The 10 most significant architectures of the 21st century

From urban regeneration to environmental sustainability and the fight against social inequalities, Domus selects ten works of architecture that capture the key challenges of this first quarter century and attempt to respond to them.

Franco Purini said that architecture is the physical and at the same time symbolic form of society, and at the same time society itself is the primary product of architecture. If one assumes as true the bi-univocal correspondence between space (in the sense of built environment) and time (in the sense of historical epoch) and their reciprocal influences, architecture is perhaps a key to decoding not only the complexity of present era but also the future direction it is likely to take.

Domus has selected ten works that record the major challenges of this first quarter of the 21st century, attempting, with different languages and in different contexts, to respond to them: from the regeneration of historical heritage (Herzog&De Meuron, Tate ModernOMA, Garage Museum), to territorial marketing strategies through culture (Sanaa, Louvre Lens; Zaha Hadid Achitecs, Heydar Aliyev Center); from environmental sustainability (Renzo Piano Building Workshop, California Academy of Sciences), to the fight against social inequalities through the conquest of the right to quality housing (MVRDV, Mirador; Lacaton&Vassal, Grand Parc), to services (Paulo Mendes Da Rocha + MMBB Arquitetos, Sesc 24 de Maio), to education (Francis Kéré, Gando primary school and annexes), and through the construction of a sense of community, however increasingly nuanced and varied it may be (BIG, Superkilen).

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