Blog
Nurturing the next generation of architects
Published: 13th June 2012
The final of our International Architectural Student Design Competition took place in Bratislava, Slovakia recently and our Product Manager, Tom Foster was on hand to support the UK finalists and report on the growing success of the competition.
"This year's competition has been an incredible success with over 100 universities from countries including the USA, Spain, Poland and Russia entering. But of the hundreds of teams that took part in the regional finals, only the top 60 teams were selected to go forward to the international final, including the three winning UK entries chosen at this year's Ecobuild.
"I was lucky enough to attend the final and what was apparent during my time in Bratislava is that the emphasis universities are placing on sustainable design is growing. Also because this year's competition was based around a real-life scenario it gave lecturers and students a great opportunity to work on a project that could be applied in reality.
"During the final, the finalists presented their concepts to an expert panel of judges that included Lubomir Zavodny from the Faculty of Architecture at the Slovak Technical University, Jean-Baptiste Rieunier from Saint-Gobain Isover Research and Roland Matzig, founder of R-M-P Architects and Engineers which consulted on the renovation of the world's only Passivhaus skyscraper built to date.
"This impressive panel of judges had a tough decision as the competition was fierce but after much debate they came to their decision, with teams from Belarus and Lithuania winning second and third prize respectively, and Tamarar Kuljanin and Nemanja Kocic from the University of Belgrade in Serbia scooping the top prize of €1,500.
"The standard of this year's competition was incredibly high and I think this demonstrates the growing importance being placed on energy efficient concepts, such as Passivhaus and Multi-Comfort House, within the training of the next generation of architects.
"It was really exciting to see such enthusiasm for this approach to structural design and I?m really looking forward to seeing what next year?s competition will bring. I would strongly encourage all RIBA universities to take part as sustainable design is no longer an add-on, it?s a must."