LAVA Awarded the 2016 European Prize for Architecture

Written by Patrick Lynch
Published on September 16, 2016

The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies have named LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) as the recipients of their 2016 European Prize for Architecture.

One of Europe’s most prestigious architecture awards, The European Prize for Architecture is given annually to architects who have ‘blazoned a new path and direction for an architecture that is deeply humane and committed to forward the principles of European humanism’.

“LAVA successfully uses imagination and intellect combined with social forces and the latest building technologies as both theme and apparatus of their designs, creating a body of work that explores and expresses architecture as a risk-taking, visceral experience,” said Chicago Athenaeum president Christian Narkiewicz-Laine.

“In the process, we come to experience architecture anew: from how it is imagined to how it is drawn, to the challenges and dynamics that define forward-thinking about time, place, and the environment, and how buildings and urban ideas become constructed and take shape as part of a collective public experience.”

Founded by Chris Bosse, Alexander Rieck and Tobias Wallisser, LAVA operates as an international think tank with offices in Berlin, Stuttgart, and Sydney. Recent completed projects include the Philips company headquarters in Eindhoven, a terrace house renovation and an airport retail fit out in Sydney, as well as a university master plan Riyadh, a youth sports hostel in Bayreuth, mixed use projects in Berlin and Hangzhou, and villas in HCMC currently under construction.

“We are very pleased to be recognised as architects who are not only interested in the production of square metres but interested in the broader development of the discipline, constantly trying to shift boundaries and to redefine what architecture can achieve today. How can we create spaces suitable for contemporary lifestyles and how can we contribute towards an environment that offers quality for everyone?” commented LAVA Director Tobias Wallisser.

A formal ceremony presenting the award will be held in Athens, Greece on September 23rd, 2016. Last year prize was awarded to Santiago Calatrava, with previous awards going to Italian architect Alessandro Mendini in 2014, Finnish architect Marco Casagrande in 2013, TYIN tegnestue Architects in 2012, Graft Architekten in 2011 and Bjarke Ingels in 2010.

Check out the gallery below to see some of LAVA's work.

News via The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, LAVA.