Press release 12.09.2014 Press Conference 11.09.2014 Blue Award 2014 with Richard Rogers, Françoise-Hélène Jourda, Albert Dubler, Robert Lion, Robert Korab, Jana Revedin • Blue Award 2014 International Student Competition for Sustainable Architecture • Organizers Department for Spatial and Sustainable Design Vienna University of Technology • Karlsplatz 13/253-3, A-1040 Wien Phone 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 301 Fax 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 399 www.blueaward.at office@blueaward.at Statements by Lord Richard Rogers and Françoise-Hélène Jourda: Lord Richard Rogers of Riverside: „Cities are at the heart of our culture and our economy. They are the birthplaces of civilisation, and places for the meeting of friends and strangers and the exchange of ideas. Creating successful cities for all people has been at the heart of my Practice’s design for the past half century. But during the industrial revolution, our cities also came to be seen as dangerous, dirty, places of poverty and darkness. People with choice fled our cities, and sought cleaner air and better lives in the sprawling suburbs. But these suburban lifestyles not only destroy city centres, but create • 1 Texts and Images for download: http://www.blueaward.at/press/downloads.html car-dependent patterns of sprawl that have been a major contributor to climatechange, which is affecting all of us, and endangering the lives of some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the world. Growing urbanisation across the world gives us the opportunity to change this pattern, and to reassert the social, economic and environmental advantages of city living. As we move from 50% urban living today, to 70% by 2050, the only sustainable way to grow is the compact city. This means: • well-designed built homes and offices, with the highest density clustered round transport hubs; • urban planning for mixed-use live-work areas with a range of different housing affordability, and access to vital services; • a green grid of beautiful parks and public spaces, and excellent walking and cycling routes and public transport; • good governance, which supports balanced economic growth, social justice and environmental responsibility; and • innovative environmental design, from energy saving technology in individual homes, to new build methods, to neighbourhood planning that enables walking and cycling, low energy lifestyles and waste reduction. We need to take action at every level, from the thermostat on the wall, to urban density, to car parking regulations. Research by the Sierra Club shows that even a draughty old building in a city centre is a less carbon-intensive way of living than a top spec eco-home in the countryside. It is exciting to be here in Vienna, and to see the range of innovation being brought to bear on these urgent environmental, but also social and economic challenges. The successful city of the future will be the compact city where sustainability is built in at all levels, being expressed as the DNA of urban development. I hope the projects submitted for this prize will form part of that DNA.“ • 2 • Blue Award 2014 International Student Competition for Sustainable Architecture • Organizers Department for Spatial and Sustainable Design Vienna University of Technology • Karlsplatz 13/253-3, A-1040 Wien Phone 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 301 Fax 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 399 www.blueaward.at office@blueaward.at Françoise-Hélène Jourda „The issue of sustainable development still appears to be an extra constraint for many of our colleagues and partners with regard to construction and development, no matter whether these are architects, engineers, material suppliers or investors. It seems to be an extra and heavy limitationon one’s freedom of action, trading and creating. Twenty years ago this problem was still ignored. Ten years ago people still made jokes about it. Today the issue has officially been made public, as since the beginning of the year 2000 it has become an important aspect of communicationin projects of architecture, urbanisation and urban development all over the world. Unfortunately, however, all too often this is merely an announcement, a discourse that is still far removed from the reality of a project or a construction. Something that is often called “greenwashing”. The regulations in the field of construction in Europe have frequently been considerably changed in order to integrate strategies for the economic use of energy. It was urgently necessary to implement these changes, in order to deal with the near shortage of fossile fuels but also to reduce the emissions of gases and thus the greenhouse effect, which is essentially responsible for the climatic changes. But these projects frequently neglect the other preoccupations, i.e. the economisation of nonrenewable resources – material and water – , proper treatment of the soil and above all the awareness for the other social and economic pillars of development that allow future generations to grow in peace and justice. How many of our projects in our rich and industrially highly developed countries are planned in such a way as to considerably reduce the energy consumption or even to produce as much energy as they consume, but have for example been constructed in areas far from public transport (while thus • 3 • Blue Award 2014 International Student Competition for Sustainable Architecture • Organizers Department for Spatial and Sustainable Design Vienna University of Technology • Karlsplatz 13/253-3, A-1040 Wien Phone 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 301 Fax 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 399 www.blueaward.at office@blueaward.at generating very significant carbon-dioxide emissions of themselves through private transport)? Or how many use high-emission materials contributing to the greenhouse effect or scarce raw materials that future generations will lack! Despite political and very committed discourses by numerous scientists and practitioners, many architects and urban planners have still not changed their practices. Under the pretext of difficulties caused by regulations or funding, in most cases however quite unaware of problems of a sustainable development, there are still too many leading the world of construction into a catastrophe for our societies of which we have been forewarned. The transformation of our practices as planners is nevertheless vital! It is less the acquisition of new knowledge that is called for than a simple conscience, an ethic that, in contrast to the often-shared fears, does not limit our creation but represents a renewal, a still unexploited opportunity to invent new ways of constructing our future places to live, of discovering new architectural texts, of creating new places of life in the city and in our rural areas. For the students of architecture, urban and landscape planning this is an incommensurable research field, of questioning established strategies of action, of completely transforming their own ways of carrying out their projects, not only for the benefit of their personal development as creators but also as active participants of a world that will soon be utterly changed. And we all hope that this change will lead towards more participation, more awareness of the particular needs of the individual, of their differences and those of the places they live in. The issue of a sustainable development means an incredible chance for future generations of planners to find a place that is integrated in societies of people, of inhabitants and users. For us, the teachers, it is urgently necessary to carry this change out in the schools, to prepare the future agents for • 4 • Blue Award 2014 International Student Competition for Sustainable Architecture • Organizers Department for Spatial and Sustainable Design Vienna University of Technology • Karlsplatz 13/253-3, A-1040 Wien Phone 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 301 Fax 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 399 www.blueaward.at office@blueaward.at different tasks to participate in this profound cultural, political, economic and social transformation that will completely change the decades to come. The Blue Award rewards the students and thus even their teachers who turn to this still too-rarely practised approach. The results of the Blue Award 2012 show that many students all over world are already committed and that they are already capable of including creativity, spatial and technical solutions in projects that respect human beings and their environment. Not only would I very much like them to develop their own working methods further but also to be able to communicate their enthusiasm to their colleagues, to continue their approach so that there will be a growing number of people preparing this revolution of ideas, which is sustainable development.“ Robert Lion, Jana Revedin, Françoise-Hélène Jourda, Richard Rogers, Albert Dubler, Robert Korab Video of Press Conference with Richard Rogers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdGTxkQN2Sg&feature=youtu.be • 5 • Blue Award 2014 International Student Competition for Sustainable Architecture • Organizers Department for Spatial and Sustainable Design Vienna University of Technology • Karlsplatz 13/253-3, A-1040 Wien Phone 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 301 Fax 00 43 (0)1 58801 253 399 www.blueaward.at office@blueaward.at