Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: a New York gallery by Foster + Partners (above) is one of four buildings shortlisted for this year’s RIBA Lubetkin Prize, which is awarded annually to the best new building outside Europe by an RIBA member.

The four shortlisted entries are:

» Guangzhou International Finance Centre, China, by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
» One KL, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia by SCDA Architects
» Solaris, Singapore by TR Hamzah and Yeang and CPG
» Sperone Westwater, Bowery, New York by Foster + Partners

Above: Guangzhou International Finance Centre by Wilkinson Eyre Architects

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester on 13 October, when the winner of the Stirling Prize will also be revealed.

Above: One KL by SCDA Architects

The Stirling Prize nominees for the best building designed or built in the UK were announced earlier this week. See them all here.

Above: Solaris by TR Hamzah and Yeang and CPG

Here’s the full press release from the RIBA and a description of each project:

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is pleased to announce today the shortlist for the 2012 RIBA Lubetkin Prize, given to the best new international building outside the EU. This year’s shortlist recognises three exceptional new buildings in South East Asia and one in the USA.

The Guangzhou International Finance Centre in China, the tallest building in the world by a UK architect; the Solaris science research and development centre in Singapore, an incredible feat in green building; the One KL apartment development in Malaysia which cleverly tackles the humidity of the city; and Foster + Partner’s highly imaginative Sperone Westwater gallery in New York City, are all competing to win the prize.

The winner of the RIBA Lubetkin Prize will be announced on the evening of Saturday 13 October at a special event in Manchester (UK).

Speaking today, Angela Brady, RIBA President, said:

“We have four highly experienced architecture practices on the 2012 RIBA Lubetkin Prize shortlist offering sophisticated yet lively responses to complex and very different sites. These cutting-edge buildings show the leading role that architects play in creating low-energy living and working spaces, even in extreme environmental conditions.”

The jury selecting the shortlist was chaired by RIBA President Angela Brady with architects Deborah Saunt, Cindy Walters, Philip Gumuchdjian and RIBA Head of Awards Tony Chapman.

1. Guangzhou International Finance Centre
Guangzhou, China

Architect: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Client: Guangzhou Yuexiu City Construction
Structural Engineer: Arup
Services Engineer: Arup
Contractor: China State Construction Corporation
Contract Value: £600 million
Date of completion: June 2011
Gross internal area: 380,000 sq m

The Guangzhou International Finance Centre is the tallest building designed by a British architect, anywhere in the world, ever. Wilkinson Eyre won the competition with a slender triangular mixed use tower rising to 103 storeys out of a podium containing shopping and a connection to the subway system and three levels of parking, as well as two linked smaller towers of accommodation.

The main tower is 66 floors of offices and 38 floors of a Four Seasons hotel arranged around a dramatic tapering atrium. For all the smoothness of its crystalline skin, this is a building that expresses its diagonal grid structure to the world through its glazed facades and internally to the user of every office and hotel room through the presence of raked concrete-filled steel tubes that form the structure.

The beauty of the diagonal grid is its inherent stiffness, which in turn gives it its strength. Each diamond is 54 metres or twelve storeys high, reducing the amount of steel required for the construction by a remarkable 20%.

Originally planned as one of a matching pair of towers either side of a grand pedestrian boulevard leading to last year’s Lubetkin shortlisted Opera House by Zaha Hadid, it was also designed with a double skin. That fell victim to the client’s understandable desire for more floor space (and certainly the generosity of the floorplate between core and skin is one of the building’s major selling points). Instead the sun protection that a double skin would have afforded has had to be built into the glass – hence the dark grey appearance, again a distinctive merit of the finished tower.

This is a hugely complex project that appears to be extraordinarily simple, like most of the best things in life.

