Archinect - News

RIBA’s President-elect Chris Williamson pens defense of architectural competitions

2024-11-04T13:36:00-05:00

I find that competitions are stimulating, exciting and keep up the momentum of thinking and exploring. [...] I have often had difficulty convincing my Partners who are much less supportive of the competition process and much more prone to the disappointment of not winning. For me not winning is not taking part. Losing is learning. And I’ve learnt a lot.

Competitions are an essential part of professional practice and academia, dating to antiquity and counting even the Acropolis in Athens as one of their numerous contributions to at least Western culture and society. Williamson mentions his participation with the Norman Foster Foundation on the new Rebuild Kharkiv competition, saying it was a valuable learning opportunity. The post nonetheless garnered a considerable amount of backlash online—including a comment from popular UK architect Sarah Wigglesworth—who criticized their role in perpetuating a bad architectural culture and usury relationship with clients.

The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale reveals its International Jury selection

2023-05-09T15:28:00-04:00

The international jury for this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale has been announced by the fair’s Board of Directors in advance of its May 20th opening.

The 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be judged by the Italian architect and curator Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli (who will serve as President of the jury); Palestinian architect and curator Nora Akawi; &South-African Cityscapes co-founder, curator, and editor Tau Tavengwa; Spain- and London-based Polish academic Izabela Wieczorek; and Studio Museum in Harlem Director Thelma Golden.

They were each recommended by the Exhibition’s curator, the African Futures Institute founder Lesley Lokko, and will be tasked with judging the Golden Lion for best National Participation; the Golden Lion for best participant in the International Exhibition; and the Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition, in addition to a potential special mention to National Participations and up to two for partic...

Ceramics of Italy launches the 2023 Tile Competition

2022-11-03T08:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Ceramics of Italy

Now in its 30th year, Confindustria Ceramica (the Italian Association of Ceramics) and the Italian Trade Agency are pleased to announce that its 2023 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition is now open for entries. With previous winners like Rockwell Group, Perkins&Will, and Snøhetta, this prestigious awards program celebrates projects from North American architects and designers that utilize Italian ceramic and porcelain tile. Carrying on the program’s tradition of recognizing and empowering the next generation of professional architects and designers, this year's cycle will once again be accepting submissions from students who create imaginative spaces using Italian tile. Students must be enrolled at an accredited university in North America to be eligible.

Rheingold Bushwick - Project by Durukan Design. Image courtesy of Ceramic Tile of Italy Competition.

Projects in the four built categories – Residential (Single-Family), Residential (M...

Niall McLaughlin Architects wins the 2022 RIBA Stirling Prize for The New Library, Magdalene College

2022-10-13T16:17:00-04:00

Niall McLaughlin Architects has been awarded the 2022 Stirling Prize by the RIBA. Given each year to the UK’s best new building, the winning scheme was unveiled at an event at RIBA headquarters in London. The firm was awarded the prize for their The New Library, Magdalene College — the first college to win the Stirling Prize.

The new library, open 24 hours a day, incorporates an archive and an art gallery to become a new node in the 700-year-old campus. The library replaces the "cramped study spaces" of an adjacent 17th-century library and extends the campus' quadrangular arrangement of buildings and courts that have gradually developed from the historic college site.

Photo © Nick Kane

"A brief to create a college library with a lifespan of 400 years — to replace a library gifted to Magdalene by Samuel Pepys 300 years previously — is no small task," RIBA shared. "Niall McLaughlin Architects have certainly risen to the challenge with this deft and inspiring temple to learning."

Photo ...

2022 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist announced for UK’s best new building

2022-07-21T11:52:00-04:00

The shortlist has been announced for the 2022 RIBA Stirling Prize, awarded each year to the UK’s best new building. Six projects will be in contention for the award, which is now in its 26th edition. Among the projects vying for the award are a college in Scotland, a school in London, and a library in Cambridge.

“As we grapple with housing, energy and climate crises, these six projects give cause for optimism, each offering innovative solutions to the challenges of today and the future,” said RIBA President Simon Allford on the shortlist. “From major capital city regeneration programs to new visions for higher education, they all share the ambition to deliver generous architecture fit for a low-carbon future.”

The overall winner of the 2022 Stirling Prize will be revealed on October 13th. Below, we have compiled the six shortlisted projects, along with an extract of the jury citation for each.

