PERI Foundation Selects Winners of "Space for Future Education" Workshop

Written by Patrick Lynch
Published on March 03, 2016

The PERI Foundation have announced the winners of their 10-day “Space for Future Education” workshop in Dagestan, Russia. Organized in conjunction with the Moscow School of Architecture, the workshop selected 30 young architects under 30 from a pool of over 100 applicants from around the globe to develop concepts for a new PERI facility, the Perimeter Center for Culture and Education, in historic Makhachkala overlooking the Caspian Sea.

With help from mentors including Yaroslav Kovalchuk, a teacher from the Moscow School of Architecture; Hiroki Matsuura of MASA Architects; and Narine Tyutcheva and Peter Popov from Russia’s Rozhdestvenka Architectural Studio, 8 teams of 3 to 4 architects developed plans for the new building, containing offices, classrooms, conference rooms, coworking space, an innovation lab and a cafe. Read on for a look at each of the 8 projects.

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Winner: Peri Innovation Center / Anna Petrova, Patricia Urlan, Jeffrey Stevens

Selected by an international jury comprising leading architectural and cultural figures from Russia, Dagestan, and the world, the winning proposal by Anna Petrova (Russia), Patricia Urlan (Romania) and Jeffrey Stevens (USA) took inspiration from Dagestan’s mountain villages to create a “step-stone” pattern of spaces and open up views to the mountains and Caspian Sea. For the material choice, the architects proposed using Ashuskinsky stone, a local sandstone, in various finishes to create a tie to the local aesthetic and provide textural interest. The PERI Foundation is planning to begin implementation of the project in 2016, with completed construction coming in 2017.

Polina Filippova, PERI Foundation Executive Director, was pleased with the outcome of the workshop: “The PERI Foundation supports talented youth, and has faith in its ability to create something new and change life for the better. The workshop has proven the validity of the strategy we have chosen. We gave young architects the chance to prove themselves, and they did not let us down. There were 8 very interesting concepts created, it was very hard to choose the finalist."

The PERI Foundation lists their mission as “to connect ideas with opportunities by creating a platform for social integration and public dialogue with an extensive programme of cultural and educational initiatives, research, preservation and development projects worldwide.” With “Space for Future Education,” PERI has proven their commitment to investing in young voices in the field of architecture, while in return receiving a building design that will improve the status of both the foundation and the community. Could this be a model for design collaboration for other competitions to emulate?