In total, within the framework of the AR Awards for Emerging Architecture, the jury recognized 24 projects of emerging architects from around the world. An unusually large number of residential buildings were added to the list of laureates this year. The first of them is the “House-tent” or “House of the Walls” by the Chilean workshop FAR: Frohn & Rojas, which was included in the top three winners. Using factory-made materials such as plastic and plywood, the architects created a structure that looks like an archetypal nomad dwelling, and from the inside - a house from the American Case Studies series, an international classic of the 50s.
Honorable Mentions were awarded to four Japanese bureaus, also for projects of private residential buildings, in particular, a villa in Tokyo's Sunigama district by Datar. This white "Ghost House" looks like a perfect home idea, not a regular dwelling.
The House of Eastern Market on Capitol Hill in Washington by architect David Jameson, reminiscent of a Japanese paper lantern, deserves a separate mention.
The Mizan apartment building in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, by the Shatotto workshop is distinguished by an ingenious mixture of elements of modernism architecture and local Bengali traditions, which makes the building not only attractive, but also environmentally friendly and resource-efficient.
The AR award itself was recognized, along with the Chileans FAR, the Spanish architects Ecosistema Urbano Arquitectos for the "vertical greening" project "Eco Boulevard" in Madrid, and the Japanese architect Taketo Shimohigoshi for the project of green public space in central Tokyo - over the head of passers-by.
Along with the active presence of residential architecture in the list of works marked by The Architectural Review, one cannot fail to notice the presence of well-known names and large projects, which, in principle, is not typical for this award. The Honorary Prize was awarded this year to fashionable English designer Thomas Heatherwick for the seaside café in Littlehampton, and Australian architect Chris Bosse of PTW Architects for the National Aquatics Complex for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But, despite the different scale and degree of fame of the authors, all the buildings awarded by AR this year are distinguished - as always - innovation without an empty desire for showiness and attention to the responsibility of the architect - both to society and to our planet. This approach favorably distinguishes them both from the "mainstream" and from the "star" architecture, leading us decades ahead - into the future.
