2012 Architectural Zinc Awards in Carquefou, Atlanta, Hoboken, Erfurt, Datong, Saint Dizier...

The Poetry Foundation, in Chicago, Illinois, designed by John Ronan Architects.  The buiding received the jury's special award in the 2012 Archizinc Trophy Awards. Photo: Steve Hall/ Hedrich Blessing

The 10 winners of the fifth VMZINC® Archizinc Trophy awards program, sponsored by the Umicore Group, were unveiled this month at the Terrass Kardinal in Paris.

This bi-annual competition for architects requires that the submitted designs use VMZINC solutions rolled zinc products in original projects. Winners include six projects in the categories "Private Housing," "Commercial Buildings," and "Public Buildings.

The Archizinc Trophy winners:

Individual Housing

• Winner -- Fabien Chavignaud Architecte for a Private House in Carquefou (France)
• Special Mention -- Brian Bell – BLDGS for the Ansley Glass House in Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

Commercial Buildings

• Winner – Dean Marchetto/Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects, for the Extension, Architecture Studio, Hoboken, New Jersey (USA).

Public Buildings

• Winner – Ulrich Junk/Junk & Reich Architecten for Historical Library, Augustinian Monastery, Erfurt (Germany)

Günther Domenig (1934-2012) - Vienna, Austria

The metal-clad Z-Bank (1979), in Vienna, Austria, was designed by Austrian Architect Günther Domenig. Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia user Ninanuri

Austrian deconstructivist architect Günther Domenig died on June 15, 2012 at the age of 77. Wolf D. Prix, director of the Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, issued the following press release: a reflection on Domenig. --Editor

Domenig and the Austrian Architecture

by Wolf D. Prix

On YouTube, the famous American rapper "Ice Cube" can be viewed while he is explaining the Eames House, in Los Angeles, California, in a competent way. I am questioning myself, whether a similar scene would be possible in Austria: DJ Ötzi or the Trackshittaz explain Günther Domenig's Steinhaus. 

Answer: no.

The word "important" as preliminary stage to being a star is used in an inflationary way today. Nevertheless I insist that Günther Domenig was one of the most important Austrian architects. Important in terms of being weighty.

In my opinion the former Z-Bank branch in the Favoritenstraße in Vienna was one of his best buildings. Long before the convoluted computer architects started using parametric tools to give their lame design a boost, Domenig had not only designed the first three- dimensional facade, but actually built it, too.

2012 RIBA Awards - London

The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Hepworth, England was designed by David Chipperfield, the 2010 recipient of the Royal Gold Medal and 2007 recipient of the Stirling Prize. Photo: © Iwan Baan

On Thursday 21 June 2012, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the winners of the 2012 RIBA Awards. The U.K. awards will be presented to 50 buildings, and 9 other E.U. buildings, located outside of the U.K., were also recognized.


The shortlist for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize for the building of the year will be drawn from among these 59 winners.


This year's winners range from a house in the shape of a sand dune to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, from a demountable opera pavilion to the radical transformation of a Spanish bull-fighting arena. The dominant theme amongst this year's winners are major public arts buildings – ten of which have made the grade; many are the result of pre-recession arts lottery funding which has a typically long gestation period. The beautifully finished projects include Bath's Holburne Museum, designed by Eric Parry Architects and the Hepworth Wakefield, designed by David Chipperfield Architects.

Grimshaw at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina

Rendering depicting Grimshaw's designs for the Duke University West Campus Union. Image: Courtesy Grimshaw

Grimshaw is pleased to announce their appointment to transform Duke University’s West Campus Union in Durham, North Carolina. 

Built in 1931, the West Campus Union was once the social center of the west campus at this prestigious academic institution. Duke University hopes to modernize the prominent historic building and re-establish it as the epicenter of west campus student life by reorganizing existing layouts and adding features that promote a healthy and dynamic campus culture. 

Inspired by the close-knit Duke community, the Grimshaw scheme will provide spaces where faculty, students, staff, and alumni can meet one another, for either planned or impromptu interactions. The design aims for careful attention to sustainability and intelligent use of resources that will reinforce Duke’s holistic approach to student lifestyles and well-being. Grimshaw will embark on a sensitive integration of new contemporary architecture in harmony with careful preservation of the historic structure. 

National Stadium by gmp in Warsaw, Poland

The new National Stadium, in Warsaw, Poland, designed by gmp. Photo: © Marcus Bredt, Berlin  

During the “World Stadium Congress 2012” in Doha, Quatar on 4 June 2012, entries were selected for the “World Stadium Congress Awards”. Warsaw’s National Stadium prevailed against international competition and won the prize in two of five categories:

• best multifunctional stadium design
• most innovative use of technology in stadium design.

On the occasion of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, the National Stadium in Warsaw, which was designed by architects Volkwin Marg and Hubert Nienhoff with Markus Pfisterervon Gerkan, Marg and Partners, was reconstructed on top of the existing – but since 1988 no longer used and dilapidated – earth wall stadium (Stadion Dziesieciolecia), and re-opened in January of this year.

The stadium’s construction consists of two succinct parts – the grandstand built of pre-fabricated concrete components and the steel wire net roof with a textile membrane suspended from freestanding steel supports with inclined tie rods above this. The interior roof consists of a retractable membrane sail which folds together above the centre of the pitch. This is also where the four-screen “video cube” is installed so as to provide an optimum view from all seats. The top tier is accessed via 12 arch-shaped, single-flight staircases. The exterior façade consists of anodized expanded metal that provides another envelope for the actual thermal shell of the interior areas and access steps. The panels with their red and bright silver colour scheme appear either closed or transparent, depending on the light angle, and from a distance evoke the image of an artistic composition in white and red, the country’s national colours.