Image via Complex Original
Architects often have mind-blowing visions for the future, and their plans seem to be more otherworldly each year. In 2013, different firms pushed the boundaries of how we exist in space, challenging the way we move through life with innovative structures that redefine familiar landscapes. Just this year, an impressive slate of new buildings went up around the world, reaching new heights in architecture and design. From OMA's powerful De Rotterdam building in the Netherlands to MAD Architects' dizzying Absolute Towers in Canada, here are The Best Buildings of 2013.
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20. Benson Radiology
Location: Salisbury, Australia
Architect: Tridente Architects
Originally planned as a modest expansion of the Benson Radiology practice in Salisbury, South Australia, the building gradually transformed into a full out branding refresh. The pronounced and unique design of the facilities brings life to the previous lackluster building.
19. Women's Opportunity Center
Location: Kayonza, Rwanda
Architect: Sharon Davis Design
The Women's Opportunity Center, located in Rwanda, is empowering a small community of women by allowing them to dedicate their days to maintaining small subsistence farms in addition to gathering wood and fuel. The architects cite the architecture as a nod to lost Rwandan design traditions.
18. Fontys Sports College
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands
Architect: Mecanoo
The council of Eindhoven and Fontys University commissioned Mecanoo architects to build the sports complex. Intended for educational, professional, and recreational sports purposes, the Sports College can be manipulated depending on the specific use. The structure boasts a fifteen-meter high climbing wall. This climbing wall is surrounded by large glass windows, allowing spectators to watch climbers and players.
17. DPS Kindergarden School
Location: Bangalore, India
Architect: Khosla Associates
The DPS Kindergarten School is an example of Khosla Associates' design for a school franchise in Northern India. Because the plan was intended to be replicated across several schools in India, the architects had to design a simple, cost effective language that could easily be adapted to a variety of sites and programs.
16. De Rotterdam
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Architect: OMA
OMA's newest creation for Rotterdam, De Rotterdam, is a heavy, solid addition to the skyline. However, despite its 44 floors and impressive scale, the building's shifting blocks create a constantly changing appearance, creating new views regardless of the angle.
15. Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Center
Location: Ballarat, Australia
Architect: Billard Leece Partnership
The Ballarat Regional Cancer Center serves a city of approximately 100,000 people. The structure brings together many facilities, including care, therapy, and treatment, which were previously inconveniently spread out across the city. The cancer center is located in a historic building, which had fallen into disuse as more modern buildings made it redundant. However, the architects were able to bring the facility back to life.
14. Shirasu Residence
Location: Kagoshima, Japan
Architect: ARAY Architecture
The Shirasu residence is a unique structure. Because the resident did not depend on locally supplied energy, the architects had to be creative with their design. The concrete structure is energy efficient, keeping the interior cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The structure is also fireproof and offers plenty of natural light.
13. Namly House
Location: Singapore
Architect: CHANG Architects
Designed specially for a multi-generational family, this simple reinforced concrete building harnesses the lushness of nature with the luxury of high-end materials and intelligent architecture. The structure allows for lots of natural light and boasts a breezy, energy efficient environment.
12. New Offices of the Botín Foundation
Location: Madrid
Architect: MVN Arquitectos
For their Madrid offices, the Botín Foundation chose a 1920s industrial building by Gonzalo Aguado, which was previously a silversmith workshop. The distinct shell of the building gave the architects the unique opportunity to create inspiring and singular spaces for the new offices. The principal objective for the renovation was to allow more natural light to enter the whole building and enhance the space with sunlight and natural vegetation.
11. Statoil Regional and International Offices
Location: Fornebu, Norway
Architect: a-lab
The new offices for Statoil, a Norwegian energy producer, were designed to be iconic structures that reflected the company's role as an innovative organization. According to the architects, the main challenge of the design was to balance the size of the structure and the aesthetics, while enlivening the surrounding area. The modular construction of the building allows for varying orientation of modules. The angles optimize internal daylight and create a central urban plaza to promote community.
