On the 13 November the winners of the second Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction from across the region Africa Middle East were announced at a ceremony in Marrakech. ArchiAfrika was present at the ceremony, not only with its team from the Netherlands, but the jury of the prestigious competition was also headed by Joe Osae – Addo, one of ArchiAfrika’s Advisory Council members. There was a total prize money of USD 270,000 shared between eleven projects in Africa and the Middle East.
On 13 November the winners of the second Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction from across the region Africa Middle East were announced at a ceremony in Marrakech. ArchiAfrika was present at the ceremony, not only with its team from the Netherlands, but the jury of the prestigious competition was also headed by Joe Osae – Addo, one of ArchiAfrika’s Advisory Council members. There was a total prize money of USD 270,000 shared between eleven projects in Africa and the Middle East.
The Holcim Foundation conducts the competition in parallel across five regions of the world and focuses on application of sustainable construction approaches to the built environment across public and private architecture, urban planning and environmental remediation.
The winning project shows that solutions are not only to be found in built structures; the revitalisation scheme of the Fez river in Morocco, proposed by a team of Moroccan architect Aziza Chaouni and American based Japanese planner Takako Tajima, combines a comprehensive socio-cultural and economic programme within the core environmental remediation initiative. It includes water quality improvement, remediation of contaminated sites, creation of open spaces and enhancement of existing resources for economic development.
The Silver Award was presented to a truly poetic development for a low-cost Mukwano Home in Rakai, Uganda by Japanese architect Koji Tsutsui. The new homes for children orphaned by the impact of HIV/AIDS, reflect social traditions and habits, provide shelter and offer health care, education spaces and leisure facilities. The long-term goal is to provide the children with basis building skills and a chance to future work and to develop effective social and contextual impact by providing a solid community.
Amongst the other prizes there were many beautiful solutions for a more sustainable practice. In the category ‘Acknowledgements’ is to be mentioned the integrated theatre and orphanage in Moshi, Tanzania, proposed by Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects (Finland) and Armstrong + Cohen Architecture (USA), and a Stabilised Earth Visitors’ centre for the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa, designed by architect Peter Rice and his team.
In the ‘Next Generation’ category some truly visionary proposals were found; there was the scheme for floating low cost housing for the lagoons of Lagos, Nigeria, a project to stop desertification in the North of Nigeria and a proposal for sustainable development of the coast of Kenya near Mombasa.
Despite of the many beautiful projects, we hope that we can work on more balanced figures regarding the countries of origin of the projects. Many of the projects were send in by teams from other continents than Africa. From within the continent, a vast majority was coming from South Africa and Morocco. It is time to make sure that the next competition will reflect a more balanced representation of initiatives all over the continent.
For more information on the Holcim Foundation, the Holcim Awards and the winning projects, you can visit: http://www.holcimfoundation.org.
