EMBARGOED MEDIA RELEASE
10PM Thurs 28 Oct 2010
Winners not to be notified in advance
Bangkok high rise wins gold for Aussie designers
at 2010 National Architecture Awards
A
revolutionary, naturally ventilated 66-storey apartment building in
Bangkok, and its Australian-born and educated design team, have won the
major Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture at the 2010
Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Awards.
The Australian Institute of Architects’ Jørn Utzon Award for International
Architecture was tonight presented to The Met in Bangkok by Singapore-
based practice WOHA* from a strong field of projects across the globe.
Announcing the award at a ceremony at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra tonight,
jury chair and leading architect Melinda Dodson said: “The Met in Bangkok,
Thailand, is a seminal project representing major advances towards a possible
future vision of ecologically responsible highly dense urban housing. “
The jury noted: “It is often claimed that high rise buildings, particularly in hot
climates, cannot be naturally ventilated, and that if we are to intensify urban density we
are therefore doomed to inhabit closed, air conditioned glass boxes. The Met proves that
claim wrong, by creating tropical houses in the sky, with breezeways, outdoor living
areas, planters, gardens, and communal facilities on open-air terraces. Here, innovation and
brilliant architectural strategic thinking answer extremely challenging climatic conditions. “
Above: The Met (Bangkok, Thailand) by
WOHA. Photography by Tim Griffith.
Above: The Met (Bangkok, Thailand) by
WOHA. Photography by Patrick Bingham-Hall.
Responding to the strength of this year’s entries, the jury also awarded an unprecedented
three National Awards for International Architecture and two National Commendations for
International Architecture. In an outstanding triple win for WOHA, the practice also received
a National Award for the Bras Basah Mass Rapid Transit Station (Singapore), and a
National Commendation for the Alila Villas Uluwatu (Bali, Indonesia).
An extraordinary house ‘of rare beauty and serenity’ in Japan for one of the world’s most
revered designers – the Wall House by Sydney-based architects Peter Stutchbury
Architecture with Keiji Ashizawa Design - received a National Award for
International Architecture, with the jury saying: “From a country with an ancient tradition
of exquisite refined landscapes and architecture, it is perhaps surprising that an Australian
architect would be asked to add to that culture. The Wall House doesn’t disappoint.” They
added: “Australia’s growing international reputation for unique residential architecture that
relates to landscape is further enhanced by this simple, elegant house that beautifully
demonstrates the richness of cultural fusion.”
Above: Bras Basah Mass Transit
Station by WOHA. Photography Patrick
Bingham Hall. The station is both
hidden and revealed under a shallow
‘lake’ in the historic heart of
Singapore.
Above right: A house that is truly ‘part
of the landscape’ according to this
year’s jury – the Wall House by Peter
Stutchbury Architect with Keiji
Ashizawa Design. Photography: Mike
Nicholson.
Right: Tanzania’s Kesho Leo Children’s
Home by watson architecture + design
–
a
totally self-supporting new
community for women, children and
orphans built on a shoestring budget.
Photography: Liz Halloran.
A
home and community centre with education, social, and health facilities for 80 women,
children, orphans and the wider remote rural community of Sinon in Tanzania – the Kesho
Leo Children’s Home by Watson architecture + design – also received a
National Award. The jury noted the project’s extremely limited budget, site
configuration restraints, the tropical climate, and high expense and poor availability of often
inferior materials as major challenges. Despite this, they said: “As is often with good
architecture, adversity inspired true innovation throughout the project. This was a project
literally conceived and built from the ground up, created from absolutely minimal means in
almost impossible conditions. Australian architects have created in Kesho Leo an
architecture of great meaning and an international beacon for social and ecological
responsibility.”
Around 20 projects from as far afield as Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan
Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Tanzania were entered in this
year’s Jorn Utzon International Award. All international projects entered must be
submitted by members of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Full List of International Winners:
International Architecture
The Jørn Utzon Award for
International Architecture
The Met, Bangkok (Thailand)
WOHA
National Award for International
Architecture
Kesho Leo Children's Home
(Tanzania)
watson architecture + design
National Award for International
Architecture
Wall House (Japan)
Peter Stutchbury Architecture
with Keiji Ashizawa Design
National Award for International
Architecture
Bras Basah Mass Rapid Transit
Station (Singapore)
WOHA
National Commendation for
International Architecture
Aman New Delhi (India)
Kerry Hill Architects
National Commendation for
International Architecture
Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali (Indonesia)
WOHA
Members of this year’s International Jury were: Melinda Dodson, Melinda Dodson
Architects, Immediate Past President and Jury Chair; Elizabeth Watson-Brown,
Elizabeth Watson-Brown Architects; Max Pritchard, Max Pritchard Architect; and,
Cameron Bruhn, Editorial Director, Architecture Media.
* WOHA is a young, innovative Singapore-based architecture practice with a growing
international reputation. Founded by design architects Richard Hassell and Wong Mun Summ,
the office works on a diverse range of multiple-residential, urban design, commercial, and
public projects, predominantly across the Asian sub-continent. The practice recently
completed their first Australian project, the newly opened Hyde across from Hyde Park in
Sydney’s CBD. They are currently working on a range of high rise apartment buildings in
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