100 Liverpool Street, London / Hopkins Architects

100 Liverpool Street, London / Hopkins...

Don't miss early bird registration for YAC's Ireland Meditation Mine competition

2022-05-30T15:30:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by YAC - Young Architects Competitions

There's still time to register for YAC - Young Architects Competitions’ latest contest IRELAND MEDITATION MINE, a competition of ideas aiming to recondition an Irish industrial archeological masterpiece into a meditation destination immersed in nature.

The cash prize of € 15,000 will be distributed to the winning proposals selected by an international jury panel composed of some of the most world-renowned architects, with the likes of, among others: Valerie Mulvin (Mccullough Mulvin Architects), Gong Dong (Vector Architects), Neil Hubbard (Heatherwick Studio), Rossana Hu (Neri & Hu), and more.

Image courtesy of YAC.

BRIEF

People often talk about it. Mass culture is steeped in its legends and landscapes. Yet, this time the Ireland we are about to describe is not the Ireland of Celts, moors, fairies or sprites.

This story is about a dusty Ireland made of dirt and sweat, efforts and poverty.

This is the Ireland of miner...

RIBA taps Benedetti Architects to lead its 66 Portland Place HQ overhaul

2022-05-26T15:31:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has finally picked an architect for its 66 Portland Place refurbishment.

The organization announced today that it has selected Benedetti Architects in the national competition to lead the overhaul of its aged neoclassical headquarters first designed by architect George Grey Wornum in the early 1930s.

Benedetti was selected over shortlisted submissions from Hugh Broughton Architects, Hall McKnight, David Kohn Architects, Roz Barr Architects, Feix&Merlin (with Haptic Architects & Heritage Architecture), Donald Insall Associates, Freehaus, and IDK. The London-based firm will now work with the RIBA on a feasibility study that will include the appointment of several additional smaller practices.

Previously on Archinect: RIBA unveils shortlisted firms to lead 66 Portland Place HQ refurbishment

Benedetti’s founder, Renato Benedetti, said being chosen was a “tremendous honor” and that he agreed it needed “comprehensive improvements to be fit ...

Participate in lectures and internships with Lacaton & Vassal, Mariam Kamara, Anupama Kundoo, and others in YACademy's Architecture for Humanity 2022 edition

2022-05-23T14:17:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by YACademy

Pandemic, economic crisis, migration, and climate change: every area - from the periphery of our metropolis to the most remote tropical village - can now be defined as an “emergency context”. The United Nations - already before the pandemic cycle - estimated that the fragmentation of conflicts, combined with the effects of the economic and ecological crisis, was generating a humanitarian emergency greater than that caused by the Second World War.

In this context, the architect plays a fundamental role, because architecture responds to man’s primary needs. Finding shelter, receiving education, living healthy are rights that require “containers” in the first place, and architecture - great architecture - would be very little if limited to contexts of well-being; since man is at the center of architecture, and man, in any context, in any condition, deserves dignity and beauty. This is why the course in Architecture for Humanity was born, to train...

Participate in YACademy's internships and lectures with Snøhetta, Souto de Moura, and Dorte Mandrup in "Architecture for Landscape" 2022 edition

2022-05-17T08:12:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by YACademy

From Stonehenge to Greek temples, architecture is the signature of humankind on the landscape, the artificial element that has always been connected to the natural environment. Architecture and landscape are linked by a fundamental continuity that is now starting to fade, damaging the quality of the space we dwell.

More than ever today, the landscape is a precious heritage that architecture can and must enhance while protecting it to pass it on to future generations: architects shall not give up on working on the landscape instead, they should be able to design architectures that respond to each landscape’s specific feature and generate wonderful and unique spaces.

Image courtesy of YACademy.

The “Architecture for Landscape” course was created on these premises: it aims at training designers who are able to meet the diverse needs of transforming territories, enforcing an attentive and productive dialogue with the surrounding landscape to respon...

TerraViva Competitions Announces the Results of Tactical Urbanism Now! #2021

2022-04-26T19:49:00-04:00

This post is sponsored by TerraViva Competitions

TerraViva Competitions has officially released the complete list of awarded projects of the design contest “Tactical Urbanism Now! #2021.” The challenge of this competition was to reinterpret what is commonly known as traditional public spaces, such as parks, streets, playgrounds and squares, with a strategical vision capable of providing them with new features of multi-functionality and flexibility.

