The end-of-the-decade lists keep coming with the help of the Washington Post and their list of the best architecture of the last decade. Philip Kennicott does the ranking and sites the symbiotic relationship of architecture and the economy. The events of September 11 started the decade with reconsiderations of building tall, but those fears soon passed as some of the world’s tallest buildings were constructed in the oh’s. Not surprising to anyone paying attention, a big push went toward ‘green’ construction. As for the best of the decade, here they are:
Herzog and de Meuron’s Tate Modern on the banks of the Thames, was, in a former life, a power plant.
Herzog and de Meuron’s Beijing National Stadium (Source)
Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall, Los Angeles, CA (also pictured above)
Rem Koolhaas’s Seattle Central Library
Diller Scofidio and Renfro’s re-design of Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (Source)
And if you were wondering if there were any ‘worsts’ on Kennicott’s list, the answer would be ‘yes’. According to him The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto) by Daniel Libeskind gets that dubious distinction.
To read why these structures made Kennicott’s list, visit this article on The Washington Post.