Saint-Gobain International Student Architecture Competition Winners Selected
The winners of the 18th edition of the “International Saint-Gobain Architecture Student Contest” are already known. The 1st prize was awarded to students from South Korea, Korea University, and the 2nd prize to students from Portugal, the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto. The announcement took place in a private ceremony, at Pátio da Gale, in Lisbon, and was attended by the CEO of Saint-Gobain, Benoit Bazin, the CEO of Saint-Gobain in Portugal, Jose Martos, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, and architecture students from 30 countries.
The initiative promoted by the French multinational, in close collaboration with the Lisbon City Hall, proposed to its competitors – architecture students from all over the world – the realization of an architectural project included in the Detailed Plan of Boavista Landfill. The challenge consisted in the rehabilitation of a building to give life to a video archive of the city, as well as a new residential project and the urban design of the public space that connects these buildings.
“Green Wave” presented by students Se Kwang Kim, Hyemin Na and Iana Kim was based on creating a smooth transition between the EDP1 and EDP2 buildings and the existing old ones. In addition, in keeping with the historically created long and narrow site plans, the students tried to fit the project in without disturbing the existing context, using materials from Saint-Gobain to meet the required sustainability criteria. The proposal received a monetary award, a visit to Paris to participate in the Priz-Giving Ceremony of the Global Awards for Sustainable Architecture, organized by the Cité de l’Architecture et Du Patrimoine, as well as the official publication of the project in specialized architectural media.
During the ceremony, Benoit Bazin congratulated the finalists from 30 countries whose “professionalism of the projects presented could easily be implemented in the city.” According to Saint-Gobain’s CEO: “we are very pleased that this edition took place in the city of Lisbon. Portugal is a very important country for Saint-Gobain, where we have a significant presence with more than 60 years of history.”
For his part, Jose Martos, CEO of Saint-Gobain in Portugal, stressed: “Given the current socio-economic challenges we are going through, it is essential that the construction industry works together with architects and government entities. In a country like Portugal, where 80% of the buildings were built more than 20 years ago, there is an opportunity to rehabilitate, make more efficient and give a new life to these developments.”
The Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, reinforced during the ceremony that it was an excellent opportunity to host this event in Lisbon to help think about public space, more specifically the one designated for this initiative.
The 2nd prize went to Portugal, to the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, and the 3rd prize went to Mexico, to the Iberoamericana University. The special prize was awarded to Colombia, to the students of the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, and the student prize, elected directly by the participants, was won by Poland, Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
The Saint-Gobain International Architecture Competition is designed so that architecture students from around the world can gain professional experience and discover the importance of sustainability in modern construction.
The 19th edition will take place next year in Helsinki, Finland. During the ceremony a first draft of the architectural challenge to be proposed to the competitors was released.