# 1996 in architecture

The year 1996 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

## Events

* June 30 – The historic Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, designed by architect Wayne McAllister, is demolished.
* date unknown
** The Stirling Prize is instituted in memory of James Stirling. The first winner is Stephen Hodder for the Centenary Building, University of Salford, Greater Manchester (opened in the same year).
** Eden Project, Cornwall near St Austell is designed by Nicholas Grimshaw (completed 2001).
** The Pringle Richards Sharratt partnership is established in London.

## Buildings and structures
### Buildings opened

* March 15 – Arken Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, designed by Søren Robert Lund.
* May 26 – Hong Kong China Temple, Hong Kong (inaugurated).
* October 3 – Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland, designed by Mario Botta.
* November – Museum für Gegenwart (contemporary art museum) in former Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, converted by Josef Paul Kleihues.

### Buildings completed

* Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Brazil, designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
* Eco Building at Horniman Museum, London, designed by Architype.
* Fruit Museum, Yamanashi, Japan, designed by Itsuko Hasegawa.
* Aukrust Centre, Alvdal, Norway, designed by Sverre Fehn.
* Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia, designed by Denton Corker Marshall.
* Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen, designed by K. Y. Cheung Design Associates, the tallest building in Asia until it is surpassed the following year.
* Therme Vals in Switzerland, designed by Peter Zumthor.
* The Dancing House (Nationale-Nederlanden building) in Prague, designed by Vlado Milunić with Frank Gehry.
* Maggie's Centre, Edinburgh, a drop-in cancer care centre; building conversion by Richard Murphy.
* Orphanage (first stage), Chhebetor, Nepal, designed by Hans Olav Hesseberg and Sixten Rahiff of Bergen School of Architecture.
* 81 Mill Street, Osney, Oxford, England, a house designed for himself by Adrian James.

## Awards

* American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal – Philip Johnson
* Architecture Firm Award – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
* European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Prize) – Dominique Perrault for Bibliothèque Nationale de France
* Grand prix national de l'architecture – Bernard Tschumi
* Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate – Tadao Ando
* Pritzker Prize – Rafael Moneo
* Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent – Pierre-Louis Faloci
* RAIA Gold Medal – Denton Corker Marshall
* RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Harry Seidler
* Stirling Prize – Stephen Hodder for Centenary Building, University of Salford
* Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – Jane Jacobs
* Twenty-five Year Award – United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel
* UIA Gold Medal – Rafael Moneo

## Deaths

* February 14 – Alejandro de la Sota, Spanish architect (born 1913)
* May 19 – Roy Mason, American lecturer, writer and futuristic architect (born 1938)
* July 17 – Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, English landscape architect (born 1900)
* July 27 – Dame Jane Drew, English modernist architect and town planner (born 1911)
* November 23 – Ralph Tubbs, British architect, designer of the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain (born 1912)