Dezeen Awards 2022 announces world's best buildings across architecture categories

In the first of a series of daily announcements of category winners, Dezeen announces the winners of the architecture categories in this year's Dezeen Awards, which celebrates the best architecture, interiors and design around the globe. The winning projects have been selected from more than 5,400 entries from more than 90 countries. In total, 57 projects were shortlisted in the 11 architecture categories. The 11 category winners will now compete each other to win the overall accolade for best building which will be revealed at a live awards event on 29 November in London. This year again, NPO Aoyama Design Forum (ADF) proudly supports the award as a media partner.

Business building of the year: Jakob Factory Saigon by G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten. Photo by Oki Hiroyuki

The 11 architecture winners include the Drawing Gallery in Le Puy-Sainte-Reparade, France, designed by the late Richard Rogers at RSHP, which wins Small building of the year. Judges called it "magical in its simplicity of thought and the complexity of its execution."

Small building of the year: The Richard Rogers' Drawing Gallery by RSHP. Photo by Stéphane Aboudaram

Argo Contemporary Art Museum and Cultural Centre in Tehran, Iran,by Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North wins Cultural building of the year for its transformation of a 1920s brewery in downtown Tehran into a contemporary art museum. "It is a bold adaptive reuse of an historic structure in the centre of Tehran and proposes a purposeful future use, which is inclusive, which respects the past while being forward-looking," the judges said.

Cultural building of the year: Argo Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre by Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North. Photo by Kayvan Radan

Pingtan Book House by Condition_Lab in China's Hunan province, which features a double-helix staircase designed to provide space for children to read and play, was awarded highly commended in the Cultural building of the year category.

Highly commended: Pingtan Book House by Condition_Lab

Little Island by Heatherwick Studio, Arup and MNLA, a 2.4-acre public park and outdoor performance space standing on 132 concrete columns on Manhattan's southwest riverside, wins
Landscape project of the year. The judges described it as "a striking and imaginative addition to New York, which adds to the social value of the city by creating a new gathering space for families to enjoy."

Landscape project of the year: Little Island by Heatherwick Studio, Arup and MNLA. Photo by Timothy Schenck

Scott Whit by Studio wins Rebirth project of the year for its renovation of the 1930s Jubilee Pool in Penzance, Cornwall, one of only five remaining seawater lidos in the UK. "This project represents a holistic idea of rebirth and sustainability," said the jury. "It sensitively reflects the guardianship of the community of this civic asset and the desire to preserve and elevate its use so that it continues to be used and well-loved for future generations."

Rebirth project of the year: Jubilee Pool by Scott Whitby Studio. Photo courtesy of Scott Whitby Studio

Studio Bua wins Residential rebirth project of the year for its renewal of a run-down concrete barn overlooking the Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve in western Iceland. "The engineering feat to enable this project is quite remarkable but the finished building is subtle and appropriate for its context," the judges said.

Residential rebirth project of the year: Hlöduberg Artist Studio by Studio Bua. Photo by Marino Thorlacius

Studio Bright's 8 Yard House in Melbourne wins Urban house of the year. "It is a beautiful and striking home but what particularly stood out is the way that it sits in its existing context in Melbourne,"said the judges.

Urban house of the year: 8 Yard House by Studio Bright. Photo by Rory Gardiner

Marfa Ranch in the Chihuahuan Desert, USA, by Lake Flato Architects wins Rural house of the year. "This house is such a respectful addition to the landscape," said the judges. "It's simple, considered and very well-executed in terms of the materials, with the use of rammed earth a particular highlight that roots the house in its landscape. At the end of its life, much of this house will disappear –dust to dust."

Rural house of the year: Marfa Ranch by Lake Flato Architects. Photo by Casey Dunn

Olaf Gipser Architects, working with the BSH20A housing cooperative, wins Housing project of the year for its 47-metre-high residential complex in the Netherlands, mostly built from cross-laminated timber that addresses the challenge of communal, high-density, sustainable and healthy urban living. "The project achieves these aims admirably,"said the judges. "These are principles that are desperately needed to address sustainable urban development in the future."

Housing project of the year: Stories by Olaf Gipser Architects. Photo by Max Hart Nibbrig

Yong'an Village Community Hub in Yunlong County, China, by Tongji University and Archi-Union Architects wins Civic building of the year. The rammed-earth building forms part of an ongoing social welfare programme. "This is a generous piece of civic architecture that celebrates and elevates both people and place. It is a fantastic example of how to use traditional materials in a modern way," commended the judges.

Civic building of the year: Yong'an Village Community Hub by Tongji University and Archi-Union Architects. Photo by Schran Images

Jakob Factory Saigon by G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten wins Business building of the year for its factory designed for a specialist stainless-steel-rope producer in Vietnam. The building is wrapped in a suspended structure of geotextile planters, which act as a second skin by filtering the rain and sun. "It's rare to see a factory building created with such care," said the judges. "This feels like a space that is designed to support the wellbeing of the workers by bringing nature to the factory floor. This is all-too rare and should be celebrated."

Business building of the year: Jakob Factory Saigon by G8A Architects and Rollimarchini Architekten. Photo by Oki Hiroyuki

Valle San Nicolás Clubhouse by Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos is across-laminated timber and volcanic stone-clad building situated on the outskirts of Valle de Bravo in Mexico that wins Hospitality building of the year. "This project has a beautiful play of architecture and line of sight and is very well balanced within the landscape," said the architecture master jury.

Hospitality building of the year: Valle San Nicolás Clubhouse by Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos. Photo by Rafael Gamo

Dezeen Awards 2022

Winners were judged by an international panel of judges that included some of the best-known names in the global design community,including Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, Sharjah Architecture Triennial curator Tosin Oshinowo, British-Nigerian architect Annette Fisher, multi-disciplinary studio Assemble co-founder Paloma Strelitz,green architecture pioneer Stefano Boeri and Pakistan's first female architect Yasmeen Lari.

The winning projects have been selected from more than 5,400 entries from more than 90 countries. In total, 57 projects were shortlisted in the 11 architecture categories.

The winners of the interiors categories will be announced on 15 November, design winners on 16 November and sustainability and media winners on 17 November.

All category winners will now compete against each other to win the overall accolade for best building, best interior and best design, which will be revealed at a live awards event on 29 November in London.