Browsing: Awards

CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES; Ningbo, People’s Republic of China; Architects: MCA Mario Cucinella Architects srl; Associate Architects: Ningbo Architectural Design and Research Institute

Ninety seven projects and urban schemes have been recognized as part of this year’s International Architecture Awards program.   For the 2009 Awards, the jury received a record number of entries, from firms in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.  The International Architecture Awards has “become a global event of an unprecedented scale—an important barometer for the future direction of new architectural design and thinking today—celebrating, recognizing, and highlighting the world’s foremost architectural solutions for the designs of new skyscrapers, corporate buildings, institutions, arts facilities, airports, private homes, industrial structures, and urban planning projects from London to Singapore.”

Out of the 97 projects awarded, the United States received the highest number of thirteen awards, followed by China with eight, Japan and Great Britain with each seven and Germany having six awards. The Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, Canada won four awards each.  The winning projects all an innovative approach to design while providing buildings that attempt to respond to the problems of environment, social context, improving quality of life, and sustainability.

More images of the winning projects after the break. read more »

© José Miguel Hernández Hernández

The RIBA Stirling prize is given each year to one selected building. And this year’s prize went to the Maggie Center by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

http://www.vimeo.com/7120744
Richard Rogers on the Maggie’s Center building, by The Architects’ Journal

This small buildings has a great inside/outside integration, given by the combination of several transparent planes and the independent roof, as you can see on the photos.

After the break, more photos by architectural photographer José Miguel Hernández Hernández, and a short video by AJ.
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The Jerde Partnership’s Namba Parks, in Osaka, Japan, was just named one of the winners of the Urban Land Institute’s 2009 Awards of Excellence: Asia Pacific competition.  When asked to create a gateway to redefine Osaka’s identity, the architects responded with this project that would become a natural intervention in Osaka’s dense and harsh urban condition.  The rooftop park offers a sloping park plane that is “bifurcated by a sinuous, open-air ‘canyon’ path that reinforces the connection with nature while forming the primary circulation pattern.”

More about the park after the break. read more »

ACXT and IDOM have launched the third edition of their International Award for Architecture Diploma. The aim of these awards is to encourage architecture students to research and reflect on new patterns and approaches within the current cultural context. They are invited to work on relevant themes such as the digital revolution, environmental awareness, multi-disciplinary demands, the role of information management, innovation and globalization.

Three prizes of 5,000 euros each will be awarded together with a certificate. In addition winners will be eligible for an internship at an ACXT-IDOM studio. Registration deadline is midnight 30th October 2009. For more information, on submission, jury and dates, go to the official website.

The Shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize 2009 has been announced. The six shortlisted schemes were chosen from a midlist of 22 RIBA Award 2009 winners.

The RIBA Stirling Prize 2009 winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize 2009 Dinner on 17 October 2009 at Old Billingsgate, London.

You can see the six chosen schemes after the break. For more information, click here. read more »

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena has been chosen as the 2009 recipient of the Marcus Prize for Architecture. The Marcus Prize for Architecture is a $100,000 prize funded by the Marcus Corporation Foundation and administered through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning to recognize emerging talent in architecture worldwide.

During the spring 2010 semester (January through May, 2010), Alejandro Aravena will make scheduled visits to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, focusing a graduate studio on specific challenges in architecture that inspire enduring benefits to Milwaukee’s urban fabric.

Arevena’s firm, ELEMENTAL, a self-described “Do-Tank,” is affiliated with COPEC, a Chilean oil company and the Universidad Católica de Chile. The affiliation has a social/political agenda and considers architecture a source for building social equity. His work includes the Mathematics Faculty, the Medical Faculty, the Siamese Tower and the Architecture School for the Universidad Católica, dorm facilities for St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, new children workshops and training facilities for Vitra in Weil am Rhein, Germany. From 2000-2005, Aravena was Visiting Professor at Harvard GSD.