10. The Left-Over-Space House
Location: Paddington, Australia
Architect: Cox Rayner Architects
The intention of the Left-Over-Space House was to demonstrate what can be achieved with a myriad of left-over space, similar to the awkward space that is left over in inner cities. In this case, the space was a recycled caretaker's cottage. The building has been renovated to accommodate a family house for parents and two kids. The site embodies the mantra of making every little bit count.
9. Knowledge Center at St. Olavs Hospital
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Architect: Ratio Arkitekter AS and Nordic Office of Architecture
Centrally located in the heart of St. Olavs Hospital, the Knowledge Center completes the ongoing renovation of the hospital (initiated in 1995). The Center's most impressive feature is its glass printed façade. The white exterior glass is cladded in black print, which makes the look of the exterior change throughout the day. These technical exterior installations save energy and create an extremely well insulated building.
8. University of Aberdeen New Library
Location: University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects
Chosen in a 2005 architectural competition, the University of Aberdeen New Library was designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. The building replaced the university's former library, which was built in 1965. The heart of the library is its core atrium, spiraling up and connecting the structure's eight stories. The dynamic interior is an engaging juxtaposition to the library's crisp, angular exterior.
According to Morten Schmidt, founding partner of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, the new library has even affected the students' everyday behavior, causing an increase in visitors and enhancing the social community of the university.
7. Splashpoint Leisure Center
Location: Worthing, UK
Architect: Wilkinson Eyre
The copper and cedar clad structure serves as a new flexible complex for multiple fitness activities. Located between the seaside and the town center, the new leisure center's fragmented shape is a response to the surrounding mix of build forms and landscape. The architect cites the fluid forms of nature as their inspiration for the building's shape.
6. Park Royal on Pickering
Location: Singapore
Architect: WOHA
Dubbed as the "ultimate green-city" this hotel-as-garden is a lush oasis in the city of Singapore. The structures three main towers are connected by curvaceous, green gardens. The architect's intention was to recreate and urban street scale with interesting details and engaging views.
5. Emporia Shopping Center
Location: Malmö
Architect: Wingårdhs
The Emporia shopping center is an all-inclusive urban planning project that combines offices, housing, and retail together in a mixed-use development. The Center includes many amenities like a rooftop park with vegetation. The current structure is intended to be expanded, a center of a larger development. The structure's jewel tone glass enclosures add to the luxury of the Center.
4. A Simple Factory Building
Location: Singapore
Architect: Pencil Office
Channeling a 1960s aesthetic, A Simple Factory Building's vintage-inspired façade provides multiple practical benefits in addition to its aesthetic interest. The exterior amplifies natural light, directs natural ventilation, shields the interior from solar radiation, and conceals mechanical equipment.
3. 72 Screens
Location: Jaipur, India
Architect: SanjaPuri Architects
Located in the city of Jaipur, India, the abstract, perforated office building serves as a haven from the area's desert climate. The small structure is energy efficient with concrete screens around the building that create an external space for plants to insulate the building from the external heat of the climate.
2. The Absolute Towers
Location: Mississauga, Canada
Architect: MAD architects
The Chinese firm MAD intended to build a pair of towers that were organic and fluid to inspire on-lookers of a softer, less power-driven time. The towers successfully accomplish this with their rounded oval floors that rotate on a central axis as they ascend the tower. Not only do these unique structures add variance to the Mississauga skyline, but they boast many sustainable features. The floors are not only naturally aerodynamic, but they allow for 360-degree balconies that shade the interior from the sun, reducing air conditioning costs.
1. Blue Planet Aquarium
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Architect: 3XN
The new Denmark aquarium is the largest aquarium in Europe, containing over 53 aquariums and displays. The ocean-inspired aquarium has a whirlpool structure covered in a fish scale-like façade. The architects, 3NX, designed the building to have no fixed route, allowing for a more fluid experience, and hopefully, reducing lines for popular exhibitions.