Modern
architectural design architecture awards
Corus Building Systems - Kalzip announces first ever European Student Award Winners
Pictured from left: Michael Budig, student
tutor; Dr. Jürgen Neuwald, director of new business and
technology at Corus Building Systems; Katharina Riedl (2nd),
Gerold Wimmer, area sales manager, Kalzip, Austria; Brigitte
Bertignoll (2nd), Mergen Annick and Johannes Mitterdorfer (1st),
Maria-Elisabeth Schuler (3rd), and Josef Glas, student tutor.
The University of Innsbruck is THE place to study architecture
and engineering if Kalzip’s first ever European Student Awards
are anything to go by.
For although the judges did not know who they were judging by
name or university, they awarded the top three prizes to a total
of five undergraduates from the Austrian university … and the
award ceremony was held there on April 26th.
The very first European Kalzip Student Award 2007 launched by
Corus Building Systems had invited architecture and engineering
students throughout Europe to compete for the award under the
theme "Wrap a building“.
The challenge was to develop concepts for the building envelope
of the future in the context of modern architectural demands.
This was conceived within the framework of a course run by
London architect Professor Patrick Schumacher who worked with
Zaha Hadid on Kalzip’s BMW Project in Leipzig. No stipulations
were made in terms of design or functionality, the only
condition specified was the use of metal materials.
A total of 166 students/teams from around the world registered
on www.kalzip-studentaward.com and 67 entries were received. The
judges were not only impressed with the quality of the concepts
submitted but also with the diversity of ideas.
First prize went to Mergen Annick and Johannes Mitterdorfer and
their "Metal Composer" concept that was based on a metal/plastic
hybrid solution. Second place went to Brigitte Bertignoll and
Katharina Riedl and third prize to Maria-Elizabeth Schuler. Due
to the high quality of entries submitted, the judges also
awarded a special design prize to Alexander Bartscher from
Zurich who focused on lighting elements as more than just a
purely functional roof accessory.
The judges were prominent figures from the world of European
architecture – Kristien Ring, director of the Deutsches
Architektur Zentrum, CJ Lim of London; Professor Manfred Hegger
of Darmstadt, Germany; Bostjan Vugar of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and
Martin Kohlbauer of Vienna, Austria. Kalzip was represented by
Dr Jürgen Neuwald, director of new business and technology.
All entries were examined and discussed in detail in an
assessment process which consisted of four rounds and it soon
became clear that unusual concepts scored particularly well with
the panel. In addition to creativity and innovation, the panel
evaluated concept implementation and the potential feasibility
of the ideas.
The students’ concepts are to be used by Kalzip as an idea pool
for the development of new building envelope systems, with the
award as a regular competition but with different themes. The
next one is planned for 2009 and will be extended to entries
from throughout the world.
Email: tracy@tlcpr.co.uk