The award-winning architects in their work are distinguished by their interest in social problems, physical and spiritual needs of a person, in the tasks of preserving the environment. They do not strive for the external brilliance or grandiose scale that is characteristic of many buildings of the leading architects of our time.
The competition for this award is held every year, therefore, in the choice of the jury, its attention to small, far from biased structures, in which the “human touch” is felt - both in projects and in their implementation - you can see the editorial policy of The Architectural Review . But this pattern can also be seen as an expression of the interests of young architects working now all over the world (only architects under 45 can apply for the AREAA award).
Durability, memorable but not striking appearance, integrity of formal solution and functional purpose distinguish the buildings, which were awarded this time.
![Лечебный центр для детей-инвалидов на острове Хоккайдо. Со Фудзимото [Sou Fujimoto], победитель](https://i.architectureprof.com/images/001/image-677-3-j.webp "Лечебный центр для детей-инвалидов на острове Хоккайдо. Со Фудзимото [Sou Fujimoto], победитель")
The winners were a pedestrian bridge across Lake Austin in Texas, a Treatment Center for Disabled Children on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, and a Homemade School in Bangladesh.
![Лечебный центр для детей-инвалидов на острове Хоккайдо. Со Фудзимото [Sou Fujimoto], победитель](https://i.architectureprof.com/images/001/image-677-5-j.webp "Лечебный центр для детей-инвалидов на острове Хоккайдо. Со Фудзимото [Sou Fujimoto], победитель")
The bridge, designed by Miro Rivera Architects, seems to be trying to disappear, to merge with the surrounding landscape. Its length is only about 30 m; the base of this bridge is made up of five metal pipes, which are thrown by an arch over a lake overgrown with reeds. On top of them are placed thinner tubes curved in the form of an inverted letter P, which simultaneously serve as a pavement and a fence, resembling in color and shape the surrounding reeds.
The DIY School by architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag is a fusion of modern European architecture and Bangladesh's folk building traditions and practices. The walls of the first floor of the school building are adobe, and the second floor is woven of bamboo.
The treatment center for children with impaired mental development by architect Sou Fujimoto is a complex of interconnected volumes that accommodate a variety of public and private spaces. There, children suffering from obsessions and an inability to build connections with the world around them can feel more confident and free. The bright rooms of the center evoke a feeling of peace and clarity of spirit, as well as stability and security.
In addition to the three leaders, the AR magazine competition jury selected seven buildings that received "Commendation" and sixteen more that earned an "Honorable Mention". Among them - a bathing pool in the North Sea near Copenhagen, a tea house in Sarom on the island of Hokkaido, a complex of monastic cells of a Buddhist monastery in Thailand.
It is in these projects of novice architects, which are distinguished by attention to people and modest ambitions, that the real future of world architecture is expressed.
