An international panel chaired by the Pritzker prize laureate 2012, architect Wang Shu, presented the Terra Awards for the first time during the first edition of the award for earthen architectures, divided up into nine categories, plus a special prize for technical innovation, assigned to Martin Rauch and his team, Lehm Ton Erde.
On 14 July, the city of Lyon (France) hosted the first edition of the Terra Awards, an international contest reserved for contemporary architectures made with rammed earth. This award, created under the auspices of UNESCO, aims to promote earth as the building material of the future, so as to create more ecological and economical habitats.
A total of 40 finalist projects qualified for to the final phase of the award, selected amongst the 357 candidate projects from 67 countries worldwide. The selection was made according to various criteria, including quality of architecture, landscape integration, creativity and technological innovation, energetic performance and showcasing of skills.
From among the 40 finalist projects, an international panel chaired by the Pritzker prize laureate 2012, architect Wang Shu, selected nine winners, one for each award category, and a special prize for technological innovation was assigned to Martin Rauch and his team, Lehm Ton Erde.
The promotion of rammed earth as a contemporary architecture material will continue thanks to a book and a travelling exhibition entitled “Earthen Architecture Today”, that will promote a possible second edition of the award, planned for 2020.
(Agnese Bifulco)
Terra Awards winners:
Individual Housing: 21st Century vernacular House / Vivienda Vernacular Ayerbe, Spain, Europe -
Architect: Angels Castellarnau Visus photo by Angels Castellarnau Visus
Collective Housing: The Great Wall of Western Australia
Architect: Luigi Rosselli photo by Edward Birch
School, Sports & Health Facilities: High school Païamboué Koné, New Caledonia, Oceania
Architect: André Berthier, Joseph Frassanito, Espaces Libres (K’ADH) photo by Christophe Malecot Yann Letenier SCB
Cultural Public Facilities: Community Library Ampebussa, Sri Lanka
Architect Robust Architecture Workshop (Milinda Pathiraja and Ganga Ratnayake) photo by Kolitha Perera
Offices, Shops & Factories: Koudougou’s Central Market Koudougou, Burkina Faso, Africa
Architect: Laurent Séchaud, Pierre Jequier photo by Julien Chiaretto
Interior Layout & Design: Renovation of the Al Jahili Fort Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Asia
Architect Roswag & Jankowski Architekten photo by Torsen Seidel
Exterior Design, Art & Landscape: Stairway to Heaven and City of Orion Plaine de Marha, Morocco, Africa
Artist: Hannsjörg Voth photo by Ingrid Amslinger
Architecture & Local Development: Post Earthquake village reconstruction M’a’anqiao, China, Asia
Architects Mu Jun, Edward Ng, Zhou Tiegang, Wan Li, Ma Jie photo by Wu Zhio Qiao Charitable Foundation
Workshop Training Festival: Secmol School Building Leh, India, Asia
Architects: Sonam Wangchuk together with many students and volunteers photo by Sonam Wangshuk
Images courtesy of Terra Awards, terra-award.org
Trophy Terra Awards photo by Atelier Alba
