Colombia, Sri Lanka, and U.S. projects win big in 2015 Holcim Awards

The 2015 Holcim Awards grand-prize winners are revealed! All 15 winners from the five regional competitions for Asia Pacific, Africa & Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and North America advanced to the global Holcim Awards, which sought architectural interventions that address sustainable building and construction issues around the world. Having just concluded its fourth cycle, the Holcim Awards occur every three years.

Starting with over 6,000 submissions in the initial call for entries, the jury selected three projects that they deemed to best deliver tangible benefits to its local communities. Each winner receives a trophy and shares the $350,000 prize:

• Global Holcim Awards Gold 2015 (US$200,000): Articulated Site: Water reservoirs as public park - Medellín, Colombia
• Global Holcim Awards Silver 2015 (US$100,0000): Post War Collective: Community library and social recuperation - Ambepussa, Sri Lanka
• Global Holcim Awards Bronze 2015 (US$50,000): The Dryline: Urban flood protection infrastructure - New York City, USA

Check out the winning proposals below.

Global Holcim Awards Gold 2015: Articulated Site: Water reservoirs as public park | Medellín, Colombia
By Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé, Colectivo720, with Juan Calle and Horacio Valencia, EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) (all Colombia)

Project summary: "A project for a public park in Medellín, Colombia that creates urban spaces around a series of water tanks to form a “socio-technical” landscape of magnificent beauty won the gold prize. The design by Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé of Colectivo720 in Cali, together with Juan Calle and Horacio Valencia of EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín), all Colombia opens up hidden infrastructure within the city to create a civic space at the intersection of architecture, landscape, infrastructure, and urban design. The public space and pre-existing elements are transformed to create an outdoor auditorium and venues for a range of community activities that highlight the value of water as an important resource of urban life.

Head of the Global Holcim Awards jury 2015, Mohsen Mostafavi, commended the project for its focus on improving the quality of life in the city. 'The jury applauds the careful integration of the ensemble into the physical and social fabric of Medellín – in a scheme that is a model for best practice that could be emulated by other cities in Latin America and around the globe', he said."

More project info.

Global Holcim Awards Silver 2015: Post War Collective: Community library and social recuperation | Ambepussa, Sri Lanka
By Milinda Pathiraja and Ganga Ratnayake, Robust Architecture Workshop (Sri Lanka)

Project summary: "Silver was awarded to a project in the rural town of Ambepussa near Colombo, Sri Lanka that aims to reintegrate soldiers into post-war Sri Lankan society. The community library by Milinda Pathiraja and Ganga Ratnayake of Robust Architecture Workshop in Colombo is made of rammed-earth walls and recycled materials. With the support of the army, young men were coached in building techniques through the construction process.  Mohsen Mostafavi explained that the value of the project centers on transforming a discharged army without mission into a motivated workforce at the service of society using a set of concrete measures including the introduction of an educational program and the deployment of particular construction techniques. 'There is significant value in the basic message of the scheme – and the construction of a library that builds both the physical and social fabric of a community', he said."

More project info.

Global Holcim Awards Bronze 2015: The Dryline: Urban flood protection infrastructure | New York City, USA
By Bjarke Ingels and Kai-Uwe Bergmann, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark/USA), One Architecture (Amsterdam) and team

Project summary: "A large-scale integrated flood protection system to address the vulnerability of New York City to coastal flooding won the Global Holcim Awards Bronze. The “Dryline” project by a consortium headed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen/New York), and One Architecture (Amsterdam) in collaboration with the City of New York, proposes a protective ribbon in Southern Manhattan using a series of raised berms and other measures to create public spaces along the water’s edge. The infrastructural barrier incorporates a range of neighborhood functions that foster local commercial, recreational, and cultural activities.

Mohsen Mostafavi praised the project for turning a problem into an opportunity. 'The project makes a political statement by means of an architectural and urban proposition – where tangible solutions to the effects of climate change can be created, where New York City is a prototype from which similar strategies in susceptible regions around the globe could be pursued', he said."

More project info.