2A’s Vision:
An architectural style in any region is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure notable and historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, building materials, and regional cultural character. Most architecture can be classified as a chronology of styles which changes over time reflecting changing fashions, lifestyles, beliefs and religions, or the emergence of new ideas, innovative technologies, or materials which make new styles feasible and possible.
Styles therefore emerge from the history of a society and are evident in the subject of architectural history. At any given time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. Styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twists, adding or omitting certain features in order to harmonize this new style with their local needs and culture.
European architecture has also been affected and shaped by many factors throughout its history. Major contemporary events such as two world wars, industrialization which lead to massive migration from farm lands to big cities where the factories were centralized . This lead to increased population in urban centers, Furthermore, foreign immigration and emergence of modern technologies have fundamentally affected the course of Evolution of European architecture.
This challenges among others, has caused the European architecture to transform.
Today’s European architects have to deal with many dualities and sometimes even paradoxes when trying to design and build a unique new project, because they need to consider their cultural roots while building a modern project which should also be functional and suitable with their contemporary realities and needs.
Some of these challenges are taking into consideration the following dichotomies below.
• Diversity and Unity
” Create unity in diversity, And also maintain the diversity and unique features and identities, in the unified continent
• Society and Responsiveness
If we look at the outstanding design on.
The euro banknotes reveal a lot about architecture. Its depiction on both sides of the bills – typical buildings on the one side and bridges more exemplary for engineering feats on the other – is a testament to its importance. The bills also prove that this importance stems from architecture’s powers of providing identity: The bridges seem to connect Europe, as does its shared traditional language of architecture or the technological progress interacting with it. If it can define the identity of a whole continent, architecture quite obviously has a great influence on society. It does more than simply stand for itself. It also represents what we stand for. The wielding of such influence demands responsible behavior, and that goes for all aspects of architecture: the aesthetic, functional, social, financial, political and, today more than ever, the environmental aspects.
• Tradition Versus Modernism
the dialogue between old and new, traditionalism and Modernism. Moving forward and Progress is a necessity, because the needs and consciousness of any society are subject to constant change and transformation. Failing to react and respond means stagnation. However, the opposite of stagnation can be equally as harmful and dangerous. When a society accelerates so fast that it cuts off all historic ties and loses its cultural memory, it will also lose its identity. That is not progression, but regression. The idea that helps to avoid both of these is that of tradition. These problems concern the dual role of architecture and urban design in a special way with respect to aesthetic and social discipline. To that extent, tradition is of central importance to architecture. Innovation and identity in architecture are not possible without a responsible and keen approach to tradition. This is as true on the global stage as it is on the regional one.
• Innovation and Identity
Buildings and people have a common trait: an identity. At least, they should have one. A person lacking individual character isn’t necessarily a bad person. But he is uninspiring, lacking uniqueness and a dull conversation partner. Without an identity, no one can or wants to identify with him. More than likely, you wouldn’t even notice him in the first place. The same goes for buildings. A building lacking identity is a bad one, architecturally speaking, because it could just as well be a different one. A good building is always specific. It carries a message. This type of message can take various forms. Architecture can relate something about an individual person, a group, a city, or a country. It can tell a story about the relations between tradition and modernity, culture and nature, aesthetics, technology and function. Purely functional design overlooks the fact that it is part of architecture’s role to create identity. And this isn’t only about being distinctive. One of its noblest and most important tasks is to create an outward expression of identity.
Architecture is art applied to society; it is made for people, not for its own sake. In order to create an identity not just for the building itself, but also for the people around it or using it, two kinds of identity are necessary: People have to be able to identify the building as something special (by its distinctiveness). But they should also be able to identify with it and with its message. Identity creates dialogue, and dialogue creates identity.
• Urbanism
Politics, the economy and technology have removed many boundaries in recent decades, or made them more penetrable. Long before the advent of the internet, media theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the often-used term “global village”. But the days of the village have gone. Nowadays it is more appropriate to talk about the “urban globe”: the world population is growing at the same pace as that of the cities. In 2007, for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas.
In terms of its population, the world is becoming bigger – and people are living closer together. The word ‘density’ is perhaps the most important keyword for understanding urbanism and its corollary: mobility. The two terms are closely interrelated. Traffic density, population density, density of development – all of these are increasing rapidly.
• Mobility
Thanks to modern transportation technology and logistics, today almost anyone can travel easily to almost any place on earth. Masses of people are on the move at any point in time and meet each other, in particular, at urban intersections: in railway stations and airports.
