Diébédo Francis Kéré works to improve living conditions for his compatriots in Gando, Burkina Faso.
Using local means and with numerous participants, he manages to turn the opportunities of globalization into reality. His basic design principles are now also being applied in other parts of the world.
Kéré’s work represents direct bottom up assistance for the continued development of a vibrant society. As a consequence of this initiative and within the framework of such appropriate architecture, a self-reliant, independent generation of people is gradually beginning to develop. Kéré thus proves that architecture can have both a fundamental reason for existence as well as a profound and every day meaning for people.
Al Borde Arquitectos was founded in 2007. The team from Ecuador impresses with its poetic interpretation of the constructive foundations of building. They analyze needs, design financing concepts and implement products. High-quality architecture in Ecuador can only be created by architects with a great sense of commitment. Al Borde (Malu Borja, David Barragán, Esteban Benavides, Pascual Gangotena) – a four member team that was represented in Karlsruhe by David Barragàn and Pascual Gangotena – were recognized for the deftness with which they have been able to enthuse and actively involve people in the process of building, despite all difficulties. Awarding the prize to Ecuador is coupled with the hope that the spark by which participation is generated as result from enthusiasm and not from protest might be transferred to other cultural and economic circles.
In the shadow of the spectacular manifestos of China’s new architecture,Wang Shu & Lu Wenyu Amateur Architecture Studio is demanding a return to the historical tradition of Chinese architecture in its dialogue between crafts and landscape. The office is consciously working with local resources and materials and derives its poetic and atmospheric energy.
Beyond the global boom of vain icons, architecture thus returns to the point from which it has always started anew: in the use of local resources and the incorporation of local traditions. This attitude is thus a paradigm for every other region of the world. Perhaps it is a paradox that such a powerful counter position is being formulated in the realm of the very world power which is accelerating global development today.
In search of paradigms for an entire culture, be it for building culture, regional culture or even an entire culture for our time, Jensen & Skodvin are developing a coherent architecture for all these three components of culture. This coherence stems from the basic principles to which they are adhering: their architecture has a mediating effect in the context of existing fabric, be it in relation to the given topography or built substance. As a result of this respect and understanding for this existing fabric the overall design reaches a poetic simultaneity.
Jan Olaf Jensen and Børre Skodvin are experts at aligning their buildings to key constructional and tectonic principles – despite the harsh climate conditions in Norway. They demonstrate in an exemplary manner how substantial and at the same time poetic architecture is possible today. Whether it is a residential building, hotel or church, it reveals itself to the observer. (W. Wang)
2006_Architekturpreis Anne Lacaton & Jean Philippe Vassal@privat
Through a radical return to the essentials, Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal open up an opportunity for directly experiencing the spaces as well as the structural layers of the buildings they create. The Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 2001, in particular, was able to achieve this fruitful juxtaposition of temporary interventions for the service of contemporary art and the external claim to eternal existence made by the structures of the 1937 World Expo.
Placing less value on formal elegance, the designs of these two French architects focus on the intelligent application of simple, in part pre-fabricated, structural elements. This allows for the creation of succinct, cost-efficient structures that draw clear distinctions between vigorously defined cores and variously usable building envelopes, often developed in accordance with the principle of a greenhouse (Haus Latapie, Bordeaux 1993; house in Coutras 2000; apartment building, Mulhouse 2004-06).
In essence, the works of Lacaton & Vassal are guided by the question of the suitability of the materials to be used. Early on, their time together in Africa awoke an awareness within them about creative approaches to working with limited resources, about the open-ended utilisation of well-proportioned rooms, and about the importance of the quality of space over aesthetic statements.
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