Sustainable design improving communities: top prizes for public space, social integration and resilient infrastructure
The winners of the 4th Global Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction have been decided, with trophies and US$350,000 prize money going to projects in Colombia, Sri Lanka and the USA. All three prizes recognize architectural interventions that deliver tangible benefits to local communities: turning a decommissioned water reservoir into a park in Medellín; rebuilding social fabric through a community library in Ambepussa following Sri Lanka’s civil war; and creating public zones and flood-protection for the island of Manhattan.
Global Holcim Awards Gold 2015
Articulated Site: Water reservoirs as public park, Medellín, Colombia
Mario Camargo and Luis Tombé, Colectivo720, together with Juan Calle and Horacio Valencia, EPM Group (Empresas Públicas de Medellín), all Colombia
www.holcimawards.org/Projects/articulated-site
Global Holcim Awards Silver 2015
Post War Collective: Community library and social recuperation, Ambepussa, Sri Lanka
Milinda Pathiraja and Ganga Ratnayake, Robust Architecture Workshop, Sri Lanka
www.holcimawards.org/Projects/post-war-collective
Global Holcim Awards Bronze 2015
The Dryline: Urban flood protection infrastructure, New York City, USA
A consortium led by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark/USA, and One Architecture, Netherlands
www.holcimawards.org/Projects/the-dryline
The US$2 million Holcim Awards international competition for sustainable design takes place every three years. The 4th cycle attracted more than 6,000 entries for projects to be built in 152 countries. A jury of international experts led by Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University selected the winners.