Grafton win Venice architecture prize

The Irish Times - Thursday, August 30, 2012

FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor, in Venice

GRAFTON ARCHITECTS from Dublin have won a Silver Lion award at the Venice Architecture Biennale for the impressive presentation of their plans for a university campus in Lima, Peru, which is on show here.

It is the first time such a prestigious award has been won by Irish architects since Ireland came to the architecture biennale in 2000. It was described as an incredible honour for us, our team and for Irish architecture in general, by Graftons Yvonne Farrell.

Grafton Architects have followed up on winning World Building of the Year at Barcelona in 2008, and in Italy, of all places, said architect and critic Shane OToole.

Founders Farrell and Shelley McNamara were invited to the biennale by director Sir David Chipperfield, who chose its theme of Common Ground and gave Grafton a premier position in the main pavilion.

Exploring architecture as the new geography, they were inspired by the work of Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha and drew on striking similarities between Skellig Michael and Perus Machu Picchu. The jury, chaired by Dutch architect Wiel Arets, said the conceptual and spatial qualities of Graftons installation demonstrate the considerable potential of this architectural practice in reimagining the urban landscape for Limas technical university.

The Golden Lion for the best project embodying the Common Ground theme went to Swiss-based Urban Think Tank, architecture critic Justin McGuirk and the people of Caracas, Venezuela, for creating a new community in the skeletal frame of an office block.

The Torre David project was represented by a pop-up Venezuelan restaurant with neon signs. Sharing a meal is the best way to establish common ground for a discussion, Urban Think Tank said.

The Golden Lion for the best national pavilion went to Japan for an exhibition co-ordinated by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, which shows how shattered trees and other detritus from last years earthquake and tsunami could be used to make new homes.

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Grafton win Venice architecture prize