2. One KL
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Architect: SCDA Architects
Client: Waterfront Group
Structural Engineer: –
Services Engineer: –
Contractor: Shimizu Corporation
Contract Value: Confidential
Date of completion: March 2010
Gross internal area: 45,245 sq m

One KL is a 35 storey residential tower with a prestige to match the exclusivity of its address. Each duplex has its own pool, rectangular or L shaped depending on the location of the apartment. These mini-infinity pools are expressed on the façade with glass end-walls, making them an outward manifestation of the desirability of the accommodation within.

The tower is C shaped so as to make the best use of a tight urban site. It means that it has three fronts and three backs, the missing fourth elevation draws the wind and negative pressure, pushing it up the void and cross ventilating the structure through the cuts made by the terraces and pools. Condensation produced by the air crossing the pools also results in local cooling.

The dual aspect of each apartment has other advantages. It brings light into all the rooms and also produces what is probably architecturally the most interesting space – the void – with its dramatic escape stairs. Another space which benefits from the indoor-outdoor ambiguity is the third level slice of communal living comprising pool, gardens, gym and multi-functional space.

On the outside the architects have played with the grid, alternately sliding the apartments to the left or the right to allow for the pools and terraces, so that the units interlink, giving these elevations a rhythm that enlivens the whole composition. Internally, the generosity of the spaces allows the interest to be continued with double and single-height spaces interlocking, so that a mezzanine corridor overlooking the living-dining spaces and joins the bedrooms. In the penthouses the device continues on up through a further two floors to a magnificent roof terrace.

Kuala Lumpur has some of the highest levels of humidity in the world – 95% being common. This building, by architects who been working on the problem for more than a decade, have produced apartments that go far beyond the anodyne air-conditioned box.

3. Solaris
Fusionopolis 2B, One North, Singapore

Architect: TR Hamzah and Yeang and CPG
Client: Soilbuild Group Holdings
Structural Engineer: Arup Singapore
Services Engineer: CPG Consultants
Contractor: Soil-Build
Contract Value: £49.9 million
Date of completion: March 2011
Gross internal area: 51,274 sq m

Ken Yeang’s approach to designing buildings to cope naturally with extreme climates has been hugely important and his ideas disseminated in a series of influential books. But it is only when you see one of his buildings that you understand that they work aesthetically as well as they do environmentally.

Solaris is two big buildings, one seven, one fourteen storeys, linked by a generous daylit and naturally ventilated atrium with rooflights that close automatically when it rains and crossed by sky-brides at high level. A rain-check glass wall made up of glazing separated by perforated panels also keeps out the rain while allowing cross ventilation.

This is a green building in every sense of the word. A narrow landscaped ramp, more like a stony country path, wraps itself round the building for 1.5 kilometres, rising from ground level up to a roof garden with dramatic views of one third of Singapore. It provides walks for the buildings’ users and a habitat for birds, butterflies and even the occasional snake. Altogether the landscaping exceeds the amount of greenfield land taken up by the building by 13% – giving it an impressive Green Mark rating of 113%. Included within this figure are the sky terraces, where the linear path broadens out into wide hard landscaped but well-planted terraces where staff can meet up – an important provision in a building whose primary function is scientific research and development.

Precisely shaped sun-shading louvres supplement the hard-working low emissivity glass, resulting in relatively cool open plan office spaces even when the air con is turned off. In the deeper plan of the two buildings, a broad light-well or ‘solar shaft’ runs diagonally through the section, scooping light into the heart of the building and reducing the need for artificial lighting. Rainwater harvesting stores enough water (700 cubic metres) underground to irrigate the landscaping for five days.

Consquently Solaris has very low carbon emissions, just 62 kilograms of carbon per square metre. What is more, it is designed to be easily adaptable to other uses, or its components to be almost entirely recyclable should no such alternative use be found. The result is a building that has achieved the local Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum Standard. This is a building where the organic meets the inorganic in a most satisfying and pleasing manner.

