Every two years, the largest manufacturer of bricks and clay building products, the Austrian company Wienerberger AG, holds an international competition for the best brick buildings, in which well-known and emerging architects take part. Buildings for participation in it are offered by architectural critics and journalists from all over the world. Project selection criteria are innovative design, functionality, energy efficiency and durability of buildings. Particular attention is paid to how organically the structure fits into the environment - urban and rural buildings or natural landscape.
300 entries were submitted for the Wienerberger Brick Award 2012, of which 50 were shortlisted. As a result of the competition, an illustrated catalog Brick was published, in which not only five winning buildings, which we already talked about in the summer, were published, but also all the buildings included in the shortlist. We bring to your attention some interesting examples of creative architectural work with such traditional materials as brick - buildings included in the list of nominees and the catalog of the prestigious Wienerberger award:
Bloemsingel Housing, Groningen, designed by Dutch architecture firm Marlies Rohmer. Flexible layout with a grid of 8.1 m columns allows it to be adapted for any purpose. So, on the ground floor there are office premises, and above there are open-plan apartments.
The facades are finished with precast panels with patterned brickwork, which combine the textured richness of the surface with the ease of quick installation and transportation.
Fitzroy Public High School in Melbourne is considered a leader in the implementation of progressive learning models. In order to expand it and create a model of the school of the 21st century, architects from McBride Charles Ryan. They designed a new building associated with the existing school building from the 1960s.
The free layout allows you to form audiences for a different number of students.
The wavy walls are made of lightweight well masonry - from two rows of bricks with a cavity between them. This design provides the required rigidity, stability and thermal insulation.
Japanese architect Waro Kishi designed student union meeting building, located at the heart of the campus of the Kyoto Institute of Technology, an educational institution with over 70 years of history.
The new student center is located in the center of the old campus, surrounded by brick buildings. In an effort to match the context, the architect closed the second floor of his building with an openwork screen: the bricks are arranged in a checkerboard pattern, and the resulting lattice protects from too bright sun during the day, and glows at night.
French architects from LAN Architecture (Umberto Napolitano & Benoît Jallon) also worked for students and developed a project hostels, which is organically woven into the urban fabric of Paris.
Three six-storey volumes, separated by two narrow passageways, protrude into the street with dark, bluish-black brick facades. Their severity is underscored by the warmth of the walls of the courtyard, sheathed with light wood.
Church of Our Lady of Trsat in Rijeka Is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Croatia. In 2003, Pope John Paul II visited this church and blessed the monastery for the construction of a new building for pilgrims and various cultural events.
The project of the new building was developed by the Croatian architects Sasha Randic and Idis Turato. It consists of two elements: a hall and a portico, which organizes the new monastery square. The volume of the hall is covered with an orange brick cap, the density of the surface of which is deliberately thinned in some places - as if the fabric of the façade had frayed, revealing the lattice structure of its weaves. This technique allows daylight to enter the building without violating the plastic integrity of its shell, but adding to it an element of ornamental intrigue.
The architects of Henning Larsen Architects, Copenhagen have built a residential complex-sculpture "Wave" in Vejle, which immediately became a landmark of the city. A total of five "waves" are planned, now two have been built. Many of the apartments are split-level and have great views from all balconies.
During the day, white "waves" are reflected in the sea, and at night they look like mountain slopes covered with lights. This imitation of the landscape is good in that its image changes depending on the weather and time of day. With a clear and easily recognizable line, the building connects the residential area with the sea, and the landscape with the city.
Architects from Kančas Studio (Kaunas) in the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda they designed an office building, the volume of which follows the traditions of the development of the Dange River embankment that took shape in the 18th century: it stretches into the depths of the quarter and is covered with a pitched roof.
But this building is not an imitation, but rather an abstract embodiment of the idea of a traditional home. Wine-red tiles, which cover not only the roof, but all the facades, give it its originality and modernity. With the help of additional elements and special corner tiles, it was possible to create the impression of a monolithic shell, under which walls made of hollow bricks are hidden.
You can also learn more about the possibilities of using the products of the Wienerberger concern on the example of buildings by leading Russian architects.
