The most innovative architecture of 2021

Winner

Beloit Powerhouse
Studio Gang
A former coal-burning power plant repurposed into a college sports and recreation center

Finalists

The Crystal at Raffles City Chongqing
Safdie Architects

The Bicycle Parking Garage at The Hague
Silo

United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum
Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula
James Corner Field Operations

The Underline’s Brickell Backyard
James Corner Field Operations

The Noise-Cancelling Office
NBBJ

The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School
Diana Kellogg Architects

One House to Save Many
Leo Burnett and Suncorp

Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center
Brooklyn Public Library and Marble Fairbanks

The Moynihan Train Hall Amtrak-LIRR Waiting Area
Rockwell Group

Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters
Lever Architecture

Honorable Mentions

McDonald’s Global Flagship at Walt Disney World Resort
Ross Barney Architects

Veev’s Accessory Dwelling Unit
NewDealDesign

Cover Building System
Cover

Proteus
Fuseproject

Aectual
Aectual

Chroma Modern Eyewear + Eyecare
Ibanez Shaw Architecture

Kornberg Center, Promega Corporation
SmithGroup and Ramlow/Stein Architecture + Interiors

Mobile Museum of Tolerance
Simon Wiesenthal Center and Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign

The Little Building at Emerson College
Elkus Manfredi Architects

Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo
Rockwell Group

Tidal Basin Ideas Lab
James Corner Field Operations with DLANDstudio, GGN, Hood Design Studio, and Reed Hilderbrand

Self-Powered Home
Dvele

Western Academy of Beijing
Rosan Bosch Studio

@Ease
Rockwell Group

Lantern House
Related Companies

Market Fulfillment Centers Roll Out
Walmart

Cedars-Sinai Biomanufacturing Center
HDR

Caterpillar
Prince Concepts

Greenwood Rising
Local Projects

Waldkliniken Eisenberg
Matteo Thun and HDR

See more from Fast Company’s 2021 Innovation by Design Awards. Our new book, Fast Company Innovation by Design: Creative Ideas That Transform the Way We Live and Work (Abrams, 2021), is on sale now.