4. Sperone Westwater
Bowery, New York City, USA

Architect: Foster + Partners
Client: Sperone Westwater
Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
Services Engineer: Buro Happold
Contractor: Sciame
Contract Value: Confidential
Date of completion: September 2010
Gross internal area: 1858 sq m

A sensitive, sympathetic client, a generous budget, a programme built on selling the art of some of the world’s top artists in one of New York’s longest established private galleries – it sounds like a dream commission. And then there is the site: just 7.6 metres wide by 30.5 metres deep, a narrow slot in the Bowery, amid the second-hand kitchenware stores. In less able hands this site could have produced a curator’s nightmare. Instead this is a mature, thoughtful and polished piece of work: a curator’s dream.

Externally, by day this building is as tough as any in the Bowery, a slender, milled glass fortress that relates in scale to the buildings around it. By day it has the air of fine steel, by night its transparency shines through, not least in the moving room. This additional 6 by 3 metre gallery space is also the goods lift which can be parked at any of the four floors of galleries above the entrance level. If it is in use as an extended gallery space, then circulation is via the lift and stair core towards the rear of the building. Only ground conditions prevented the moving room from descending to occupy the street level entry. Instead there the drama of a double-height lobby with the lift parked excitingly overhead. This leads through to a double-height long gallery. A smoothly curved mezzanine gallery overlooking the long gallery, with a beautifully detailed polished steel handrail, leads to a sculpture terrace above a secret garden ‘borrowed’ from the adjacent apartment block. Only its occupants can enjoy the fineness of the rear elevation and the way it melds into the cityscape, but all gallery-goers can enjoy the views of this rare wooded green space and of the public park beyond.

The progression of galleries continues upwards, each floor subtly different in plan and feel: a conventional gallery topped with two ‘his and her’ floors reflecting the different styles of the two owners, Sperone and Westwater; then up again to offices (which could become another gallery) and finally a library and archive worthy of any grand villa.

This is a gallery which perfectly serves both its private and public functions: discreet rooms for conversations with potential buyers and public galleries as fine as any in New York City. This is architecture that advertises its subject and itself equally well. A little masterpiece.

The post 2012 RIBA Lubetkin Prize
shortlist announced appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Wire: six buildings have been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize, including the London Olympic Stadium by Populous (above) and two projects by OMA.

The six, which will compete for the £20,000 prize for the best building by a British-registered architect, are:

The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire by David Chipperfield Architects;

London Olympic Stadium by Populous;

The Lyric Theatre, Belfast by O’Donnell + Tuomey;

Maggie’s Centre, Gartnavel, Glasgow by OMA;

New Court, London by OMA with Allies and Morrison;

Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge by Stanton Williams.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester on 13 October.

See all our stories about the Stirling Prize | See past winners of the Stirling Prize

Here’s the press release from the RIBA:

The shortlist for the prestigious 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize, revealed today (22 July 2012), celebrates the best of new British architecture. The shortlist features six exceptional and completely different buildings from across the country which will now go head to head for architecture’s highest accolade and a £20,000 prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The RIBA Stirling Prize is now in its seventeeth year; the 2012 winner will be announced at a special event in Manchester on Saturday 13 October.

The seemingly simple yet highly innovative London Olympic Stadium, the thoughtful and intimate Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Glasgow, the stunningly original Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire, the beautifully detailed and rule-breaking Sainsbury Laboratory for plant science in Cambridge, the New Court Rothschild Bank in London that rises high whilst opening new views at street level, and the crafted and careful reincarnation of the Lyric Theatre on a small suburban site in Belfast are all in the running for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize.

The buildings on this year’s shortlist are all highly-crafted buildings and use rich materials, with exceptional attention to every detail. These are buildings that clearly value the individual and visitor’s experience; from the very personal and peaceful Maggie’s Cancer Centre to the new Olympic Stadium, which despite its enormity has an atmosphere of intimacy for every spectator.

Heritage and education are strong themes in this year’s shortlist with the success of the Sainsbury Laboratory housing Darwin’s collection, New Court’s careful integration of the Rothschild’s art collection into its design and both the Lyric Theatre and Hepworth Wakefield skillfully creating exceptional new homes for regional arts.

