Videos

The first LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition Middle East Africa goes to Kéré Architecture, Berlin, Germany, for “Secondary school with passive ventilation system,” a project that earned the Global LafargeHolcim Awards Gold 2012. The jury was impressed by its “beauty and innovative architectural concept and example for new sustainable construction from a materials and technology perspective.” Today, the secondary school is reality for hundreds of children and standing the test of time.

Exuberant and playful transformation of traditional type forms for a healing center for children with Nodding Disease in Uganda aimed at community-building after decades of conflict.

Fostering the production of shea butter as an important local trade, the striking towers of the storage units are designed for passive cooling and allude to traditional local architecture.

Sweep of gently curving roof elements and screen enclosures for a library in Lilongwe, Malawi transcending sustainable construction into one integrated and elegant design.

Reinterpretation of traditional local construction for a new mosque and community center in Dandaji, Niger, creating a space in the village open to all.

Film training center in East Africa conceived as a cinematic series of spaces wrapped in brick and intended to empower a new generation of filmmakers to see and narrate their experiences for a global audience.

Learning complex in the village of Aït Benhaddou in Morocco uses architecture, form, and space to claim artisanship and handiwork as living and modern traditions.

This year’s LafargeHolcim Awards trophies are a visual and tangible example of what can be created through sustainable thinking and a passion for innovation. LafargeHolcim products Ductal and Airium are fittingly appropriate eco-efficient materials for the LafargeHolcim Awards, which celebrate innovation and excellence in sustainable construction. So the world builds better.

The LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 jury for region Asia Pacific met at the Melbourne School of Design, Australia to select projects using the “target issues” for sustainable construction. Take a peek behind the scenes.

Since 2003 the Foundation advances the discourse on sustainable construction through its international Awards competitions, academic Forums and publications. This video introduces the main activities of the organization. Promoting best practice, pioneering fresh solutions, and inspiring both established and the “Next Generation” of architects, engineers, planners, developers and contractors to adopt sustainable parameters for all their building projects are just a few of its ambitious objective.

The LafargeHolcim Awards for Sustainable Construction gives many projects the boost to achieve realization and is part of countless success stories being written by aspiring and established professionals. A prize in the competition opens new doors for many of the winners, like the Spanish architect Carlos Piles: thanks to two prizes from the LafargeHolcim Foundation, he has made an exciting step in his career – to LafargeHolcim!

The LafargeHolcim Awards is the world's most significant competition in sustainable design. This short video explains who is invited, what projects are eligible and how these are submitted.

Nirmal Kishani and Holcim Indonesia hosted two events (January 19 and 20, 2017 to promote the 5th International LafargeHolcim Awards and to launch the translated version of Greening Asia:  Emerging Principles of Sustainable Architecture.

Alejandro Aravena points out that when he was looking for specialists who would share knowledge, tools and strategies at "his" Biennale 2016, almost one third of the selected experts were in some way connected to the LafargeHolcim Foundation. 

The expert panel examined the interplay between sustainability and security and how architecture should respond to the challenges. With the 300-person venue at the 15th International International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia filled to capacity, moderator Rolf Soiron inspired the panelists Alejandro Aravena, Jonathan Ledgard, Milinda Pathiraja and Robert Mardini to discuss practical solutions, rather than hold a strictly formal debate.

Alejandro Aravena, Partner Architect at Elemental, provides an overview on the firm’s sustainable post-tsunami reconstruction master plan for the city of Constitución, Chile. Now five years after implementation began, most elements of the project have been implemented to improve the quality of the city. The approach was able to negotiate private benefit with common good.

University of São Paulo PhD student Eduardo Pizarro sees the potential of small pockets within the favela of Paraisópolis to deliver much-needed infrastructure and community spaces. As winner of the LafargeHolcim Forum Student Poster Competition 2016, his project “Turning Voids into Infrastructure” lives up to the “target issues” of sustainable construction and designs micro interventions that uses the potential of these small spaces between and within buildings for the residents of São Paulo’s second-largest favela.

General Manager of the LafargeHolcim Foundation, Edward Schwarz, interviewed by Lamis Elhadidy on CBC (Capital Broadcasting Center) satellite TV station based in Cairo. He explains why LafargeHolcim created the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, and the LafargeHolcim Awards – the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. 

In its efforts to encourage inventive new solutions, the LafargeHolcim Foundation places special focus on the next generation. Students from leading technical universities are part of the LafargeHolcim Forum, an international symposium that advances concepts of sustainable construction. In addition, the LafargeHolcim Awards place a special focus on 18-30 year old students and young professionals – because fresh ideas will shape tomorrow’s world.

Curator of the 15th International Architecture Biennale, Alejandro Aravena, supports using “a mix of high-tech innovation and low-tech local materials” to reduce carbon emissions related to construction. In a video released by the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Aravena points to the Droneport shell prototype at the Venice exhibition as an outstanding example of the pivotal change needed from architecture and industry.