Today, mobility-related architecture is one of the most complicated building tasks there is. It has to combine the most diverse functions and coordinate a wide range of processes – and all that in a relatively small space and with maximum efficiency. Railway stations and airports link cities with each other and – with respect to their diversity and complexity, and even sometimes their dimension – are themselves comparable to cities. It is not enough to include aspects of security, safety, logistics, leisure, consumption, gastronomy, administration and technology in the design, to mention but a few.
Modern architecture or modernist architecture is a term applied to a group of styles of architecture which emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II. It was based upon new technologies of construction.
Modern architecture emerged from revolutions in technology, engineering and building materials, and from a desire to break away from historical architectural styles and to invent something that was purely functional and new.
2A magazine and its vision for Europe Architecture Award is that a great European architectural project should take into consideration its roots and identity while at the same time use modern technologies, materials and designs in order to meet the dynamic needs of the contemporary era.
2A Continental Architectural Award (2ACAA) 2017, Berlin:
2A Magazine is pleased to announce 2ACAA 2017, with the theme of “Innovative Architecture in Various Continents” for Asia and Europe. Accordingly, the Award is for recognition of an individual’s or group’s substantial contribution to today’s architecture in Europe in terms of contemporary challenges of the field and region and lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
2ACAA 2017 will be accompanied by an event taking place in Berlin in October 2017. This gathering is a profile of the diversity of cultures, identities, themes, ideas, and experiences in Europe’s architecture and a platform to share, explore and discuss in a professional environment. The program includes:
• The Award Ceremony in October 20th, 2017 at “Design Academy Berlin”.
• The exhibition of the winners projects in October 20th, 2017 at “Design Academy Berlin”.
• A Unique events that brings Asian and European Architects together.
More Details about 2017 Award Ceremony and Exhibition can be find here.
Criteria:
The following criteria will be considered to recognize and honor a built project/ future project in Europe that has produced significant contributions to humanity and built environment.
• Design Achievement including Concept, Strategy and Proceedings.
• Technical advancement includes engineering achievements (structural, mechanical, etc.) and innovative use of materials.
• Reflection of sense of place and of cultural identity and ecology; environmental sustainability (including ecological, and sociocultural sustainability)
• Social responsibility and community and urban connectivity.
• The effects of economical condition on the project.
- Transcendent Dimensions of Architecture
From a survey review of the projects selected by the 2A Asian and European Architectural Awards, what are the key, common-ground lessons learned about principles and conditions that support transcendence in architecture and practices that perpetuate access to such realm? How can they serve as “beacons” or “attractors” (from Chaos Theory) that may (1) guide future design efforts toward Transcendent Architecture; (2) empirically indicate its presence; and/or (3) provoke an experiential awareness of the sublime and the ineffable in the perceiving individual?
At the core of our search might be the questions: what is transcendent creativity and how may some of the following considerations suggest valuable domains for investigation and inspiration to evoke a viable, common-ground and multi-dimensional framework for achieving in the individual and the collective a profound awareness of potentially holistically sustainable, culturally conscious and integrated 21st-century worldviews about the “Transcendent” in Architecture and environment building?
- Sensual Conditions: These include Tectonics/Materiality that are in direct and inevitable relation with natural Light, without which they couldn’t be fully appreciated. However, this dimension through its tactile, haptic, and other sensual qualities also bring the non-visual nature of architecture into full consideration.
- Formal-Spatial Conditions: These include space-form, geometry (proportion, mathematical order) and scale, which are an inseparable set for what could be best called the ‘Aesthetic Conditions’ of Transcendent Architecture.
- Programmatic Conditions: These cluster a creative, Luminous Building Program and the integration of Motion (access, ritual, and path) into the building design that basically deals with what is happening within and in proximity to the building
- Temporal Conditions: They address anything that involves duration such as silence, sound and time itself.
- Connectedness Conditions: They bring attention to the myriad ways that architecture must relate to its physical and metaphysical environment: Context (immediate site), Cosmos/Nature (larger scale) and Ontological Axis (relation between measurable and immeasurable)
- Holistic Conditions: This puts together the most phenomenological yet profound effect of Transcendent Architecture: the sense of Unity and the Experience of the Hidden/Manifest.
