2015 International Architecture in Stone Awards
VERONA, Italy – Marmomacc announced this week the selections for honors in the 14th edition of the International Award Architecture in Stone.
The biennial prize for architectural works in natural stone will be noted at the 50th anniversary of the Marmomacc trade event this fall with an exhibition and awards ceremony.
Curated by architect Vincenzo Pavan of the Department of Architecture at the University of Ferrara, the Award has always been an important study effort implemented by the Marmomacc Observatory within the huge panorama of international stone architecture.
The competiton seeks the best projects -? from city buildings to residential contexts, from restoration work to urban re-?qualification tasks -? that interpret the world of stone through new techniques and languages in full respect of the existing landscape.
The event also includes a special “in memoriam” award dedicated to an artist of the past.
This year, the jury -? including Pavan, Francesco Dal Co (Department of Architecture, University of Venice), Juan José Lahuerta (ETSAB, Barcelona, Spain), Werner Oechslin (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) and Cino Zucchi (Department of Architecture, University of Milan) -? assessed 31 works of architecture completed during over the past few years in 18 different countries.
After thorough analysis and extensive discussion, the following works were selected for their architectural quality, expressive use of stone materials and type of design, considering them represent a clear and significant panorama of the best achievements on an international scale.
The selected works will be the subject of an exhibition of drawings, photographs, videos and models set-?up during Marmomacc in the Architecture & Design area (Marmomacc Fair, Castelvecchio Gallery between Halls 2 and 3). The initiative will be complemented by the official award ceremony with the winners scheduled in the Marble Forum in one of the exhibition days.
EMRE AROLAT ARCHITECTS
Sancaklar Mosque
Istanbul, 2012
Click photo for gallery
The Sancaklar Mosque is located inside a park in the Buyukcekmece district on the outskirts of Istanbul. The area defines the boundary between built and natural landscapes: this situation helped define the setting of the project, which was conceived as a topographic extension of the landscape.
The building is designed as an underground space where the only visible elements are the Minaret, a vertical stele marking the presence of the mosque and the wall separating the silence of the Park from the noise of the street that runs alongside the project area.
The Mosque building as such comprises the prayer hall and service facilities and is set in the folds of the land covered by a large shed-like roof where the path accompanying the faithful towards the interior spaces begins. Even the steps down to the prayer hall follow the landscape morphology of the project: stone steps separated by bands of grass become the contours of an artificial topography.
The interior of the Mosque recalls a cave, where the silence of space is only interrupted by the cracks and fractures of the wall along the Qibla, which do not distract the faithful but by luminous contrast recall the divine presence.
The element that makes the project such an integral part of the landscape is the choice of material and installation. Local stone was used in its most rustic, simple elements to recall rural buildings but, arranged along the lines of the project, it clearly indicate its actuality.
DAVID CHIPPERFIELD ARCHITECTS
Jumex Museum
Mexico City, 2013
Click photo for gallery
The Jumex Museum is located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, and is home to one of the largest private collections of contemporary art in Latin America. The project area is located in a part of the city surrounded by major traffic arteries, the Ferrocarril de Cuernavaca railway station and commercial buildings.
These distinctly urbanised surroundings, totally lacking in natural aspects, suggested the distinguishing feature of the building: the shed-like roofing that reminds us that even the artificial world of industry may well become a design landmark.
The building develops over five stories: the ground floor is home to the bookshop, ticket offices, services and all accessory facilities needed to conduct educational activities. The four upper floors host all the temporary exhibitions and a part of the permanent collections.
The facilities are designed to ensure maximum flexibility in relation to various exhibition requirements and are arranged to accommodate exhibitions, seminars, conferences or artistic performances easily and conveniently, thereby meeting the wishes of the Foundation to create a cultural center open to all, from local communities to tourists, international academics and art lovers.
The need to highlight the monumental function of the building – albeit one open to a ‘social’ dimension – encouraged the use of large slabs of Xalapa travertine to define the strict geometry of the façades. The stone cladding does not seek to be a uniform plating that is impermeable to the outside, but opens out at the belvedere lodge on the first floor to emphasize the distinct contrast between the voids and the compactness of the upper gallery floors.
MAX DUDLER + ATELIER WW
Hagenholzstraße Tower Buildings
Zurich, 2013
Click photo for gallery
The various projects and installations in the “Metropolitan Zurich” Zurich-West and Zürich-Nord programs include the group of Hagenholzstraße buildings by Max Dudler - one of the very few to express distinct town planning through form and urban typology.
The rational form of the urban block recalls the concepts that once guided the effort to create a new architectural idea for the great city, founded on the image of abstraction and rigor with a reference model of the Großstadt Architektur of Hilberseimer. The use of a logical structure evident in the choice of a geometrically clear ground plan, and the elimination of decoration, recalls projects in Berlin developed during the New Objectivity and then taken up by Mies van der Rohe in his American work.
