Hunter Douglas Award reveals new social consciousness among talented, young architects

Seven winners were honoured at the 7th edition of Archiprix International in Moscow this May. The biennial event under patronage of Hunter Douglas offers universities and colleges from around the world a platform to present their best graduation projects in the field of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. Seven of the 25 nominees returned home with the coveted Hunter Douglas Award – a glass trophy and a sum of money. An international jury, including big names from the world of (landscape) architecture and urban design, chose the winners from among 287 submissions from 76 countries. Jury member Lesley Lokko observed a trend: 'A lot of projects revealed a new social consciousness. Architecture today is not just about design, it also draws on sociology, anthropology, sustainability and technological innovation.'

The festive Hunter Douglas Award ceremony was held in Moscow’s Central House of Artists. The jury consisted of a broad range of leading (landscape) architects and urban designers. Lesley Lokko – architect, author and popular international guest speaker – expands on the trend she noticed while judging the 287 submissions. 'Although each graduation project is an individual project bearing the signature of the student who worked on it, there were a lot of common factors. There appears to be a new social consciousness in architecture. Many of the submissions went beyond the mere creation of a form or the furnishing of a space to providing solutions for complex social issues. Globally, we’re seeing a shift from the design of new architectural icons to the realisation of buildings with social relevance. The many graduation projects based on sustainability and the reuse of existing building emphasised this trend.'

The seven winners of the Hunter Douglas Awards are (in alphabetical order): Andreas Brinkmann (Germany), Hugon Kowalski (Poland), Yongmin Chen (China), Greta and Lisa Tiedje (Germany), David Adrian OReilly (Scotland), Susanna Sepulveda General (Chili) and Almudena Cano Pineiro (Spain). The submissions have been collected in a book, Archiprix International Moscow 2013. The world's best graduation projects. Architecture – Urban design – Landscape, a copy of which was presented to each participant. The winning designs can also be viewed at www.archiprix.org.

The event is an initiative of the Archiprix Foundation, a collaborative of all the Dutch accredited master programmes in the field of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture. The foundation seeks to offer a platform to talented young designers, to provide access to excellent graduation projects and to inspire a broad public. The Archiprix Foundation is supported by Hunter Douglas and the Netherlands’ Creative Industries Fund NL.