Zumtobel Group Award 2012

As a result of the very high level of interest in the first two issues of the award in 2007 and 2010, the company has decided to revise the submission process for the Zumtobel Award 2012 and for the first time will be issuing a public tender for submissions. Architecture practices, engineering bureaus, universities and other public or private initiatives can submit their projects online from 15 September to 1 December 2011 at www.zumtobel-group-award.com

Zumtobel Group CEO Harald Sommerer, who is also a member of the jury, explains the aim of the award as follows: "How should we deal with resources and treat the environment? How can we create decent living conditions? These are the central questions of our day and age. Architects, urban planners and engineers have a key role to play in this respect. Through a combination of innovative technologies, the latest research findings and outstanding design concepts, they are the ones who can come up with future-proof solutions. Through our award we are aiming to draw greater attention to the principle of sustainability in the built environment. We were delighted at the positive response to our first two awards and hope that the public tender for submissions will generate an even greater response."

In the "Built Environment" category, which carries a purse of EUR 80,000, submissions can include architectural or urban planning projects that have been realised within the last two years (i.e. completed by 01.12.2009). These can relate to new buildings or designs that utilise existing structures. The winning project will meet the highest aesthetic standards and will also feature innovative solutions that permit the more efficient use of resources, enhanced environmental protection and the creation of better living conditions. The jury will pay particular attention to the use of state-of-the-art technology.

The "Research and Initiative" category targets innovative current research projects and social initiatives that need not have been completed at the time of submission. The Award aims in particular to encourage an emerging generation of researchers, architects and planners to focus on trying out new approaches to sustainability and humanity in the built environment. This category of the Zumtobel Group Award is open to individuals as well as to private or public initiatives, universities or NGOs. The purse of EUR 60,000 is intended to foster the progress of the winning project.
As in previous years, the Zumtobel Group Award 2012 will be held under the curatorship of Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell of Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. Acting as a first-line jury, Aedes will select 20 projects in each category from among the submissions and prepare them for the jury session. In May 2012, a jury of prominent experts from a variety of disciplines will shortlist five projects per category and select a winner from among these five. The presentation ceremony for the Zumtobel Group Award is initially scheduled for November 2012.

Tender for submissions
The full text of the tender can be downloaded from: www.zumtobel-group-award.com/download/Tender_Award2012.pdf

Submission of projects
Online, from 15 September to 1 December at www.zumtobel-group-award.com

Categories
Built Environment: EUR 80,000
Research & Initiative: EUR 60,000

Jury
Kunlé Adeyemi Self-employed architect (with OMA, NL until 2010)
Ute Meta Bauer Director Visual Arts Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston (US)
Stefan Behnisch Architect / Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Munich (D), Boston, Los Angeles (USA)
Yung Ho Chang Architect / Atelier FCJZ, Beijing (CN)
Brian Cody Chair of the Institute of Buildings and Energy, Graz University of Technology (AT)
Sejima Kazuyo Architect / SANAA, Tokyo (JP)
Winy Maas (invited) Architect / MVRDV, Rotterdam (NL)
Harald Sommerer CEO Zumtobel Group, Dornbirn (AT)
Ken Yeang Architect / Llewelyn Davies Yeang and T.R. Hamzah, London (UK), Kuala Lumpur (MY), Shenzhen and Beijing (CN)