Category: Architecture (Page 3 of 28)

The Pritzker Award Winners 2021

July 22, 2021 / Brian Kehoe / 0 Comments

The Pritzker award, established in 1979 by the Pritzker family is awarded to a living architect/s for producing consistent and significant contributions to humanity. The award is granted annually and considered to be one of the highest achievements in the world of architectural design.

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates

This year’s 2021 Pritzker Award was awarded to Anne Lacaton, Saint-Pardoux, France & Jean-Philippe Vassal, Casablanca Morocco.

Lacation & Vassal met in the late 1970s during formal architecture training at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux. Lacaton went on to complete her Masters in Urban Design, while Vassal took another path deciding to relocate to Niger to practice Urban design. It was during a visit to Niger when Lacaton and Vassal started working together.

With their extensive experience in Urban Design, the two decided to explore the aspect of reusing and refurbishing existing structures rather than demolition. Some of their works to date include the following.

100 Units, Tour Bois Le Pretre, Social Housing, 2011 Paris, France

Working with Frederic Druot, the two took this tower originally built in the 1960s which was in serious need of upgrading, in all areas, went against the proposed demolition plans, turning the tower structure into a 100 unit apartment block.

Multipurpose Theater, 2013, Lille, France

Working as a multipurpose municipal hall that can host several different events. Due to its flexible floor plan, sliding doors, and windows, modular and reconfigurable seating to expand the space, the facade can retract fully and open any event onto the gardens.

Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, 2013, Dunkerque, France

This postwar Shipbuilding was due to be demolished, however, Lacaton and Vassal decided to construct a 2nd building in identical shape and size. The original shipbuilding is now used for changing public programming. The new includes galleries, offices, and storage for contemporary art.

House in Bordeaux, 1999, Bourdeaux, France

Once a cold industrial factory, now a warm inviting residential home. Replacing parts of the existing roof with transparent polycarbonate sheets, retractable walls, and oversized windows allows light to travel through the open-plan layout.

129 Units, Ourcq-Juarès Student and Social Housing, 2013, Paris, France

Located in the 19th district, Paris France. The 129 Units consist of 98 student apartments, 30 social dwelling, a specialist care home, and 3 commercial shops turning this disused structure into a busy community.

Lacaton & Vassal was established in1987 in Paris. Since 2017, Lacaton has been a professor of Architecture and Design at the Swiss Federal Institute of technology. Zurich Switzerland. Vassal is an associated professor at the Uniersitat der Kunste. Berlin, Germany, since 2012.

On behalf of the staff at Isabel Barros Architects, Wexford, we congratulate Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal on winning this prestigious award and look forward to seeing what they do next.

Two Projects Shortlisted for Architecture Awards

April 30, 2021 / barros / 0 Comments

We are delighted to have not one but two (!) projects shortlisted in the category of House Extension Refurbishment in the Building & Architect of the Year Awards 2021.

The Awards recognise architectural excellence in building & design. The Building and Architect of the Year Awards provide a platform for architects and their buildings where the rich variety of architecture encompassing all the main building types, Residential, Public, Commercial and Cultural can be appraised.

The two Wexford projects designed by Isabel Barros Architects and nominated for an award are the ‘Seaview House’ in Kilmore and the ‘Shaolin Cottage’ in Killesk.

The ‘Seaview House’ has a bold timber cladded prolongation that transformed a typical 1970’s Irish bungalow into a modern twenty-first-century vibrant home.

The ‘Shaolin Cottage’ was influenced by Feng Shui principles and includes a unique relationship where new and old work together to create balance and harmony.

The winners of the Building & Architect of the Year Awards 2021 will be announced online on May 20^th.

Irish Women Receive the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize

March 5, 2020 / barros / 0 Comments

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara were awarded the 2020 Pritzker Prize. It is the first time that two female architects receive this prestigious prize. They make the 2nd and 3rd Pritzker awardees to have been graduated from UCD – University College Dublin, Ireland.

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, *the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates*

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.

Universita Luigi Bocconi, 2008, Milan, Italy

The pair established Grafton Architects in 1978 in Dublin, where they continue to practice and reside. In just over forty years, they have completed nearly as many projects, located in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Peru.

Offices for the Department of Finance, 2009, Dublin, Ireland

Farrell and McNamara have designed and built several schools and architectural works for institutions and universities. They have won many international competitions and awards.

University Campus UTEC Lima, 2015, Lima, Peru

Their buildings consistently remain purposefully rich, yet modest, enhancing cities and lending to sustainability while responding to local needs.

As architects and educators since the 1970s, Farrell and McNamara create spaces that are at once respectful and new, honoring history while demonstrating a mastery of the urban environment and craft of construction. Balancing strength and delicacy, and upholding a reverence of site specific contexts, their academic, civic and cultural institutions, as well as housing developments, result in modern and impactful works that never repeat or imitate, but are decidedly of their own architectural voice.

Solstice Arts Centre, 2007, Navan, Co. Meath,Ireland

Their approach to architecture is always honest, revealing an understanding of the processes of design and construction from large scale structures to the smallest details.

UL President’s House, 2010, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

The architects are continuously conscious of the dialogue between the internal and external, evidenced by the mingling of public and private spaces, and the meaningful selection and integrity of materials.

For their integrity in their approach to both their buildings, as well as the way they conduct their practice, their belief in collaboration, their generosity towards their colleagues, especially as evidenced in such events as the 2018 Venice Biennale, their unceasing commitment to excellence in architecture, their responsible attitude toward the environment, their ability to be cosmopolitan while embracing the uniqueness of each place in which they work, for all these reasons and more, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are awarded the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Pritzker Architecture Prize, Jury Citation