DHAKA: The winners of the 4th Global Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction have been decided –the trophies and USD 350,000 prize money go to projects in Colombia, Sri Lanka and the USA.
All three prizes recognize architectural interventions that deliver tangible benefits to local communities. The three winning projects are:
Turning a water reservoir into public space
A project for a public park in Medellín, Colombia that creates urban spaces around a series of water tanks to form a “socio-technical” landscape of magnificent beauty won the gold prize. The design by Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé of Colectivo720 in Cali, together with Juan Calle and HoracioValencia of EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín), all Colombia opens up hidden infrastructure within the city to create a civic space at the intersection of architecture, landscape, infrastructure, and urban design. The public space and pre-existing elements are transformed to create an outdoor auditorium and venues for a range of community activities that highlight the value of wateras an important resource of urban life. This project receives USD 200,000 award from Holcim Foundation.
Building post-war skills through a community library
Silver was awarded to a project in the rural town of Ambepussa near Colombo, Sri Lanka that aims to reintegrate soldiers into post-war Sri Lankan society. The community library by Milinda Pathiraja and Ganga Ratnayake of Robust Architecture Workshop in Colombo is made of rammed-earth walls and recycled materials. With the support of the army, young men were coached in building techniques through the construction process. USD 100,000 has been given to this project by Holcim Foundation.
The “Dryline” protection and additional public amenities
A large-scale, integrated flood protection system to address the vulnerability of New York City to coastal flooding won the Global Holcim Awards Bronze. The “Dryline” project by a consortium headed by BIG – BjarkeIngels Group (Copenhagen/New York) and One Architecture (Amsterdam), in collaboration with the City of New York, proposes a protective ribbon in Southern Manhattan using a series of raised berms and other measures to create public spaces along the water’s edge. The infrastructural barrier incorporates a range of neighborhood functions that foster local commercial, recreational, and cultural activities. Winning money for the project was USD 50,000.
The international Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction competition seeks innovative, future-oriented and tangible construction projects to promote sustainable responses to the technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affecting building and construction. The next competition will open for entries in mid-2016.
To compare the diverse submissions, the juries use the “target issues” for sustainable construction which have been identified by the Holcim Foundation. They address the triple bottom line of environmental performance, social responsibility and economic efficiency and also cover architectural quality and the suitability for broad-scale application and multiplication of the project’s features.
The Holcim Awards competition has been run by the Swiss-based Holcim Foundation since 2004, and is supported by Holcim Ltd and its Group companies in around 70 countries. Holcim is one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates (crushed stone, gravel and sand) as well as further activities such as ready-mix concrete and asphalt including services.
BDST: 1940 HRS, APR 22, 2015
AKA
