The Architectural Review have selected the winners of the 2015 AR Emerging Architecture Awards, billed as “the world's most popular and prestigious prize for up-and-coming architects, giving emerging practices invaluable impetus on their trajectory to wider recognition and success.” Previous award winners include Sou Fujimoto, Thomas Heatherwick, Sean Godsell, Jurgen Mayer H. and Li Xiaodong.
The award is given to completed projects, with entries consisting of buildings, interiors, landscaping, refurbishment, urban projects, temporary installations, furniture and product design. For its 17th year, the jury was comprised of architects Odile Decq, David Adjaye and Sir Peter Cook, and together they searched for what they referred to as the most “resistant” design.
Read on to see this year’s Emerging Architecture Award winners and a video with the jury on the selection process.
Winner: 10 Cal Tower / Supermachine Studio
“This is an architecture of active movement. It is architecture that can be used to enhance social interaction and engagement. In this way, the winning project shows us what architecture can be and can promote: not just linear journeys based on the most efficient route or the fastest track, but rather a delight in ebb, flow and meander. It is a place for the community to explore, meet and spend time together. There is possibility here.” - Pirak Anurakyawachon for The Architectural Review
Based in Bangkok, Supermachine Studio is made up of mastermind Pitupong Chaowakul and a team of young architects, Sujinda Khawkam, Kasidis Peuktes and Mint Mintly. Also known as “The Labyrinth,” 10 Cal Tower derived its name from the average number of calories it takes to traverse its twisting staircases. To design the tower, the team reinterpreted how a playground is used, defining it as a lively meeting place for users of any generations, instead of a conglomeration of recreational elements seen in traditional playspace design. Juror David Adjaye noted what made the project unique: “what was very clear is that it wasn’t a sculpture - it was actually programmatically aware of using elements of architecture and conceptual and philosophical ideas about architecture.”
Highly Commended: Bird’s Nest Atami / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects
“The small teahouse over the terrace, with minimal straight lines, seems as if it could have come straight out of the pages of a fairy tale… With the Bird’s Nest, Nakamura has presented a new direction in both structural and construction process. In that regard, it is truly architectural.” - Taro Igarashi for The Architectural Review
As a result of the blind selection process, for their highly commended projects the jury ended up selecting two designs from the same architect, Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP. Based in Tokyo, the firm is also known for their acclaimed Ribbon Chapel.
The Bird’s Nest Atami teahouse is built around a 300-year-old tree. To preserve the tree, the delicate structure interacts with but never touches any of the tree’s gnarled branches. Coupled with the steeply sloping site, its construction required the unique solution of building up combinations of several metal members small enough to be handled by just one person.
Highly Commended: Sayama Forest Chapel / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects
“Nakamura’s acute sensibility shows in his judicious selection of materials.” - Taro Igarashi for The Architectural Review
Nakamura’s other project on the list, the Sayama Forest Chapel, was built to replace a former chapel for the cemetery’s 40th anniversary. A non-denominational chapel, the structure of the building takes on the form of “gassho,” the inverted v-shape meant to represent the shape of the hands when placed together in prayer. The roof is comprised of over 21,000 tiny sheets of cast aluminum which were applied to the undulating laminated larch structure by local craftspeople.
Commended with Merit: RE:BUILD / Pilosio Building Peace
“The biggest advantage of the RE:BUILD system is the possibility of the almost complete reuse of the elements.” - Roberto Zancan for The Architectural Review
Pilosio RE:BUILD is a redeployable construction system for building safe and comfortable structures in refugee camps. Made from materials found readily on-site, such as sand, earth, stones and gravel, the temporary structures act as schools, clinics or any other civic function needed by refugee communities. The buildings can be assembled by unskilled laborers quickly and affordably to respond to urgent needs in areas devastated by war or natural disaster.
Commended with Merit: Khao Mo / Sanitas Studio
“Rather than replicating natural elements such as mountains, rocks, trees, and water, Sanitas’s installation inverts this idea: it is not a replication of natural elements but a reflection of them.” - Pirak Anurakyawachon for The Architectural Review
Sanitas Studio was founded in 2010 by Bangkok-based landscape architect Sanitas Pradittasnee with a focus on creating art and landscape architecture based on social and cultural study. Khao Mo, known also as “Mythical Escapism,” responds to the ever-more rapid pace of life by creating a space that considers "rest" as more than simply a physical experience. The ring of stacked boxes feature mirrored surfaces reflect and pixelate their surrounding environment and create a sculptural object to move through and dwell in. Now in its second location, the sculpture is completely contextual, and is reinvented with each subsequent installation.
Other Commended Projects:
- Cour et Jardin / Atelier Fernandez & Serres
- Rhode Island House / Bernheimer Architecture, Rhode Island House
- 100 Walls Church / CAZA
- Lofthitech / Guillaume Patrois
- Alga(e)zebo / MAM
- Naman Retreat Pure Spa / MIA Design Studio
- Community Centre / Pangalos Dugasse Feldmann Architectes
- Indochine Café / Vo Trong Nghia
- Moca Yinchaun / WAA
- Nursery School / Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop
To read more about The Architectural Review's selections, follow the links to articles on 10 Cal Tower, Bird's Nest Atami and Sayama Forest Chapel, RE:BUILD Pilosio, and Khao Mo.
