Dezeen's top 10 US architecture projects of 2020

We're continuing our review of the year with the top 10 US architecture projects of 2020. They include David Adjaye's pink-concrete store,  SOM's museum for the United States Army and MAD's first project in America.

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National Museum of the United States Army, Virginia by SOM

The National Museum of the United States Army is a monolithic building with a mirrored steel exterior reflecting its surrounds in the bucolic Fort Belvoir Military Installation in Virginia.

Designed by SOM, it is the first in America dedicated to the country's oldest military service.

Find out more about National Museum of the United States Army ›

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The Webster, California by David Adjaye

For this store for fashion retailer The Webster, David Adjaye's first project in California, the architect chose curved pink-tinted concrete walls to contrast the brutalist-style Beverly Center above.

Pink also continues throughout the interior in the form of curving walls that enclose the changing rooms, concrete display plinths and concrete columns that punctuate the space.

Find out more about The Webster ›

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One Thousand Museum, Florida by Zaha Hadid Architects

A private aquatic centre and a helipad are included in the One Thousand Museum, which is one of the last buildings designed by late architect Zaha Hadid.

The 62-storey residential tower has glass facades encased by a curvaceous "exoskeleton" that comprises 5,000 pieces of lightweight glass-fibre-reinforced concrete.

Find out more about One Thousand Museum ›

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Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Oklahoma by Rand Eliot Architecture

Nearly 17,000 extruded aluminium fins cover the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, designed by Rand Eliot Architecture, and form a zigzagging roofline.

Intended as a new landmark for the city, the building is located just north of the historic Automobile Alley and replaces the contemporary museum's original home at Oklahoma City's State Fair Park.

Find out more about Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center ›

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US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Colorado by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

US firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro created the twisted US Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado this year, with the aim to make it one of the most accessible buildings in the world.

The museum, which is composed of four aluminium-clad volumes, is arranged so visitors ascend to the top level of the museum by elevator and gradually move through the galleries on a wide, spiralling ramp.

Find out more about US Olympic and Paralympic Museum ›

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Gardenhouse, California by MAD

Chinese firm MAD completed its first US project this year: the Gardenhouse residential building in Beverly Hills.

It is designed to look like a village with 18 gabled houses that are set atop a three-storey podium covered in plants – making it the "largest living wall" in US, according to the studio.

Find out more about Gardenhouse ›

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Eighty Seven Park, Florida by Renzo Piano

Italian architect Renzo Piano's oval-shaped condominium tower, which is wrapped in terraces, opened on the waterfront in Miami Beach, Florida.

Elevated on white pillars, the rounded Eighty Seven Park totals 18-storeys offering residences views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Find out more about Eighty Seven Park ›

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Powerhouse, Wisconsin by Studio Gang

Having first unveiled its plans to convert a decommissioned power plant in Wisconsin into new facilities for Beloit College six years ago, Studio Gang completed the project this year.

The 100-year-old plant building, which is located between the campus of the arts college and Rock River in Beloit, was updated to include a fitness centre and a gymnasium with an elevated three-lane track.

Find out more about Powerhouse ›

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Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, Texas by Steven Holl Architects

Curvy roofs "imagined from cloud circles" top the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, which US firm Steven Holl completed as part of a major campus redesign for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The walls of the museums are wrapped with translucent glass tubes to contrast existing buildings on site, like the adjacent transparent glass and steel building by Mies van der Rohe and an opaque stone building by Rafael Moneo.

Find out more about Nancy and Rich Kinder Building ›

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Seattle Asian Art Museum, Washington State by LMN Architects

American studio LMN Architects renovated and expanded the 1930s, art deco-style Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Making sure to preserve "the architectural legacy of the historic building", the firm chose glass, steel and concrete for the extension. Facades were restored and new glass was installed in windows of the existing building.

Find out more about the Seattle Asian Art Museum ›

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ZJA to create museum around underwater 18th-century shipwreck

Architecture studio ZJA has unveiled its plans for a museum in the Netherlands to house the wreck of the historic ship Amsterdam, which is currently sunk of the coast of Hastings, UK.

Named Docking the Amsterdam, ZJA's proposal will recover and relocate the wreck without ever taking it out of the water. A museum will then be built around a glass tank containing the wreck allowing visitors to view the 40-metre-long shipwreck from all angles.

Above: the museum will be sheltered by a white canopy. Top image: a walkway will provide a view of the shipwreck from above

The Amsterdam ship was built in the 18th century by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) but engulfed by sand on the English coast after becoming unsteerable in 1748.

