Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is the recipient of this year’s European Prize for Architecture
October 26th, 2010
Ingels, who originally wanted to be a cartoon illustrator, is now revolutionising Danish architecture and taking the world by storm with his playful but practical approaches to design.
The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum honour a living architect each year, ‘whose built work demonstrates vision and talent and a body of work that has significant contributions to art and humanity.’
Describing himself as ‘an alchemist’, by combining outwardly incompatible ideas to create architectural gold, Ingels has been praised for championing a bold and progressive atmosphere within the architecture world.
After announcing the winner, Museum president of the Chicago Athenaeum, Christian K Narkiewicz-Laine was quick to commend Ingels.
‘We are delighted to bring to Europe and to the world’s attention this remarkable young Danish architect,” he declared.
“It had taken a brave, young architect to step up to the plate to make us come to our contemporary senses to stop the process of boring the public and to embrace an architecture that allows you to say yes to all aspects of human life – no matter how contradicting.”
Ingels will formally be presented with his award at ‘The City and The World: Madrid Symposium’ at the beginning of November.
Earlier this year, Ingel’s architecture firm BIG put Denmark on show with the Denmark Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.
BIG’s spiral design for the Astana National Library in Kazakhstan
BIG invents a hilly topography where is doesn’t usually exist with these ‘Mountain Dwellings’ in Copenhagen, which merges the need for both a parking and housing block by placing them on top of each other.
The VM apartments, also in Denmark, consist of two blocks, one in the shape of a V, the other an M with jagged-looking balconies sticking out like icicles.
BIG’s recently completed 8HOUSE on the edge of the Copenhagen Canal combines commercial and living spaces in one large bow-shaped complex.
Bjarke Ingels Group
big.dk
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Bidding farewell to mundane and uninspired office spaces, colour has transformed our workplaces into layered and engaging environments. So we sit down with Karina Simpson, Hot Black’s Workplace Lead, to talk about the influence colour has on the workspace landscape through the prism of Herman Miller’s progressive colour philosophy.
Living Edge definitely has the edge when it comes to supplying furniture for the education sector. With a plethora of brands and collections at their fingertips, Living Edge provides the perfect solution for any learning environment.
Join us behind the scenes with V-ZUG’s in-house design team, and discover how this Swiss boutique kitchen manufacturer balances art, science and history to create its pioneering Excellence line.
The workplace has changed – and it will continue to evolve. With dynamism at the heart of clients’ requirements, architects and designers at leading practices such as Elenberg Fraser are using and recommending Herman Miller’s OE1 products for the future workplace.
With lockers becoming a popular personal storage alternative in many Activity Based Workplaces, the need for an apt and flexible option is paramount.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Above Left and Carpets Inter are firm believers in sustainability at every level of production. The Flatlands collection has now been expanded to encompass stunning new colours which express and protect the beauty of our natural environments.
The Globe Lookout is the newest tourist attraction in the Outback Queensland town of Barcaldine, joining the award-winning Tree of Knowledge (2009) and The Globe Hotel (2016). It’s all part of the master-planning that has cemented Barcaldine’s position as a regional tourist destination.
“My worry is that when we talk about ESG, we’re often referring to the need to better care for the planet, for outdoor environments. But what about the indoors?” In this exclusive Q&A with UNStudio’s Ben van Berkel, he puts a new lens on ESG, and talks about designing STH BNK By Beulah with Cox.