The Ordos 100 project, as seen on our site, marked the first time the city of Ordos attracted international attention.  The success of that project led to the development of the Ordos Prize.  This prize provides an opportunity for young architects to be recognized early in their career for their intellectual rigor as demonstrated in both theoretical and built projects.  The prize, sponsored by the City of Ordos in Inner Mongolia and Jiang Yuan Cultural & Creativity Development Co., Ltd, is not only the first international architecture prize from Asia, but it is also China’s sole international prize for any achievement.

More about the Ordos Prize after the break.

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A few minutes ago, the Pritzker Award ceremony took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This year, the prize was awarded to swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Our correspondent Martin Bravo was there and sent us this photos of the event:
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This morning, at the Granting ceremony of the Mies van der Rohe Awards for European Architecture in Barcelona at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, we met Lea and Toma, founders of Studio Up, winners of the Emerging Architect Special Mention for Gymnasium 46° 09′ N / 16° 50′ E in Koprivnica, Croatia -and they shared with us this interesting project.

The Jury, chaired by Francis Rambert includes: Ole Bouman, Irena Fialová, Fulvio Irace, Luis M. Mansilla, Carme Pinós and Vasa J. Perović.

Lea Pelivan (Born in Split, Croatia in 1976) and Toma Plejić (Born in Riijeka, Croatia in 1977) both received their architecture diplomas in 2001 from the University of Zagreb where they established their professional practice in 2003. Their most important projects include: Frameworks (Site-specific project for the 2004 Biennale di Venezia), the P10 Mixed-Use Building, Split and the Spectator Business Building, Zagreb.

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Yesterday, Lord Foster was announced as the 29th laureate to receive the prestigious Prince of Asturias award for the Arts, a recognition to  scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions, groups of people or groups of institutions whose achievements are exemplary at an international level.

This is the second fourth time an architect receives this award, previously given to Oscar Niemeyer in 1989, Santiago Calatrava in 1999 and Franciscco Javier Sáenz de Oíza in 1993.

More info at Foster and Partners website.

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will celebrate outstanding achievement in design this fall with its 10th annual National Design Awards program. Today, Cooper-Hewitt Director Paul Warwick Thompson announced the winners and finalists of the 2009 National Design Awards, which recognize excellence across a variety of disciplines.

Among several categories, some of the winners are:

Corporate Achievement: Walker Art Center
Architecture Design: SHoP Architects
Interior Design: Tsao & McKown Architects
Landscape Design: Hood Design

Seen at Bustler. Images of the winners after the break. read more »

The Rice Design Alliance Prize, presented annually, has been created by Rice Design Alliance (RDA) to recognize exceptionally gifted architects in the early phase of their professional career. The jury saw avant-garde architecture and a personal language in the work of Antón García-Abril that is at the forefront of the contemporary architectural scene.

RDA – a committee of architects and academics – will meet annually to review the work of national and international architects, young talents that exemplify excellence in design and are within their first 15 years of professional practice.

The inaugural “Rice Design Alliance Prize” was formally delivered to Antón García-Abril, founder of Ensamble Studio (Madrid), on April 15 in Houston. In addition García-Abril gave a lecture to present his latest work.

More images, after the break. read more »

The American Institute of Architects have just granted ten houses a Housing Awards. The recognition is handed out every year to outstanding residential designs. For this year, many houses incorporate eco-fiendly ideas, like solar panels, radiant heating and “daylighting”.

Seen at The Wall Street Journal. All the winners, after the break. read more »

Gallery with photos and videos of 2009 Pritzker Laureate, Peter Zumthor.

All after the break:
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The Pritzker Prize, nobel-equivalent for architecture, laureate for 2009 has just been announced, and it seems that our readers got it right this time as you can see on our poll.

This year the prize goes to Swiss architect Peter Zumthor (1943). A real “master”, Zumthor has always been a craftsman on architecture, focusing on the atmosphere and details of his  works, taking all the time he needs  (often several years) at the Swiss mountains to deliver  timeless buildings: Brother Klaus Field Chapel, Kolumba Art Museum, Swiss Pavillion Expo Hannover, Therm Vals, and more.

