The projects that received Holcim Awards Gold, Silver, or Bronze in each of the five regions of the world are automatically qualified for the Global Holcim Awards 2012. The 15 Global Holcim Awards finalists include projects from Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Thailand, and the USA, and involve additional project teams from Austria, France, Spain and the UK. An overview of projects is available at:
www.holcimawards.org/globalfinalists
In addition, all prize-winning projects at the regional level (including 38 Acknowledgement and “Next Generation” winners) will automatically compete for up to three Global Holcim Innovation prizes – which focus upon contributions to innovative building materials and construction technologies in the context of sustainable construction.
Each of the finalist teams is invited to prepare a more extensive submission that will be evaluated by the Global Holcim Awards jury headed by Enrique Norten, Principal and Founder of TEN Arquitectos (Mexico/USA), and the Holcim Innovation prize jury headed by Harry Gugger, Professor of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
Francis Kéré's project in Burkina Faso: a secondary school with passive ventilation system (Gando), who won Gold in the regional Africa Middle East, will be in contending. The project, a school using only solar and wind power to create an indoor climate conducive to learning, provides jobs and training, and repairs the environment through reforestation.
[To find out more about the project: http://www.archiafrika.org/en/node/1292]
Next to this German based firm Anna Heringer, in collaboration with a local architect Salima Naji, will be contending with the project for a Training center for sustainable construction in Marrakesh, Morocco. The project won Bronze in the 2011 regional awards.The design approach for this training center in the Marrakesh satellite suburb of Chwiter concentrates on the use of nearby resources including the workforce and earth as the primary construction material. These principles are enhanced by combining design-inherent shading and natural ventilation with modern technologies such as heat pumps and solar panels all of which enable low energy requirements in both construction and operation.
[To find out more about the project: http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T1318/A11AMbrMA.htm]
Winners of the global prizes will share in USD 500,000 in prize money. Results will be announced in April 2012. In the regional phase of the 3rd International Holcim Awards competition, a total of 53 leading-edge projects from 29 countries shared USD 1.5 million in prize money in 2011. Following an evaluation process by independent juries in five regions of the world, the winning projects and their design teams were celebrated by receiving Awards, Acknowledgement and “Next Generation” prizes at ceremonies in Milan, Washington, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, and Singapore.