Though the ship's exposed superstructure has since been destroyed, its hull and contents remain almost completely intact below the sand. The museum has been commissioned by VOC Ship Amsterdam Foundation to save its remains from any further erosion.

Though the exact site for the museum is yet to be decided, it will be in Amsterdam as this is where the VOC shipyard was located and the ship was built.

Underwater galleries will frame views of the wreck and diving archaeologists

While salvaging the wreck from an unsafe site and creating facilities for archaeologists, the VOC foundation's goal for Docking the Amsterdam is to shed light on Dutch maritime history.

This will include exhibition spaces designed by ZJA to spotlight the "complete story" of the VOC, focusing primarily on its involvement in slavery and the impact of this on today's society.

"The urgency of the project is twofold," ZJA told Dezeen. "Firstly, the ship was constructed by the VOC," it told Dezeen.

"Today's perspective on the history of colonialism, the slave trade and international trade makes reassessment and discussion essential. Secondly, the wreck is now in a place with a huge tidal range, the currents that accompany this are eroding the wreck."

Discoveries from the ship will be placed in the surrounding galleries

To relocate the Amsterdam wreckage safely, it will be lifted from the seabed using a large basin, or salvage dock, made from steel. This structure will also extract some of the water and sand surrounding the ship.

The basin will then be sailed to Amsterdam, where it will be permanently docked and transformed into an underwater museum.

Above water, the museum will be sheltered by a white, curved canopy, described by ZJA as a "protective blanket". This will be made from tensile fabrics and also shelter a walkway at the top of the steel basin that will provide visitors with aerial views of the wreck.

The ship will be placed at the centre of a large steel basin

Few details have been disclosed about the museum's interiors, though it is expected that the steel basin will be exposed throughout to give an industrial aesthetic.

Glass will be used to line the walls of the dock that face the shipwreck, allowing visitors to observe it from several angles and watch "live excavating" of the ship by diving archaeologists.

"Visiting this venue is like entering a theatre that stages the investigation in progress and engages the public with the discoveries the divers and researchers do inside the wreck," said the studio.

The discoveries from its excavation will be placed around the exhibition spaces, alongside a series of private research facilities, such as laboratories and training spaces for underwater archaeologists.

Docking the Amsterdam is expected to take several years, with 2025 the slated date for the basin's opening. It will be realised by ZJA in collaboration with archaeologist Jerzy Gawronski, Deloitte, Mammoet and VEKA Shipyards.

Elsewhere, OMA is currently developing an underwater sculpture park in an attempt to protect the shoreline of Miami Beach against the effects of climate change. Many of its installations will only be viewable while snorkelling.

In 2019, Snøhetta completed Under in the remote village of Båly, Norway, which is the "world's largest underwater restaurant".

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Library of law books wraps staircase in Mexico City office designed by Esrawe Studio

Mexico's Esrawe Studio has designed offices for a law firm in Mexico City with walls of books as a centrepiece.

Esrawe Studio – which was named Dezeen Awards 2020 interior design studio of the year – completed the headquarters for a firm called Corporate C.

The law books fill bookshelves around the main staircase

The office is composed of two wings that form a V-shaped floor plan and span two floors, which are connected by a wide wooden staircase. Pale oak wood walls around the stair form bookshelves to display the firm's extensive book collection.

Benches offer a place to sit an read

"The firm posses with pride one of the most relevant law book collection in the country," Esrawe Studio explained.

"One of their main requests was to display them for the use of the team and visitors, which created for us the perfect excuse to use the library not only as a container but mostly to represent metaphorically the spirit and tradition of the firm."

The seats are topped with cushions and face windows

Wooden ladders are placed on wheels and runners along the shelves to make the books accessible, while benches with grey cushions beside the stairway provide a spot for employees to read. The books add a pop of colour to an otherwise simple materal palette composed of the pale wood and soft grey furnishings.

In addition to making the most of the books, Esrawe Studio was tasked to create plenty of informal areas for Corporate C employees – of which there are over 300 – to engage in events, announcements, lectures and conferences.

It responded by arranging specialist teams into groups of cubicles and desks it describes as "clusters or neighbourhoods" with the space in between is intended for informal gatherings.

This includes an area on the ground floor that is topped by a circular opening to the floor above. There are also benches with stools that wrap around the stairway on this level.

This informal sitting area is topped by a circular opening

"Between the clusters we have integrated different configurations of lounge areas for informal meetings, gathering points and breaks that promote interaction, community and a sense of belonging," said Esrawe Studio.