The six buildings competing for this year’s title (including betting odds from William Hill) are:

1. The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire by David Chipperfield Architects (William Hill odds: 3/1)

David Chipperfield Architects are the only previous RIBA Stirling Prize winner amongst this year’s shortlisted architects, having won in 2007 for the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany. This is the eighth time that David Chipperfield Architects has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, and the third year running; they now match Foster + Partners who have also been shortlisted for the prize eight times.

– The Hepworth Wakefield is characterized by a series of 10 small, irregular, trapezoidal blocks that make up the structure of the gallery, giving it a sculptural appearance, in reference to its contents.

–  From the outside, the gallery is interesting to look at from any angle with the smaller blocks complementing the scale and form of the existing industrial buildings on the site. Inside, the ten blocks create a series of relaxed and intimate exhibition spaces, with great flow and movement between interconnecting rooms.

– The building responds imaginatively to its riverside location. Being at the head of the river divide, two sides of gallery are river facing.  The gallery rises straight from the river and the whole building is reflected in the water. Carefully placed windows offer strategic views.

– The gallery sources renewable energy in the form of heating and cooling from the river’s flow.

– The distinctive dusky mauve colour of the concrete gives the building a unique identity.

2. London Olympic Stadium by Populous (William Hill odds: 5/1)

This is the first time that Populous has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize

– The stadium has been designed so that it can be taken down and reused in another location – or taken apart and made smaller.

– The design team aimed to create the most sustainable Olympic stadium to date, reducing the amount of steel and concrete needed, making it one of the lightest stadia of the modern era.

– It has a sunken arena so the ground level entrance is actually half-way up the stadium – reducing the number of stairs spectators have to climb to the upper tiers.

– The stadium is surrounded by water, so once visitors have shown their ticket and crossed the bridge they are more free to move around than at most stadiums.

– There is a spirit of fun – they have designed a space to create an amazing atmosphere, where every seat has a great view.

3. The Lyric Theatre, Belfast by O’Donnell + Tuomey (William Hill odds: 4/1)

O’Donnell + Tuomey are a Dublin-based practice. This is the fourth time they have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and their second year running: last year their An Gaelaras cultural centre in Derry was shortlisted.

– The architects have responded superbly to considerable challenges, including the building’s small, awkwardly irregular and steeply sloping site.

– The distinctive red ‘Belfast brick’ echoes the existing south Belfast residential landscape.

– The architects have created an exceptional auditorium – aiming for the seating to be twisted ‘like the crease of a hand’ so that people could see each other and to save actors from performing to a symmetrically divided audience. The auditorium has a special, sculptural interior and incredible acoustics.

– The extensive use of glass maximises the presence of natural light in the public spaces and ensures that the magnificent view of the river can be enjoyed to its full potential.

4. Maggie’s Centre, Gartnavel, Glasgow by OMA (William Hill odds: 9/2)

This is the second time that OMA has been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and it is the only practice to have two buildings on the 2012 shortlist.  In 2007 OMA’s Casa da Musica in Portugal was shortlisted. Rem Koolhaas, who founded OMA, had known Maggie Keswick Jencks (after whom the Maggie’s Centres are named) since the 1960s. Lily Jencks, Maggie’s daughter, was the landscape designer on the project.

– The building succeeds in the central aim of all Maggie’s Centres – to create an environment of practical and emotional support for people with cancer. They aim to kindle a sense of curiosity and imagination – to be grand in ambition but small in scale.

– The distinctive ‘doughnut’ shape of the centre allows for all the rooms to surround an internal landscaped garden.

– Located in a natural setting, like a pavilion in the woods (in fact, the old hospital carpark, now landscaped) the building looks both out to the woods and into the garden giving it a sense of being extroverted and introverted.

– There are no corridors or isolated rooms, but a series of interlocking spaces with a clever use of sliding walls to open and close areas, offering flexibility.

