1997 in architecture explained

The year 1997 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

• September 26 – An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi (constructed 1228–1253) to collapse.

Buildings and structures

Buildings

• American Air Museum at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, England, designed by Foster and Partners, is officially opened (Stirling Prize 1998).
• British Library in London, designed by Colin St John Wilson, opens.
• Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, designed by Foster and Partners, is completed.
• Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, designed by Norman Foster, is completed and becomes the tallest building in the European Union (1997–2012).
• The Sky Tower (Auckland) in New Zealand, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 m (1,076 ft), designed by Craig Craig Moller Ltd, opens on March 3.^[1]
• The T & C Tower in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, designed by C. Y. Lee & Partners and HOK, is completed.
• Getty Center in Los Angeles, designed by Richard Meier.
• Shakespeare's Globe in London, a reconstruction of the Elizabethan Globe Theatre, is officially opened.
• Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, opens to the public.
• Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, designed by César Pelli, are completed, constituting the world's tallest building until 2003.
• Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel, Switzerland, designed by Renzo Piano, is opened.
• Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria, designed by Peter Zumthor, is opened.
• Katuaq cultural centre, Nuuk, Greenland, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, opens on February 15.
• Nubian Museum in Aswan, inaugurated (Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2001)
• Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia is completed.
• WoZoCo housing in Amsterdam, designed by Jacob and Nathalie de Vries and Winy Maas of MVRDV, is completed.
• Rudin House, Leymen, France, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is completed.^[2]
• Rongomaraeroa, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, designed by Cliff Whiting, is opened.
• Station F at Abbey Mills Pumping Station in London, designed by Allies and Morrison, is completed.^[3]
• Refurbishment following 1992 Windsor Castle fire in England, designed by Giles Downes, is completed.^[4]

Awards

• AIA Gold Medal – Richard Meier
• Architecture Firm Award – R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects
• Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate – Richard Meier
• Pritzker Prize – Sverre Fehn
• Prix de l'Académie d'Architecture de France – Imre Makovecz
• Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent – Jean-Marc Ibos and Myrto Vitart
• RAIA Gold Medal – Roy Simpson
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Tadao Ando
• Stirling Prize – James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates for Stuttgart Music School, Germany^[5]
• Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – Jaime Lerner
• Twenty-five Year Award – Phillips Exeter Academy Library

Deaths

• May 22 – Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (born 1906)
• August 8 – Paul Rudolph (born 1918)^[6]
• September 4 – Aldo Rossi (born 1931)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sky Tower. Structurae. 2013-03-03.
2. Web site: Rudin House. wikiarquitectura. 2017-12-20.
3. Web site: Abbey Mills Pumping Station - Allies and Morrison. alliesandmorrison.com. 2015-10-09. 2015-09-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20150918200342/http://www.alliesandmorrison.com/project/abbey-mills-pumping-station/. dead.
4. News: Windsor Castle: five years from disaster to triumph. BBC News. 1997-11-17.
5. Web site: Stirling Prize: James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates . Ramanathan . Nivedhakavyasree . Rethinking The Future . 19 October 2024.
6. News: Paul Rudolph Is Dead at 78; Modernist Architect of the 60's . Herbert . Muschamp . Herbert Muschamp . . August 9, 1997 . June 21, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120408174647/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/09/arts/paul-rudolph-is-dead-at-78-modernist-architect-of-the-60-s.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm . 2012-04-08 . dead .