living organism that constantly changes over time, architecture responds to the history of human exploration of nature and the construction of cities.

Some of CPLUS’s most prominent projects include:

Jingyuan No.22 Transformation, Beijing, China
Nashare Hotel, Xiamen, China
LAB Art Museum, Chongqing, China
“Floating Island” Restaurant, Chongqing, China
“Hair Focus” Hair Salon, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped CPLUS achieve 10th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	11
Total Projects	14

9. MAT Office

Founded by TANG Kangshuo and ZHANG Miao in 2013, MAT Office is a research and design architectural office started in Rotterdam and practices in Beijing since 2015. The office works typologically, pays close attention on “unit” and “edge”, “publicity” and “openness,” creates public space by the discussion on the relationship of individual and collectivity. It is also an office committed to the observation and speculation of emerging new phenomena and problems in Chinese cities.

Some of MAT Office’s most prominent projects include:

Beijing Muee Restaurant, Beijing, China
Suzhou Design Week Pavilion, Suzhou, China
Yantai Chunhui Road Youth Apartment, Yantai, China
Bonfire, Shenzhen, China
Beijing Tongdeng Beaver Workshop, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped MAT Office achieve 9th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	17

8. LUO studio

Mr. Luo Yujie is the founder of LUO studio, who also teaches the course of Construction Basics in the School of Architecture at Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). His exceptional works have been shortlisted and awarded by numerous design award competitions worldwide. He is committed to creating more durable, friendly and quality spaces with creative thinking, a spirit of craftsmanship and the principle of caring for nature.

Some of LUO studio’s most prominent projects include:

Temporary Site of Shengli Market, Henan, China
Yuntai Ice Chrysanthemum Display, Henan, China
Timber Bridge in Gulou Waterfront, Jiangmen, China
Corrugated Cardboard-formed Exhibition Space, Shanghai, China
Longfu Life Experience Center, Puyang, China

The following statistics helped LUO studio achieve 8th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	6
A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	11
Total Projects	10

7. CLOU architects

CLOU is an international design studio with award-winning expertise in architecture, interiors and landscapes. Our extensive portfolio of built works encompasses mixed-use, retail, hospitality, education and exhibition projects. Founded by German architect Jan Clostermann, CLOU works closely with leading property developers and has delivered projects recognized for outside-the-box-thinking.

CLOU is committed to tailor each project to its unique challenges and local opportunities. We strive to realize projects that will positively influence the people involved in its process, the environment and the communities who live and work there. The CLOU team is a community of talents from all over the world who enjoy working collaboratively and imaginatively on bespoke and integrated design solutions. The word CLOU means the main attraction.

Some of CLOU architects’s most prominent projects include:

Daxing Green Hub and Park, Beijing, China
Cube Gallery, Hangzhou, China
UniFuns Tianfu Chengdu, Chengdu, China
Play Stack Shenyang, Shenyang, China
Shoukai Vanke Daxing, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped CLOU architects achieve 7th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	4
A+Awards Finalist	6
Featured Projects	12
Total Projects	51

6. Atelier Alter Architects

Founded in 2009, Atelier Alter Architects is a pioneering inter-disciplinary practice based in New York and Beijing. Noted for designing from critical analysis of the site, Atelier Alter has been recognized by numerous awards, including SARA National Award of Excellence 2016 , French GPDP international Design Award 2019, Lux Leading Design Award 2018，AIA Shanghai Design Award 2018German Design Award 2019, etc.

Atelier Alter Architects focuses intensely upon culture facilities ever since the beginning of the practice. Atelier Alter won the competitions to build Qujing Culture Center in 2009, by transferring the metaphysical context of the site into an artistic yet tangible urban space of historic remembrance.

Some of Atelier Alter Architects’s most prominent projects include:

BIT Sports Center in Beijing, Beijing, China
WuliEpoch Culture Center, Beijing, China
Senior Center of Guangxi, Nanning, China
Library for Qujing Culture Center, Qujing, China
WuliEpoch Culture Center, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped Atelier Alter Architects achieve 6th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	20

5. Crossboundaries

Crossboundaries contributes to a vital built environment through architecture, environmental design and urban regeneration. We create enduring architecture that often deals with remarkable technical processes, yet always has a pleasant material touch and human atmosphere.

The work of Crossboundaries originates from a strong belief that design as a process results in successful, operational buildings. This approach is based on two fundamental principles: research and collaboration. For our projects we create suitable multi-disciplinary teams where all participants can assess the opportunities within the given conditions. We identify the essential questions, jointly create pragmatic solutions by data collection and analyze significant precedents. We regularly discuss possible programmatic shifts with our clients to raise their benefits of the project.

Some of Crossboundaries’s most prominent projects include:

Songzhuang Micro Community Park, Beijing, China
Qkids English Learning Center, Xiamen, China
Chaoyang Future School, Beijing, China
Crossboundaries Office, Beijing, China
THE KNOWN, an installation, Shenzhen, China

The following statistics helped Crossboundaries achieve 5th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	4
A+Awards Finalist	5
Featured Projects	14
Total Projects	23

4. People’s Architecture Office

Beijing-based People’s Architecture Office (PAO) was founded by He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng in 2010, and consist of an international team of architects, engineers and urbanists. With the belief that design is for the masses, PAO aims to be conceptually accessible and culturally pragmatic. PAO approaches design from the framework of the realities of scale, global economics and flows, mass production, mass markets and social networks. PAO’s projects include the headquarters for 21cake in Beijing, the River Heights Pavilion and the Tricycle House.

Some of People’s Architecture Office’s most prominent projects include:

The Courtyard House Plugin, Beijing, China
Tubular Baitasi, Beijing, China
Pop-up Habitat, Beijing, China
Tricycle House, Beijing, China
People’s Canopy, Lancashire, United Kingdom

The following statistics helped People’s Architecture Office achieve 4th place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	5
A+Awards Finalist	4
Featured Projects	14
Total Projects	20

3. SUP Atelier of THAD

SUP atelier, founded by Prof. Song Yehao from Tsinghua University School of Architecture in Beijing around 2011, dedicated to the research and practice on sustainable urban and architectural design. SUP Atelier explores the simultaneous sustainability of natural resources and human community through high context sensibility, modest architectural strategies and tectonic research on natural and local materials, in relevant to integrate buildings to the environment and community livings.

