The year 2003 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

• July 1 – Taipei 101 is topped out to become the tallest building in the world.
• December 20 – Triumph-Palace apartment building in Moscow becomes the highest building in Europe.
• date unknown
  • Daniel Libeskind's design, entitled Memory Foundations, is accepted for the World Trade Center site in New York.
  • Demolition of the Department of the Environment Building (completed 1971) at Marsham Street, Westminster, London. A new five storey glass-faced Home Office building is being erected in its place.
  • Nathaniel Kahn's film, My Architect: A Son's Journey, is nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.^[1]

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

• January 26 — Friedman Wrestling Center at Cornell University opens, designed by CannonDesign. Friedman is said to be "the first arena in the nation built solely for [wrestling]."^[2]
• February 8 – New Salt Lake City Public Library (Utah), USA, designed by Moshe Safdie and VCBO Architecture.
• February 14 – L'Oceanogràfic marine park in Valencia, Spain, designed by Félix Candela, Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lázaro.
• March 30 – Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, a cable-stayed bridge designed by Christian Menn, Theodore Zoli (from HNTB), W. Denney Pate (from FIGG) and Ruchu Hsu with Parsons Brinckerhoff, is opened northbound (southbound December 20).
• May – Fashion and Textile Museum in the London borough of Bermondsey, a warehouse conversion by Ricardo Legorreta.
• May 10 – Christchurch Art Gallery in New Zealand, designed by the Buchan Group.
• July 8 – Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Novo Museu) reopens in Curitiba, Brazil, originally designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
• September 4 – Selfridges store in Birmingham, England, designed by Czech-born British architect Jan Kaplický of Future Systems.
• September – Maggie's Centre, Dundee, Scotland, a drop-in cancer care centre; Frank Gehry's first work in the United Kingdom.
• October 23 – Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
• December 30 – Estádio Municipal de Braga, Portugal, designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Buildings completed

• Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, designed by Santiago Calatrava
• Centre for Mathematical Sciences (Cambridge), England, designed by Edward Cullinan Architects.
• Corrour Lodge, Inverness-shire, Scotland, designed by Moshe Safdie.
• The Doughnut (Government Communications Headquarters), near Cheltenham, England.^[3]
• Eleanor Roosevelt College, University of California, San Diego, designed by Moshe Safdie.
• Kamačnik Bridge, Gorski Kotar, Croatia, designed by Zlatko Šavor and built by Konstruktor.^[4]
• Kista Science Tower, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Schaulager, Münchenstein, Switzerland, designed by Herzog & de Meuron.
• Pantages Tower, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, designed by Moshe Safdie and Core Architects.
• Park Pobedy station in the Moscow Metro system.^[5]
• Zeughaus Wing of Deutsches Historisches Museum, designed by I. M. Pei, opens in Berlin.
• Peabody Essex Museum new wing, designed by Moshe Safdie, opens in Salem, Massachusetts.
• Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, Texas, designed by Ricardo Legorreta.
• Taipei Treasure Hill designed by Marco Casagrande.
• Keller Estate Winery in Petaluma, California, designed by Ricardo Legorreta.
• Oare Pavilion in Wiltshire, England, designed by I. M. Pei.
• Black rubber house, Dungeness beach, Kent, England, designed by Simon Conder Associates.^[6]
• Pie house in Deerfield, Illinois.
• Torre Mayor, the tallest building in Mexico (2003–present).

Awards

• Architecture Firm Award – The Miller Hull Partnership
• Alvar Aalto Medal – Rogelio Salmona
• Driehaus Prize – Léon Krier^[7]
• Emporis Skyscraper Award – 30 St Mary Axe
• European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Prize) – Zaha Hadid for Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North
• Grand Prix de l'urbanisme – Michel Corajoud
• Mies van der Rohe Prize – Zaha Hadid
• Praemium Imperiale Architecture Laureate – Rem Koolhaas
• Pritzker Prize – Jørn Utzon
• Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent – Yves Lion and Claire Piguet, French Embassy in Beirut
• RAIA Gold Medal – Peter Corrigan
• RIAS Award for Architecture – Sutherland Hussey Architects for An Turas Ferry Shelter, Tiree
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Rafael Moneo
• Stirling Prize – Herzog & de Meuron, Laban dance centre
• Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture – Tod Williams and Billie Tsien
• Twenty-five Year Award – Design Research Headquarters Building

Deaths

• March 3 – Peter Smithson, English architect (born 1923)
• March 6 – Sam Scorer, English architect (born 1923)
• April 10 – Abraham Zabludovsky, Polish-born Mexican architect (born 1924)
• May 5 – Sir Philip Powell, English architect (born 1921)
• May 27 – Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lankan architect (born 1919)
• August 10 – Cedric Price, English architect (born 1934)