The six shortlisted buildings for the Stirling prize.
Simple. Restrained. Simple and restrained. Possibly also sober, plain and very much not iconic. This year’s RIBA Stirling prize shortlist reflects the zeitgeist of our straitened times, with their mistrust of extravagance and waste, more than any previous. Architects such as David Chipperfield, Stanton Williams and O’Donnell + Tuomey, who never knowingly overdecorate, feature prominently.
Zaha Hadid, victorious for the last two years and not much interested in restraint, is absent. Her most likely contender, the Olympic Aquatic Centre, was not entered, probably so that it can be submitted in another year when the ungainly wings containing temporary seating – widely agreed to be the building’s worst feature – are removed.