On Saturday October 21, the independent jury announced the winners of the 43st edition of Archiprix Netherlands. The jury, constisting of Janneke Bierman (architecture), Darius Reznek (landscape architecture), Lisa van der Slot (urban design), Bruno Vermeersch (interior architecture) and Johan de Walsche (theory/research), awarded a shared first prize to Academy alumna Justyna Chmielewska, Academy alumnus Steven van Raan, and Jacopo Zani. An honourable mention was given to Osarieme Isokpan.
Choreographing Resilience, designed by landscape architect Justyna Chmielewska, makes a convincing case to restore the presence and ecology of the river Strzyza in Gdańsk (Poland). The designer's profound understanding of water flows and water management in all its facets has produced the most natural strategy to reduce water levels and revive the basin. The perspective of naturalness of a nowadays petrified neighborhood empowers the inhabitants to wield this strategy. It is a well-targeted and viable line of approach and makes a convincing case for citizen activation within a broader plan.
Tentoonstelling voor Verbeelding, designed by architect Steven van Raan, creates unique perspectives and ways of thinking that present a dramatic alternative to established design methods. A combination of surrealism and associative thinking is staged to conceive an architecture that is able to act on and activate the collective memory. The designer has made a truly remarkable job of organizing the complexity of the project's immense quantity of collages, drawings and studies in order to arrive at architecture. Unlike the other winning designs, Exhibition for Imagination activates its designer first and foremost, as a consummate craftsman and a first-rate design talent.