12. January 2018

For our first Insight feature of 2018 we take a look at 18 buildings set to be completed by the end of the year.

The 18 projects are presented in alphabetical order by name and include one rendering or photo and some information on each: Who designed it? What is its function? When will it be done? Where is it located? And why is it worthy of being on this list?

1. 152 Elizabeth Street

152 Elizabeth Street (Image: Peter Guthrie)

152 ELIZABETH STREET

Who: Tadao Ando Architect & Associates with Gabellini Sheppard Associates

What: Luxury condominium development with seven units (including a $35 million penthouse)

When: Scheduled completion in 2018

Where: 152 Elizabeth Street, New York City

Why: Although not Ando's first building in the United States, 152 Elizabeth Street is his first NYC building, making it an important one nevertheless. The project for developers Saif Sumaida and Amit Khurana was announced in 2014.

2. 8600 Wilshire

8600 Wilshire (Image: MAD Architects)

8600 WILSHIRE

Who: MAD Architects with Gruen Associates

What: Mixed-use project with commercial and residential

When: Set to be completed in 2018

Where: 8600 WIlshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California

Why: The first US project for Ma Yansong's MAD Architects, 8600 Wilshire was designed as a "hillside village," with a living wall covering the commercial space and 18 residential units on the top.

3. Amager Resource Center

Amager Resource Center (Image: BIG / MIR)

AMAGER RESOURCE CENTER

Who: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

What: Waste-to-energy plant topped by a ski slope

When: Completion expected in September 2018

Where: Copenhagen, Denmark

Why: Easily the most anticipated project of 2018, for good reason: it combines two apparently incompatible uses – an industrial plant and ski slope – into one building. If that weren't enough, the smokestack doubles as an art installation that blows a steam ring every time one ton of CO2 is emitted by the plant.

4. Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg

Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg (Image: Tomasz Samek / BOLLES+WILSON)

BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE LUXEMBOURG

Who: BOLLES+WILSON

What: A new library that will consolidate Luxembourg's libraries now scattered on various sites

When: Expected to open to the public by the end of 2018

Where: Avenue J.F. Kennedy, Kirchberg, Luxembourg

Why: Fifteen years in the making, BOLLES+WILSON won a competition for the library in 2003 but didn't see construction start until 2014, after the project went on an 8-year "hibernation." Moved from its original site and therefore redesigned, the new design is graced by an impressive landscape of reading terraces.

5. Dune Art Museum

Dune Art Museum (Image: OPEN Architecture)

DUNE ART MUSEUM

Who: OPEN Architecture

What: An art space

When: Completion expected by the end of 2018

Where: Qinhuangdao, China

Why: Recenty topped out, the building's thin shell cast-in-place concrete structure embeds the building into a natural sand dune zone on the seashore of Qinhuangdao; the effect will be strengthened by packing sand on top and between the "cells" and restoring the dunes to their pre-construction state after the building is done.

6. Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center

Gateway Arch Museum and Visitor Center (Image © JCDA/MVVA)

GATEWAY ARCH MUSEUM AND VISITOR CENTER

Who: Cooper Robertson and James Carpenter Design Associates with Trivers Associates

What: Expansion and renovation of museum and visitor center at the base of Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch

When: Set to open in July 2018

Where: St. Louis, Missouri

Why: As part of the larger project coming out of the 2010 The City + The Arch + The River competition (with landscape design by Michael Van Valkenburgh), the museum and visitor center is the last piece in a major overhaul of the National Park Service's Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Visitors will be able to walk from Downtown St. Louis to the visitor center via a new landscaped bridge built over I-44.

7. Glenstone Museum

Glenstone Museum (Image: Thomas Phifer & Partners)

GLENSTONE MUSEUM

Who: Thomas Phifer and Partners with PWP Landscape Architecture

What: New museum building amongst 100-acre landscape

When: Set be completed in late 2018

Where: Potomac, Maryland

Why: Known as The Pavilions, the new building by Thomas Phifer will quadruple the capacity of Glenstone, which opened in 2006. At the center of The Pavilions' stacked blocks of cast concrete is a tranquil water court planted with more than 4,000 water lilies, irises and rushes.

8. Grand Egyptian Museum

Grand Egyptian Museum (Image: Heneghan Peng / Archimation)

GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

Who: Heneghen Peng Architects

What: Museum for display of 100,000 Egyptian artifacts

When: "Soft opening" set for early 2018

Where: Giza, Egypt, 2 kilometers northwest of the Great Pyramids

Why: Dublin's Heneghen Peng won a competition in 2003 for this huge museum, which uses many triangular motifs, most overtly on its long facade seen here. Although the partial inauguration this year will encompass only about one-third of the new building, that space will be larger than the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, one of the largest museums in the region.

9. Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum

Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum (Image: Studio Zhu-Pei)

JINGDEZHEN IMPERIAL KILN MUSEUM

Who: Studio Zhu-Pei

What: Museum of porcelain

When: Expected to be completed in 2018

Where: Jingdezhen, China

Why: Remains of China's millennia-old porcelain history surround the site of the new Imperial Kiln Museum. Zhu Pei integrated archaeological finds into the museum, which is organized as more than a dozen vaults based on the form of traditional kilns.

