© Cristián Barahona

Nestlé Social Block (featured earlier in ArchDaily), designed by chilean architects GH+A / Guillermo Hevia won Hunter Douglas‘ Project of the Year.

Hunter Douglas also chose the best projects from each region:
- Kargoexpress / PROIN / Europe, Africa, Middle East
- Chanhassen High School / Perkins + Will Architects / United States
- Dalian Shell Museum / The Design Institute of Civil Engineering & Architecture of DUT / Asia
- James Cook University / Conrad Gargett Architecture / Australia

The San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) has received a 2010 “Good Design is Good Business” China Award for the new U.S. Embassy Complex in Beijing, China. Architectural Record and McGraw-Hill Construction recognized 17 projects with their third bi-annual program. The awards celebrate projects that demonstrate the power of design in the advancement of business and civic objectives.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which opened for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, received its award in the Best Public Project category. Working with the U.S. Department of State, SOM responded to the building’s diplomatic role by creating a space that is welcoming, secure, and respectful of local traditions. As a sovereign U.S. presence on Chinese soil, the Embassy reflects American cultural, social and political values while paying respect to the host country’s ancient and extraordinarily vibrant culture.

More images and information after the break. read more »

Musée d'Art Moderne - Luxembourg

The RIBA Royal Gold Medal for 2010 goes to an architect whose renown has been built over several decades of consistently producing a very particular kind of structure — often aspired to, rarely achieved.

The characteristic buildings of I.M. Pei stand serene with the elemental dignity of high modernism, while at the same time expressing both the dynamism of muscular structural sculpture and some deep subtle touches of sensitivity to context.

Given by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in recognition of an entire body of work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by the sitting British monarch and is given to a person or group who has had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.”

In announcing the 2010 award for Pei, RIBA President Ruth Reed said, “The Royal Gold Medal has been called, often erroneously, a lifetime achievement award. Seldom has it been so true as it is in the case of I.M. Pei.

Seen at Architecture Week.

Mixed use & overall winner: One New Change, London, UK designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Sidell Gibson Architects- St Pauls view

While doing some research for a real estate project I found the MIPIM awards, a competition established 9 years ago to promote good design, related to MIPIM a market for international property trade that takes place in Cannes every year. As this event is aimed to real estate and property professionals, the award gives visibility to what we usually see on architectural magazines to another -very important- audience. In previous years it has recognized works such as the Meydan Umraniye Mall by F-O-A or the Mountain Dwellings by BIG, two programs in which market dictates, but where good design can give added value.

Today 8 projects have received the 2010 award in different categories: Offices, Regeneration & Masterplanning, Residential, Tall Buildings, Sustainability, Big Urban projects, Mixed Use and Retail & Leisure. Also, 16 projects received a “Highly Recommended” mention on those categories.

And the overall award went to One New Change, a massive mixed use project in the City of London by Jean Nouvel and Sidell Gibson Architects. The project includes over 35,000 sqm commercial and 25,000 sqm retail space, and it was a challenge in terms of design and planning, due to its proximity with St Pauls Cathedral.

The Judges applauded the new landmark for transforming the whole image of this part of the financial centre, providing a new focal point for visitors and city users alike. They also observed that One New Change provides a refreshing contrast to the surrounding retro-architecture, providing a successful combination of ancient and modern, praising both the developer and the planning authority for showing “great independence of mind” against pressure to submit a more historicist approach.

Full list of awarded projects after the break:

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The Cathedral of Christ the Light / SOM © Cesar Rubio

Last week the AIA announced the 28 projects that will receive the Honor Awards this year, an award which recognizes excellence in architecture, interior architecture, and regional and urban design.

The winners will be recognized during the AIA 2010 convention in Miami.

Complete list of awarded buildings, including links to features on ArchDaily, after the break:

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Works carried out by students usually disappear into drawers after presentation to a relatively small college audience. There the work remains invisible.

The :output International Student Award wants to change that. Every year more than 1.000 students from more than 30 different countries submit their best projects to the competition. A jury of international renowned designers and professors makes a selection which is published in :output. Send your best projects until February 15, 2010 and get published in the yearbook.

The best project of all submissions is honoured with the :output Grand Prix which includes also a scholarship worth 3,000 Euro. For more information on submission and conditions, go to the competition’s official website.

Bridge School / Li Xiaodong Atelier © Li Xiaodong

The AR Emerging Awards have awarded the most promising young practices from around the world. Previous versions of this award confirms it: Sou Fujimoto, Miro Rivera, Plot (BIG), Pezo von Elrrichshausen and more, as you can see on our coverage last year.

These year, 4 projects were awarded:

• Bridge School, Xiashi, China by Li Xiaodong Atelier
• Knocktopher Friary, Knocktopher, Ireland by ODOS Architects (see more projects from ODOS Architects on ArchDaily)
• Curtain Door, Surat, India by Matharoo Associates
• Sports Research Centre, Guijo de Granadilla, Spain by Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia

The selection this year was very good… and it even included a door.

As for my favorite, I still can’t decide between the school and the sports center. Both show a new arrangement of the program, and affect the landscape in different scales.

Which one is your favorite, and why?

After the break, more photos and info about the awarded projects presented at Architectural Review:

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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.

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.

read more »

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 »