SUP Atelier focuses on sustainable theory within the scope of architecture, urban studies and building technology, while highly promoting the combination of modern design and vernacular architecture in China. Regional and local understandings are rather important, to further initiate innovative design based on the understanding, and thus the design strategy is always incorporating the latest technical measures or traditional climate adaptation design strategies at that time.

Some of SUP Atelier of THAD’s most prominent projects include:

Yunzhai Community Center, Xinxiang, China
Tea Leaf Market of Zhuguanlong, Ningde, China
Swirling Cloud: Pavilion for BJFU Garden Festival, Beijing, China
Village Lounge of Shangcun, Jixi, China
Indoor Playground of Yueyang County No.3 Middle School, Yueyang, China

The following statistics helped SUP Atelier of THAD achieve 3rd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	9
A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	16

2. ARCHSTUDIO

Arch Studio devotes to using multi-perspective and rational means to intervene the development of contemporary urban living environment, finding a right balance between the connections of reality and nature, history and culture, creating a spatial environment that is full of the spirit of times and humanistic quality.

In this complex and multivariate era, new creation is not from a sudden inspiration, but from careful study of the unique needs and restrictions of each project, from uninterrupted breakthroughs and challenges to the restriction boarder, from continuous improvements in the whole process from concept to construction details, from skillful transformation…

Some of ARCHSTUDIO’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped ARCHSTUDIO achieve 2nd place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	4
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	24
Total Projects	25

1. MAD Architects

MAD works in forward-looking environments developing futuristic architecture based on a contemporary interpretation of the eastern spirit of nature. All of MAD’s projects, from residential complexes or offices to cultural centers, desire to protect a sense of community and orientation toward nature, offering people the freedom to develop their own experience.

Founded in 2004 by Ma Yansong, the office first earned worldwide attention in 2006 by winning an international competition to design a residential tower near Toronto. MAD has been commissioned by clients of all backgrounds, leading to an intriguing combination of diverse project designs.

Some of MAD Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The Cloudscape of Haikou, Haikou, China
Harbin Opera House, Harbin, China
Quzhou Stadium, Quhou, China
Courtyard Kindergarten, Beijing, China
Gardenhouse, Beverly Hills, California

Top image: Chaoyang Park Plaza, Beijing, China

The following statistics helped MAD Architects achieve 1st place in the 25 Best Architecture Firms in Beijing:

A+Awards Winner	11
A+Awards Finalist	6
Featured Projects	30
Total Projects	28

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

Project completed within the last 3 years
A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
High quality, in focus photographs
At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
Inclusion of construction photographs

Reference

Architecture

Fables and Fragments: Vision Award Winners Rethink CAD’s Potential

By Zarkon Group,11/10/2023

Architecture is born from drawing. This act of laying out ideas and visions is what brings buildings and cities to life. Over time, as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and digital technology became more popularized, there was a move from hand drawings to 3D modeling. Now, designers are quickly seeing the rise of AI-assisted visualization. Across these mediums and at the heart of architectural practice is the desire to tell compelling stories about people and places.

This year, Architizer launched the Vision Awards to recognize the talented students, professionals and studios who are envisioning the world’s architecture. Captured through photography, drawings, renderings, videos, physical models and more, there were hundreds of entries submitted across more than 30 categories. Taking a closer look at the winners, we can begin to see how designers are rethinking the potential of computer-aided design. The result is a series of beautiful, compelling works that represent visionary approaches to drawing and storytelling. The following three projects highlight the winners of this year’s Vision Awards for students, professionals and studios.

VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go”

By LWD.Co.,Ltd, Studio Winner, Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Underlining the idea that CAD drawings can be done in many different styles, the drawing VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go” by LWD.Co was the Vision Awards Studio Winner this year for Computer Aided Drawing. As the team outlines, it was made as an “inspired design that tells the story of a beautiful farming village nestled in the valley alongside the Shokawa River, where one might find an old house reminiscent of a childhood fairy tale.” Reading like a comic, the juxtaposition of angles, moments and frames moves the eye through the drawing and text.

Fable or Failure

By Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing, Vision Awards Student Winners, Computer Aided Drawing

Into the Void: Fragmented Time, Space, Memory, and Decay in Hiroshima

By Victoria Wong, Professional Winner, Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Navigating the past, present, and future of Hiroshima, Victoria Wong’s incredible triptych is a study in composition and layering. As this year’s Vision Awards Professional Winner in the Computer Aided Drawing category, the drawing has a fantastic collection of stories embedded within it. In Wong’s words, “This triptych adapts Japanese aesthetic theories of transience and imperfection, and applies them to the city of Hiroshima.” The three selected locations (Genbaku Dome, Yagenbori, and Shukkein Garden) are experimental adaptations to the spatial and environmental challenges that facilitate ‘changes’ according to mental statuses and behaviors.

Photo Study: A zoomed-in shot showing one of the panoramic views that was described in the text that Victoria was working with.

As writer Patt Fin notes, you might not immediately regard Victoria’s work “as an architectural drawing according to the way the term is usually understood. But this work is an architectural drawing in the more important sense; that is, it is engaged with the questions architects deal with every time they undertake a project, no matter how humble. The illustration explores the relationship between the past and the future and how each new addition to a city is an event in its ever-evolving story.”

Reference

Architecture

20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa

By Zarkon Group,08/10/2023

South Africa is a country filled with contradictions. Home to large mountains, vast forests and endless coasts as well as to the native Xhosa and Zulu tribes and the European colonizers, the country has an array of varying landscapes and clashing cultures. Even during its contemporary history, the Apartheid era was responsible for heavily segregating South Africa in multiple of contexts.

Naturally, this countrywide division is apparent to many architectural and urban settings. Spatial inequalities, most commonly found in the city of Johannesburg, as well as the infamous marginalized District Six in Cape Town, are some examples of what challenges local architects currently face. Fortunately, from the beginning of the 21st century these ‘lines of division’ are gradually being patched up through the design and construction of many notable architectural works.

