The Traditional Snarky Architecture Review—This Time for the Decade

This annual architecture and design award has been kicking for ten years now, and 2019 provides the perfect opportunity to review the decade that was the 2010s.

1 minute read

December 31, 2019, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


U.S.-Mexico Border

Border wall prototypes, as viewed from Tijuana in March 2018. | AlejandroGutierrez / Shutterstock

Alexandra Lange and Mark Lamster put a twist on their traditional year in review for architecture—this time revisiting past awards to gather a super list for the decade of the 2010s.

According to the decade-in-review post, it's been a decade since the duo came up with the idea for an architecture awards program that strived to go beyond the boring, over-serious traditions of architecture awards. Over the years, the year-in-review post has been a favorite for Planetizen's newsfeed, showing up on these pages in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Here's how Lange and Lamster explain their culling of the numerous annual lists into a new list for the decade that was the 2010s.

Below, we revisit our past prizes, pairing our initial write-ups with new commentary that reflects on the original award and how, if at all, our views have changed. These are the highlights of the last 10 sodden years, the ups and downs (mostly downs) as our culture and politics shriveled into a polarized narcissistic frenzy headed for climatic destruction. Enjoy!

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