DnA_Design and Architecture Studio: The Latest Architecture and News

The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has revealed the winning projects for the Holcim Awards 2023 competition, as well as the silver, bronze, and acknowledgement prizes, at a ceremony on November 18 in Venice, Italy. Evaluated by a jury comprising five independent expert panels from around the world, these projects were chosen to highlight contextual and practical approaches to sustainable construction, showcasing diversity across scales, budgets, geographies, and forms. On another hand, Francis Kéré winner of the Global Holcim Gold in 2012 and Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2022 took the stage at the event to talk about the influence of the Holcim Award on his career.

DnA_Design and Architecture Studio took home the golden prize for Asia-Pacific for an adaptive reuse project of a heritage building, while Husos, Elii, and Ultrazul won for Europe with a 360° co-design process for the rehabilitation of an industrial building. For the Latin American territory, Cano Vera Arquitectura was selected for an urban forest and social infrastructure precinct, and for the MEA region, Juergen Strohmayer and Glenn DeRoché were praised for a youth empowerment and responsible tourism cooperative. Finally, Partisans Architects and Well-Grounded Real Estate won the first prize for North America with a high-tech and low-cost modular housing solution for urban living.

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The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has unveiled the list of 20 finalists for the Holcim Awards 2023 competition. The jury, composed of five independent expert panels worldwide, has selected the projects to showcase contextual and practicable approaches to sustainable construction, exemplifying a diverse range of scales, budgets, geographies, and forms. The ranking of the nominees will be announced at the Holcim Awards 2023 Ceremony scheduled for November 18 in Venice, Italy during the final weeks of the Biennale Architettura 2023 - 18th International Architecture Exhibition.

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We have never stopped exploring the manifestation of traditional Chinese architectural language in modern architecture, starting with the effort of a modern volume with a traditional paradigm roof. This inheritance and expression are based on the context, which is divided into two categories: "Adoption" and "Ablation". The reinterpretation of traditions from "Form," "Sense," and "Model" is "Adoption." Ablation is a constructive compromise with the environment that respects the original rural or urban texture and appearance. It is based on old forms and building techniques, enhanced with modern design approaches and techniques. It improves conditions either by erasing them in some situations or by disappearing and integrating into them. Contemporary architecture is both the tradition of the future and the tradition of the past. The "classics" are continuously being extended by architects using new techniques

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The immensity of China leads to the diversity of customs and climatic conditions. Each area has its own unique materials, construction methods, and climate adaptation measures. The regional characteristics of Chinese architecture are generally preserved in rural buildings. But we cannot overlook how contemporary technology may considerably improve the living and use conditions of rural buildings. What is the best way to create a balance between classic or inherent technology and new ones? How would the construction of rural architecture provide inspiration for the development of Chinese architectural cultural symbols?

2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Diébédo Francis Kéré reported the great solutions of Burkina Faso. Kéré insists to build comfortable buildings at a reasonable price; to make users happy and inspire them to dream of a better life. The pride of the local culture is reinforced by the use of local materials and traditional techniques. And then Kéré‘s works in other countries show cultural emblems of Burkina Faso, which are the consequence of his own cultural accumulation.

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Aedes Architecture Forum recently inaugurated the "Jinyun Quarries – The Quarry as Stage" exhibition, which showcases the transformation of abandoned stone quarries in the Zhejiang Province, China, into a platform for cultural and social activities. Beijing architect Xu Tiantian and the team of DnA_Design and Architecture were tasked with developing a new public infrastructure inside nine of the mines in Jinyun County, thus opening up new economic perspectives for the local people. Running until May 5th, the exhibition highlights the extraordinary spatiality of the stone quarries while communicating the complexity of the structures through a series of models, plans and photographs of the interventions.

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DnA has released images of its Music Studio By The Sea project, situated in Hebei Province, China. The studio building for a music foundation stands directly next to a long sandy beach, with a dune landscape in the background. On a square ground floor plan, the volumes ascend over three stories and conclude with a roof terrace.

For this year's Women in Architecture Awards, The Architectural Review and the Architects’ Journal have selected Sheila O’Donnell as Architect of the Year and Xu Tiantian to win the Moira Gemill Prize for Emerging Architecture in the 2019 Women in Architecture awards. The Architect of the Year award recognizes excellence in design specifically in the context of a recently completed project and the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture is awarded to women designers under the age of 45 who show design excellence indicative of a bright future.