5. New Court, London by OMA with Allies and Morrison (William Hill odds: 4/1)

OMA’s second building on this year’s shortlist. Allies and Morrison has previously been shortlisted twice for the prize.

– Rothschild’s Bank have been on the same site since 1809. In replacing their previous 1960s building, the architects created an imaginative solution to a very constrained site (part of the Bank Conservation Area).

– The new building opens up views to a Wren church by cleverly creating a pathway towards the church and generous sight lines from the pavement.

– The architects have created a synthesis between an office and a museum. New Court is a showcase for the Rothschild art collection, aspects of which have been carefully incorporated into the design of the building.

– The building has a superb attention to detail; the materials used create a strong sense of understated elegance.

6. Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge by Stanton Williams (William Hill odds: 7/2)

This is the first time that Stanton Williams have been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

– The laboratory is carefully designed to complement its setting –  the relationship to the surrounding 19th century, Grade II listed garden is central to the building’s identity.

– It cleverly mixes the private and the public – the security and complex scientific needs of a laboratory with a public botanic garden café.

– The architects have created a stimulating working environment to attract world-class scientists, including sociable spaces and smaller meeting points alongside research spaces.

– It is a highly energy efficient building – rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in two huge tanks which irrigate the garden’s glasshouse and plant chambers.

RIBA President Angela Brady said:

“The annual RIBA Stirling Prize celebrates architectural excellence and this year we have an incredibly strong list of contenders. All of the shortlisted buildings demonstrate the essence of great architecture; they are human-scale buildings, places to inspire, entertain, educate and comfort their visitors and passers-by. Every building not only works beautifully from within but has a superb relationship with its surroundings, with a strong interplay between the two. They don’t shout ‘look at me’ and even the tallest building, New Court in the City of London, has created good views for passing pedestrians, meeting the challenge of delivering good urban design in an historic area. The 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize judges have a difficult job to select a winner from this pool of great talent. I can’t wait to see which project they choose.”

The 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize judges who will visit the six shortlisted buildings and meet for a final time on the day of the presentation (13 October) to pick the winner are: Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (Chair) – architect and former president of the Royal Academy; Sir Mark Jones – Master of St Cross College Oxford, and former Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum; Joanna van Heyningen – architect, van Heyningen & Haward Architects, UK; Hilde Daem – architect, Robbrecht + Daem, Belgium and Naomi Cleaver – designer, writer and broadcaster.

Previous winners of the RIBA Stirling Prize include: Evelyn Grace Academy (2011) and MAXXI Museum, Rome (2010) both by Zaha Hadid Architects; Maggie’s Centre at Charing Cross Hospital, London by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (2009); Accordia housing development by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/Alison Brooks Architects/Macreanor Lavington (2008); The Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach am Neckar, Germany by David Chipperfield Architects (2007).

The Observer is national media partner for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize; The Architects’ Journal is the trade media partner for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

The post 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist announced appeared first on Dezeen.

As part of Peroni Nastro Azzurro‘s series of talks on Italian design, Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs will chair a discussion with Italian designers Formafantasma at the RIBA in London on 26 April.

The talk will focus on their work and trends in Italian design, leading to a discussion with the audience. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance – email peroni@77pr.co.uk to request tickets.

Watch an earlier Peroni Collaborazioni Talk with Fabio Novembre on Dezeen Screen and read the entire transcript here.

See all our stories about Formafantasma here.

Here are some more details from Peroni:

PERONI NASTRO AZZURRO CELEBRATES THE VALUES AND FUTURE OF ITALIAN DESIGN THROUGH ITS “PERONI COLLABORAZIONI TALKS”

Peroni Nastro Azzurro’s Collaborazioni Talk brings together two of Italy’s most influential product designers to celebrate Italy’s unique values whilst discussing the future of Italian design

What: The Peroni Collaborazioni Talks: with FormaFantasma
When: 26th April 2012, 7-9pm
Where: RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD

Italy is globally renowned for its ability to consistently create some of the most iconic pieces of design. Indeed, the country boasts a long list of well known designers who have become global names in their own right including Fabio Novembre, Alessi, Mendini and Piano. Their success has been built from a unique set of values and traditions that result in beautiful, stylish yet ultimately practical products.

