SANAA, BIG, Lacaton & Vassal teams to compete for new Aarhus School of Architecture

The Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark is set on revamping itself with the construction of a brand new school building, and the search to find the architect to design it is underway. According to the School, a total of 42 teams worldwide responded to the first phase of the competition. Along with the Danish Building & Property Agency — the contractor of the project, the School shortlisted three pre-qualified teams from a strong field of candidates.

They are:

• BIG (Denmark) along with Transform + Rambøll + SLA
• SANAA (Japan) along with B+G Ingenieure + Sasaki and Partners
• LACATON & VASSAL (France) along with Powerhouse + Kristine Jensens Tegnestue 

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But there are still three spots left. When the next phase starts next month, the Danish Building & Property Agency will launch an open international design competition for all architects and architecture students, from which the last three candidates will be chosen. 

All six pre-qualified candidates will then advance to the restricted design contest, which is expected to begin in fall 2016. During this phase, teams will present their design concept for the new school.

The winner is currently expected to be announced in spring 2017, and the new Aarhus School of Architecture — which will be located in the heart of the city — is slated for inauguration in 2020.

Read on for more from the School's press release: 

"There has been much international interest in the process of pre-qualifying candidates for the restricted design contest for a new school of architecture. The three pre-qualified candidates have been selected, and the project is now moving into the next phase: an open design contest. 

42 teams from Denmark and abroad have applied to pre-qualify for participation in the restricted design contest for the first newly built school of architecture in Denmark. The school is expected to be ready for inauguration in 2020 and will be built in the centre of Aarhus – on an area where a goods station was formerly located. 

'We are very pleased with the great interest that has been shown in our new school. Over half of the applicants come from abroad – not only from Europe but also from e.g. Japan and USA. And they include many recognised Danish and international architects,' says Torben Nielsen, Rector of Aarhus School of Architecture.

[...] 

Lisa Sørensen, Project Manager at the Danish Building & Property Agency, and Torben Nielsen agree that making the selection [of the pre-qualified candidates] was difficult.  'However, we believe that we have found three extremely qualified candidates who can create exciting and challenging proposals for a new school. They all have an uncompromising and convincing approach to architecture. LACATON & VASSAL master brutal and raw architecture, SANAA has a poetic simplicity while BIG can contribute with a playful and experimental approach.' 

The Danish Building & Property Agency communicated the news to the pre-qualified candidates Friday morning. They were all excited about the pre-qualification and look forward to getting to work. However, they must show a great deal of patience and wait until their future competitors have been identified in the open design contest..."