Nowadays, South African architects have the space and freedom to design in multiple contexts and for many architectural typologies, with cultural and residential architecture being the most prominent. Respectful of the country’s astounding natural landscape, conscious material use is in the epicenter of these practices. They prioritize locally sourced materials such as bricks, bamboo and stone, effectively blending them with the surrounding context while supporting local material economies and becoming pioneers in environmental sustainability.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in South Africa based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of South Africa architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 20 best architecture firms in South Africa:

24. Kritzinger Architects

Kritzinger Architects is an award-winning, Cape Town based Architecture studio, founded by Jed Kritzinger and Julia Abell in 2010. They formed the practice after a ten-year stint in London working with renowned British Architect Sir Norman Foster on a number of high profile projects.
Since inception, Kritzinger Architects has gained a reputation for design excellence, having won “Best Residence Africa” at the 2012 International Property Awards, and were shortlisted for “World’s Best” the same year. The practice has been shortlisted for Cape Institute of Architecture Awards and has featured in a number of local and international publications.

The practice has designed a number of homes for international clients in South Africa, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Belgium, Portugal and more recently in Panama. In 2016 the practice was selected by Sir Richard Branson to design and refurbish his private Manor House in the Cape Winelands, as well as his hotel and spa on the estate.

Some of Kritzinger Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Kritzinger Architects achieve 24th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	1

23. Ruben Reddy Architects PTY LTD

Established in 1988, Ruben Reddy Architects is a balance of seasoned professionals and up and coming young talent, diverse architectural experience, skills and cultural backgrounds, which all merge to create innovative and inspirational design. With a staff of 59, based at six offices around South Africa, Ruben Reddy Architects has an established reputation in sport architecture, healthcare and public sector buildings, as well as extensive experience in large-scale transportation hubs, spatial planning and urban design.

We provide a full range of architectural services for projects at both a local and international level. In addition, we have the professional expertise, in-depth knowledge and proven experience to provide the specialist services in sports consulting, sport bid development, and sport event planning, as well as education, healthcare, hospitality and institutional facilities. Service delivery is key to our success. With a team that is solution-driven, we work closely with our Clients and the relevant stakeholders, to produce projects and outcomes, that meet the needs of both the Client and the end-user.

Some of Ruben Reddy Architects PTY LTD’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Ruben Reddy Architects PTY LTD achieve 23rd place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	1

22. Thomas Gouws Architects

Thomas Gouws Architects design exclusive contemporary residences, holiday houses, lodges, and selective commercial projects.

Some of Thomas Gouws Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Thomas Gouws Architects achieve 22nd place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	1

21. Activate Architects

Architecture has a significant if not massive impact on our physical environment, and a less obvious but equally significant impact on our psyche. Activate is focused on architecture and interiors that require high levels of innovation, detail, and quality, and we aim to activate our clients’ lives through attention to imaginative and intelligent solutions geared at their specific requirements from the inception of ideas to made realities.The firm has grown steadily since its inception in 1997 with a focus on building a team of home grown talent. We are an open plan business operating in an open plan office.

Some of Activate Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Activate Architects achieve 21st place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	2

20. MMA Design Studio

MMA Design Studio is a Johannesburg-based award-winning Architecture studio founded by owner and architect Mphethi Morojele as MMA Architects CC in 1995. The studio provides professional services in architecture, urban regeneration, design, research and strategic thinking. Our focus is on the ability of design to respond to and enhance the historical and emerging African condition at all levels of human social, cultural, artistic and economic endeavors.

Through combining practice with teaching and research we aspire to exceed our client’s expectations by providing solutions that not only conform to the brief but can also be measured against the triple bottom line of social, economic and ecological sustainability. Each project goes through a process of cultural, economic and locational diagnostics in order to provide a narrative framework for the organization of the client’s aspirations and programmatic requirements. We believe that through a transparent design process the constraints of time and cost are challenges that can positively influence the design process and design outcomes.

Some of MMA Design Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped MMA Design Studio achieve 20th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	4

19. BasaboseStudio

BasaboseStudio is a creative, cross-disciplinary design firm with global reach offering services in different fields of design. Our studio has offices in Johannesburg and Kinshasa, DR Congo. We create solutions that help each of our clients achieve the materialization of their initial thoughts in a unique collaborative manner. Even though focused on the built environment and livable spaces, each of our projects is executed by pooling any expertise needed from competent sources.

Our holistic and collaborative approach encompasses the disciplines of architecture, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, photography, urbanism and associated fields by collaboration. We engage a diverse range of industry market sectors and project types including residential, corporate, cultural, civic, retail, exhibition, entertainment, healthcare and transportation. We are passionate about creating unique, immersive “solutions” that add value and help our clients achieve their envisioned dreams.

Some of BasaboseStudio’s most prominent projects include:

Chapelle de la Grâce dans la Clairière, Kasangulu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Villa Rugari, Port-Gentil, Gabon
Libenge Library & Community Center, Libenge, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Place Du 30 Juin, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Villa Banalia, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The following statistics helped BasaboseStudio achieve 19th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	10

18. Jenny Mills Architects

Jenny Mills says: “Love for form and composition lies at the very heart of our work. We are artists on a quest to sculpt existing spaces in co-operation with nature. Our buildings are exciting and beautiful. They bring something both of ourselves and our clients into the world. We work in close partnership with our clients, focusing on their needs and stylistic preferences.” Jenny’s work has a strong contemporary signature which is not only evident in her work in this genre but is skillfully integrated into both classic and leisure designs to match her client’s tastes.

Some of Jenny Mills Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Jenny Mills Architects achieve 18th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	3

17. C76 Architecture and Design

Established in 2014 by Principal Architect Carl Jacobsz, the Johannesburg and Cape Town -based C76 Architecture is inspired by expressing sophisticated simplicity, a disciplined yet exciting approach to architecture, which searches creatively for elegance and excellence proven over time –promoting quality and timelessness over trend. We look to explore characteristics such as client lifestyle, context, culture and existing environmental conditions for inspiration, with the aim of producing quality South African architecture.

Having grown up in rural Eastern Free State and graduated from the University of the Free State, Carl Jacobsz was influenced by a grounded; rural architecture of simple design strategies that has shaped his professional practice and production of affordable, sensitive, forward-thinking architecture. These core values are explored through tectonic architecture of humble materials and the exploration of beauty through expressing materiality simply.

C76 is passionate about exploring architectural solutions across all project scales, budgets, typologies and clients. Equally confident in taking on urban, commercial, and residential projects, C76 approaches each design without any preconceptions; utilizing a pragmatic and conscious design methodology of minimalist design and sustainable detailing. C76 believes architecture should be formed specifically for its climatic and cultural context in order to respond astutely to the unique requirements of our client’s brief.