The awarded proposals were able to experiment with new scenarios within the city, understanding public space as an opportunity to design common areas capable of reflecting the diversity of the infinite categories of potential users and encouraging citizens to “Live Together”.

Organized by TerraViva, the competition was open to students, architects, designers, artists, makers, activists and anyone interested in the transformation of the contemporary urban space.

The winners were selected by an international jury panel composed by: Arturo ...

RIBA unveils shortlisted firms to lead 66 Portland Place HQ refurbishment

2022-03-03T13:45:00-05:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has revealed a shortlist of seven teams in the running to lead the refurbishment and modernization of its 66 Portland Place headquarters in London.

RIBA announced the planned redesign in October in a move that aims to reimagine the use of its buildings as a majority of its workers report that they prefer to work from home due to the pandemic. In January, RIBA Chartered Practices formally issued a tender for practices to submit expressions of interest to help develop a brief, including design options and budget proposals to create a fully accessible, more flexible, and sustainable building. RIBA also wants to establish three new gallery spaces. The winning team is expected to lead the project and coordinate the design team appointed to deliver the refurbishment.

Previously on Archinect: RIBA is officially looking for architects to overhaul its aging 66 Portland Place headquarters

The project forms part of RIBA’s House of Architecture ...

RIBA is officially looking for architects to overhaul its aging 66 Portland Place headquarters

2022-01-12T17:21:00-05:00

The search is officially underway in what could turn out to be one of the most significant design contests of the next year following an update from the UK’s largest architectural organization.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has formally issued a tender for any and all professionally chartered practices to submit expressions of interest in the redesign of its art deco 66 Portland Place headquarters in London.

The Institute announced the redesign in October as a means of delivering on President Simon Alford’s campaign promise to turn the 87-year-old structure designed by George Gray Wornum into “a house of architecture.”

The organization is in the process of selling off its adjacent 76 Portland Street offices after recently reporting a budget deficit and staffing changes related to the effects of COVID-19 on the economy. With more than 89% of its workers reporting that they feel more comfortable working from home during the pandemic, RIBA has decided on a fundamen...

Participate in the AIA California's Architecture at Zero competition: registration deadline is January 11, 2022

2021-11-18T09:00:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Architecture at Zero

The American Institute of Architects, California (AIACA) announces the launch of the tenth annual Architecture at Zero competition focused on decarbonization, equity, and resilience in building design. The annual competition is open for entries from students and professionals worldwide.

The registration and submission deadline is Jan 11, 2022, at 6 pm PST.

This year, AIACA will partner with Self Help Enterprises in Visalia, CA, to develop a design challenge to create affordable housing for farmworkers in California’s Central Valley. Up to $25,000 in prize money is awarded by a jury of international experts.

“The American Institute of Architects, California is excited to collaborate on this important initiative that affirms the role of architects in leading efforts to use design to curtail climate change,” said Brett Dougherty, AIA, AIACA President.

The competition strives to generate new, innovative, decarbonization building desig...

2021 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist unveiled for the UK's best new building

2021-09-16T11:52:00-04:00

The shortlist has been announced for the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize, awarded each year to the UK’s best new building. Six buildings will be in contention for the award, which is now in its 25th edition. Among the projects vying for the award are a mosque in Cambridge, a bridge on the south coast of England, and a residential and office scheme in London with a distinctive limestone façade.

“The 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist demonstrates the innovation and ambition that lies at the heart of exceptional architecture,” said RIBA President Simon Allford on the shortlist’s unveiling. “As we navigate major global challenges, from a global pandemic to the climate emergency, this shortlist demonstrates the critical role that UK architects play in creating thoughtful and sustainable places and spaces.”

The overall winner of the 2021 Stirling Prize will be revealed on October 14th. Below, we have compiled the six shortlisted projects, along with an extract of the jury citation for each. ...

A look back at when architects competed for Olympic glory

2021-07-26T16:21:00-04:00

Friday's Opening Ceremony in Tokyo inaugurated the XXXII Olympiad in a dazzling spectacle that drew praise from audiences worldwide even as a growing protest against the games echoed in streets around the city. Kengo Kuma’s National Stadium provided an ample backdrop for this year’s version of a tradition begun in Ancient Greece and revived again by the progressive Olympic movement that fostered an elementary version of the modern-day games at the end of the 19th century.

