Zumtobel Group Award 2010 for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment

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Press Kit Bregenz, 09 September 2010

Inhalt

An overview: 2010 Zumtobel Group Awards go to Brazil and the USA The winner in the Built Environment category

Project report: HARMONIA 57 Portrait: Triptyque architectural practice, São Paulo / Paris

The winner in the Research & Initiative category Project report: New York City Resource & Mobility Portrait: Terreform ONE + Terrefuge

An overview of the commended projects Information on the Zumtobel Group Award

The enclosed DVD contains photos and images of all the award-winning and commended projects, portrait shots of the winners, jury members and curators, and a photo of the trophy. For further details on the award, visit www.zumtobel-group-award.com Press contact

Zumtobel Group Award Zumtobel Group Astrid Kühn-Ulrich Tel. +43-(0)5572 509-1570 astrid.kuehn@zumtobel.com AEDES Architekturforum Berlin Kristin Feireiss / Hans-Jürgen Commerell T +49 (30) 282-70 15 aedes@baunetz.de

PR contacts at the Zumtobel Group brands Zumtobel Kerstin Schitthelm kerstin.schitthelm@zumtobel.com Tel. +43 5572 390 1484 Thorn Hugh King hugh.king@thornlighting.com Tel. +44 20 8732 9877 Tridonic Doris Schwarz doris.schwarz@tridonic.com Tel. +43 5572 395 4324 Ledon Erik Nielsen erik.nielsen@zumtobel.com Tel. +43 5572 509 50327

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2010 Zumtobel Group Awards go to Brazil and the USA

Bregenz, 09 September 2010: At a ceremony staged in Bregenz, Austria today, the French-Brazilian architectural practice Triptyque and the US design studio Terreform ONE + Terrefuge were presented with the 2010 Zumtobel Group Award. At a meeting at Roden Crater, Arizona (USA) in February, an international jury had selected this year's winners of the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment. The Austrian lighting group's award, which carries a purse of EUR 140,000, honours sustainable solutions in architecture and engineering that make pioneering contributions to the future quality of life. In the Built Environment category, the jury chose to commend the Brazilian architecture practice Triptyque for its ecologically and architecturally pioneering office building and gallery “HARMONIA 57”. The award in the Research & Initiative category went to the design studio Terreform ONE + Terrefuge, founded by Mitchell Joachim and Maria Aiolova, for the research project “New York City Resource & Mobility”, a visionary master plan that maps out a sustainable future for New York City. “It gives us great pleasure to present this year's Zumtobel Group Award to the architects from Triptyque and Terreform ONE. Through their projects they have pointed up pioneering ways of promoting sustainable development. Ensuring the efficient use of resources and arriving at pioneering solutions in the fields of architecture and urban planning are challenges that will accompany us for many years to come. I am delighted that, in their selection this year, the jury have sent out a clear signal that smaller projects which adopt innovative approaches can also prove an important source of inspiration. We need to look beyond our current needs and see the challenges of the future in their full context – and in their decisions, the jury have taken full account of this requirement too,” commented Zumtobel Group CEO Harald Sommerer. Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell from Aedes Architecture Forum Berlin, who were commissioned by the Zumtobel Group to act as the award's curators, have also transformed the outcome of the Zumtobel Group Award into an exhibition with its own catalogue: “The very diversity of the award-winning and commended projects shows just how many pioneering avenues of approach the fields of architecture, landscape planning and research can generate when it comes to contributing to a liveable, sustainable future. We need to address all aspects of energy supplies and resources; social structures; user habits; and urban planning contexts, with the main challenge being to come up with convincing architectural answers. And in this respect, the 2010 Zumtobel Group Award signposts some outstanding and thought-provoking ideas.”