Some of C76 Architecture and Design’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped C76 Architecture and Design achieve 17th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	1

16. FrankiePappas

Imagine we could create a fictional persona – a collective pseudonym – that allowed us to put aside our egotisms, our blusters, our vanities, and find a group of people whose similar ideals and different talents create beautiful solutions for a remarkable new world. That is frankie: wonderfully similar. beautifully different. Making great public buildings that contribute to a great future. We get together the entire professional team required to find beautiful solutions for a remarkable new world.

Some of FrankiePappas’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped FrankiePappas achieve 16th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	2

15. Greg Wright Architects

Our studio is made up of a group of dedicated and passionate individuals working towards the guiding principle of the practice which strives towards the pursuit of excellence both in thought and execution.

Some of Greg Wright Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Greg Wright Architects achieve 15th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	3

14. Metropole Architects

As a practice, we are inspired by the energy of the city, as it unceasingly moves, radiates and evolves like a vast living organism.we aim to generate design that stakes out new territory, and explore ideas that are intuitive, inventive, exuberant and daring. enthused by visionary architects like john lautner and santiago calatrava, we aspire to create iconic and progressive architectural wonders that capture our collective imagination.

Some of Metropole Architects’s most prominent projects include:

House Brook, Nkwazi, South Africa
ALBIZIA HOUSE, Durban, South Africa
Aloe Ridge House, Pennington, South Africa
The Reserve House, Dolphin Coast, South Africa
Salt Rock House, Dolphin Coast, South Africa

The following statistics helped Metropole Architects achieve 14th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	5

13. Vivid Architects

Vivid Architects was founded in 1998 by Paolo Viotti and Trevor Versfeld. Imraan Ho-Yee joined the practice as a partner in 2000. Vivid Architects is an established award-winning medium sized design practice that concentrates predominately on medium to large scale commercial developments both locally and internationally. The practice enjoys a good reputation in designing selected upmarket private residential homes.

Vivid Architects takes great pride in providing an holistic and comprehensive professional service delivering appropriate and cost effective architectural solutions within the strict parameters of client brief, economic realities, programme and budget. Vivid Architects believes firmly in the ethics and importance of a team-based philosophy throughout the design and implementation process and encourages close collaboration of all the disciplines involved.

Some of Vivid Architects’s most prominent projects include:

Bridgewater, Cape Town, South Africa
No.3 Bridgeways, Cape Town, South Africa
Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa, Cape Town, South Africa
Newcastle Mall, Newcastle, South Africa
Citadel Apartments, Cape Town, South Africa

The following statistics helped Vivid Architects achieve 13th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	33

12. Earthworld Architects and Interiors

In the making of meaningful things… with our world becoming more and more global — virtual and less defined, the need for defining the “Heimat” has become greater than ever. Meaning has become more important than ever. Falling Waters by Frank Lloyd Wright, built for the Kauffmann Family in the 20’s of the twentieth century, transcends the physical to become Icons; to become “meaningful things”. It epitomized progress without being Industrial…A symbol of innovation whilst acknowledging the context without trying to imitate or assimilate.

Some of Earthworld Architects and Interiors’s most prominent projects include:

House Mouton, Mamelodi, Pretoria, South Africa
Foghound Interactive Coffee & Showroom, Johannesburg, South Africa
House Izeboud, Pretoria, South Africa
TriBeCa Original Restaurant, Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa
House Alto, Tulbagh, South Africa

The following statistics helped Earthworld Architects and Interiors achieve 12th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	8

11. Nicholas Plewman Architects

Nicholas Plewman Architects was founded and is directed by Nick Plewman. He has welded a life time passion for the wilderness to two decades of design and project management experience in remote and sensitive environments. To this have been banded the skills of qualified architects, project and cost managers and technologists.

The practice has completed over 35 projects across Southern and East Africa for both public and private clients and has been published in several books* and magazines such as Architectural Digest and Conde Nast Traveller.

Some of Nicholas Plewman Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Nicholas Plewman Architects achieve 11th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	4

10. Architecture for a Change

We are young designers working with well known architect, Les du Toit. Our passion for architecture and the profession grew from experimental projects we did as students, getting our hands dirty and learning from experience. Our team consists of Anton Bouwer, Dirk Coetser and John Saaiman. Our individual skills and experience creates a formidable team, Dirk’s & Anton’s strengths lie in conceptual phase, design and presentation of projects, whilst John manages the construction and detailing of buildings.

From our lived experiences in the city of Johannesburg — a challenging environment presenting numerous opportunities — we have developed a desire to create change in the built environment.

Some of Architecture for a Change’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Architecture for a Change achieve 10th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	3

9. Elphick Proome Architecture

Elphick Proome Architecture was established in 1989 and has grown to become a leading architectural firm in South Africa. Committed to architectural excellence, we strive to create exciting buildings, environments and spaces that respond to the unique nature of each project with integrity and purpose. Our philosophy emphasizes an architecture that responds to context, region and climate and is enduring, innovative and functional. We endeavor to design intelligent solutions which rise to the diverse challenges of our social and economic context and make a significant contribution to the African reality.

Some of Elphick Proome Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

House Mansfield, Westville, South Africa
House F, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Durban Christian Centre, Durban, South Africa
Rooiels House, Rooi-Els, Rooi-Els, South Africa
RCL Foods, Westville, South Africa

Top image: Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal, Durban, South Africa

The following statistics helped Elphick Proome Architecture achieve 9th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	13

8. Daffonchio & Associates Architects

Daffonchio and Associates Architects was established in 1996 by Enrico Daffonchio, who has qualified in Italy and registered with the Italian and South African Councils for the architectural profession. The firm has been active in private, commercial and public projects. The design work focuses on energy efficiency and the awareness of the broader effects that building has on the environment: as well as the way in which proportion, light and color affect peoples’ mood. Building materials and structural elements are meant to be shown with integrity as graphic and sculptural patterns.Collaborations and joint ventures with other firms, artists and specialists from various disciplines are built specially around the requirements of each project.

