News 2008
Learning jury report
Date posted: 22/10/08
Ranging from modest kindergartens to highly sophisticated buildings for tertiary education, this category proved extraordinarily diverse. Yet certain themes emerged, notably the capacity of educational buildings to make a profound difference to the lives of their users, and the constant challenges of budget and context. Several projects involved the remodelling and extension of existing buildings – dealing with institutions that had failed, either academically or physically – and this was an especially encouraging source of invention.
The winner, however, clearly demonstrated architectural, pedagogic and urban gravitas. Grafton Architects’ new faculty building for the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan is a sober yet distinctive addition to the hermetic Milanese townscape. Carved deep into a city centre site, it creates a magical subterranean realm of lecture theatres, courtyards and concourses, all accessible by the public, with offices for teaching staff literally suspended above. The jury admired its mature handling of space, light and local materials by architects who, though not from Milan, succeeded in distilling the essence of this tough city into a confident, contemporary form. The project also emphasises the public and social qualities of academic life and its power to cultivate relationships with the city and the wider world.
WINNER Universita Luigi Bocconi, Italy, Grafton Architects, Ireland
HIGHLY COMMENDED Kingsdale School, UK, dRMM, UK
HIGHLY COMMENDED Maosi Ecological Demonstration Primary School, China, Department of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Catherine Slessor