The Peroni Collaborazioni Talks celebrate these values and traditions of craftsmanship, passion and attention to detail so often found in Italian culture and trends by bringing together the collaborative design duo Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. They will share their view on what lies ahead for the future for Italian design and its role in product design.

The evening will offer a unique insight into the personal reflections and anecdotes from FormaFantasma focusing on their combined interest in Italian craftsmanship, whilst creating and encouraging an audience discussion and debate around the importance of Italian design, its values and heritage.

The two met during their BA in
communication design and their interest in product design developed during their Masters degree at the design Academy Eindhoven. Their combined love for classic craftsmanship has lead them to analyze and re-evaluate the relationship between “local cultures and global contexts” – translating those crafts into industrial processes and pushing the boundaries by working with unique and unusual materials, including bread. More recently the duo has embarked on a project with Fendi, working specifically with leather and looking at the complex relationship between humans and nature as part of Design Miami.

Jason Maling, Marketing Director at Miller Brands UK commented:

“Peroni Nastro Azzurro has always exemplified the traditions of Italian craftsmanship, passion and flair. It naturally reflects the unique style that permeates Italian culture, where these values are reinforced with sublime attention to detail. With last year marking such importance for Italians, Peroni Nastro Azzurro wanted to honour Italy’s creative futures so we’re delighted to be working with FormaFantasma to close our successful series of talks. We’re looking forward to an enlightening evening of debate and discussion celebrating Italian design values whilst also recognising Italy’s contribution to design and asking provocative questions about its future.”

Peroni Collaborazioni will be hosted by renowned design journalist and critic Marcus Fairs and is the last in a series of talks which examine the past and future of Italian style and design. Previous speakers include Fabio Novembre, Angela Missoni and Anna Dello Russo.

Viewers can watch previous talks by visiting www.facebook.com/peroniuk. For those unable to attend the talk can post questions by using the twitter hash tag #PeroniTalks.

About Peroni Nastro Azzurro

Peroni Nastro Azzurro has been brewed in Italy to an original recipe since its creation in 1963. Peroni Nastro Azzurro is brewed with the same Italian passion that goes into the country’s iconic exports to create a clear pale lager made from the finest spring-planted barley and Italian maize combined with malts and hops to create the highest standard of premium beer. Visit www.PeroniItaly.com for more information.

Peroni on Facebook

A sci-fi animation in which a downtrodden robot workforce battles with police against a backdrop of dystopian architecture is one of the winners of the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, announced this evening.

Top and above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Bartlett School of Architecture graduate Kibwe Tavares receives the Silver Medal for his project, Robots of Brixton, which we featured in the summer – watch the movie here.

Above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association, wins the Bronze medal for a conceptual building that manipulates wind and acoustics to protect workers at a granite quarry from noise pollution.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

The dissertation medal is awarded to University of Melbourne student Hannah Robertson, who presented a study of homes for an indigenous community in northeast Australia.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

All shortlisted projects will be on display at the RIBA in London until the end of January 2012 and will then travel to other venues.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

See some of the winners from previous years here.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

Here’s a press release from the RIBA:

A brave new world – RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2011

From a dystopian vision of Brixton, to a sanctuary for quarry workers in Bangalore, to new homes for a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, this year’s RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, in association with Atkins, show how today’s architecture students around the world are grappling with pressing social issues and, through architecture, coming up with original solutions.

The winners of the President’s Medals will be announced this evening (Wednesday 7 December 2011) at the RIBA in London.

Kibwe Tavares, a student of The Bartlett, University College London, has won the Silver Medal – awarded to a Part 2 project (second degree) – for Robots of Brixton. Taking the existing buildings of Brixton as a starting point, and eerily prescient of this summer’s riots in English cities, this startling short film combines architectural drawings and futuristic animation to comment on the social tensions of inner city life. The judges said: “We were stunned by the research work that went into making this film: not only had an urban environment been designed but the film itself was a complex design project. An amazing piece of work that is truly exciting and inspirational.”