The project avoids the trap of falling into obsessive repetition of the geometric grid and the abstraction of industrial materials. First of all, the block volume is abandoned in favor of a composition articulated by stereometric volumes that define a very varied cityscape. Secondly, the composition of the façades plays with vertical rather than four-sided forms, and the change in pitch of the grid is used to mark the building’s basement.
A by-no-means secondary role is played by the material itself: the stone cladding is handled as an industrial material where artificiality is subtly called into doubt by the veining of the material, while the archetypal form of the stone, as a cut block and geometric cube, seems to give rise to the architectural composition in a linear and direct fashion, from the detail through to the full figure.
HENEGAN PENG ARCHITECTS
Giant’s Causeway Centre
Antrim, Northern Ireland, 2014
Click photo for gallery
The Giant’s Causeway is located a few miles from Bushmills and is part of the hexagonal basalt concretion characterizing the coast of Northern Ireland. The site is an important tourist destination, and in recent decades has seen rapidly growing visitor numbers. This large influx prompted the need for a new visitor center that does not interfere with the landscape of cliffs and the green expanses surrounding it.
For this reason, the project was carefully carved into this landscape and is visible from the hinterland but, as one moves closer to the coast, seems to disappear. The complex was implemented as two folds in the landscape: the north fold highlights the artificiality of the building, while the second hides the parking area from view. The two parts of the project are crossed by a ramp leading to the ridge on the coast.
The interior of the building can be interpreted as a series of steps connected by ramps – a clear reference to the cliff itself. These elements reinforce the articulation of the various activities taking place inside these buildings, following a fluid path that contrasts deliberately with the regularity of the building. This path through the building finally leads to the cliff.
The shape of the building is defined through an impressive reinterpretation of the stone nature of the site: the perspectives – the edges of the folds – are defined by vertical stone elements that recall the basalt landscape of the site. Architectural expressiveness and the quality of the interior facilities are space defined by the combination of the basalt columns and windows, where changes in transparency and opacity enhance the route taken by visitors.
PERRAUDIN ARCHITECTES
Massive Stone Social Housing
Cornebarrieu, France, 2011
Click photo for gallery
The use of stone in residential architecture has always been associated with the upper classes: Princely palaces, churches and town halls emerged from fabric of poor houses built using more-modest materials.
The social housing district in Cornebarrieu (seems to go against this centuries-old tradition. The decision to use stone for this type of residence, more usually associated with industrial materials, is consistent with Perraudin’s design philosophy. For him, buildings must not contain stone but must be of stone: no expensive decorative claddings but sober and economic solid masonry.
The complex was ultimately built with close attention to economy and energy efficiency. The choice of solid stone -? in this case, blocks of Beaulieu limestone 4cm thick -? helps save material;: thinner slabs would have caused wastage of a great deal of the material because of the defects found in this stone.
At the same time, the use of solid blocks helps ensure significant thermal inertia which, combined with the natural ventilation and cooling achieved by the lodges, ensures excellent comfort in these homes.
This type of project reminds us -? as Perraudin himself says -? of the contemporary nature of stone buildings, even in relation to certain topics that seem to be the preferential field for industrial materials. Solid stone allows dry, fast construction with a relatively simple site, while its physical properties make it possible to tackle questions such as air conditioning and energy efficiency.
Another absolutely innovative aspect is the ability to recycle the blocks once the building has terminated its purpose, thereby interpreting the durability of stone in yet another way.
In Memorium
ADALBERTO LIBERA
Horizontal home in the Tuscolano District
Rome, 1950-1954
Click photo for gallery
Adalberto Libera (1903-1963) was one of the most-original figures on the 20th-century Italian architectural scene. Known internationally for his work during the 1930s, after his early membership of one of the most lively and active professional groups in Italy (Gruppo7), Libera undertook intense and significant activities after 1945.
Harmoniously reconciling his professional commitments with teaching, Libera from began working about 1947 for INA Casa, the institute that contributed to the post-war reconstruction of Italy, offering many work opportunities to architects trained during the fascist period.
The project for the Tuscolano District in Rome – the horizontal homes built between 1950 and 1954 – is the best work Libera developed for INA Casa.
An original attempt to merge this type of home with a fabric of low-level residences with Mediterranean and North African inspiration, the Tuscolano complex is an important episode in the history of 20th-century Italian architecture, and an eloquent telling historical document for understanding how the country tackled the task of post-war reconstruction.
The Tuscolano complex interprets the Mediterranean paradigm in order to express dialogue between modernity and tradition. On the one hand, the shells of houses and common spaces are in reinforced concrete and have forms and thicknesses that distinctly emphasize their modernity. On the other hand, the common enclosure is an archaic Roman style wall made up of large roughed-out blocks, recalling a tactile dimension that deserves being retained even in new architecture.
Get the news of the industry with Slab & Sheet, the weekly e-newsletter every Thursday from Stone Update. Sign up for free delivery here.
For the latest industry info, check Stone Update on Twitter and Facebook.
