As we face a global climate crisis that must be addressed, sustainability has quickly become one of the most crucial aspects to consider in contemporary architecture. Designs that go beyond current standards, showcasing sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues have arisen in recent years, garnering much-deserved praise for the innovative and environmentally-friendly solutions they propose.
The LafargeHolcim Awards stands out as the world's most significant competition for sustainable design. The criteria of the USD 2 million competition are as challenging as the goal of sustainability itself. The competition is for projects at an advanced stage of design, not finished works.
Although construction is a globalized industry with intensive exchange across continents, this year significant differences were seen between the projects in each region. “In Latin America, a striking number of project authors dealt with water,” says Sarah Nichols, representative of the Academic Committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation who supported the jury meeting at the University of São Paulo.
Sanitation and clean water are major issues across Latin America, states jury member Carlos Espina from Argentina. In fact, millions of people in Latin America have no access to adequate amounts of sufficiently clean drinking water, and at the same time the region is plagued again and again by devastating floods, including the metropolitan areas. It’s encouraging to see so many projects considering ways to manage water cycles effectively.
763 projects were up for consideration by the jury, chaired by Brazilian architect Angelo Bucci. “Projects that are good for the community fundamentally enhance their chances of being realized,” he remarks. “The history of the competition proves that the Awards will give the winning projects additional recognition that helps them to move forward,” adds Carlos Espina.
The following projects were the winners of the LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for Latin America:
LafargeHolcim Awards Gold 2017 Latin America
Publicly accessible water retention and treatment complex, Mexico City, Mexico
Project intermingling flood basins and public amenities in an underprivileged area, with spaces arranged to follow the gravitational flow of water.
By Manuel Perló Cohen and Loreta Castro Reguera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
LafargeHolcim Awards Silver 2017 Latin America
Neighborhood center in Paraisópolis, São Paulo, Brazil
Strategic design for a mixed-use civic hub with durable architecture and long-term financing.
By Sol Camacho Davalos, Raddar, and Jonathan Franklin, Exxpon, São Paolo, Brazil.
LafargeHolcim Awards Bronze 2017 Latin America
Sanitation system in informal communities, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Project for blue-green infrastructure that treats wastewater while teaching water stewardship.
By Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg, Ooze Architects, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
LafargeHolcim Awards Acknowledgement prize 2017 Latin America
Affordable housing neighborhood with integrated workspaces in Cartagena, Colombia
Weaving working into living and houses, the project encourages community building.
By Adèle Naudé Santos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, Cambridge, MA, USA.
LafargeHolcim Awards Acknowledgement prize 2017 Latin America
Minimal-impact research institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Design for a mathematics institute at the edge of the city minimizes site impact and creates an architecture of climactic modulation.
By Vinicius Andrade and Marcelo Morettin, Andrade Morettin Arquitetos, São Paulo, Brazil.
LafargeHolcim Awards Acknowledgement prize 2017 Latin America
Relocatable modular surgical hospital, Masaya, Nicaragua
A pilot project for a roving rural hospital that mixes temporary prefab construction with long-term local craftsmanship.
By Paula Montoya, any scale architecture, Madrid, Spain; and Javier Alonso, Javier Alonso arquitectos, Cádiz, Spain.
LafargeHolcim Awards Acknowledgement prize 2017 Latin America
City building strategy for Curridabat, Costa Rica
Ecological and social reimagining of the city converge to make the urban space a better habitat for its citizens – flora, fauna, and humans.
By Irene García Brenes and Edgar Mora Altamirano, Municipality Curridabat, Erick Calderón Acuña, and Alvin Soto Bolaños, Tándem Arquitectura; Antonio Salas, Yuso Proyectos, all in Costa Rica.
LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation 1st prize 2017 Latin America
Tidal energy landscape, Punta Loyola, Argentina
Infrastructure-landscape project for the generation of electric power based on tidal flow in the Río Gallegos estuary.
By Stefano Romagnoli, Juan Cruz Serafini, and Tomás Pont Apóstolo, National University of Cordoba, Argentina.
LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation 2nd prize 2017 Latin America
Public baths and sewage treatment plant, Cerro de Pasco, Peru
Project for hybrid infrastructure and social intervention combining a sewage treatment plant with a public bath in a formerly contaminated lake.
By Boris Lefevre, Marseille, France.
LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation 3rd prize 2017 Latin America
Public facility towers, Córdoba, Argentina
Transferable and adaptable structures providing public amenities in underserviced and typically marginalized neighborhoods of Latin American cities.
By Ángela Ferrero, María Augustina Nieto, María Belén Pizarro, Seizen Uehara, and Lucía Uribe Echevarria, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.
LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation 4th prize 2017 Latin America
Multipurpose telecommunication towers, Medellín, Colombia
Network of mobile telephone telecommunication antennas serving multiple functions for the benefit of city neighborhoods.
By Alejandro Vargas Marulanda, Daniel Felipe Zuluaga Londoño, and Iojann Restrepo García, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Colombia.
