Date Announced: 16 Aug 2011 In 2012 the Zumtobel Group, an international lighting company, will once again be presenting the Zumtobel Group Award. The award is designed to honour sustainable solutions in architecture and engineering that make a pioneering contribution to the future quality of life. As a result of the very high level of interest in the first two issues of the award in 2007 and 2010, the company has decided to revise the submission process for the Zumtobel Award 2012 and for the first time will be issuing a public tender for submissions. Architecture practices, engineering bureaus, universities and other public or private initiatives can submit their projects online from 15 September to 1 December 2011 at www.zumtobel-group-award.comZumtobel Group CEO Harald Sommerer, who is also a member of the jury, explains the aim of the award as follows: "How should we deal with resources and treat the environment? How can we create decent living conditions? These are the central questions of our day and age. Architects, urban planners and engineers have a key role to play in this respect. Through a combination of innovative technologies, the latest research findings and outstanding design concepts, they are the ones who can come up with future-proof solutions. Through our award we are aiming to draw greater attention to the principle of sustainability in the built environment. We were delighted at the positive response to our first two awards and hope that the public tender for submissions will generate an even greater response."In the "Built Environment" category, which carries a purse of EUR 80,000, submissions can include architectural or urban planning projects that have been realised within the last two years (i.e. completed by 01.12.2009). These can relate to new buildings or designs that utilise existing structures. The winning project will meet the highest aesthetic standards and will also feature innovative solutions that permit the more efficient use of resources, enhanced environmental protection and the creation of better living conditions. The jury will pay particular attention to the use of state-of-the-art technology.The "Research and Initiative" category targets innovative current research projects and social initiatives that need not have been completed at the time of submission. The Award aims in particular toencourage an emerging generation of researchers, architects and planners to focus on trying out new approaches to sustainability and humanity in the built environment. This category of the Zumtobel Group Award is open to individuals as well as to private or public initiatives, universities or NGOs. The purse of EUR 60,000 is intended to foster the progress of the winning project.As in previous years, the Zumtobel Group Award 2012 will be held under the curatorship of Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell of Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. Acting as a first-line jury,Aedes will select 20 projects in each category from among the submissions and prepare them for the jury session. In May 2012, a jury of prominent experts from a variety of disciplines will shortlist five projects per category and select a winner from among these five. The presentation ceremony for the Zumtobel Group Award is initially scheduled for November 2012.Tender for submissionsThe full text of the tender can be downloaded from:www.zumtobel-group-award.com/download/Tender_Award2012.pdfSubmission of projectsOnline, from 15 September to 1 December atwww.zumtobel-group-award.com2007 and 2010 award winnersIn 2010 the award in the "Built Environment" category went to the Brazilian architecture practice Triptyque for the HARMONIA 57. In 2007, the first ever award in this category went to Thom Mayne / Morphosis for the San Francisco Federal Building. The 2010 award winner in the "Research & Initiative" category was the design bureau Terreform ONE for the research project New York City Resource & Mobility, while in 2007 the award went to civil engineering company Schlaich Bergermann Solar for the design of a solar updraft tower.
Contact
Zumtobel Group Astrid Kühn-Ulrich Head of Corp. Communications Tel. +43-(0)5572 509-1570
E-mail:[email protected]
Web Site:www.zumtobel-group-award.com
