Carla Juaçaba, from Brasil, wins the first edition of arcVision Prize – Women and Architecture.
The Pesenti Foundation supports the arcVision Prize – Women and Architecture, an international architecture award for women, focused on social impact . The prize honors a female architect who demonstrates outstanding quality in her research and design work, with particular attention to the core issues of construction: technology, sustainability, and social and cultural implications.
http://www.arcvision.org/nasce-arcvision-prize-women-and-architecture-italcementi-premia-larchitettura-al-femminile/
The prize particularly seeks to highlight nominees who work in especially complex contexts, both in terms of the nature of the projects and the territorial or environmental conditions in which they operate.
March 8, 2013 – Brazilian architect Carla Juaçaba was the winner of the first edition of the arcVision Prize – Women and Architecture, an international award recognizing women’s architecture with a social dimension. The prize includes a research workshop and a €50,000 monetary award, with the hope that part of the sum will be allocated to design initiatives with a social purpose.
The jury specifically chose to recognize the Humanidade 2012 Pavilion, a project for Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, designed in collaboration with another woman, artist Bia Lessa. The choice carries special significance, as the structure was built for an important moment of global reflection on efforts to protect the planet’s environment.
The jury for the 2013 arcVision Prize included :
Shaikha Al Maskari, Vera Baboun, Odile Decq, Victoire de Margerie, Yvonne Farrell, Samia Nkrumah, Kazuyo Sejima, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Martha Thorne, chaired by Stefano Casciani, Scientific Director of the Prize.
2013 arcVision Prize Jury
Honorable mentions were also awarded to Spanish architect Izaskun Chinchilla for her unconventional design approach, to Indian architect Anupama Kundoo for her material research capabilities, and to Estonian architect Siiri Vallner for her sensitive interpretation of spaces and places.
The award ceremony took place on March 7 in Bergamo.
Carlo Pesenti
“With this recognition,” emphasized Carlo Pesenti, “we aim to highlight the growing importance that female designers have long been gaining in the field of architecture, and to stand as advocates of a positive form of discrimination in favor of women. We hope that in sectors traditionally dominated by men, the central role of women will continue to grow, ultimately overcoming any form of exclusion or differentiation within decision-making and production processes. Men and companies alike need the energy and sensitivity of women in order to grow and achieve ever greater results.”
Carla Juçaba, Brasile – the winner
“The qualities embodied by Carla Juaçaba are those of a brave architect who approaches her profession with creativity, seeking unconventional solutions and showing great sensitivity to the context where her works are placed.”
The jury praised the functionality and appropriateness of the solutions adopted to fulfill their intended purposes, without neglecting beauty and quality of life for the users and inhabitants. Carla Juaçaba was recognized as a “complete” architect, addressing all aspects related to the assignment: context, environment, nature, parameters, and materials.
After reviewing very different projects, the jury emphasized Carla Juaçaba’s ability to successfully manage interventions at different scales. The Humanidade 2012 pavilion for Rio+20 is a temporary structure designed with theater director and scenographer Bia Lessa to host private events and a sustainability exhibition open to the public, which attracted 220,000 visitors in two weeks.
The jury noted the elegant simplicity and functionality of the pavilion. By using common scaffolding elements, the architect creatively demonstrated her commitment to sustainability by reusing locally available materials to build the structure and the pavilion’s 170-meter-long walkways. Once dismantled, the materials will be fully recyclable and reusable.
The building creates a magical dialogue with its surroundings, enhancing the site and its already spectacular natural setting .
The Varanda House, built in an area where existing trees had to be preserved, is an excellent example of a “minimal house” inviting entrance into simple spaces where light interacts delicately and continuously with the magnificent Brazilian landscape.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1976, Carla Juaçaba has run her independent architecture and research studio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, since 2000. Her office currently handles public and private projects related to housing and cultural programs.
As a university student, she collaborated with architect Gisela Magalhães of Niemeyer’s generation, mainly on exhibitions related to indigenous arts and Brazilian historic museums.