Pierre de Coubertin’s intents for a combined international athletic and artistic competition traced its philosophy to the Hellenic notions of mind and body harmony and was formally observed until being dissipated by an indifferent OC as the games became more and more commercialized following World War II.

What has since become an annual exhibition saw its fulfillment in the electric arts program that preceded the ceremonial torch lighting that kicks off the Olympics following the Parade of Nations. Featuring an a...

UNStudio design selected as the winning proposal for Sochi Waterfront

2021-07-22T08:59:00-04:00

An inclusive master plan for the Sochi waterfront by UNStudio has been announced as the winner of an international competition that will reshape the resort community with its second major construction boom in the past decade. The studio beat out other submissions with a sprawling litoral intervention meant to transform Sochi into “a place for all.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

The former Olympics host is known throughout Russia as a coveted pearl on a chain of Black Sea resort towns tantamount to the Amalfi Coast or French Riviera. UNStudio’s intervention will aim to integrate existing cultural and leisure industry destinations into the development in the hopes of strengthening the city’s claims as a haven for tourists.

Renders: ZOA, UNStudio

Per the architect: “The goal of the city’s future development is to make Sochi the most progressive and international harbor for culture, technology, health, and innovation and to enrich the life of a local community and visitor...

A UNESCO-backed redesign contest is met with controversy in Mosul

2021-07-03T13:55:00-04:00

But in many circles, it has done anything but, prompting an uproar among architects, urban planners and some Mosul residents who say it ignores Iraqi heritage. Perhaps in a nod to the United Arab Emirates, which is footing the bill, the winning design features cream-colored brick and straight angles of the kind found in the Gulf — a contrast to the arches, blue-veined local alabaster and limestone of traditional Mosul buildings.

An 8-member team of Egyptian architects had initially been selected from a lot of 123 for their "Courtyards Dialogue" proposal that will add a cultural center and school to a storied 12th-century mosque complex. The mosque features a leaning minaret that earned its famous nickname of "The Hunchback."

The $50 million restoration project will repair three religious structures in the war-ravaged Iraqi city including the Al-Nouri Mosque at the center of the dispute. The proposed complex was announced in May and has received significant blowback from academics and trade associations ever since.

This recent criticism may derail initial plans for the project to commence in the fall. The New York Times has more detail on the UN-backed competition here.

The 2021 Landezine International Landscape Award winners have been announced

2021-06-24T17:40:00-04:00

The winners of the 2021 Landezine International Landscape Award (LILA) have been announced.

The six-member jury, consisting of landscape architects and designers Marianne Levinsen, Martí Franch, Catherine Mosbach, Andrew van Egmond, Chloe Humphreys, and Zaš Brezar, selected winners out of 240 built projects and 400 products for the product award. In addition, editors of Landezine selected the office award out of 171 submissions, along with the honor award. In total, 13 awards and five special mentions were recognized.

LILA was established in 2016 by Zaš Brezar, the CEO of landscape architecture website, Landezine, and independent journalist, Robert Schäfer. The aim of the award is to recognize landscape architects and their captivating projects across the world.

International firm Snøhetta, in the Office Profile category, took home the 2021 LILA Honor Award, recognized for their MAX IV Laboratory Landscape Park and Time Square projects. As read on the competition’s website: “The ...

International design competition launched to intervene in borders

2021-06-04T13:16:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, an Archinect Partner School

CBDX: BORDERLANDS brings political, geological, social and other boundaries into sharp focus

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) at the University of Calgary has launched its second international design ideas competition, asking: How can designers intervene in borders?

Borders are spaces of transition. Whether political and imposed through human agency, or natural and made manifest through geographical features, borders are associated with civilization’s greatest challenges. How we choose to choreograph and intersect these transitional spaces will reveal much about our priorities.

The competition offers $6,000 in prizes and the deadline for submissions is June 21, 2021. The international, interdisciplinary jury will announce the winning entries on September 8, 2021.

The competition asks entrants to consider the opportunities, cha...

THE LIVING MUSEUM: Micro-architectures in the Landscape

2021-05-26T16:38:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by TerraViva Competitions

TerraViva Competitions launches THE LIVING MUSEUM, a new architecture competition focused on the design of micro-accommodation units immersed in the Sardinian landscape of the Nivola Museum. Prizes up to 7,000€ will be awarded to the winners selected by an international jury panel composed of, among others, Stefano Boeri (Stefano Boeri Architetti), Arthur Chang (NADAAA), Nicolás Campodonico (Nicolás Campodonico), Luis Gallego Pachón (Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos).

