AECOM: The Latest Architecture and News

The MPavilion represents one of the most important architectural events happening annually in Melbourne, Australia. Initiated and founded by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, the event was first launched in 2014 and has since brought internationally recognized architects to design a temporary structure in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens in a system similar to London’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. From Sean Godsell's solar-actioned panels to Studio Mumbai‘s experimental bamboo structure, each pavilion explores craftsmanship and contemporary design while fostering a rich cultural program for several months before being disassembled and donated to one of the city’s parks. As the latest pavilion was recently inaugurated by Tadao Ando, we look back at the previous editions of Australia’s most famous annual structure.

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Architecture design firm Buchan was selected to lead the design for the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Under the theme "Chasing the Sun," the installation will encapsulate Australia's connection to the land and the Cosmos, displaying its rich culture and diverse arts scene. From 13 April 2025 to 13 October 2025, more than 150 countries will participate in a single location, anticipating 28 million visitors from across the globe.

The ninth edition of the MPavilion opened with an orange canopy installation designed by Bangkok-based practice all(zone) in collaboration with AECOM and Schiavello Architects. From December 2022 to April 2023, visitors will experience a vibrant and joyful setting made of upcycling materials, featuring an architectural lighting program by Melbourne-based design practice Bluebottle.

The installation is part of the summer program of free events in the Queen Victoria Garden. Since 2014, MPavilion has prided itself on being a driving force for architectural and design excellence in Australia, commissioning outstanding architects such as MAP Studio Magnani Pelzel Architetti Associati (2021), Glenn Murcutt (2019), and Estudio Carme Pinós (2018).

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After years of preparation, the 2022 World Cup, one of the most anticipated global events of this year, was finally launched. The quadrennial international men's football championship is being held for the first time in an Arab country, Qatar, from the 21st of November to the 18th of December 2022. Ever since FIFA announced that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup back in 2010, preparations for a total of 8 stadiums have been in full force, especially since it will be held in a country with critical climate conditions.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced last week that the current and former sites of Terminals 1, 2, and 3 on the south side of John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens will be redeveloped to make way for a $9.5 billion international terminal that will be built out in phases beginning next year. With the first of its 23 gates anticipated to go live in 2026, the 2.4-million-square-foot new Terminal One will rank as the largest at JFK and, per a news release from the Governor’s Office, “aspires to be among the top-rated airport terminals in the world.”

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In a competition organized by Shenzhen Airport, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and China Northeast Architectural Design & Research Institute (CNADRI) have won a competition to design the Terminal 4 Bao’an International Airport in Shenzhen, China. The winning design offers a new 400,000 sqm building with connections to existing and new transport infrastructure, as well as a space that promotes passenger interaction and wellbeing, all while maintaining a safe post-pandemic environment.

Scale defines spatial experience. From a single room or space to entire masterplans and urban designs, moving between scales shows how designers zoom in or out. Working across programs and contexts around the world, architects are exploring the possibilities of scale to shape human experience. For unbuilt work, these proposals combine ideas of structure, materiality and form to redefine typologies and the future of urban environments.

This week’s curated selection of the Best Unbuilt Architecture focuses on diverse scales of building. Drawn from an array of firms and local contexts, they represent proposals submitted by the ArchDaily Community. They showcase different approaches to designing at diverse scales, from the size of a single room to a high-rise. The projects include a log driving museum in Oslo and a center for health in Hawaii, to a laboratory in Shenzhen and a skyscraper in Costa Rica.

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Comparing revenues from the previous year, Architectural Record lines up annually a list of the Top 300 U.S. Firms. Based on the 2019 data, Gensler tops again the selection, for the ninth year in a row, and Perkins and Will takes the second position. Third, fourth and fifth places were presented for Engineering Architecture firms HDR, Jacobs, and AECOM. Other companies in the top 10 include HKS and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

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AECOM has unveiled a new design for a "basketball net-inspired" 900,000-square-foot arena for the LA Clippers in Inglewood. Working with Anderson Barker Architects, the City Design Studio of Los Angeles, and Hood Studios, the team's proposal includes a solar panel tile cladding system around the building and sunken basketball court. The project's facade was designed to symbolize the diamond shapes in a basketball net.

Snøhetta, WCIT, and AECOM have released details of their proposed Neal S. Blaisdell Center Master Plan for Honolulu, Hawaii. Located in the urban heart of O’ahu, the existing 1964 center is home to the state’s premier arts and cultural venues. The aging structure is now set to be transformed by a 22-acre complex for future generations, featuring a performance hall, exhibition hall, sports pavilion, parking structure, and reconceived public space.

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Architectural Record released the 2018 edition of its annual list of the Top 300 Architecture Firms in the United States. Compiled by Record's sister publication Engineering News-Record, the list ranks firms based on architectural revenue from services performed in 2017. Gensler remains at the top for the seventh consecutive year. For more insight and comments from the leading firms' leadership, see Architectural Record's announcement.

One year after the launch of Resilient by Design's Bay Area Challenge, led by TLS Landscape has presented the final nine design concepts. The Bay Area Challenge launched with a call to action to "bring together local residents, community organizations, public officials and local, national, and international experts to develop innovative solutions that will strengthen our region's resilience to sea level rise, severe storms, flooding, and earthquakes." The idea formulated as a “blueprint for resilience” that can be replicated and utilized locally and globally. Other urban challenges will also be addressed, including housing, transport, health and economic disparity as a means of not just protecting the current regions, but strengthening them.

The elite, collaborative teams include world-renowned designers like BIG, Mithun and HASSELL+.

Read on for more about each of the final design concepts.

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The team led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been selected as the architects of the £2.5 million Centre for Music London project, beating out a star-studded shortlist consisting of teams led by AL_A, Foster + Partners, Gehry Partners, Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Snøhetta.

Working in collaboration with UK-based firm Sheppard Robson, DS+R will develop plans for a world-class concert hall with supporting training, education and digital spaces, as well as attached commercial areas. When complete, it will serve as the new home of the London Symphony Orchestra and Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

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From a pool of over fifty submissions, Resilient by Design have chosen ten winning teams to collaborate with engineers, climate change experts, designers, architects and community members to imagine a better future for The Bay Area in the face of potentially devastating climate change. The winning teams AECOM, BIG, Bionic, TLS, Field Operations, HASSELL, Mithun, Base Landscape, SCAPE and Gensler will spend the next year on a combination of collaborative research projects and site-specific conceptual design solutions.

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Hyperloop One has announced the 10 winners of its Hyperloop One Global Challenge, which sought to identify the most impactful potential Hyperloop routes across the globe. From hundreds of applicants, 10 systems located in 5 different countries were selected by a panel of experts from fields of infrastructure, technology and transportation as the strongest.

Washington, D.C. has unveiled the design of the city’s largest ever construction project: a $411 million bridge spanning the Anacostia River that will replace the 68-year-old Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. The project will be carried out by the team known as “South Capitol Bridge Builders,” consisting of lead designer AECOM, Archer Western Construction and Granite Construction, after their submission was selected as the winner of a competition for the bridge announced in 2014.

Architectural Record has released the 2017 edition of its annual list of the “Top 300 Architecture Firms” in the United States. Compiled by Record's sister publication Engineering News-Record, the list ranks firms based on architectural revenue from the previous year (2016). This year, the top 4 firms held fast to their spots, led by Gensler with a record-best $1.19 billion in revenue. Moving into the top 5 was HOK, while the designation of biggest mover in the top 25 belongs to Dallas-based Corgan, who jumped from 22nd place in 2016 to 14th this year.

See the top 50 firms after the break.