1998 in architecture

The year 1998 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Buildings completed

Petronas Twin Towers

• 5 April - Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, Japan, longest suspension bridge in the world by the length of central span, designed by Satoshi Kashima, opened.
• 16 April - City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain, designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, inaugurated.
• 31 May - Saint Paul's Cathedral, Wellington, New Zealand, opened.^[1]
• June - Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Caledonia, designed by Renzo Piano, opened.
• 6 July - Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong, designed by Norman Foster, opened.^[2]
• 15 October - Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, designed by Marnell Corrao Associates, opened.
• November - River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, England, designed by David Chipperfield.
• Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, by Steven Holl Architects, opened.
• Waterside (building) at Harmondsworth, England, international headquarters of the airline British Airways, designed by Niels Torp, opened.
• Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre in Switzerland, designed by Jean Nouvel, opened.
• Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, completed.
• Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, designed by César Pelli, completed; it becomes the tallest building in the British Commonwealth and tallest building in the world (until 2004).
• B 018 nightclub in Beirut, designed by Bernard Khoury.
• Polaria and the Polar Environment Centre in Tromsø, Norway^[3]
• Malator (earth house) in Wales, designed by Future Systems.

Polaria in Tromsø, Northern Norway

Awards

• Alvar Aalto Medal – Steven Holl
• Architecture Firm Award – Centerbrook Architects and Planners
• European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Prize) – Peter Zumthor for Kunsthaus Bregenz
• Grand Prix de l'urbanisme – Christian Devillers
• Grand prix national de l'architecture – Jacques Hondelatte
• Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate – Álvaro Siza
• Pritzker Prize – Renzo Piano
• Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent – Rem Koolhaas
• RAIA Gold Medal – Gabriel Poole
• Royal Gold Medal – Oscar Niemeyer
• Stirling Prize – Norman Foster and Partners, American Air Museum, Imperial War Museum, Duxford
• Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – Jaquelin T. Robertson.
• Twenty-five Year Award – Kimbell Art Museum

Events

• Park Hill, Sheffield, 1961 flatted public housing in South Yorkshire, England, is Grade II* listed, making it the largest listed building in Europe.

Deaths

• 13 June – Lúcio Costa, Brazilian architect and urban planner (born 1902)^[4]
• 29 August – Erik Asmussen, Danish-born architect (born 1913)
• 31 October – Rosemary Stjernstedt, British architect (born 1912)
• 14 November – Albert Frey, Californian "desert modernist" architect (born 1903)

References