“I believe that architecture today needs to reflect on the tasks and possibilities which are inherently its own. Architecture is not a vehicle or a symbol for things that do not belong to its essence. In a society that celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the waste of forms and meanings, and speak its own language. I believe that the language of architecture is not a question of a specific style. Every building is built for a specific use in a specific place and for a specific society. My buildings try to answer the questions that emerge from these simple facts as precisely and critically as they can.”

Peter Zumthor – Thinking Architecture

The ceremony will take place on May 29th in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In a few moments we will feature some of his works in a separate article.

Principal and Founder of 3XN architects, Kim Herforth Nielsen, receives Denmark’s highest Architectural Honour, the C.F. Hansen Medal. The Award will be presented by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts as they ‘acknowledge a person who has made outstanding achievements in the field of Architecture’.

3XN was founded in 1986 as 3xNielsen and through the years has established itself through a number of prestige projects – particularly cultural, educational and corporate buildings. The breakthrough came with the Holstebro Courthouse in 1992, and since then the firm has been internationally recognized for projects such as Arkitekternes Hus in Copenhagen, the Royal Danish Embassy in Berlin, Het Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Ørestad College in Copenhagen, The Museum of Liverpool, Denmark’s new aquarium ‘The Blue Planet’, and recently for winning the Randers Museum of Art in Denmark.

The C.F. Hansen Medal is the highest architectural honour given to Danish architects by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Christian Frederik Hansen and has been given out since 1830. The medal will be presented Monday, March 30th during the Academy’s Annual General Meeting.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is the movie of the year. Its story of a young guy from Mumbai’s slum of Dharavi, who manages to change its destiny through the “Who wants to be a Millionaire” game has charmed many people, including the Oscars’ jury, who awarded the movie with 8 prizes.

At the same time, the movie has created a debate around slums and how the movie portrays them. “Slumdog Millionaire” follows the mainstream vision of slums, described in the XIX century by writers like Daniel Defoe or Charles Dickens: dark, dirty places, with people packed in small rooms with no water facilities. In slums, riots are frequents, and police can hardly enter: the perfect place for criminals to hide and plan their threats to the society, and the perfect incubator for all sort of diseases.

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A few months ago we told you about some changes on the jury of the Pritzker Prize, and some readers started pointing out names for the possible 2009 laureate.

The prize is only a few weeks away (it usually gets announced on March 31st) and we decided to setup a poll with the given names and the possibility that you add your own candidate.

Lets see if the ArchDaily community can guess the next Pritzker. Poll available on the sidebar or after the break:

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The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation has just announced the final five projects that will compete for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009. The winning building will be announced in  May.

The five finalists are:

Multimodal Centre-Nice Tramway / Nice, France / by Marc Barani – Atelier Marc Barani

Zenith Music Hall / Strasbourg, France / by Massimiliano Fuksas, Doriana Fuksas – Massimiliano Fuksas Architecture

University Luigi Bocconi / Milan, Italy / by Shelley McNamara, Yvonne Farrell – Grafton Architects

The Norwegian Opera & Ballet / Oslo, Norway / by Kjetil Træaedal Thorsen, tarald Lundevall, Craig Dykers – Snøhetta

Library, Senior Citizen’ Centre and City Block Core Zone, Sant Antoni District / Barcelona, Spain / by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramon Vilalta – RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta Arquitectes

Schoener-Wohnen is holding the HÄUSER-AWARD 2010 in collaboration with Schüco and the Verband Privater Bauherren e.V. (VPB). Prize money of 15,000 euros is at stake. The results of the competition are scheduled for publication in HÄUSER in March 2010. The best projects will also be presented in a book to be published by Callwey Verlag at the same time.

They are looking for the best individual single-family houses in recent years. Houses that are not only convincing because of their outstanding architectural quality but also meet the requirements of the early 21st century in ideal fashion.

You can see more information, here.