These questions are especially urgent now, at this threshold of the 21st century threatened by vast impending global crises when critical thinking, at its most profound best, must contend with and challenge the pervading, outdated materialistic notions of reality that have brought us to this tipping point. The current model of ultimate reality holds that all questions can be answered by means of the scientific method of objective observation and measurement and existence is but a temporary, lifeless group of particles and waves that accidentally created separated human consciousness from isolated material realities. This notion is now being doubted by new state of the art paradigms and reinforced by discoveries of ancient wisdom traditions, which contend that our external and internal perceptions are fully intertwined and say that reality is based upon our consciousness which conceives, governs and generates our perceptions of the physical world.
Categories for Completed Projects:
For completed projects, the award will be presented in the following categories. All categories are open to practices of all sizes and there is no limit to the amount of categories. You can enter, however one project cannot be entered in two different categories. Please see How to Enter for more details on entries.
1) Residential
A- Apartment
B- Villa
2) Commercial (Office & Business, Retail and wholesale, Production)
3) Public (Sport & Leisure, Education, Hospitality, Culture, Mixed Use, Health, Religion, Civic ,Transportation)
4) Urban Projects, Rural Projects, Landscape & Public Spaces (Including squares and streets)
5) Old and New (Reuse and adaptation, Renovation, Restoration, Regeneration)
6) Interior Architecture
If you need help to select the right category for your Entry please contact us and we will be happy to advise you.
Future Projects/Innovative Designs:
This sub-category is a celebration of excellence design-only, future or uncompleted projects including entries of regional/ international competitions, that meet the following conditions. We will be looking to champion creation and concept that has pushed its specific typology forward and proven a holistic and effective approach. Also:
• The site of the project is located in Europe, having rich ecological, cultural, historical or physical characteristics and features.
• Has Focused on responsive design, having addressed, challenged or responded to an architectural-related issue (physical, ecological, sociocultural, contextual, technical and..).
• It is based on local or regional studies.
• Introduces or represents an innovative design vision / approach.
Please note that:
• Future project category covers all eligible entries, regardless of the project program and subject.
• Except for the date of completion, this category covers and follows the same regulations and procedure for submission as built project categories.
• Student designs including student competition entries are not eligible for participation, however university research-based projects are highly welcome to enter.
Rules and Conditions for Entry (2A Europe Architecture Award 2017):
- 2AEAA is a two-stage competition.
• The First Stage Entry is open to all professional entrants, i.e., Individual architects, urban designers, urban planners, landscape architects, multi-professional teams and Architectural firms and offices.
• Other associated bodies, e.g., clients, developers, contractors, may also enter on behalf of the architect, with their consent.
• Student designs including student competition entries are not eligible for participation
• Join projects between universities and industry are eligible to participate in the competition.
• The First Stage Entry opens on June 15th and closes on July 20th, 2017 at 11:00 p.m. EEST (UTC/GMT +3 hours).
• The nominated projects of The First Stage Entry will be notified by email as well as will be announced at the News part of the website (only the respective entry codes of the first-stage nominated projects) on August 10th, 2017 to participate in Second Stage.
• Second stage submission due (for first-stage nominated projects) will be announced subsequently.
• The Second Stage Entry boards could either be printed and mailed to the award administrative office or be submitted online by paying respective print fee.
• All projects should have been completed on or after 01 January 2010. For Future Projects/Innovative Design category entries, the design dates should not be older than 2010.
• Future project category covers all eligible entries, regardless of the project program and subject.
• All Projects should have been built /located in one of the European countries. As for Future project category, the site of the project must be located in Europe.
• Participants can submit multiple projects under one 2AEAA account, and there is no limit on the number of submitted projects.
• Each project can be applied only to a single category of the Award. In another words, one project cannot be submitted under two different categories.
For a complete lists of rules and conditions of the competition, see here.
Prizes:
- The top two winners in each Award category will receive Gold and Silver medals, respectively.
• Upon Jury’s approving decision there might also be some special mentions in each category.
• The special mentions will receive certificates of recognition and memorial plaques.
• All first-stage nominated projects will be published in a special edition of 2A Magazine and extra pages will be allocated to the winners and special mentions.
• Names and a brief review of all entries will be published in the news part of website, after the event.
Note:
- Submission of an entry will be taken to imply the granting of permission to publish all material and particulars of the successful schemes, including any jury citation.
• Displayed boards of first-stage nominated projects may be displayed at subsequent events or exhibitions. - Basically, the medals would be given to the winners of 7 categories of 2A Europe Architecture Award. (16 medals [Gold and Silver] for each continent will be allocated)
Special Global Award:
Since these awards will be held simulteneously, the organization committee decided to also select and announce a global winner in a special category to be selected from the top three projects of these three continents.