Corporate C's 5000-square-metre headquarters is located inside a building in the capital city designed by Mexican architect Teodoro Gonzalez de León. "It has one of the best views in the city to the most important park, Chapultepec, and its volcanic skyline, in particular from the council hall," said Esrawe Studio.

Glass cubicles are intended to maintain natural light and views

To maintain views and natural light, offered by glazed walls, the studio encased private workspaces on the outer edge in glass boxes.

A number of these also wrap around an outdoor terrace, which is at the intersection of the two wings on the lower level. Designed by Taller Entorno, it features a coffee shop and a lounge area integrated with a garden.

There is also an outdoor terrace

Esrawe Studio was founded by industrial designer Hector Esrawe in Mexico City in 2003.

The studio, which also recently its own workspace inside a former dance hall in the city, was named studio of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020 last month. The studio's design for Tori Tori Sante Fe restaurant was also awarded the restaurant interior of the year.

Photography is by César Béjar.

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Project credits:

Creative direction: Héctor Esrawe
Interior design and furniture: Esrawe Studio
Project leader: Jan Müller
Interior design team: Javier García-Rivera, Manuel Rodríguez, Antonio Chávez, Ricardo Ramírez.
Furniture design team: Eduardo Álvarez, Roberto González, Cristina Heredia.
Technical development: Gensler
Landscaping: Entorno Taller de Paisaje
Lighting: Evoke Architectural Lighting Design

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Loenen Pavilion offers space to rest and reflect in Dutch war cemetery

Kaan Architecten has built a pavilion to commemorate Dutch victims of the second world war, with thickset walls that strategically frame views of the trees and sky.

Located in the village of Loenen, the building sits between two graveyards – the Loenen National War Cemetery and the new National Veterans Cemetery.

Loenen Pavilion is situated in between a war cemetery and a veterans cemetery

Kaan Architecten's aim was to give visitors a space for rest and contemplation, with a building that embodies both openness and enclosure.

With its stone-clad walls and heavy concrete roof, Loenen Pavilion seeks to create a close relationship between architecture and landscape, by creating framed apertures of the birch and pine trees that surround.

Some walls fold outwards at the base, creating informal benches around the building's perimeter.

The building is designed to create enclosure, but also to feel open

"The serene atmosphere and lack of intrusiveness have been achieved by sensitive architectural gestures, proposing an intimate yet open and inviting building, obscured by tree trunks yet in clear view," said Kaan Architecten.

"Strategically placed, natural stone-clad walls stretching from floor to ceiling accentuate the alternation between open and closed."

The concrete roof emphasises the building's horizontality

Loenen National War Cemetery was designed by landscape architect Daniel Haspels shortly after the end of the war.

Part of his concept was to avoid vertical elements that would interrupt the view of trees, as a way of maintaining a peaceful outlook. This meant that gravestones were laid flat rather than upright.

Strategically placed apertures frame views of the trees and sky

The pavilion follows this approach; in every spatial composition, the walls are designed to feel secondary to the floor and roof slabs. This effect is emphasised by the contrast in materials – the lightness of the concrete compared with the black of the stone.

"By masterfully directing the sightlines inward, outward, and through, [we] maintained the fragile aura of light and tranquillity already imbued in the National War Cemetery," said Kaan Architecten.

Stone-clad walls integrate seating areas

The building is designed to welcome individuals and small groups visiting the cemeteries but also serves other purposes.

There is an auditorium, used for assemblies and funeral services, and a gallery for exhibitions and presentations. For larger events, these rooms can be combined to create space for up to 200 people. There is also a room for condolences.

Glazing in the auditorium allows the landscape to become the backdrop

In each of these spaces, glazing deliberately directs views in a certain direction.

In the auditorium, a window wall allows the landscape to become the backdrop to any service. Similarly, the condolences room offers two different viewpoints – one facing the war cemetery and another facing the veteran's cemetery.

In the same spirit, services are as discrete as possible. Integrated ventilation systems and underfloor heating prevent the need for visible distractions.

Other spaces include an exhibition gallery and condolences room

Kaan Architecten is led by architects Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio.

The studio has a history of producing commemorative architecture, with past examples including the Crematorium Siesegem in Belgium. This project, commissioned by the Netherlands War Graves Foundation, builds on that expertise.

The aim was to maintain "the fragile aura of light and tranquillity"

"The distinguished yet subtle Loenen Pavilion architecturally enriches the National War Cemetery, providing a reinvigorated place of honour and consolation, while allowing the forest to be the guide," added the studio.