In the years after graduation (2000), she worked with architect Mario Fraga on the “Casa Atelier” project, followed by a series of projects such as “Casa Rio Bonito” (2005), “Casa Varanda” (2007), “Casa Minimum” (2008), “Casa Santa Teresa” in its final phase (2012), and several exhibition projects
Current works include the ephemeral pavilion “Humanidade 2012” for Rio+20, designed with scenographer and theater director Bia Lessa, and housing projects in Rio’s outskirts.
Carla Juaçaba is active in academia and teaching, conducts research projects, lectures, participates in biennials and exhibitions, and recently served on the jury for the 2012 BIAU Ibero-American Architecture Biennial in Madrid. She currently teaches at FAU-PUC RJ Pontifícia Universidade Católica. Her work focuses on an intrinsic issue of the discipline: the poetics of tectonics and its expressive potential.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Izaskun Chinchilla, Spain
The jury admired Izaskun Chinchilla’s courage and commitment to research and study of architecture, combining social, aesthetic, and technical elements to reinvent and provide a new vision of the environment in her work .
Each of her projects represents both transgressive architecture and artistic installation, embracing public and social spaces.
The jury also emphasized the designer’s dynamism in pushing boundaries and the strength she conveys through her drawings—highly inspiring and captivating for the new generation of architects.
BIOGRAPHY
Graduated in architecture in 2001 from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), she has run her own studio in Madrid since then. She has extensive educational experience.
She is a Senior Teaching Fellow and Researcher at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL London), and has taught at Ecole Special (Paris) and HEAD University (Geneva).
She was a Studio Professor at the University of Alicante (2002–2007) and currently teaches at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Instituto de Empresa (Madrid).
Her research project focuses on “Social and aesthetic repercussions of ecological technical solutions,” supported by scholarships to Columbia University (2002), Ecole de Mines de Paris (2003), Princeton University (2004), and the Institut d’Arquitectura Avançada de Catalunya (Barcelona).
She currently supervises the realization of a media library at the medieval castle of Garcimuñoz in Cuenca, Spain, a public cultural building with infrastructure renovation for social purposes; the renovation of a traditional house in Toledo, Spain; and other minor projects.
She also participates in the design of interactive digital exhibitions for social purposes, encouraging children’s reading (Fairytale Park Museography in Málaga) and appreciation of sports effort (Centro de Arte Canal).
Anupama Kundoo, India
The jury awarded a special mention to Indian architect Anupama Kundoo for her focus on researching materials that reduce environmental impact in construction technologies.
Her “Volontariat Homes and Urban Eco-Community” project was especially praised. The jury commended her experimentation with unconventional and recycled building materials adapted to specific contexts and her commitment to addressing construction cost accessibility alongside broader sustainability themes.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Pune, India, in 1967, married with two children, Anupama Kundoo has been an architect since 1990, having completed over 100 projects. Her studio emphasizes research on materials and sustainable architecture, experimenting with construction technologies and environmentally and socioeconomically sustainable prototypes. Her work spans urban planning, architecture, and product development for building systems.
Siiri Vallner, Estonia
Siiri Vallner is one of the young competitors who caught the jury’s attention. She divides her work between two architecture studios, including the all-female KAVAKAVA.
She has designed schools, sports facilities, and cultural spaces that have become distinctive in Estonia’s architectural scene.
The jury awarded her a special mention for this multifunctional work highlighting transparency, simplicity, flexibility, and courage in harmony with the natural environment. Flexible and bold in blending old and new, Siiri Vallner’s work embodies many qualities desired in the built environment.
The jury deemed the architect deserving of a special mention: this multifunctional work highlights transparency, simplicity, flexibility, and courage, all in perfect harmony with the natural environment.
Flexible and bold in blending old and new, Siiri Vallner’s work embodies many of the qualities we hope to see realized in the built environment.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1972, Siiri Vallner opened her professional studio after studying architecture and urbanism in Estonia, Denmark, and the USA.
She has completed a wide range of projects, mostly public buildings. Recently, she worked on social projects—short-term housing for the homeless in Tallinn, foster homes in Kuressaare, and a public sauna in Tallinn. She won several awards, including the first Estonian Young Architect Award in 2009.
Siiri Vallner teaches at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Department of Architecture. She was co-curator (with Katrin Koov) of the architecture of landscape issue of the Estonian architecture magazine Maja in 2006.
Cartella Stampa