Hence, from each continent and from all categories (except the Future Projects/ Innovative Designs) only one project which is the most outstanding will be selected by a specially appointed judge, And finally, the Global winner will be selected from the three continental special winners.
After the completion and selection of the winners in each categories, 16 winners will be announced in each continent. And for the special award, only one project will be selected as the special award winner of their own continent, consequently, one winner from each continent will qualify for the special global award.
Jury Members:
Ulrike Lauber
Born in 1959, Biedenkopf, Germany, Professor Dipl.-Ing. Studies at Technical University Berlin, Degree in Architecture (1973 – 1979), Occupation at architectural firms in Berlin (1980 – 1985), Occupation at Berlin senate, preparation of competitions (1985 – 1986), Participation at various competitions, several awards (1982 – 1985), Occupation at office of Richard Meier, New York since 1987 as Associate Partner and project leader – Offices Siemens AG, Munich- Exhibition building City of Ulm (Münsterplatz)- Research Center of Daimler-Benz AG, Ulm- various competions (1986 – 1989) – Since 1990: Own office in Munich: lauder zottmann blank architects (3 Partners, 15 employees) www.lzb-architekten.de, Office Buildings and Housing: – Potsdamer Platz Berlin- Housing Complex Frankfurt – Office Buildings Munich, Various competitions – Since 1999: Professor for Design and Urban Development, Beuth Hochschule für Technik, University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Participation in various architectural competition juries, often chairman Advisor to the government in different Brains trusts.
Hubert Nienhoff
Born 1959 in Kirchhellen / Westfalen, Germany – Education: Diploma examination at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany (1985) – Employment Record: Since 1996- Management of gmp • architects von Gerkan, Marg and partners, Berlin (Germany), and Management of gmp offices in Frankfurt/Main (Germany), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Moscow (Russia) and Madrid (Spain)
Since 1993- Member of board / Partner at gmp • architects von Gerkan, Marg and partners – Assistant at the Institute for urban planning at the RWTH Aachen University (1988 – 1991), Employee at Büro für Architektur ind Stadtbereichsplanung Christoph Mäckler Frankfurt/Main (1985 – 1987) – Advanced Engagement: Since 2007- Management of the gmp-foundation „Academy for Architectural Culture“ (aac), Since 2010- Founder member of the BDI – Brazil Boards, Since 2010- Member of the advisory council of foreign economics by the German Federal Ministry of Economic affairs / Technology.
Sergei Tchoban
Architekt BDA- nps tchoban voss, Berlin- SPEECH, Moscow, Born in Saint Petersburg in 1962, is a Russian- German architect. After his studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Saint Petersburg he worked as a freelance architect in Russia until 1992 he started working at the NPS Nietz – Prasch – Sigl office in Hamburg. 1995 he became managing partner of this company, which since 2003 trades as nps tchoban voss. In 2006 Sergei Tchoban founded the architect’s office SPEECH in Moscow together with Sergey Kuznetsov. 2009 the Tchoban Foundation started, growing 2013 into the Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin. Between 2009 and 2011 Tchoban has been member of the urban advisory board of the city of Linz; since 2013 he is member of the urban advisory board of the city of Moscow. Moreover Sergei Tchoban has been teaching at the Moscow Graduate School of Architecture MARCH during 2013 and 2014. He was jury member of Iakov Chernikhov International Prize “Challenge Of The Time” 2014. Sergei Tchoban is member of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators ASAI. In 2010 and 2012 he was curator of the Russian Pavilion at the Architectural Biennale in Venice. Also he was the architect of the Russian Pavilion for the EXPO Milan 2015.
Judgement:
- Assessing projects will be carried out according to judgment criteria in a two stage, score-based process.
• All Approved entrants will be referred to Jury board for the first stage Judge.
• The jury reserves the right to re-categorize or reject any entry that does not comply with the conditions and requirements of the entry.
• No feedback will be given on individual entries and no correspondence will be entered into by the organizer or judges in respect of individual entries.
• Details of first stage judge will not be disclosed.
• Second judgment stage (jury meeting) will be held in Berlin and judge the printed boards of nominated projects. [More details will be announced after the first stage] • Report of the second stage jury meetings, including professional comments on first-stage nominated projects, will be published in News of the website.
Note: Assessing projects will be carried out according to judgment criteria in a two stage, score-based process.
Get 2ACAA 2017 Brochure here