Registration Deadline: Sunday, Aug 1st, 2021 - 11:59 pm (CET) Submission Deadline: Sunday, Aug 1st, 2021 - 11:59 pm (CET)

Image © Museo Nivola - Sardinia - Italy

BRIEF

Just one hour away from the magnificent Sardinian coast, Orani may seem just one more of a large number of “lost towns” in the middle of the island. However, there is one particular feature that highlights it from the rest of the villages, a “hidden gem” ready to be rediscovered: the Nivola Museum.

In line ...

Winning designs for the City of LA's Low-Rise Design Challenge explore new opportunities for housing through research and community engagement

2021-05-17T19:46:00-04:00

To improve and explore housing solutions in the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles, Christopher Hawthorne, organized the "Low-Rise: Housing Ideas for Los Angeles." While the design challenge is "not a competition" in the traditional sense, explains its organizers, "this design challenge is part of a larger research initiative [...] to explore new paths to homeownership and new models of affordability in low-rise neighborhoods across Los Angeles."

In support from sponsors and partners such as the James Irvine Foundation and Urban Institute, to name a few, Low-Rise offers an expanded version of housing discourse for the city. What makes this particular challenge different is by "engaging community experts in housing and asking them, in a series of listening sessions organized by theme, how they and their fellow residents would like to see their neighborhoods evolve," shares Low-Rise in their design challenge overview. The ...

International design competition launched to intervene in borders

2021-03-30T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) at the University of Calgary, an Archinect Partner School

CBDX: BORDERLANDS brings political, geological, social and other boundaries into sharp focus.

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) at the University of Calgary has launched its second international design ideas competition, asking: How can designers intervene in borders?

The competition asks entrants to consider the opportunities, challenges and complexities latent within borders and propose new paradigms. Participants can choose any type of border, define a friction that presents a programmatic opportun...

TerraViva Competitions launches The Living Museum competition

2021-03-26T10:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by TerraViva Competitions

TerraViva Competitions launches THE LIVING MUSEUM, a new architecture competition focused on the design of micro - accommodation units immersed in the Sardinian landscape of the Nivola Museum. Prizes up to 7.000 €will be awarded to the winners selected by aninternational jury panelcomposed by, among others, Stefano Boeri (Stefano Boeri Architetti), Arthur Chang (NADAAA), Nicolás Campodonico (NicolásCampodonico), Luis Gallego Pachón (Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos)

Registration Deadline: Sunday Aug 1st, 2020 - 11:59 pm (CET) Submission Deadline: Sunday Aug 1st, 2020 - 11:59 pm (CET)

BRIEF

In line with...

Pop Architecture's Korean War Memorial Park for Civil Victims earns honorable mention

2021-01-06T13:55:00-05:00

The New York-based architecture studio POP Architecture honors civil victims of the Korean War with a design submission for an international design competition seeking to create a national memorial.

Organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea and the local government of Dong-gu district in South Korea, the competition brief asked for a "sensitively-designed Park and a Memorial Hall that is spiritual while offering visitors an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Korea's darkest hour. This competition seeks to identify the very best design talent to create Memorial Park as a national symbol and a home to the local community."

After receiving submissions from 42 countries and 109 firms, the competition jury placed POP Architecture's "Korean War Memorial Park" in the top ten and earned itself an Honorable Mention.

Image courtesy of POP Architecture

According to the team from POP Architecture, "Our concept for ...

Tactical Urbanism Now! Call for Students, Architects & Designers

2020-09-07T08:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by TerraViva Competitions

TerraViva Competitions launches TACTICAL URBANISM NOW!, a new architecture and design competition focused on the transformation of contemporary public spaces. Prizes up to 4.000 € will be awarded to the winners selected by an international jury panel composed by, among others, Paloma H. Hermakova (Stefano Boeri Architetti), Héctor Esrawe (ESRAWE), Patrizia Di Monte (GravalosDiMonte Arquitectos), Helena Barthel (Rural Studio)

BRIEF

Today, the citizen's relationship with the urban context is moving towards the spreading of new practices for the re-appropriation of public spaces all over the world. It is becoming clearer nowadays, that only the city that improves the quality of life of its inhabitants is truly smart, putting the human element at the centre of every urban project.