Photography is by Simone Bossi.

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Project credits:

Architect: KAAN Architecten (Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen, Dikkie Scipio)
Project team: Alice Colombo, Sebastian van Damme, Paolo Faleschini, Raluca Firicel, Michael Geensen, Nicki van Loon
Client: The Netherlands War Graves Foundation, Nationale Veteranenbegraafplaats Loenen
Main contractor: Rots Bouw
Construction manager: Antea Group
Construction advisor: Pieters Bouwtechniek
Technical installations advisor, physics, fire control, acoustics: DGMR
Building costs advisor: B3 bouwadviseurs
Exhibition design: Tinker
AV design: Nieuwenhuis AV
Project furniture: Workshop of Wonders
Landscape design: Karres en Brands
Landscape contractor: Van de Haar Groep

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Dezeen's top 10 Indian architecture projects of 2020

Continuing our review of 2020, we look at 10 architecture projects from across India, including a modern take on a Hindu temple, a house informed by Le Corbusier and a cardboard office.

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Rajasthan School, Rajasthan, by Sanjay Puri Architects

Sanjay Puri Architects designed a series of shaded walkways around this school in northern India to shelter pupils from the desert climate that has a temperature above 35 degrees Celsius for most of the year.

The school's walkways and walls are coloured deep red to contrast with its blue and yellow interior spaces.

See more of Rajasthan School ›

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Nandyal Temple, Andhra Pradesh, by Sameep Padora & Associates

Architecture studio Sameep Padora & Associates designed this Hindu temple complex for the village of Nandyal from stacked local black limestone slabs to be a modern take on traditional temple forms.

"More than the temple being different from its predecessors, I think it's more like a variant," said studio principal Sameep Padora.

See more of Nandyal Temple ›

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Residence 1065, Chandigarh, by Charged Voids

This house in Chandigarh was designed to directly reference the work of 20th-century modernist architect Le Corbusier, who was responsible for master planning the city.

It has a concrete frame and a curved concrete roof reminiscent of the nearby Palace of Assembly, while a double-height prayer room occupies a white turret.

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The Terramater, Amritsar, by Renesa

New Delhi-based studio Renesa partitioned this showroom for homeware brand Rustickona, named The Terramater, with a series of room dividers made from hollow terracotta bricks.

The decorative dividers, which are made from bricks perforated with a grid of square and circular holes, were designed to give the store a homely element to contrast its concrete floor and walls.

See more of The Terramater ›

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Qualia restaurant, Mumbai, by Serie Architects

Set on the ground floor of Mumbai's Lodha World One skyscraper, Qualia restaurant's seats are all orientated towards its grand open kitchen, which runs the entire length of the rear wall.

A series of undulating bronze chainmail curtains were hung to give the kitchen a theatrical quality while dividing up the restaurant's different areas.

See more of Qualia restaurant ›

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Narayantala Thakurdalan, Bansberia, by Abin Design Studio

This small Hindu temple in the city of Bansberia has screen walls made from open concrete blocks and a glazed corner that opens directly onto the street.

It was designed by Indian practice Abin Design Studio to be an open space that could be used for worship and opened up to the public during festivals.

See more of Narayantala Thakurdalan ›

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Office in Cardboard, Pune, by VDGA

As its name suggests Office in Cardboard is a renovated an office in Pune that has a series of partition walls made from cardboard.

Located in the Pimpri Chinchwad district, the four-storey office for 100 people was shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the large workspace interior category.

See more of Office in Cardboard ›

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ModSkool, Delhi, by Social Design Collaborative

ModSkool was designed as a modular in Delhi that can be dismantled quickly for settlements that are under threat of demolition.

The single classroom has a bolted steel frame structure with cladding made from bamboo, reclaimed wood and dried grass – all materials commonly used to build homes in the area.

See more of ModSkool ›

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Bodice store, New Delhi, by Ruchika Sachdeva

Designed by Bodice founder Ruchika Sachdeva the flagship store for the womenswear brand is located in New Delhi's affluent Vasant Kunj neighbourhood.

Sachdev created the pared-back interiors to encourage customers to "think more consciously about what they're buying and why".

See more of Bodice store ›

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Mumbai Artist Retreat, Alibag, by Architecture Brio 

Built in the coastal town of Alibag, this artist's retreat contains a workshop space, along with accommodation areas for long and short term guests.

The steel and bamboo cabin is raised on stilts to protect it from rising sea levels in Mumbai Bay.

See more of Mumbai Artist Retreat ›

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