∂ 2017 ¥ 1
Reports
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DETAIL Prize 2016– Special Prizes structure and inside – Winners
www.detail.de/detailpreis
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This year’s DETAIL Prize – which honours “future-oriented, innovative projects that surpass established standards (...) and exhibit outstanding architectural and technical qualities” – received a total of 337 submissions from 42 nations. Aside from the main prize, this year two special prizes were awarded for the first time: DETAIL inside and DETAIL structure. Thirteen projects advanced to the next round; then jury members Peter Ippolito (Ippolito Fleitz Group), Gilles Retsin (Gilles Retsin Architecture), Mike Schlaich (schlaich bergermann partner), Enrique Sobejano (Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos), and Daniel Lischer (alp architektur lischer partner ag) selected the most compelling designs and awarded a total of 5 prizes and 4 honourable mentions.
If we view architecture – as Le Corbusier once put it – as the “play of masses brought together in light”, this project adds a further kinetic, performative dimension to our understanding of what architecture can be; it is the night lighting in its many varieties that brings this to the fore. Despite all of its sculptural qualities, the building is by no means “architecture for architecture’s sake”, but rather a catalyst for social interaction, inspiration, and free exchange of ideas. The special charm of its spontaneity has to do with the fact that the detailing was kept to a minimum – the architects developed just a few details with which the many different structural nodes
DETAIL Prize 2016, First prize Sean Godsell Architects, Melbourne MPavilion 2014, Melbourne MPavilion 2014 was erected as a temporary structure and cultural meeting place in the Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, and hosted numerous cultural events that were free of cost. Four months later the pavilion was dismantled, donated to the City of Melbourne, and transported to its present location. The remote-control facade not only makes it possible to secure the building at night, but also to control light and shadow as needed during daytime. In addition, it allows different configurations for different events. From the jury protocol: “Fragile and graceful like a butterfly, the delicate structure alights on the lawn. With its transformation from a calm, unobtrusive box to a bright, shimmering ornamental sculpture, the pavilion becomes a tableaux for a great variety of effects, from translucence and transparency to shadow and light. When the facades are tilted up, the airy, ethereal roof allows the landscape to flow unimpeded below it and nonetheless manages to create an unmistakable, clearly defined place where visitors enjoy spending time.”
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are resolved in a highly professional fashion.” In their statement, the architects also point to an analogy in nature: “Once we identified the opportunity to make the entire roof operable as well, the screens suddenly became ‘petals’ and the analogy to the pavilion ‘blooming like a flower in the morning light and closing back down again at dusk’ became a daily opening and closing ceremony.” DETAIL structure 2016, Winner Knight Architects, High Wycombe Merchant Square Footbridge, London The folding pedestrian bridge on Merchant Square in London spans 20 metres across