30 Architectural Masterpieces From All Over The World That Won The 2020 Architecture MasterPrize

Location: Mexico City

Lead architect: Gerardo Broissin, Luis Pimienta

Egaligilo is an installation that represents the tension between traditional and parametric architecture, symbolizing an equalizer of forces. It preserves a natural environment, creating its own microclimate and maintaining a series of atmospheric conditions, allowing light and rain to seep inside, keeping the plants alive. It is in constant interaction with its surroundings as it blends in with the public space, allowing visitors to contact nature. The pavilion also seeks to raise awareness about reutilizing ephemeral structures and is now being adapted for another purpose.

Location: China

Lead architect: Liu Jinrui

"The design creates an atrium based on the original structure and brings the experience of wandering in the woods. Columns and beams immediately become trees and bridges. Continuous stairs and slides spiral up around the "trees", connecting, and activating spaces. "Treehouses" provide private spaces for children to read and do handwork. The third floor provides a combination of indoor and outdoor activity areas connected by a plastic track. The track is an extension of the atrium and separates out various thematic activity areas."

Location: Guangzhou, China

Lead architect: Ann Yu

"Merlin Music Small Symphony Recording Studio. Due to the comprehensive requirements of the venue's sound effect, special materials are used for the walls and floors to strengthen the functions of sound insulation, rebound, moisture, and static electricity. The space's random and irregular surface avoids the interference of standing waves in the space on the recording through design techniques and the organization of material density, directly transforming the monotonous and purely functional appearance of the traditional recording studio."

Location: Shenzhen, China

Lead Architect: Jane Zhang

"The bridge body's plane is mainly composed of a straight line and a tangent arc, while the elevation of the bridge body is mainly composed of multiple straight lines and multiple tangent arcs. To meet the ease of implementation in construction, the designer repeatedly optimized the geometric composition of the bridge body, adjusted the curve distribution of the plane and the elevation so that the straight line segment of the plane corresponds to the curve segment of the elevation, avoiding the increase in construction difficulty due to the hyperboloid of the space."

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Lead architects: Twitee Vajrabhaya Teparkum, Amata Luphaiboon

"The project is a rethinking of what a library of today could be, especially for an architecture school. To re-activate the library, the project has expanded the architecture library's meaning to be more than a place for reading books, but to become a "creative incubator." Various new programs are integrated into the new library. They range from a co-working space, an exhibition space, and a pin-up space to an occasional lecture space where the library becomes a place to exchange ideas. It includes not only physical books but also digital media, movies, exhibitions, etc."

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Lead architect: Jofre Roca

"In the center of the city and the Eixample District, on the commercial axis of Paseo de Gracia, the new corporate headquarters of Carner Barcelona is designed. A local brand of exquisite, intense and innovative perfumes in Barcelona. It is located in a building that preserves its original and typical construction elements of Catalan architecture. The sobriety and authenticity of the designed spaces allow the values and philosophy of the brand to emerge. It is contextualized in the Mediterranean and local crafts. Likewise, the resulting homogeneous white color makes the product stand out."

Location: South Perth, Australia

Company: Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects with Place Laboratory and ETC

"The proposed design of the canopies embraces a unique story being curated throughout the Connect South Mends Street Project. The notion of an "Animal Parade" being embedded into the canopies highlights the prominence of the Perth Zoo in South Perth’s lineage. The canopies take form as abstract creatures, the numbat and frilled-neck lizard, and were selected to represent Perth Zoo’s focus on conservation and its commitment to wildlife and showcasing native fauna. Origami includes a structural logic through the stiffening of plate metal and facilitates the visual abstraction of the species."

Location: Shunde, Guangdong, China

Lead architect: Tadao Ando

"Located in Shunde, Guangdong, He Art Museum (HEM) is a family established, non-profit art museum designed by Tadao Ando. HEM’s architectural design pursues the philosophy of spatial integration involving geometrical design elements—square and circle—to create a sense of contrast. Highlighted with the world’s first and only double-helix staircase made with slick concrete and spacious, innovative exhibition halls in a circular structure, it hopes to utilize the space to create multi-dimensional cultural and artistic experiences for art enthusiasts and the local community."

Client: Fangsuo Commune

Lead architect: Yuejiu Li

"This is a renovation project, a bookstore that features sinuous bookshelves and desks. The work took place under the restriction of not modifying the exterior glass structure, while the interior needed to be reformed. The concept of the magnetic field created by dynamic spiral grains of the vinyl record is integrated into the interior space of FANGSUO BOOKSTORE. Designers emphasize the dynamic interaction between the space and readers, which is based on their experiential needs. Thus, we introduce horseshoe-shaped, magnet-like mobile book desks that achieve flexibility in the use of space."

Firm location: Miami, United States

Lead architect: Orlando Comas

"The client, a builder of high-end homes, wanted a tropical landscape look for his modern Bali-style home that would flow from the front yard through the interior water gardens and end in a straightforward structured landscape look for the rear yard pool area. Landscape architects achieved great integration of architecture with landscape architecture with the right plant and hardscape material selection and created different levels with natural oolite stone blocks. Lushness was a requirement in the owner’s wish list for the front yard and simplicity for the yard rear pool area."