The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture ceremony was held in Istanbul this year, under the theme "Architecture is Construction," and presided over by its founder, architect and professor Jana Revedin. Six architects, landscape architects, and urban planners were recognized for the visionary scope of their work, embodying a more responsible approach to the discipline and outlining new ways of designing the territories of tomorrow.
Since its inception in 2006, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture has continually evolved, consistently affirming that concrete alternatives exist for designing more sustainable architecture. Whether addressing environmental, social, or cultural issues, the award highlights committed initiatives that demonstrate that a different way of building is not only possible, but already underway. Under the patronage of UNESCO since 2011, the architecture prize has progressively united a community in this field, becoming a global benchmark.
A geographical turning point
Originally held in Venice, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture chose Istanbul for the first time this year to host the ceremony. This choice was far from arbitrary. "It's a layered city, constantly transforming, living like a palimpsest for millennia and bridging Asia and Europe. It was therefore the most obvious choice ," emphasizes the founder. This geographical choice was enthusiastically received by the award winners. This inaugural edition was held in partnership with Saint-Gobain, a major player in sustainable construction and an official partner of the award for the past three years.
Chaired by Jana Revedin, the jury comprised several prominent figures in the world of architecture. These included representatives from the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts in Istanbul – which was instrumental in bringing the prize to the city – the dean of the École Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris, Marie-Hélène Contal, as well as members of the IUAV University of Venice, where Jana Revedin defended her doctoral thesis twenty years ago, and the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana. These institutions all guarantee the intellectual rigor, academic standards, and, above all, the independence of this international prize.
The voices of sustainable architecture
For a year, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture team and the laureates engaged in a dialogue to share their concerns, current needs, and anxieties regarding political and social contexts, as well as their commitments. Following these exchanges, three major projects, representative of their entire body of work, were selected. "The prize primarily recognizes a trajectory," states Jana Revedin.
Thus, Amelia Tavella, known for weaving a link between past and present through reversible architectures, presented her rehabilitation project for the Auguste Benoit school in Provence, as well as that of the Saint-François convent in Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano, Corsica.
For his part, Doan Thanh Ha advocates an architecture deeply rooted in local realities, conceived in direct response to the needs of the inhabitants.
In a complementary approach, Loreta Castro Reguera and José Pablo Ambrosi, co-founders of Taller Capital, are developing housing projects informed by research on water management: "Thanks to our research, we started working on urban and landscape design projects, with a strong idea: to use water and landscape as a soft infrastructure for management."
Andreas Kipar is part of this movement, applying it to landscape rehabilitation. Faced with the climate crisis, he transforms neglected territories into veritable oases.
Among the projects presented by the winning architect Ye Man, the restoration of Tongde Hall stood out in particular, revealing her interest in traditional mortise and tenon joinery through prefabricated wooden architecture, in homage to Chinese craftsmanship.
Next year, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture will recognize not five but 95 winners, thus affirming its role not only as a reference, but also as a global network committed to the challenges of sustainable architecture.
