Project Updates

Construction of the first real-scale CASTonCAST prototype at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) was completed successfully. Lluís Enrique Monzo, postdoc at the Chair of Structural Design and author of the LafargeHolcim Awards winning project, is keen to point out that his recent investigation “proved the viability of applying this innovative production system for concrete elements at a real-scale”.

The Lake Victoria Challenge (LVC) held in Mwanza, Tanzania is the first-ever international symposium on drones and their possibilities in Africa. The World Bank estimates the global demand for drone infrastructure to surpass USD 130 billion in the near future confirmed Bella Bird, World Bank Director for Eastern Africa. The LCV was held in Tanzania’s second largest city on the shore of Lake Victoria, where the opportunities for development that leapfrogs the need for physical infrastructure were abundant and compelling.

Thanks to strong public support and the establishment of a government committee, an urban swimming pool in the Spree River in central Berlin has taken two steps closer to reality.

“Flussbad Berlin” – the Global LafargeHolcim Awards Bronze 2012 prize-winning urban plan by Jan and Tim Edler will provide a public urban recreation space adjacent to the UNESCO World Heritage site, Museuminsel (Museum Island), for both residents and visitors.

The Seebaldt Project (TSP) – “Grassroots Microgrid” – is truly a community-driven contribution to brighten the future of residents in the “Comeback City” of Detroit: A picnic party including the entire neighborhood was enabled by the LafargeHolcim Foundation to celebrate the Global Awards Bronze 2018, that was later handed over to the winning team of authors at the Waterview Loft, Port Detroit.

Al Borde Arquitectos from Ecuador are redefining their paradigm on the architects’ role in society and have created a documentary about the practice of the post-crisis generation of young architecture studios. The LafargeHolcim Awards 2014 jury for Latin America praised the young architects based in Quito for their urban revitalization project that draws on the rural tradition of barter. This form of non-monetary exchange enables the refurbishment of housing in the historical center of the city for residents without sufficient monetary means. The project was considered “a promising economic model to literally mine cities rather than nature” by the jury.

The LafargeHolcim Awards Bronze 2017 Europe winning zero carbon ZEDpod is a prefabricated home with a difference. The approach decouples housing provision from land prices by installing the units with “air rights” over car parks, offering almost instant high-quality housing solutions without the land and planning issues associated with a conventional new build.

Rotterdam-based Ooze Architects was selected as one of six groups to be featured in short films in the Creative Industries Funds annual report. The project of Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg won LafargeHolcim Awards Bronze 2017 Latin America and was praised for creating an active relationship between water management and the community.

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A project to drive long-term community engagement has started to make tangible steps forward in suburban Detroit. The Global LafargeHolcim Awards Bronze 2018 winner aims to improve living conditions in an area emerging from economic decline. The components of the project include solar power generation, rainwater collection and urban farming – which all make the neighborhood more attractive for renters and potential home-owners, thereby building momentum for urban recovery.

A construction materials recycling and logistics hub at the Vergotedok in the heart of Brussels has been completed. The LafargeHolcim Acknowledgment prizewinner from Belgium in 2014 by TETRA architecten was praised for applying sustainability principles to the construction of infrastructure – in a warehouse complex for the trade of building materials in the port of Brussels.

The impressive vaulted Droneport prototype of low-carbon compressed earth and cement Durabric developed by LafargeHolcim is still welcoming visitors at the north entrance to the Arsenale in Venice. Created for the 2016 Architecture Biennale, the structure is symbolic as a gateway to the world’s most significant architecture exhibition.