Holcim Foundation Announces Jury for 2015 Global Award

The Holcim Foundation has announced the global jury for the 2015 Holcim Awards, its triennial prize which encourages architects, planners, engineers, project owners and students to share their projects and visions that “go beyond conventional notions of sustainable construction.”

The 2015 prize is the Holcim Foundation’s fourth cycle, and this year will feature a total prize fund of $2 million – a significant increase on their 2012 prize fund of $300,000. To oversee the awards, they have recruited independent experts of international stature, including the Deans of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and ETH Zurich, and Alejandro Aravena of Chilean practice Elemental.

Read on after the break for the full list of jurors and more on the prize

The jurors:

• Mohsen Mostafavi (head), Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Design (USA)
• Marc Angélil, Senior Dean, Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
• Alejandro Aravena, Executive Director, Elemental (Chile)
• Maria Atkinson, Founding CEO, Green Building Council of Australia (Australia)
• Yolanda Kakabadse, President, WWF International (Ecuador)
• Matthias Schuler, Founder, Transsolar Energietechnik (Germany)
• Rolf Soiron, Chairman, Holcim Foundation (Switzerland)

Commenting on design’s role in sustainable thinking, Head of the Jury Mohsen Mostafavi said: ”As our society has developed, the role of design has continually shifted – changing in scope, scale and technique. Visionary individuals and organizations are making strides in design disciplines to adapt theory, techniques and practices to actively secure long-term environmental, economic and social viability”

Alejandro Aravena, known for his practice’s astute understanding of the practical issues facing sustainable thinking, added: “Sustainable construction is the rigourous use of common sense. Entering the Holcim Awards is an opportunity to apply it.”

The 4th Holcim Prize has attracted over 6,000 international entrants, with the results of the regional stages of the competition due to be announced between September and November. The winners in the regional stages will then be entered for the global prize, due to be awarded in 2015.