Zumtobel Group Award trophy, designed by Sawaya & Moroni

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2010 winner in the Built Environment category: HARMONIA 57 by Triptyque An intelligent, green façade based on organic concrete and irrigated by a spray mist system installed on the outside of the building – the system both collects rainwater and enhances the indoor climate – is the key design feature of “HARMONIA 57”. Designed in line with a pioneering, sustainable approach, this multifaceted office building was created by the French-Brazilian architecture practice Triptyque and is located in a densely built-up bohemian suburb in the west of São Paulo. “The architects of this building have implemented a whole raft of innovative approaches. It represents a very intelligent idea that gets by on simple means and a low budget. It also illustrates how ecological design can be fun, while at the same time taking contemporary architectural design standards on board. The innovative, greened-over walls shade and cool the façade and as the vegetation grows denser, the building will gradually disappear behind a green wall,” said the jury in its statement. The architects’ brief for “Harmonia 57” was to create an innovative hybrid space to house artists’ studios. It had to be versatile and allow spontaneous changes in layout and use and balance high water levels at the site. The resulting building is located in a creative neighbourhood on the west side of São Paulo where the local climate is essentially tropical with high temperatures and heavy seasonal rainfall. “Harmonia 57” is a building divided into two main blocks joined by a metal footbridge above an internal plaza. The front block is raised and floats off the ground on pilotis, whereas the rear block is solid and has a bird house-like volume positioned on the roof. Large windows, shutters and terraces give a feeling of lightness. The whole building has a planted façade irrigated by a misting system. The dense walls are made of an organic concrete that absorbs water and has pore-like niches to hold a variety of plant species. This external vegetal layer acts like an additional skin buffering the interior against external noise and heat. The choice of plant species for the walls was dictated by practical as well as aesthetic considerations: Some species create shade while others crawl over the surface of the building, providing a buffer of humidity for other plants. “Harmonia 57” also has a fully integrated, yet technically simple, hydro system of pipes, collectors and tanks that are part of the architecture itself – in the form of handrails for example – allowing the buildings’ rainwater

and grey water to be re-used for the irrigation system and toilets, and preventing uncontrolled runoff into the ground. A green roof helps generate fresh air and provide good thermal conditions inside the building, reducing the need for air conditioning.

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Architecture practice TRIPTYQUE, Sâo Paulo / Paris

Triptyque is a French-Brazilian architecture practice established in São Paulo in 2000 by Greg Bousquet, Carolina Bueno, Guillaume Sibaud and Olivier Raffaelli, who all graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Paris (Ecole d’Architecture Paris-La-Seine). A Paris office was opened in 2008.

Also in 2008, Triptyque won the NAJA award from the French Ministry of Culture, which has regularly brought to light the most promising names in the young architectural scene in France. This was followed in 2009 by 1st Prize at the 2009 Architecture Biennale of São Paulo and in 2010 by the Zumtobel Group Award in the Built Environment category.

As Triptyque responds to the needs of emergent cities, its architects have realised the urgent necessity of developing tools, addressing the key questions and shaping both the urban evolution process and contemporary construction systems.

Triptyque is made up of two different platforms that work seamlessly to produce a hallmark style of architecture, defined and distinguished by different lines that originate in a team made up of partners and team members with cosmopolitan backgrounds. The name Triptyque is the French word for triptych, a work of art made up of (three) separate parts – playing on the notion that the company’s creative approach is based on cross-cultural exchanges and experiences.

Triptyque’s most distinguished projects have included the “Harmonia 57” building, as well as exhibitions such as the 2008 and 2010 Venice Biennale, “the creatures” at the 2009 Hong Kong Biennale, “contemplating the void” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2010, “Swarming Futures” at the London Festival of Architecture 2010 and “1:1” at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The Triptyque founders and partners photographed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. From left: Grégory Bousquet, Guillaume Sibaud, Carolina Bueno and Olivier Raffaelli

Credits: Project manager: Tiago Guimarães - Contractor: BGF, Aparecido Donizete Dias Flausino - Landscaping: Peter Webb - Hydraulic engineer: Guilherme Castanha - Structure: Eng. Rika/ Eng. Rioske Kanno - Metallic Structures: Planmetal - Wooden works: Libanio Justino da Silva - Wooden decks: Zanchet - Glass: Revglass - Air conditioning: Disarcon

