Extreme Housing

Brussels, Belgium, 24 March 2008 - Living Steel today announced the Jury members who will serve the 3rd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing. The Jury members represent some of the world's finest architects. They are all known for their passion for the environment and their application of sustainable practices in their designs.

The Jurors are:

  • Glenn Murcutt, Australia
  • Kimmo Lintula, K2S Architects Ltd, Finland
  • Mark Middleton, Grimshaw Architects, UK
  • Patricia Patkau, Patkau Architects, Canada
  • Alexei Venediktov, SeverStal

"We at Living Steel appreciate the enthusiasm that our jury has for the competition aims," said Scott Chubbs, Living Steel programme director. "Their commitment to sustainable housing is well-known, and the experience and knowledge they bring to the competition is truly an asset for our demonstration project."

Glenn Murcutt Glenn Murcutt is returning to the 3rd International Architecture Competition after having served on the juries of both previous competitions’ juries. Located in Sydney, Murcutt was the first Australian recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, awarded to him in 2002. Murcutt's work has been lauded as architecture of place with designs that respond to the surrounding landscape and climate. He uses a variety of materials in his designs and only selects them after careful consideration of the amount of energy used to produce each material. Murcutt is known for his simplistic approach to architecture and his commitment to the Aboriginal belief that one should “touch the earth lightly”, a belief that he respects in his projects.

Kimmo Lintula Kimmo Lintula hails from Finland and is the co-designer, with Hannu Tikka, of the now-famous Sibelius Hall, the striking congress and concert centre in Lahti, Finland. The Sibelius Hall, an auditorium that imitates the body of an oversized wooden instrument encased in a glass cube, was the 1st place winning entry in an open competition to redesign the centre. The Hall is one of many public buildings that Lintula's architecture style has touched, including the Sipoo High School and IT College, an extension to the Lahti city centre, the Helsinki city hall quarters, and the refurbishment of the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. Lintula is a partner at K2S Architects Ltd., Helsinki, whose vision is based on what they call "The Four Roots," to describe good architecture. These include 1) quality in space, materials and structure that touches ones soul, 2) the relationship between the building and its surroundings, 3) sensitivity to material and light but with a modest approach, and 4) creating innovation. The architects combine these four roots to create a method they actively use in their work.

Mark Middleton Mark Middleton is a Partner at Grimshaw Architects and has worked on a variety of projects in the education, leisure and transport sectors during his 12 years at the practice. He has a specific interest in steel structures, developed through his work designing large-span steel structures for airports and rail stations. Several of these structures have gone on to win Structural Steel Design Awards both in the United Kingdom and Australia. Among Mark’s most notable projects are the redevelopment of Paddington Station in London, the new Thermae Spa in Bath, and the Southern Cross Station in Melbourne, which won the RIBA Lubetkin prize in 2007. Mark has recently led the winning team in an architecture competition to redevelop Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia. Other current projects include various schemes for BAA’s Heathrow Airport and railway stations for Newport and Reading in the UK. Photo source: Nick Cooney

Patricia Patkau Patricia Patkau principal of Patkau Architects, an internationally recognized architectural design studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Since its founding, Patkau Architects has received numerous national and international design awards for a wide variety of building types, including ten Governor General's Medals, four Progressive Architecture Awards, thirteen Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence, and an RAIC Innovation in Architecture Award of Excellence. Over 200 books have been published on the firm's projects. Patkau's firm seeks to explore the full richness and diversity of architectural practice, understanding it as a critical cultural act that engages society's most fundamental desires and aspirations. The firm embraces a multi-faceted definition of architecture - as art, as technology, as social service, as environmental agent, as political statement - enfolding all these definitions, together, as part of a rich, complex and vital discipline.

The homes constructed from the competition's winning designs will be part of a community for use by employees of Russian steel maker, SeverStal JSC, headquartered in Cherepovets.