Some of Daffonchio & Associates Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Daffonchio & Associates Architects achieve 8th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	2
Total Projects	2

7. Three14 Architects

Three14 Architects, founded in January 2008, is an award winning studio of creative architects based in Cape Town. The focus on designing exclusive luxury homes for discerning clients — bringing fresh ideas, rigorous detailing and creativity to the residential arena — results in elegant and sophisticated homes that are easy to live in. The office consists of a small, hands-on team taking on a limited number of projects per year. This enables both principal architects to be involved in each project from inception through to completion ensuring an efficient and thorough level of service and a highly considered and always unique end product.

Some of Three14 Architects’s most prominent projects include:

OVD525, Cape Town, South Africa
Glen 2961, Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Firth 114802, Firth Road, Southern Suburbs, Cape Town, South Africa

The following statistics helped Three14 Architects achieve 7th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	3

6. Meyer & Associates Architects, Urban Designers

Meyer & Associates is an integrated, multi-disciplinary practice that incorporates architecture, interior design and urban design competencies into one bespoke spatial design service. The original firm, known as MEYER+VORSTER Architects, Urban Designers and Interior Designers, was founded in 2002. In 2013, the firm was restructured and became known as Meyer & Associates Architects, Urban Designers. It is owned and managed by the founding principal of the practice, Tiaan Meyer. He has over twenty years’ experience in the architectural and urban design industry and is complemented by a staff of twelve, which include several professionally registered architects, technologists and interior designers. Team members have been hand-picked for their specialist skill-sets and design capabilities.

Some of Meyer & Associates Architects, Urban Designers’s most prominent projects include:

Spens Garden Café & Winkel Gift Shop, South Africa
Botha’s Halte Primary School, Cape Winelands, WC, South Africa
Dunoon Primary School, Dunoon, Cape Town, South Africa
Heideveld Primary School, Heideveld, Cape Town, South Africa
Kuyasa Public Transport Interchange, Cape Town, South Africa

The following statistics helped Meyer & Associates Architects, Urban Designers achieve 6th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	5

5. Van der Merwe Miszewski Architects (VDMMA)

VAN DER MERWE MISZEWSKI ARCHITECTS was founded in 1991 by Anya van der Merwe and Macio Miszewski and is located at 161 Longmarket Street, Cape Town in a Grade 1 listed building. VDMMA has completed a wide range of building types, including educational, cultural, commercial, retail, restoration and residential projects (including group housing, apartment buildings and individual residences).

The company has received numerous awards, including SAIA Awards, (South African Institute for Architecture, regional and national), SAPOA Awards (South African Property Owners Association), SAISC Awards (South African Institute of Steel Construction), The Fulton Award, as well as various media awards.

Some of Van der Merwe Miszewski Architects (VDMMA)’s most prominent projects include:

Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
Tree House, Cape Town, South Africa
University of Cape Town: Middle Campus, Cape Town, South Africa
Mountain House, Cape Town, South Africa
De Beers Headquarters, Ormonde, Johannesburg South, South Africa

The following statistics helped Van der Merwe Miszewski Architects (VDMMA) achieve 5th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	11

4. CS Studio

© Design.Develop.Build - GA Tech | PBSA | RWTH

CS Studio Architects has developed a way in which they work which is focused on listening to the clients or end users. This is an interactive and participative process. Each project demands its own activities. Interactive processes are a powerful tool in any design phase as it allows everyone to have a say and often leads to much better spatial solutions. By listening to people, the architect is provided with a wealth of information to feed into the design process. role players are empowered and they take ownership of their design decisions.

However, participation is generally seen only as a social process. This is when it fails. It needs to be underscored by making. We also believe that during the participation process technology can be a valuable tool. It is important to understand what kind of resources are available both material and human. A good understanding of assembly and the active transfer of skills through making therefore becomes an important component of the process. Through research and experience it has proved to lead to more sustainable environments. It allows one to unleash the energy inside people. Spatial planning needs to be done in a way which allows the inhabitants occupying the space to enjoy it and to enhance the quality of life.

Some of CS Studio’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped CS Studio achieve 4th place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	1
Total Projects	1

3. dhk

dhk has established a leading reputation as a design led multi-disciplinary company which incorporates architecture, urban design and interior design. More than 100 people contribute to the success of the company across these three disciplines making dhk one of the largest architectural practices in South Africa. dhk’s integrated approach to design in the built environment, coupled with innovative and cost effective design solutions, has garnered international recognition with projects spanning across four continents.

Some of dhk’s most prominent projects include:

Battery Park, Cape Town, South Africa
32 on Kloof, Cape Town, South Africa
Move Hotel, Mogliano, Italy
Drostdy Hotel, Graaff-Reinet, South Africa
Ellipse Waterfall, GP, South Africa

The following statistics helped dhk achieve 3rd place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	25

2. Nico van der Meulen Architects

Nico van der Meulen Architects, headquartered in Johannesburg, focuses on designing innovative, functional luxurious homes, both contemporary and traditional, tailored to enrich their client’s quality of life. The company remains at the forefront of design by exploring new forms, pushing the boundaries and evolving with technology, without compromising on the authenticity of the design, aesthetics, materials and originality.

While creating unique homes for unique tastes, the firm strives to capture every client’s vision and express it through breath-taking bespoke designs. They have designed more than 4000 buildings during the past forty years, many of which received international acclaim, some as far afield as USA, London, Cypress, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, USA, Germany, Gulf of Portugal and many African countries and currently completing a new residence in Australia.

More than 230 buildings designed by Nico van der Meulen and his team of architects have featured in magazines, hardcover books and have also been used on the front cover image for many magazines.

Some of Nico van der Meulen Architects’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Nico van der Meulen Architects achieve 2nd place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	31

1. SAOTA

SAOTA is a firm of architectural designers and technologists including in-house CGI and marketing teams, as well as a strong support staff. It is driven by the dynamic combination of Stefan Antoni, Philip Olmesdahl, Greg Truen, Phillippe Fouché and Mark Bullivant who share a potent vision easily distinguished in their design.

This, paired with both an innovative and dedicated approach to the execution of projects, has seen SAOTA become internationally sought-after, receiving numerous awards and commendations from some of the most respected institutions worldwide. Capitalizing on a unique understanding of an ever-evolving industry, SAOTA continues to build on past experiences and is well positioned to offer expert services to the corporate, institutional, commercial and residential marketplace.

