1. Junya Ishigami at the Cartier Foundation, Paris
An endless rooftop supported on a field of boulders. A cave-like restaurant cast into the ground and then dug out from below. Columns so thin you can barely see them with the naked eye. The poetic structures of young Japanese architect Junya Ishigami filled the Cartier Foundation in this beguiling exhibition, which showed the promise of a radically different kind of architecture, closer to natural phenomena than any architectural work before.
2. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, by Donaire Arquitectos
Perched on a hill on the edge of the West Bank city of Ramallah, standing as a shimmering beacon of hope, the Qattan Foundation opened this summer against all the odds of building under Israeli occupation. Providing a gallery, library, theatre, artists’ residencies and studios for dance and art, along with one of the first public plazas in the city, it is a long-awaited and much-needed venue for celebrating contemporary Palestinian culture.
3. Battersea Arts Centre, London, by Haworth Tompkins
A fire mid-construction doesn’t usually help a building, but it did for Battersea Arts Centre. When a horrific blaze gutted its grand hall, architects Haworth Tompkins were given the chance to craft one of London’s most atmospheric performance spaces from the charred carcass. Along with designing a spectacular ceiling for the hall, they have worked on little interventions throughout the building, creating a magical place that revels in the rich patina of its history.
4. Charles Rennie Mackintosh at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow
This year saw Glasgow celebrate the 150th anniversary of its most famous son, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, with a range of exhibitions, tours and events. The standout moment was the encyclopaedic show at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, which revealed quite how ahead of his time Mackintosh was, with a dazzling range of drawings, furniture and models that displayed his unique fusion of art nouveau with Japanese forms and rugged Scots baronial motifs.
5. Goldsmiths CCA, London, by Assemble
The first permanent building by young architecture collective Assemble, the new Centre for Contemporary Art for Goldsmiths college in London didn’t disappoint. Taking over the boiler house of a Victorian public baths, the architects conjured a delightful spatial sequence, celebrating the peculiarities of the rambling complex and making bold new additions. Particular care was lavished on handmade details, from salmon-pink cement tiles to shimmering golden cafe chairs.
6. 15 Clerkenwell Close, London, by Amin Taha
This is one of the most original and witty office and apartment buildings in London in a long time – Amin Taha’s award-winning project made headlines this year when Islington council insisted that it must be demolished. They claimed the striking facade of roughly hewn stone blocks didn’t match the planning application (which Taha disputes), and that it’s not in keeping with the local area. They’re right: it is infinitely better than most of the nearby dross they’ve given permission to.
7. Royal Academy revamp, London, by David Chipperfield
You might have visited the new-look Royal Academy and have been hard pressed to tell quite where the £56m had been spent. But that’s the beauty of this quiet renovation and expansion project, which connected the two sides of the sprawling site, excavating out further exhibition and lecture space, while making the vital presence of the RA Schools – the messy lifeforce of the ancient institution – visible for the first time.
8. Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, by Jamie Fobert
Fourteen years in the making, Jamie Fobert’s extension to the Kettle’s Yard gallery in Cambridge was worth the wait. His project continues the domestic scale of the cottagey complex, which was originally the home of Tate curator Jim Ede. Fobert’s new top-lit galleries have been cleverly stitched into the tight site, referencing the existing jumble of buildings with knowingly crude details, like a big raw steel staircase and a hefty oak reception desk.
9. Denise Scott Brown awarded the Soane Medal
It might have come 30 years late, but when the architect, planner and theorist Denise Scott Brown was awarded the Soane Medal this year, it went a small way to making up for an entire career of being ignored in the shadow of her husband Robert Venturi. Co-author of Learning from Las Vegas, Scott Brown was a hugely influential thinker who, in her embrace of the roadside vernacular, expanded the very definition of what architecture could be.
10. V&A Dundee, by Kengo Kuma
Part cliff face, part galleon, the new V&A Dundee finally arrived on the banks of the Tay like a curious craft sailed in from another realm, four years late and twice over budget. Up close, its clunky detailing leaves something to be desired, but the powerful sculptural form contains a generous new “public room” for the city, along with great pair of exhibition spaces where the fascinating story of Scottish design is told.
