The current, third edition of the award is devoted to the problem of a “new form of localism”: this is how its curator Stefano Boeri decided. And the winners, the Norwegian architects Haakon Matre Osarød and Erlend Blakstad Haffner, became the embodiment of this idea - “localism 2.0”, which does not pull architecture back to “tradition” in the orthodox sense of the word, but tries to find a modern version of the genius loci, more based on the peculiarities of the local society, nature, history, rather than on frozen architectural forms.
133 bureaus from 38 countries of the world nominated by the expert council took part in the competition for the prize. The seven-member jury chose the duo Fantastic Norway (although there were much better known names among their rivals - architects must be under 44 to qualify for victory, but their professional success is not limited by anything), probably because they occupy a very active practical position. Osarod and Haffner in their lecture compared themselves to hunting dogs, which themselves look for game and let their owner know about it (unlike ordinary dogs, who only bring back a stick thrown by them - obviously, by them the laureates mean colleagues who are always waiting for an order). They themselves look for problems that require the participation of an architect for their solution, and they themselves offer their services to local authorities. For this, they acquired at the beginning of their careers a red caravan house, in which they went on a journey through their native country. They are sure that in order to understand the local situation, it is necessary to live in this area for some time and communicate with residents, try to establish a dialogue with them. After that, when the state of affairs and the task of the architects becomes clear (for example, the town needs a gym), some public “enthusiasm” should be created and the authorities and activists from among the local population should be attracted to our side, and only then should they start designing.
Osarød and Haffner do not limit their activities to the borders of Norway: their red van visited the Venice Biennale 2008, where it became a platform for discussion, as well as the concluded Arch Moscow: it was shown to the public as part of an exhibition of works by the nominees for the Yakov Chernikhov Prize. In speaking out against globalization, this year's winners do not reject the realities of the modern world: for example, they successfully run a program on Norwegian television, which tells about the problems of architecture in a popular form. Such educational activities make it possible to make public discussion about architecture deeper, to take it away from the unproductive antinomy of “beautiful and ugly” to specific problems that can be solved in the process of cooperation between the architect and the “consumers” of his project - residents of the house, school students, office staff.
Andrei Chernikhov, President of the Yakov Chernikhov Foundation, speaking at the award ceremony, stressed that the architecture of Fantastic Norway is a means of communication that establishes connections between society, government, business, and also fills gaps in society. Although not all members of the jury agreed with him: for maximum openness, video clips of the judging process and the announcement of the winners were shown at the ceremony, where the French architect Rudy Ricciotti announced that the work of Fantastic Norway is banal and devoid of romance (!) And named a Russian architect as his favorite Nikita Asadov (recall that Archi.ru talked about this in detail).
Among the speakers was also Bart Goldhoorn, who noted that the undoubted success of the award came as a surprise to him, as well as the fact that the biennial Challenge of the Times, aimed at promoting young talented architects, coincides with the Arch of Moscow, now constantly dedicated to the topic Next - a new generation of practitioners. Knut Hauge, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Russia, who went on stage to congratulate the laureates in a bow tie designed by Yakov Chernikhov, noted the similarity of diplomatic work and the method of Osaröd and Haffner: they also “build bridges”, not only between countries, but between society and architects.
The laureates, according to the tradition of the award, did not speak back, but expressed their thoughts and feelings in the drawing: they depicted their van in the panorama of Moscow, reflected in the river.