Alexei Venediktov Since SeverStal is the developer of this housing construction project, Alexei Venediktov, General Director, SeverStal Steel Solutions, also will serve as juror, providing vital input on the community and requirements of the steel demonstration building. Venediktov, who will oversee the Cherepovets development and the construction of the demonstration homes, is a 10-year employee of SeverStal and carries a Masters in Business degree with Newcastle Business School, United Kingdom.

The Jury will convene in Helsinki, Finland, on the 26 June 2008 to begin its review of the shortlisted architects' entries. The 3rd International Architecture Competition includes a two-part challenge, with the first part being the design energy efficient, single-family, detached housing that minimises climate change emissions and can withstand temperature extremes, yet is affordable to build and to buy. The winning architects will be awarded €50,000, and will be given the opportunity to construct their designs in Cherepovets, Russian Federation, where temperatures can range from -49 C to +34 C. The second part of the challenge is a design Charrette, tasking the architect teams with master planning of the community development. Judged by their peers, the winning architect team will share a €20,000 Architects' Prize.

Download Jury Images

Winners will be announced on 2 July 2008 at www.livingsteel.org.

Architects can learn more about the competition and download the Competition Programme Brief at www.livingsteel.org/extremehousing, which provides the latest information on the criteria and requirements for the shortlisted architects' entries.

Editor's Notes

About Living Steel

Living Steel, a worldwide, collaborative programme designed to stimulate innovative and responsible housing design and construction was launched in February, 2005. The programme was developed to help address the unprecedented pressure on infrastructure, communities and the quality of people's lives stemming from growing urban populations.

Funded through the contributions of the world's leading steel manufacturers, the Full Members of Living Steel include ArcelorMittal, Baosteel, BlueScope Steel, CELSA Group, Corus, Erdemir, IMIDRO, Posco, Ruukki, SeverStal and Tata Steel.

Becker Industrial Coatings, European Coil Coating Association (ECCA), McDonald Steel Building Products Ltd., Realm Intermediaries (P) Ltd. and Saint-Gobain Gypsum are Associate Members.

Supporting Members of the Living Steel include Associação Portuguesa de Construção Metálica e Mista, Asociación para la Construcción de Estructuras Metálicas, Asociación para la Promoción Técnica del Acero, Bouwen mit Staal, Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, Centro Brasileiro da Construção em Aço, European Convention for Constructional Steelwork, Finnish Constructional Steelwork Association, Fondazione Promozione Acciaio, HERA, Institute for Steel Development and Growth, Instituto Latinoamericano del Fierro y el Acero, International Zinc Association, Korea Iron & Steel Association, Korean Society of Steel Construction, Singapore Structural Steel Society, South African Institute of Steel Construction, Staalinfocentrum - Centre Information Acier, Stahl-Informations-Zentrum, Steel Construction Institute, Steel Framing Alliance and Turk Yapisal Celik Dernegi.

Visit www.livingsteel.org/members  to learn more about our members.

About the Living Steel International Architecture Competitions

The Living Steel International Architecture Competitions were launched to develop innovative approaches to meet sustainable housing needs. Underpinning each competition is the need to address the economic, environmental and social implications of increasing population density and growth.

The combined competitions have a total prize fund of €700,000, making them one of the largest architectural design initiatives in the world, and present architects with the opportunity to bring their vision for effective and affordable housing to life in one of several countries around the world.

The first competition was launched in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 6, 2005, at the XXII World Congress of the International Union of Architects, with a call for expressions of interest to design sustainable housing in Kolkata, India and Warsaw, Poland. In June 2006, UK firm Piercy Conner Architects and architectenbureau cepezed from the Netherlands won the competition and were awarded contracts to complete and develop their designs for construction in India and Poland, respectively. The second competition was announced on World Architecture Day, October 2, 2006, with a call for expressions of interest to design sustainable housing in Brazil, China and the United Kingdom. From more than 1,100 expressions of interest, 18 short-listed firms were invited to submit designs for steel-based residential housing. Winners were announced in September 2007: For Brazil, Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados Ltda, Brazil; for China, Knafo Klimor Architects, Israel; and for the UK, Cartwright Pickard, UK. Visit www.livingsteel.org/competitions for more details.