Whether you live in a metropolis or a small town, you have likely seen it for yourself. Cities around the world are impleme...

Combating the stigma of opioid dependency with the help of architecture and emotions

2020-07-21T13:24:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Combo Competitions

Emotions, Architecture, Opioids (deadline extended to September 6) is an ideas competition seeking to explore the emotional impact of architecture, its effect on how people feel and behave - and how it can be of use in the struggle against opioid dependency. The goal of the competition is to design a building for the administration of methadone to patients, located in Venice, Los Angeles.

Architecture has an impact on how we feel and behave.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States has in the last decade snowballed into a national health crisis, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year, and costing society billions of dollars in addition to the immense emotional suffering of those affected. A major reason for the crisis is the stigma attached to drug addiction: the fact that drug dependency has long been regarded as a criminal problem rather than a health concern has over time established that anyone addicted to drugs shoul...

Fentress Global Challenge invites students to push the boundaries for public architecture

2020-05-01T14:26:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Fentress Architects

Despite a multitude of technological advances including video conferencing and drones, the proliferation of airports worldwide continues to be spurred on by global commerce and an unrelenting demand for travel.

While the airport terminal—conceived a century ago—is a relatively new architectural typology, it has since its inception held equal importance with quintessential civic buildings: city halls, courthouses, libraries, museums, and theaters. Yet, airports are uniquely complex and they are more than just high volume transportation hubs. Increasingly, airports are also workplaces, centers of commerce, recreational outlets, and cultural resources.

Fentress Global Challenge (FGC) is an annual international student design competition. Since its inception in 2011, thousands of entries from over 75 countries have competed for top honors. FGC represents an extraordinary exploration into the future of architecture, and in so doing, cont...

South Korean designers combine AR and human capabilities to create “Augmented” gardens

2020-04-20T14:56:00-04:00

Earlier this year, a colorful, terraced design created by South Korean designers Soomeen Hahm, Jaeheon Jung and Yumi Lee was selected among four other finalists for the 2020 International Garden Festival prize.

The group’s winning design, titled Augmented Grounds, according to an announcement posted to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) website, where Hahm works as design faculty, “considers the history of the Métissages culture in the region, taking inspiration from the traditional finger-woven sash of the Métis nation of the Western Plains.”

Previously on Archinect: “Five landscape art installations selected for 2020 International Garden Festival.” Photo credit: Soomeen Hahm, Jaeheon Jung, and Yumi Lee.

The description continues: “Reflecting an innovative exploration of new territories and emergent practices, the garden’s design represents harmony through colorful ropes that are tightly laid by hand atop a sculpted terrain. Additionally, smart constructio...

Embodied Carbon or Operational Carbon? Stirling Prize finalist makes his case

2019-10-15T11:22:00-04:00

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include clarifying comments from Matthew Howland.

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Cork House designer Matthew Barnett Howland recently had some thoughts concerning this year's Stirling Prize winner. According to BD, the finalist "was speaking at the Stirling Prize party after Mikhail Riches' Goldsmith Street council housing...was named the winner...for being Passivhaus-compliant..."

Cork House, Berkshire, by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton. Photo: Magnus Dennis

According to BD, Howland's primary gripe was the observed dismissal of embodied carbon by regulators. "I can see that [Goldsmith Street’s] social aspects are probably more important but where’s the conversation about whole life carbon, about lifecycles? Wake up! Why aren’t we talking openly about this stuff?" he said, reports BD.

Cork House, Berkshire, by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton. Photo: Ricky Jones.

But, it appears, according to Howland, that these c...

Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley win the 2019 Stirling Prize for their Goldsmith Street housing project

2019-10-08T16:00:00-04:00

It's a big day in the United Kingdom! The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced the winner of the 2019 Stirling Prize: Goldsmith Street housing by Mikhail Riches and Cathy Hawley!

The project was created for the Norwich City Council and features over 100 two-story buff brick row houses that are bookended by three-story flats, according to RIBA. The homes are divided by generous green spaces including back gardens that feature alleyways where children can play together. The homes are also designed according to the rigorous Passivhaus standards.

See below for selected shots of the project:

Describing the project, RIBA judge and prize chair Julia Barfield referred to the 105-unit housing development as “a modest masterpiece," adding, "It is high-quality architecture in its purest, most environmentally and socially conscious form. Behind restrained creamy façades are impeccably-detailed, highly sustainable homes – an incredible achieve...