Some of SAOTA’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped SAOTA achieve 1st place in the 20 Best Architecture Firms in South Africa:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	22
Total Projects	26

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

Project completed within the last 3 years
A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
High quality, in focus photographs
At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
Inclusion of construction photographs

Reference

Architecture

What’s So Luxurious About Luxury Vinyl Tile, Part III: The Poison Plastic and Why “Recycling Will Not Save Us”

By Zarkon Group,05/10/2023

This article was written by Burgess Brown. Healthy Materials Lab is a design research lab at Parsons School of Design with a mission to place health at the center of every design decision. HML is changing the future of the built environment by creating resources for designers, architects, teachers, and students to make healthier places for all people to live. Check out their podcast, Trace Material.

Between 1950 and 2019, more than 7,000 million metric tons of plastic waste were generated. We add roughly 400 million metric tons to that figure every year. If your eyes glazed over while reading these frankly incomprehensible numbers, just know that our plastic waste problem is out of control. Recycling, the solution long promoted by the plastics industry as a panacea, is deeply flawed at best and entirely unfeasible at worst.

So, if recycling as we know it won’t save us, what do we do with the mounds of plastic clogging our waterways and landfills? Even if we could recycle plastics effectively at scale, does it make sense to recycle a toxic plastic like Luxury Vinyl Tile?

This article is Part III of a three-part series on the hazards of vinyl flooring.

Part I explores the “dirty climate secret” behind the popular material and shares some healthier, affordable alternatives.
Part II considers the long history of worker endangerment by the vinyl industry and how this legacy continues in China today.
Part III, this article, explores the dark side of recycling.

The Guilt Eraser

Municipal Solid Waste – Worker in recycling facility, The U.S. National Archives, Library of Environmental Images, (ORD), image via GetArchive

As early as the 1970s, plastics industry officials warned that effective recycling of plastic wasn’t feasible. One said in a 1974 speech that “there is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis.” And yet, the plastics industry forged ahead with its recycling messaging. Plastic’s enemy number one was the guilt people felt about the wastefulness of single use products. So even if the industry wasn’t actually recycling or protecting the environment, they needed consumers to think that they were.

One industry lobbyist called recycling the great “guilt-eraser”. “Recycling assures people that plastic isn’t just an infernal hanger-on; it has a useful afterlife. As soon as they recycle your product,” he explained, “they feel better about it.”

Throughout the ‘90s, as environmental pushback mounted, the plastics industry fought back. Recycling was their most important message, so they spread it far and wide. The industry spent over $250 million on public campaigns about the usefulness of plastic and its ability to be reused. They wanted people to feel safe and comfortable with their products. They also invested millions in recycling efforts, but those efforts have come up dramatically short. In 2021, the U.S. (by far the world’s biggest plastics polluter) only recycled around 5% of plastics.

We spoke to Kara Napolitano who is the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Sims Municipal Recycling Center in Brooklyn, New York for an episode of our podcast, Trace Material. We cover the sordid history of plastics recycling and its uncertain future. Kara, who lives and breathes recycling, had this to say about how we should set our plastics priorities:

“My job is to teach people about recycling. But I have to bring attention to the fact that recycling is only halfway up that waste hierarchy of preferred methods for managing our waste. Recycling is not number one. Recycling will not save us. At the very top of that waste hierarchy — the most preferred thing to do to manage your waste — is to not create any waste in the first place.”

Kara reminded us that the well known waste management hierarchy goes: “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.” If we are to reverse the course of our plastics crisis, we must focus our efforts on drastically reducing production and consumption of plastic all together.

The Poison Plastic

Image generated by Architizer using Midjourney

There are lots of questions that need answering about the future of recycling. While there is consensus that we should focus on reducing plastics production, there are debates raging about what to do with the mounds of plastic we’ve already created. There is, however, no question about PVC’s place in that future. From a health standpoint, PVC has no place in a circular plastics economy.

That’s because PVC is toxic at every stage of its life cycle. The building block of PVC, vinyl chloride, is a known human carcinogen. Then there are performance additives: plasticizers to make PVC flexible can disrupt the body’s endocrine system and heavy metals used to make it rigid are toxic too. These toxic chemicals are in the millions of homes across the country that utilize the number one flooring choice in the US: Luxury Vinyl Tile. And, these dangerous chemicals don’t magically disappear if PVC is recycled. When companies advertise recycled LVT or tout its ability to enter the circular economy, ask yourself: Would I paint my house with recycled lead paint?

Problematic and Unnecessary

The U.S. Plastics Pact is a group of “stakeholders across the plastics value chain” that are trying to create a circular economy for plastics in the United States. To be clear, this group is certainly not anti-plastics nor anti-recycling. Yet, they have labeled PVC plastic to be a “problematic and unnecessary” material and are working to eliminate it from all packaging by 2025. This is because PVC is “not currently reusable, recyclable or compostable with existing U.S. infrastructure at scale” and “contains hazardous chemicals or creates hazardous conditions that pose a significant risk to human health or the environment (applying the precautionary principle) during its manufacturing, recycling (whether mechanical or chemical), or composting process.”

PVC is incredibly difficult to recycle and it interferes with the recyclability of other plastics too. Even if recycling PVC at scale could be figured out, its carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting chemicals remain. These chemicals pose a threat to residents in the use phase and again to humans and the planet at disposal. The vast majority of PVC ends up in landfills and incinerators. When PVC is burned, a host of toxic chemicals, including dioxins, are released into the air, soil and water. While there may be hope for a future where some plastics are able to be effectively recycled at scale, PVC should not and will not be a part of that future.

Rethink, Redesign, Reform

We should continue to support innovations in plastics recycling. Exciting progress is being made in the field of biological recycling, which uses enzymes from bacteria, fungi and insects to break plastics down into their component parts. This allows for theoretically infinite recycling of plastics that could have a smaller carbon footprint than making virgin plastics.

What we should not do is continue to use recycling as a guilt eraser. No innovations in recycling can justify the continued production of materials as toxic as PVC, and therefore LVT. The most effective thing that we as designers and architects can do to protect humans and our planet, is stop specifying plastics (especially PVC) wherever possible. In part one of this series we shared a list of healthy, affordable alternatives to vinyl flooring. You can find other thoroughly vetted flooring options in our materials collection on the Healthy Materials Lab website.

We’ll leave you with a re-imagining of the waste management hierarchy (“reduce, reuse, recycle”) mentioned earlier from Chief Scientist of Environmental Health Sciences and friend of Healthy Materials Lab, Pete Myers:

Re-Think

Many applications of plastics are non-essential. Serious efforts should be made to identify the essential uses of plastics vs. non-essential.