The Bronze Medal – for a Part 1 project (first degree) – has been awarded to Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association. An acoustic lyrical mechanism is an ingenious design which exploits the natural environment to create a sanctuary for workers, protecting them from damage caused by noise pollution in an Indian granite quarry. The judges said: “This is beautifully presented, but equally impressive is the journey of architectural exploration. Prototypes have been made, and topographical models used to help analyse the impact of wind and the visual and sound environment that the building would create.’

Hannah Robertson, of the University of Melbourne, receives the Dissertation Medal for her work Bush Owner Builder which develops culturally sensitive and appropriate homes for an indigenous community in the far north of Queensland. Designs that emerged from working closely with the Aboriginal community are now being built on ‘homeland’ sites. The judges said: “This dissertation warmed our hearts with its social concern. A sensitive and respectful piece of work, it rethinks the world of the architect and shows people not as clients but as genuine participants in the creative architectural process.”

In addition to the three RIBA President’s Medals, commendations were awarded to:

Part 1: Daniel Schinagl, London South Bank University, for Institute of Language and Knowledge

Part 2: Duncan Corrigall and Daniel Spence, University of Sydney, for Metamorphoses: Echo’s Retreat; Marie Kojzar, Royal College of Art, for Human Nature; and Christopher Christophi, De Montfort University, for Ecological research and macro algae monitoring facility, North Arsenale, Venice

Dissertation: Julianne Cassidy, University of Westminster, for Arka Pana: the Church in the City without God; Costa Elia, The Bartlett, University College London, for The Buyukada Museum: building new viewpoints on the Istanbul Pogrom; and Joanna Doherty, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, for Constructing the ‘Other’: the role of space in continuing conflict in Northern Ireland.

Congratulating the winners, RIBA President Angela Brady said:
“The winners of this year’s RIBA President’s Medals show the outstanding talent of today’s architecture students. With highly creative and inspired thinking they are confronting real social issues – and showing how quality architectural design improves the quality of people’s lives. I am delighted to present these awards.”

Philip Watson, Design Director, Atkins, added:
“The industry needs to encourage and celebrate creativity and innovation, which is why Atkins continues to support the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards. The best entries this year tackled social, economic and environmental issues head-on, showing real awareness and a refreshing sense of optimism.”

Daniel Schinagl and Christopher Christophi also receive the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Architectural Drawing. Travelling Fellowships from the Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM) Foundation go to three students from the University of Liverpool, Steven Kok, Sean Peel and Hannah Wilson, for Zeitgeist Archive, Berlin, as well as to Bronze medal-winner Basmah Kaki.

The awards will be presented by RIBA President Angela Brady on Wednesday 7 December 2011 and winning projects will be displayed at the RIBA from 7 December 2011 until 28 January 2012. The exhibition will then travel to Newcastle, Liverpool and Dublin, with other venues in the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania and the United Arab Emirates to be confirmed.

This year saw the highest number ever of entries for the President’s Medals: 276 entries from 83 schools of architecture in 27 countries.

Dezeen Wire: the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Design Council have expressed support for a new housing strategy announced by the UK government that aims to deliver high quality homes rather than a higher volume of poor standard properties.

RIBA chief executive Harry Rich said: “I am delighted that the government has listened and has given such prominence to design quality and the role of architects in driving good design within their communities and in delivering housing fit for the 21st century” – see the full statement from the RIBA here.

Design Council Cabe chair Paul Finch stated: “The Government’s commitment to good design, as expressed in the National Planning Policy Framework, should mean that quantity and quality are seen as natural partners rather than opposites” – see the full statement from the Design Council here.

RIBA president Angela Brady recently criticised the state of housing in the UK and the RIBA also published a report criticising Britain’s “shameful shoebox homes”.