10. King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture

King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Image: Snøhetta)

KING ABDULAZIZ CENTER FOR WORLD CULTURE

Who: Snøhetta

What: Culture hub with exhibition and educational facilities

When: Expected to be open by summer 2018

Where: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Why: Snøhetta won a 2007 design competition for this cultural facility spearheaded by Saudi Aramco Oil Company with a design that looks like glimmering pebbles in the sand. The reality is more subdued, thanks to facades being covered in metal piping. Substantially completed two years ago, the building patiently awaits its opening later this year.

11. Leeza Soho Tower

Leeza Soho Tower (Image: ZHA / MIR)

LEEZA SOHO TOWER

Who: Zaha Hadid Architects

What: Mixed-use office tower

When: Expected completion in 2018

Where: Lize Financial Business District, Beijing, China

Why: At 190 meters, this tower boasts the world's tallest atrium. Twisting up the tower at 45 degrees, the flowing atrium is to be expected from the late Zaha Hadid and partner Patrik Schumacher. But it's not arbitrary: a subway tunnel splits the building into two halves and gives birth to the gap between the building's two halves.

12. Menil Drawing Institute

Menil Drawing Institute (Image: Johnston Marklee / Nephew)

MENIL DRAWING INSTITUTE

Who: Johnston Marklee Architects

What: Facility for the exhibition, study, storage, and conservation of modern and contemporary drawings

When: Set to open to the public in 2018

Where: West Main Street, Houston, Texas

Why: This is the first major building to be completed by Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee since they curated the Chicago Architecture Biennial last year. It is the largest part of an expanded Menil campus planned by David Chipperfield and landscaped by Michael Van Valkenburgh.

13. National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Image: Mecanoo)

NATIONAL KAOHSIUNG CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Who: Mecanoo

What: Performing arts center

When: Completion expected in 2018

Where: Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Why: The project, aka Wei-Wu-Ying, sits on a former military camp that was before that a sandy expanse of land. Mecanoo's Francine Houben was inspired by the site's natural features, particularly its many banyan trees. She designed an undulating structure that contains two large theaters but also Banyan Plaza, a sheltered public space.

14. National Museum of Qatar

National Museum of Qatar (Image: Qatar Museums)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR

Who: Ateliers Jean Nouvel

What: Exhibition space with auditorium, cafés and other related functions

When: Set to open in December 2018

Where: Al Corniche Street, Doha, Qatar

Why: Last year it was the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This year's readymade icon designed by Jean Nouvel will be the National Museum of Qatar, in the works since 2008. Its blade-like petals were inspired by the desert rose.

15. National Veterans Memorial & Museum

National Veterans Memorial & Museum (Image: Allied Works / MIR)

NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL & MUSEUM

Who: Allied Works

What: US museum dedicated to the veteran’s experience

When: Anticipated grand opening in summer 2018

Where: Columbus, Ohio

Why: This spiraling building is one of the most striking projects that Brad Cloepfil presented during his keynote at last year's Vectorworks Design Summit. Supported by cantilevered concrete arches, the low building integrates itself into the landscape on the banks of the Scioto River.

16. Secular Retreat

Secular Retreat (Image: Living Architecture)

SECULAR RETREAT

Who: Atelier Peter Zumthor

What: Holiday house

When: Due to open in 2018

Where: South Devon, England

Why: Living Architecture was founded by Alain de Botton in 2006 to build vacation homes designed by well known architects that can be rented by the public. It was announced in 2010 that Peter Zumthor would join MVRDV and other architects that had created "exceptional holiday experiences." Those familiar with Zumthor must have known it would take a while; eight years later, the rammed earth retreat is just about ready.

17. Taipei Performing Arts Centre

Taipei Performing Arts Centre (Image: OMA / Artefactory)

TAIPEI PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Who: OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture​

What: Performing arts center with three theaters

When: Set to open in 2018 (we hope)

Where: Xìngchéng Street, Taipei, Taiwan

Why: Topped out in 2014, scheduled to open in 2015, then 2017, we're hoping 2018 is the year for OMA's Taipei Performing Arts Centre. The bold, boxy, bulbous design features three theaters that cantilever from a central cube that contains stages, backstage functions, and service spaces. Standing out from the rest is the Proscenium Playhouse, which "resembles a suspended planet docking with the cube."

18. V&A Museum of Design Dundee

V&A Dundee (Image: Kengo Kuma & Associates)

V&A MUSEUM OF DESIGN DUNDEE

Who: Kengo Kuma & Associates

What: Design museum

When: Set to open in 2018

Where: Dundee, Scotland

Why: This branch of London's Victoria & Albert Museum boasts of being the first design museum in Scotland. Kengo Kuma won a 2010 competition to design the museum, located on the edge of River Tay. He covered the building in layers of precast concrete and cut a hole in the mass to frame views of the river from Union Street.