18 for '18

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.