Dezeen has announced its 235 projects “longlist,” with entries now in the running for awards in 13 different architectural categories at the Dezeen Awards later this year.
More than 4,800 entries from 94 countries were received, with the awards “celebrating the world’s best architecture, interiors and design, studios, and individuals producing the most outstanding work,” according to a Dezeen media statement overnight.
It has rapidly grown to become one of the most-entered awards programmes globally, “with the highest credibility and attracting the highest-profile judges.”
Unsurprisingly, timber is featured extensively throughout the longlist – including an abandoned wooden home with 3D-printed walls in China.
Named the “Traditional House of the Future,” the prototype was part of a government plan to renovate hundreds of old wooden houses that have become dilapidated.
University of Hong Kong professors John Lin and Lidia Ratoi were behind the concept and scanned the building before being dismantled and then expanded and supported on 3D-printed walls.
“The project questions how technology can act as a social potentiator and become a means to strengthen local and cultural building practices,” the professors said.
“Considering the existing built fabric as a ‘new nature’, which cannot be altered and therefore requires adaptation, the process touches upon key areas of sustainability: social, technological, and cultural.”
The design of the house supports research from the University of Hong Kong investigating innovative renovations of vernacular houses carried out ad hoc by builders in remote locations in rural China.
The project won the RIBA President’s Medal for Research and aimed to present a fresh perspective on these ancient dwellings.
“It encapsulates the realities of a rapidly changing lifestyle at the intersection between traditional and modern, neither rural nor urban,” said Lin.
Dezeen reports that the top seven project locations were London, with 30 longlisted entries, followed by Shenzhen, Mexico City, Melbourne, Beijing, and Amsterdam, tied with three each.
Four NZ projects made the cut…
Stuff NZ reports that two of the houses have already won awards over the past year in New Zealand, and the sculptural polycarbonate tool shed has also been recognised locally with an NZIA and ADNZ award.
They include Matagouri in Queenstown, between the Remarkables mountain range and Lake Wakatipu in the South Island.
The house, anchored by two cubic masonry structures, extensively uses locally sourced engineered timber throughout its fitout.
The courtyard’s planted tussock green roof is shaped to marry the surrounding natural landforms. The roof structure is designed as a timber waffle that moderates the house’s temperature.
The awards are delivered in partnership with Bentley Motors, with all longlisted projects assessed by our international jury of leading professionals, including architects Farshid Moussavi, Thom Mayne, Lara Lesmes and Omar Gandhi.
The judges will determine the projects on the shortlists, which will be announced in October.
A further round of judging by our master jury will pick the winners, which will be announced in November.
The 15 winners of the architecture project categories will then compete to be crowned overall architecture project of the year.