Redesign

Chemists should be given the challenge of creating safer materials to use when the services of plastic are required.

Reform

The regulatory system needs to be reformed by incorporating 21st century biomedical science in its assessments of safety.

As architects and designers our charge as pivotal members of the design and construction industry is to re-think the design decision making process that has been “business as usual” for the last several decades. If we put the health of our bodies, the planet, and all those living there at the center of our design decisions, the way we build will radically change. That thinking has to extend to the entire lifecycle of the materials we use.

If we consider their impact from the time they leave the earth to the time they are returned to the earth, we will have no choice but to re-design our systems of production. These shifts in thinking will leave no place for toxic plastics or any other toxics in our work. Centering human and ecosystem health in design and construction will positively change the future for everyone.

Architizer is thrilled to announce the winners of the 11th Annual A+Awards! Interested in participating next season? Sign up for key information about the 12th Annual A+Awards, set to launch this fall.

Reference

Architecture

Warming Up: Florida’s New Wave of Breezy and Resilient Architecture

By Zarkon Group,02/10/2023

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.

Migration has long transformed Florida’s landscapes and architecture. In the last two years alone, more than 600,000 new residents came from other parts of the United States, and 175,000 people from other countries. Without this influx, Florida would not be growing. This mix of new people, cultures and ideas has continuously shaped design in cities across the state.

As an evolution of Florida’s vernacular structures, this new architecture is also a response to the state’s humid, subtropical climate. From early chickee (homes) by Seminole tribes to St. Augustine’s Gilded Age buildings to the present, architects have continued designing in respond to local conditions and aesthetic traditions. Increasingly, new civic and cultural buildings pay careful attention to the building envelope, materials and ventilation. Designed to make an impact, the following projects represent this wave of iconic architecture found across the Sunshine State.

L. Gale Lemerand Student Center | Daytona State College

By ikon.5 architects, Daytona Beach, FL, United States

ikon.5 designed the 74,000-square-foot L. Gale Lemerand Student Center at Daytona State College as a landmark on the Floridian shoreline. In their own words, the project “establishes an iconic presence to the campus” along the main arterial road connecting Daytona beach with the rest of Florida. The team’s approach takes the form of a curving stone and bronze wall with two outreached arms forming a welcome lawn at the campus entry.

As the team notes, rising from the center of the wall is a bronze portal framing the opening to the student center and giving passage to the main quadrangle and campus beyond. Internally, a three-story commons overlooks the quadrangle and serves as the campus living room. Custom bronze perforated solar screens help limit glare, while a ventilated bronze rain screen reduces heat gain in the harsh Florida sun.

Florida Polytechnic University

By Santiago Calatrava, Lakeland, FL, United States

Designed at the intersection of engineering and architecture, this project creates a continuous canopy around the structure. Calatrava’s first building at Florida Polytechnic University, it was also named best in steel construction by AISC. The 160,000-square-foot (14,865-square-meter) IST Building opened as part of an institution hoping to give “physical representation to man’s highest aspirations.” The campus was being developed with the IST as its starting point.

Calatrava stated that the “building will be an iconic symbol of the university; visible from Interstate 4 and Polk Parkway, as well as from the campus entry, which is located south of the central lake.” For the masterplan, an elliptical vehicular ring road, lined by tall palms, segregates vehicular traffic from the core of the campus. Administrative, academic, residential and other support facilities are placed within a grid around the central lake and complete the campus core.

Florida International University School of International and Public Affairs

By Arquitectonica, Miami, FL, United States

Arquitectonica’s approach at Florida International University was to create a mixed-use building that brings people together. The 57,085-square-foot (5,300-square-meter) structure includes classroom, office and auditorium programming on the edge of a lake on the university campus. Formally, the exterior walls of the five-story post tension concrete building are of sand-blasted precast concrete, and the structure also includes an extensive green roof.

The auditorium acts as a focal point of the building. Its presence and function are evident from the exterior, as the large angular cantilevered form projects upward and outward from the lobby. The angles of the auditorium’s exterior follow the lines of the seating inside. The five-story tower opposite the auditorium has two large classrooms at the ground floor, with terrace access. Above are classrooms of various sizes, graduate study suites and language labs.

Perez Art Museum Miami

By ArquitectonicaGEO and Herzog & de Meuron, Miami, FL, United States

The PAMM building was designed by Herzog & de Meuron to express the raw material of concrete in its many forms. Due to its proximity to the water, the museum was lifted off the ground for the art to be placed above storm surge level. The team then used the space underneath the building for open-air parking, exposed to light and fresh air that can also handle storm-water runoff.

In contrast, the native plants been chosen by ArquitectonicaGEO display the raw materials of the landscape as complement and contrast to the geometric architecture of the building. The original project concept of formal hanging gardens was expanded to include the use of native plant material, in conjunction with systems to capture rain water. Rather than being an isolated “jewel box” for art lovers and specialists, the museum provides comfortable public space.

Mori Hosseini Student Union | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

By ikon.5 architects, Daytona Beach, FL, United States

The student union building at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is an expression of its mission to teach the science, practice and business of aviation and aerospace. Located at the front door to the campus, the building’s gently soaring form expressing flight was designed to form an iconic identity for the University and embody the student values of fearlessness, adventure and discovery.

Internally, the 177,000-square-foot (16,445-square-meter) student union building is an aeronautical athenaeum combining social learning spaces, events, dining and the university library. A soaring, triple height commons anchors and integrates the collaborative social and learning interiors. Wrapping this space and open to it are lounges, dining venues, group study rooms, clubs and organizations, career services and the university library as well as an event center, creating a “city within a city.”

The Center for Asian Art at the Ringling Museum of Art

By Machado Silvetti, Sarasota, FL, United States

This iconic structure is a renovation and addition to a historic museum at Florida State University Sarasota. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art features both a permanent collection and temporary exhibition galleries. Now governed by Florida State University, the Museum establishes the Ringling Estate as one of the largest museum-university complexes in the United States. The Asian Art Study Center is an addition and ‘gut renovation’ and to the West Wing galleries on the southwest corner of the Museum complex.