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2010 winner in the Research & Initiative category: New York Resource & Mobility by Terreform ONE + Terrefuge A visionary research project that plans a sustainable future for New York City, drawn up under the auspices of the non-profit design group Terreform ONE + Terrefuge, was selected by the jury as the winner in the Research & Initiative category. Basing their work on a scenario of rapid population growth, massive climate change and steadily rising sea levels, Terreform ONE + Terrefuge have created a visionary model of a fully autonomous and self-sufficient city of the future. For the jury it was the integrated approach that was decisive: “This project is a rich source of interesting ideas of real substance. The research team has responded to the need to think on a much larger scale these days. The project quite rightly throws up more questions than it answers. But it also presents a range of visionary potential approaches that are already acting as catalysts in the urban development debate.” The New York City Resource & Mobility research project is a conceptual master plan for the ecological future of New York City, made up of seven individual projects. Areas of investigation include waste, water, food, mobility, energy and habitat needs. It examines urban infrastructure and urban resources on a colossal scale and tests the limits of the city’s capacity to become fully autonomous and self-reliant. The research applies the economic model of resource exchange, not just to the production of goods and services, but also to the environmental performance of the city as a whole. New York City can do much to reduce its own footprint. Key measures include harvesting energy from the sun and wind, greening the city to cool it down, collecting rainwater, reconstituting waste for habitation, growing large amounts of food, softening vehicles and giving streets back to pedestrians. Terreform ONE + Terrefuge also propose: technologically advanced vehicles; re-imagining work on the basis of the continuous replacement of materials; restructuring neighbourhoods to provide all of the needs of daily life within walking distance; abandoning zoning by use in favour of ubiquitous areas; re-using aged buildings into new ones; and thinking about every single aspect of planning in design with the aim of maximum interdependence. For the transformation process, Terreform ONE + Terrefuge propose a radical strategy: the reversal of figure and ground, of public and private property. The immediate transfer of half the street space from the vehicular to the pedestrian realm will mean that the old fabric will be replaced both by an abundance of productive green space and a new labyrinth of irregular blocks. Fast movement will be accomplished underground in a highly modernised subway and along the rivers and new cross-island channels, and waste materials will be mined from trash dumps to build seven new islands the size of Manhattan using automated, robotic three-dimensional printers.

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Terreform ONE + Terrefuge Terreform ONE [Open Network Ecology] + Terrefuge is a non-profit design group founded by Mitchell Joachim and Maria Aiolova that promotes green design in cities. Through its creative projects and outreach efforts, the group hopes to illuminate the environmental possibilities of New York City and inspire solutions in areas like it around the world. Terreform ONE + Terrefuge is a unique laboratory for scientists, artists, architects, students, and individuals of all backgrounds to explore and advance the larger framework of green design. The group develops innovative solutions and technologies for local sustainability in energy, transportation, infrastructure, buildings, waste treatment, food, water, and media spaces.

Mitchell Joachim, Ph.D. Mitchell Joachim holds a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Architecture in Urban Design (MAUD) from Harvard University, an M.Arch. from Columbia University and BPS SUNY at Buffalo with Honors. He is an Associate Professor at New York University and previously was the Frank Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto. Earlier, he was faculty at Columbia, Syracuse, Washington, and Parsons. He was formerly an architect at Gehry Partners, and Pei Cobb Freed. He has been awarded fellowships at TED2010, Moshe Safdie Assoc. and Martin Society for Sustainability at MIT. His work has won many awards, including the History Channel and Infiniti Excellence Award for City of the Future, and Time Magazine Best Invention of 2007, Compacted Car w/ MIT Smart Cities. His project, Fab Tree Hab, has been exhibited at MoMA and widely published.

Maria Aiolova, LEED AP Maria Aiolova received her MAUD from Harvard University, and a B.Arch. from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. She is currently on the faculty of Parsons the New School for Design. Along with the Zumtobel Group Award in the category Research & Initiative, she has won the Build Boston Award and the AIA Scholarship Award. She has also been successful in a number of competitions, including first place in the CHARLES/MGH Station, Boston and the Izmir Post District International Competition, Turkey. As a founder and director of Compost Art Center, a non-profit artists’ residency program, she has been involved in the design and construction of affordable and dynamic space for artists. In 2004, she formed the Design/Build Partnership focused on simple houses of

modest scale and budget in the Hamptons, challenging the current standards of grandeur by utilizing simple sustainable building strategies. She has taught at the University of Toronto, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Boston Architectural Center and has been a visiting lecturer and critic at Harvard GSD, Columbia University, CUNY, Washington University and Rhode Island School of Design.

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Credits New York Research & Initiative: Terreform ONE + Terrefuge Melanie Fessel, Oliver Medvedik, Dan O'Connor, Emily Johnson, Webb Allen, Niloufar Karimzadegan, Lauren Sarafan, Philip Weller, Jane Marsching, Zachary Aders, Yu Ping Hsieh, Emily VanderVeen, Aurel von Richthofen, Lydia Kallipoliti, Matt Cunningham, Fred James. Other contributors/volunteers: Kent Hikida, Serdar Omer, Andrei Vovk, Michael Sorkin, Makoto Okazaki, Noura Al Sayeh, Byron Stigge, Nathan Leverence, Lukas Lenherr, Matt Kipilman, Adam Watson, Craig Schwitter. MIT SOFT Car Group: Yanni Loukissas, Axel Kilian, Patrik Kunzler, Robyn Allen, Louis Basel, Raul-David Poblano, Robyn Allen, Louis Basel, William Lark With special thanks to: William J. Mitchell, MIT Media Lab, Smart Cities Group, Ryan Chin, ONE Odyssey, KARV, Metropolitan Exchange (MEx)

