Zaha Hadid Architects
London-based Zaha Hadid Architects brings a sculptural touch to the design of the Napoli-Afragola High Speed Train Station.
Zaha Hadid Architects
The Napoli-Afragola High Speed Train Station is finally seeing light at the end of a very long tunnel. When finished, the high-speed line will connect Naples and Rome.
Zaha Hadid Architects
Aiming to be more than just a train station, the design incorporates public spaces, promenades, soothing interiors and lots of natural light. First unveiled in 2003, the train station will have taken nearly 15 years to complete due to several delays.
TDIC, Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Originally slated to finish in 2012, the opening of the highly anticipated Louvre Abu Dhabi has been pushed back to 2017. Designed by award-winning architect Ateliers Jean Nouvel with a budget of 2.4 billion AED ($653.4 million), the UAE branch of the famous Parisian museum features soft curves and a fresh white facade.
TDIC, Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Ateliers Jean Nouvel took inspiration from the area's geography and history. For example, a perforated metal dome covers the museum, spilling soft, calming light into the corridors.
Bjarke Ingels Group
Another architectural marvel from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the LEGO House team set out to design a building based on the possibilities of the beloved building blocks. The one-of-a-kind building used extra-large LEGO-inspired bricks for the foundation, and created interlocking levels in a modular design.
Bjarke Ingels Group
When finished, the LEGO House aims to be an experiential community center where visitors can enjoy a cafe, family-friendly playgrounds, a public square, and of course, a LEGO store.
Heatherwick Studio
The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is one of the most ambitious museum projects of 2017. Transforming the historic Grain Silo Complex on the waterfront in Cape Town, MOCAA will stretch across 100,000 square feet, making it one of the largest ever museums to open in Africa.
Heatherwick Studio
The Zeitz MOCAA facade comes to life at the hands of London-based Heatherwick Studio. The architects salvaged several historic elements from the building -- including a web of enormous concrete tubes -- that can be seen from the large atrium space.
courtesy mad architects
Like an ancient Chinese painting, MAD Architects' Huangshan Mountain Village rises above Taiping Lake. Except the village houses look more like space capsules, and the mountains are made of metal.
MAD Architects
The ambitious project aims to mimic the local topography of the iconic mountainous region and bring Huangshan into the fold of contemporary society.
courtesy mad architects
Emulating the area's undulating hills and tiered tea plantations, the low-rise buildings reach 200 feet and will be used for a mix of public and private purposes, including event spaces, a hotel, and housing.
Rasmus Hjortshøj - COAST
Another project in Denmark, COBE architecture firm is taking warehouse architecture to the next level in 2017. The Danish firm has set out to reimagine The Silo -- a historic grain storage container -- and completely transform the surrounding industrial neighborhood.
Rasmus Hjortshøj - COAST
Complete with apartments, exhibition spaces and a panoramic top-floor restaurant, The Silo aims to be the heart of a new lifestyle destination in Copenhagen. Designed to keep the heritage alive, the interiors stick to a raw, industrial vibe -- think lots of cement, salvaged pillars and high ceilings.
Büro Ole Scheeren
The Forbidden City is about to get a new neighbor. Sitting next to the old-world architecture of central Beijing, the 68,027-square-foot Guardian Art Center plans to unveil a completely new look thanks to international architecture firm Büro Ole Scheeren.
Büro Ole Scheeren
As the oldest auction house in China, the Guardian Art Center plans to enhance its surroundings with an old-meets-new approach. The result? A series of pixel-inspired, over-sized glass bricks that complement the color and texture of Beijing's historic alleyways and courtyards.
Büro Ole Scheeren
But the Guardian Art Center won't just be about art -- the "hybrid art space" also incorporates several restaurants, a 120-room hotel and educational facilities.
Studio KO, Fondation Pierre Bergé -- Yves Saint Laurent
Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech will be one of two museums to be dedicated to the work of Yves Saint Laurent this year -- with the other opening in Paris. The Marrakech gallery will celebrate the designer's love affair with Morocco, where he had a second home.
Studio KO, Fondation Pierre Bergé -- Yves Saint Laurent
Designed by French architecture firm Studio KO, the museum takes inspiration from YSL's clean designs, and the curves of a woman's silhouette. See the resemblance in the façade's rounded edges -- all set in a brickwork lattice, not unlike threads of fabric.
Bjarke Ingels Group
Bjarke Ingels Group is always up to something interesting, and 2017 will be another big year for the group. The architects plan to debut the Blåvand Bunker Museum in Varde, Denmark. The name is fitting, seeing as the building is literally integrated into the side of a German military embankment and surrounded by rolling hills.
Bjarke Ingels Group
To keep the 26,909-square-foot structure from feeling too somber, the group built an open-air courtyard that, when viewed from above, looks like an open heart.
Renzo Piano Building Workshop - © Centro Botín, ph. Enrico Cano
A new project by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Madrid-based Luis Vidal + Architects, Centro Botín is a space for culture, art, education and leisure. Formerly a parking lot, the building aims to re-connect the public with the water and transform the industrial docklands. Fittingly, the center will be built half on land, half suspended over the water.
MET Studio Design
Jakarta is set to get its first museum of international contemporary art this year. Designed by London-based firm Met Studio Design, Museum MACAN -- aka Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara -- will open with an 800-work collection, featuring works from Indonesia, the United States, Western Europe and Asia.
FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli architectural firm Haim Dotan has never been one to shy away from a challenge, and the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is in a league of its own. Inspired by the movie "Avatar" and its fictional world, the suspended bridge is composed of glass panels and can hold up to 800 visitors at a time. The bridge opened for a short stint in August 2016, but closed when it was "overwhelmed by the number of visitors." When it reopens in 2017, the structure will be the longest glass pedestrian bridge in the world, stretching 1,250 feet and hovering nearly 1,000 feet above Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Tourism Management Co., Ltd
Haim Dotan's $3.4 million glass bridge is a staggering structure by any measure. But it's not meant to steal the show. It was designed to be an invisible "white bridge disappearing into the clouds," according to a statement.
James Ewing
The 11-story residential building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid.
Hayes Davidson
Look for gracefully sculptured corners, terraces, outdoor gardens, and wrap-around windows. The building's penthouse apartment expects to fetch a cool $50 million.
Hayes Davidson
The newly opened Whitney Museum is nearby, as well as the upcoming Culture Shed public space at Hudson Yards.
CNN
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A lot can happen in a year, especially in the ever-evolving world of architecture. In 2016, we watched a number of ambitious buildings transform skylines, from the rise of Thailand’s tallest tower, MahaNakhon, to the opening of David Adjaye’s landmark National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.
With a full lineup of highly anticipated designs on the horizon, 2017 is just as promising. Zaha Hadid Architects’ Napoli-Afragola High Speed Train Station is set to redefine rail travel, at least stylistically, with its sculptural white facade that resembles a snake. BIG’s vision for LEGO House, meanwhile, pays homage to the famous children’s blocks, featuring interlocking modules and tiered terraces.
Meanwhile, a cluster of high-profile museums are slated to open in the new year, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.
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Scroll through the gallery above for a sneak peek at the structures that will shape 2017.