"The Audi brand stands for change and technical innovations. The courage to rethink and challenge the established is a decisive prerequisite for this continual advancement and the core of our corporate culture. We initiated the Audi Urban Future Award in order to identify and advance along paths leading towards a sustainable and responsible future."
Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management AUDI AG
"The transformation of the city is a central theme for the future. Whereas the automobile has thus far shaped the appearance of cities, in the future it could be a city's structure that determines which types of mobility are developed. The future is shaped on the one hand by architects, and by mobility providers on the other. With the Audi Urban Future Award, we want to bring both areas together and initiate a serious examination and discussion."
Christian Gärtner, Member of the Management Board, Stylepark AG
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and Christian Gärtner, member of the Stylepark Management Board, recently presented a mutual project to a selected circle of journalists in Munich: The Audi Urban Future Award. Sponsored by Audi and curated by Stylepark for the first time this year, the competition will take place every two years hereafter. A highly distinguished international jury will select the winner. With a prize of 100,000 Euro, the Audi Urban Future Award is the most highly remunerated German architectural award.
Invitations to participate in the competition for the Audi Urban Future Award will be issued every two years to six internationally renowned architectural firms, who will be asked to develop their visions for the future of a designated theme. With this award, Audi takes on the complex challenges of the present and encourages consideration of architectonic and urban planning visions that address the correlation of mobility and urban development in the future. In addition to conceiving technical solutions, the renowned architectural firms should place particular importance on social, ecological and aesthetic aspects.
The six firms participating in the Audi Urban Future Award 2010 are:
Alison Brooks Architects (London), BIG (Copenhagen), Cloud 9 (Barcelona), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), J. Mayer H. Architects (Berlin) and Standardarchitecture (Beijing).
A dedicated website will monitor the progress of each contribution throughout all stages of development, and the process will also be documented and discussed in publications. Additionally, an integral part of the first award cycle will be an internal workshop in London, in which participating architects will present and discuss initial concepts and hypotheses, and which will be followed by a public conference. Finally, all six visions for the future will be presented in a comprehensive exhibition, parallel to the 12th Architecture Biennale in Venice, at which an international jury will select a winner.
www.audi-urban-future-award.com
Legend:
left column:
-BIG - BJARKE INGELS GROUP, XPO - DANISH PAVILLION, SHANGHAI EXPO, TO BE COMPLETED 2010, photo courtesy of BIG
-DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO, INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, BOSTON 2006, © Iwan Baan
-DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO, BLUR BUILDING, PAVILLION FÜR SWISS EXPO, YVERDON-LES-BAINS 2002, courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
-STANDARDARCHITECTURE, YALUNTZANGPU BOAT TERMINAL, LINZHI, TIBET 2008, photo courtesy of Standardarchitecture
-STANDARDARCHITECTURE, KOWLOON RICEFIELD SKYSCRAPER, HONG KONG CONCEPT 2009, photo courtesy of Standardarchitecture
-ALISON BROOKS ARCHITECTS, NEWHALL, HARLOW 2009, courtesy of Alison Brooks
-ALISON BROOKS ARCHITECTS, QUARTERHOUSE, FOLKESTONE 2009, © Dennis Gilbert
middle column:
-DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO, ALICE TULLY HALL + JUILLIARD SCHOOL, LINCOLN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, NEW YORK 2009, © Donna Pallotta
-ALISON BROOKS ARCHITECTS, ACCORDIA, CAMBRIDGE 2008, © Tim Crocker
-BIG - BJARKE INGELS GROUP, REN - PEOPLE'S BUILDING, SHANGHAI GEPLANTE TO BE COMPLETED 2010, photo courtesy of BIG
-STANDARDARCHITECTURE, WUHAN CRL AND FRENCH - CHINESE ART CENTRE, WUCHANG 2005, photo courtesy of Standardarchitecture
-CLOUD 9, NEW YORK AQUARIUM, CONEY ISLAND, NEW YORK, TO BE COMPLETED 2015, © Luis Ros
-CLOUD 9, VILLA NURBS, EMPURIABRAVA, GIRONA 2010, © Luis Ros
right column:
-J. MAYER H. ARCHITECTS, DUPLI.CASA, VILLA MRMM, LUDWIGSBURG, 2008, photo courtesy of J. MAYER H. Architects
-J. MAYER H. ARCHITECTS, METROPOL PARASOL, PLAZA DE LA ENCARNACION, SEVILLA, TO BE COMPLETED 2010, photo courtesy of J. MAYER H. Architects
-BIG - BJARKE INGELS GROUP, MTN - THE MOUNTAIN, KOPENHAGEN 2008, © Jakob Boserup
-CLOUD 9, MEDIA-TIC, THE CONCORCI ZONA FRANCA, AND 22@, BARCELONA 2010, © Iwan Baan
-J. MAYER H. ARCHITECTS, MENSA MOLTKE, HOCHSCHULE KARLSRUHE 2007, photo courtesy of J. MAYER H. Architects