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Commendations for eight additional projects As well as selecting the two prizewinners, the jury also awarded honourable mentions to four projects in each of the two categories. In the category "Built Environment" these include a New York High Line design and redevelopment project (James Corner Field Operations); a Centre for Women in Burkina Faso (FARE Studio); the newly developed Elm Park suburb of Dublin (Buchholz McEvoy Architects); and the new California Academy of Science building in San Francisco (Renzo Piano Building Workshop).

In the category "Research & Initiative", honourable mentions went to a rural student project at the University of Talca in Chile; a cross-border exchange programme and symposium "Political Equator II" (Estudio Teddy Cruz) involving the USA and Mexico; a highly poetical idea for an office and studio building in Columbia (Husos Architects); and a master plan for a wind park in the North Sea (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) that aims to meet the entire electricity needs of the Netherlands.

„New York High Line“ Frauenzentrum Burkina Faso „Elm Park“ California Academy of Science

Universität von Talca „Political Equator Il“ Geschäftsgebäude Kolumbien Windenergiepark Nordsee

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Information on the Zumtobel Group Award The Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment is presented by the Austrian lighting company Zumtobel Group in conjunction with Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. The award is designed to honour outstanding sustainable solutions and approaches in architecture and engineering that make a pioneering contribution to a more liveable future. In the Built Environment category the award is presented for exceptional architectural, engineering or urban design projects realized within the last two years. In the Research and Initiative category the award is given to an innovative current research project or social initiative developed by NGOs, universities, or independent groups and individuals. The accompanying purse is intended to foster the progress of the ongoing initiatives. 2010 marks the second time the Zumtobel Group Award has been presented, following the initial awards in 2007. Founder

Zumtobel Group Curator and organiser

Aedes Architecture Forum

Kristin Feireiss, Hans-Jürgen Commerell

Award categories

Built Environment: EUR 80,000 Research & Initiative: EUR 60,000

Selection process and experts The 40 projects presented for the jury's consideration were chosen by independent experts acting in conjunction with Aedes. The following experts were involved in the selection process for the 2010 Award:

Erwin Viray (Singapur) Leon van Schaik (Australien) Friedrich von Borries (Deutschland) Matthew Beattie (Irland) Mathias Klotz (Chile)

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The jury's selection criteria The two award-winning projects were selected from a worldwide total of 40, proposed by an international group of experts. Determining the laureates in the two categories was the task of an independent 7-person jury. As they assessed the nominations, the jury paid particular attention to the interplay of sustainable strategies, combined with the aesthetics and quality of the architectural design, and the ethical, social and economic added value represented by the projects. Jury

Enrique Norten, Architect / TEN Arquitectos, Mexico City and New York (Mexico, USA) Yung Ho Chang, Architect, Head of Department of Architecture / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (USA) Colin Fournier, Architect / University College London (UK) Brian Cody, Engineer, Chair of the Institute for Buildings and Energy, Graz University of Technology (Austria) Andreas Ludwig, CEO Zumtobel Group, Dornbirn (Austria) 2003-2010 Anna Tibaijuka, General and Executive Director / UN Habitat, Nairobi (Kenya) Stefan Behnisch, (Chairman) Architect / Behnisch Architects, Stuttgart (Germany)

Left to right: E. Norton, Y. H. Chang, C. Fournier, B. Cody, A. Ludwig, A. Tibaijuka, S. Behnisch

Catalogue and exhibition

To accompany the 2010 Zumtobel Group Award an exhibition and catalogue have been prepared in conjunction with Aedes Berlin, documenting the two award winners and the eight commended projects. The exhibition will go on show on 9 September 2010 in Bregenz to mark the presentation of the awards. It will then travel to locations including Zumtobel Light Centres and Forums in various places and the Aedes Gallery in Berlin. As in 2007, the research undertaken in the context of the Zumtobel Group Award has been published in book form:

Architecture of Change 2: Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2009 Publishers: Kristin Feireiss and Lukas Feireiss ISBN 978-3-89955-263-8

For more information, visit www.zumtobel-group-award.com