March 22 is World Water Day, an annual international celebration launched and organized by the United Nations. The goal of the day is to raise awareness about a wide range of water-based issues from around the world. This year’s theme is “Nature From Water”, which invites everyone to think about how nature can provide solutions to the water challenges we face today.
To celebrate World Water Day this year, we’ve rounded up 20 of our favorite projects that utilize water as a central design feature. Whether it be Zumthor'sThermal Vals or Chritso and Jeanne-Claude'sFloating Piers, water has been playing an important role in architectural design and in demarcating the boundaries of nature against our built environment.
Speaking to the Portuguese communication agency Lusa, Álvaro Siza Vieira, winner of the 2015 Building of the Year Awards' office category, stated that the international award is a "strong incentive" to continue working in the architectural field.
Siza's awarded building – named The Building on the Water – is located in Huai'na, Jiangsu Province (China), and was designed together with Portuguese architect Carlos Castanheira for the company Shihlien Chemical Industrial Jiangsu Co.
Showing gratitude for the acknowledgement, Siza highlighted that the building process went as planned, without any drawbacks, and client Mr. Por-Shih Lin contributed a lot with the project. "I use to say the building's owner is the first architect and without his effort it's nearly impossible to get satisfying results," said Siza, the first Portuguese Pritzker laureate.
With our annual Building of the Year Awards, over 30,000 readers narrowed down over 3,000 projects, selecting just 14 as the best examples of architecture that ArchDaily has published in the past year. The results have been celebrated and widely shared, of course, usually in the form of images of each project. But what is often forgotten in this flurry of image sharing is that every one of these 14 projects has a backstory of significance which adds to our understanding of their architectural quality.
Some of these projects are intelligent responses to pressing social issues, others are twists on a well-established typology. Others still are simply supreme examples of architectural dexterity. In order that we don't forget the tremendous amount of effort that goes into creating each of these architectural masterpieces, continue reading after the break for the 14 stories that defined this year's Building of the Year Awards.
After two weeks of nominations and voting, we are pleased to present the winners of the 2015 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards. As a peer-based, crowdsourced architecture award, the results shown here represent the collective intelligence of 31,000 architects, filtering the best architecture from over 3,000 projects featured on ArchDaily during the past year.
The winning buildings represent a diverse group of architects, from Pritzker Prize winners such as Álvaro Siza, Herzog & de Meuron and Shigeru Ban, to up-and-coming practices such as EFFEKT and Building which have so far been less widely covered by the media. In many cases their designs may be the most visually striking, but each also approaches its context and program in a unique way to solve social, environmental or economic challenges in communities around the world. By publishing them on ArchDaily, these buildings have helped us to impart inspiration and knowledge to architects around the world, furthering our mission. So to everyone who participated by either nominating or voting for a shortlisted project, thank you for being a part of this amazing process, where the voices of architects from all over the world unite to form one strong, intelligent, forward-thinking message.
About one month ago, three major figures in Portuguese architecture - Pritzker Laureate Álvaro Siza, architect Carlos Castanheira and one of today’s most prominent architectural photographers, Fernando Guerra - began an uncommon adventure.
During 22 days the architects traveled through many Asian countries inaugurating buildings, visiting new projects and meeting other architects like Pritzker Laureate Whang Shu. At the end of their trip, the trio visited the "Shadow of light - a portrait of Álvaro Siza" exhibition opening and vernissage, in Macau, realized by Fernando Guerra.
We were able to follow this intimate journey through the images taken by Guerra and published every day in his Instagram – a careful, spontaneous and delicate photographic narrative that shows a little bit of what were these weeks with Siza and Castanheira were like. Back in Portugal, Fernando Guerra published an interesting report on those last weeks and generously shared with us both his writings and his beautiful pictures.
Read the text and enjoy Guerra's photographs after the break.
After inaugurating his first building in China – “The Building on the Water” – Álvaro Siza has just announced his second project in the country, again in collaboration with Portuguese architect Carlos Castanheira. This time the two architects will develop a museum for Hangzhou Art Academy.
The new museum - which will have approximately 15,000 sqm, a total area similar to that of Serralves Foundation building – will host an important collection of pieces from the famous German school of arts and design, Bauhaus, founded by Walter Gropius in 1919.
Stephen Wang, Richard Wang, Chiou-Huei Lin (WZWX Architecture Group)
3d Models/Renders
Francesco Sechi, João Figueiredo, Pedro Afonso, José Soares
Creative Integration Consultant
Xue Xue Institute, Xue Xue Foundation
Engineering
Shanghai Qingya Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Co. (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, telecommunications and security installation) RFR Shanghai (Stuctural review) Geberit China (Water drainage)
Construction company
Zhejiang Urban Construction Group
Consultants
HDP – Paulo Fidalgo (Structure) GET – Raul Bessa (Mechanical) GPIC – Alexandre Martins (Lighting) SIKA – Helena Beleza (Waterproofing of the concrete construction)
Client
Por-Shih Lin, Diretor da Shihlien Chemical Industrial (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
We are excited to share these exclusive photos taken by Fernando Guerra | FG+SG of Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza’s first project in China: The Building on the Water.
Evoking the image of a dragon perched elegantly on water, the contours of the building seem to move gently in a perfect synergy between local symbolism and the subtle elements of Siza. Snaking around, the form escapes formal convention, emerging as an autonomous entity that contrasts with the orthogonal form of the factory complex. The delicate transition geometry of curves and bridges that connect the different spaces and pavements makes this project one of the most striking examples of Siza’s distinctive architecture.
Through different shades, reflections and his unmatched composition of light and shadows, Fernando Guerra’s striking images show a poetic scene and the perfect relationship between the building and its environment. We can envision the changes and transitions that the white concrete building goes through as a result of its contact with the water throughout the day.
Read on after the break to see the exclusive images...
The two Portuguese architects began the recently-completed project in 2009. The clubhouse includes spaces for recreational and cultural events and activities. The building demonstrates a rich relationship between the landscape and local culture.
Architects: Álvaro Siza and Carlos Castanheira Local Partner | Project Management and Construction Supervision: Ho+Hou Studio Architects and Studio Base Architects Images of the project—kindly shared with us by architecture photographer Fernando Guerra | FG+SG—can be seen after the break.
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