GLOBAL AWARD FOR SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE 2008-2009-2010
12.05.2010 - 05.09.2010
Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine, Hall about Palais de Chaillot, 1 place du Trocadero et du 11 novembre, 75116 Paris, France
Fifteen architects that have been meeting because of the Global Award since 2007, rising to twenty in 2010: a college of architects from every continent has been formed. Bolstered by the same ideal grounded in continents, cultures and societies that are sometimes at opposite ends of the spectrum, they draw attention to the extent and the complexity of the ecological challenge we are faced with through the diversity and beauty of their architecture.
A travelling exhibition devoted to the 15 first winners of the Global Award was organised by the Cite de l'Architecture and is touring the whole world, following its inauguration in Copenhagen during the Climate Summit in November 2009.
The French version will be presented in Paris from 12th May to 5th September 2010: Stefan Behnisch (Germany), Balkrishna Doshi (India), Francoise-Helene Jourda (France), Hermann Kaufmann (Autriche), Wang Shu (China), Fabrizio Carola (Italy/Mali), Alejandro Aravena (Elemental - Chili), Andrew Freear (Rural Studio ? United States), Philippe Samyn (Belgium), Carin Smuts (South Africa), Patrick Bouchain (France), Thomas Herzog (Germany), Bijoy Jain (India), Di?b?do Francis K?r? (Germany/Burkina Faso), Sami Rintala (Norway).
2010, ACTIONS & Projets
Societies across the globe are under threat from today's environmental and energy crises and the result is a break with the past which is happening with a global simultaneity unprecedented in modern times. But whereas the twentieth century saw the machine of industrial development spread a single urban model ? albeit at different speeds ? to all corners of the world, it is the machine of sustainable development which is starting up across the globe today ? and this machine is fuelled by a variety of approaches to achieving its ambitious common goal.
In every country avant-garde architects are working to re-establish the equilibrium between people and the planet. In the West, in which this avant-garde takes various forms, the experiments of architects in the fields of energy and materials have placed them in the vanguard of a new industrial revolution. In the South, the crisis is leading to a radical realignment of the laws of development and of how these relate to technology and people, cities and social justice. The urgency of the economic and climatic situations is leading to ever more radical innovation and this, in turn, is giving rise to an unprecedented sense of cooperation between North and South.
And the result is a truly global architecture scene: An architectural family united no longer by mere forms but also by an ethical code, methodologies and experiences. The international design of the late twentieth century is being replaced by the universality of an architecture in which each region produces work which is "a part of the global puzzle" and which contributes to a single, universal understanding of the architecture of the future.
The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture was created in 2006 with the aim of stimulating this global debate. It was conceived by the architect and professor Jana Revedin in cooperation with a group of fellow founders: the Departmental Government of Yvelines together with l'Epamsa, the Cite de l'architecture & du patrimoine and the experts of an international scientific committee. Each year the Global Award honours five architects who share a belief in sustainable development and who have carried out innovative work in their home region - whether in North or South or in the service of the rich or the poor.
Since 2006, the Departmental Government of Yvelines has supported financially the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. This action will be now supported by the LOCUS Fund. The Conseil g?n?ral des Yvelines will continue to promote the goals of the Global Award in 2010 through its support of the LOCUS Fund, founded 2010.
Now, the Cite de l'architecture & du patrimoine and the LOCUS Fund have decided to join together to support the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. The need for radical thought and action which is the objective of the award has been made ever more urgent by the economic crisis and, in particular, by the way in which this has both distracted attention away from ecological issues and aggravated the challenges facing architects and their clients.
The LOCUS Fund will give concrete support to the research and project work of the winners of the Global Award and to offer them the opportunity to share their ideas with a wider audience. The Cit? de l?architecture & du patrimoine plans to promote the Global Award via the full range of its activities: travelling exhibitions and publications as well as national and international events.
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September 2010