Connecting and making its own statement, the renovation converts approximately 18,000 square-feet (1,675-square-meter) of existing gallery space from temporary exhibition space to permanent galleries for the museum’s growing Asian collection. A 7,500 square-foot (695-square-foot) addition houses new gallery space and a multi-purpose lecture hall. The addition’s façade is composed of deep-green, glazed terra cotta tiles that address the client’s requirement of a new monumental entrance.

Brillhart House

By Brillhart Architecture, Miami, FL, United States

Designed for the architects themselves, this elevated, 1,500-square-foot (140-square-meter) house provides a tropical refuge in the heart of Downtown Miami. The house includes 100 feet of uninterrupted glass spanning the full length of both the front and rear façades, with four sets of sliding glass doors that allow the house to be entirely open when desired. Also included is 800 square feet (75 square meters) of outdoor living space, with front and back porches and exterior shuttered doors for added privacy and protection against the elements.

As Brillhart outlines, each design decision was organized around four questions: what’s necessary; how can they minimize impact on the earth; how do they respect the neighborhood; and what can they really build? Some answers came from the Dog Trot style house, which has been a dominant image representing Florida Cracker architecture for over a century. The glass pavilion typology and principles of Tropical Modernism also offered direction.

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

By Grimshaw Architects, Miami, FL, United States

Grimshaw’s 250,000-square-foot (23,225-square-meter) facility brings together an aquarium, planetarium and science museum onto one campus in downtown Miami’s Museum Park. Taking advantage of the city’s sunshine, ocean breezes from nearby Biscayne Bay and views to a growing downtown skyline, the architecture of the museum furthers Miami-Dade County’s cultural offerings in a contemporary building. For the enclosure, the bar-shaped buildings of the North and West Wings are clad in a faceted, pixelated geometrical texture.

Grimshaw’s response to the project brief resulted in a complex of four buildings situated in an open-armed stance, inviting visitors to walk amongst them and opening up the building to the outdoors. An open-air atrium threads between the buildings connecting them to one another and creating a dynamic environment that directly connects the community to the experience of the outdoors and the city around them. The shapes of each individual building are dynamic and varied, sculpted to take advantage of filtered light and breezes.

The Dalí Museum

By HOK, Saint Petersburg, FL, United States

The Dalí Museum was designed to house the world’s most comprehensive collection of Salvador Dalí’s art outside of Spain. The design challenge was to create an affordable, iconic building symbolic of the Spanish painter’s work. The three-story museum is on a bayside site along St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront. The dramatic envelope balances the exhibition and protection of the priceless masterpieces within a simple, powerful aesthetic.

A “treasure box” shelters the 2,000-piece collection from potential Category 5 hurricane winds and storm surges. The design opens up the 18-inch-thick concrete walls with a free-form glass geodesic structure that intrigues visitors while bringing daylight and bay views into public spaces. The 75-foot-tall geodesic glass “Enigma” and 45-foot-tall “Igloo” are formed by 1,062 undulating faceted glass panes, with no two exactly alike.

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Reference

inspiration

1. Incorporating the Industrial Past

Bai’etan Exhibition Center Landscape by Sasaki, Guangzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Landscape/Planning Project

2. Elevating Thoroughfares

One Green Mile – Public Space and Streetscape Design by StudioPOD, Mumbai, India

Jury Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Transportation Project

3. Preserving Native Ecology

Pima Dynamite Trailhead by Weddle Gilmore Architects, Scottsdale, Arizona

Jury Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

4. Emphasizing the Metaphysical

Eucalyptus Society Garden by SWA GROUP / Los Angeles, Guangzhou, China

Popular Choice Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

5. Fusing Urban and Organic Realms

OCT Bao’an OH BAY by LAGUARDA.LOW ARCHITECTS, Shenzhen China

Popular Choice Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Urban & Masterplan

6. Modernizing Heritage Typologies

Shenzhen Lotus Water Culture Base: Landscape Design for Honghu Park Water Purification Station by NODE Architecture & Urbanism, Shenzhen, China

Jury Winner, 11th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape

The Last Resort

By Nikhita Sivakumar, Student Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

The Iceberg

By CEBRA architecture, Studio Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

Fable or Failure

By Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing, Student Winners, 2023 Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Amsterdam City Centre Pub

By Olivia O’Callaghan, Student Creator Of The Year, 2023 Vision Awards

VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go”

By LWD.Co.,Ltd, Studio Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Treehouses Without Trees

By Thomas Wells Schaller, Professional Winner, 2023 Vision Awards, Hand Drawn Drawing

How are these architecture firms ranked?

30. PORT

29. Toprojekt

28. ANALOG

27. 90 Architekci, Piotr Czarnecki

26. TTAT

25. ARCHITEKT.LEMANSKI

24. TEŻ ARCHITEKCI

23. RYSY Architekci

22. BudCud

21. KMA Kabarowski Misiura Architekci

20. Meteor Architects

19. MOOMOO Architects

18. Studio GAB

17. Atelier Starzak Strebicki

16. Superhelix Pracownia Projektowa – Bartłomiej Drabik

15. WIZJA architectural office

14. STOPROCENT Architekci

13. BXB studio Boguslaw Barnas

12. wiercinski-studio

11. Gornik Architects

10. major architekci

9. Zarysy

8. Piotr Hardecki Architekt

7. FAAB

6. Roark Studio

5. Neostudio Architekci

4. xystudio

3. Robert Konieczny KWK Promes

2. mode:lina™

1. RS+ Robert Skitek

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

A Guide to Project Awards

Amman Compound

By UPA Italia, Amman, Jordan

Queen Alia International Airport

By Foster + Partners, Amman, Jordan

Al Rawda Mosque

By Uraiqat Architects, Amman, Jordan

Amman Rotana Hotel

By Architecturestudio, Amman, Jordan

Amman Baccalaureate School – IB Diploma Collage

By Tahhan and Bushnaq Architects, Amman, Jordan

Farah General Hospital

By Tahhan and Bushnaq Architects, Amman, Jordan

The Commercial Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

By maisam architects & engineers, Amman, Jordan

1. Calling on Curvilinear Forms

Sanctuario De La Salle by CAZA, Biñan, Philippines

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Landscape/Planning Project

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Transportation Project

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Urban & Masterplan

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape

Jury Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Popular Choice Winner, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Pavilions

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Finalist, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Sustainable Cultural/Institutional Building

Special Mention, 11^th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials