The Architecture Foundation Building
www.architecturefoundation.org.uk
London
a-graft
 

second prize

stage 2 shortlist:
MVRDV,
Caruso St John,
Foreign Office Architects,
Zaha Hadid (winner),
AOC,
Lacaton and Vassal,
Bernard Tschumi, 
a-graft
(asc + awp + liverani-molteni +mf )

competition jury:
Rowan Moore, The Architecture Foundation (chair)
Will Alsop, Alsop Architects
Paola Antonelli, MOMA New York
David Chipperfield, David Chipperfield Architects
Nigel Coates, Branson Coates
Mike Hussey, Land Securities
Nick Serota, Tate Gallery
Richard Lech, Davis Langdon (non-voting)

This project starts with the idea that the building could be
a growing vertical garden, and aims to lend a contemporary perspective on the history of English architecture and landscape.
This is articulated through three elements. First, the façade
is a climatic 'membrane" wall that shields the building from
the elements (water, air, wind, pollution, sounds...). Second,
a cut through the 'house' opens the building up and raises
the plan into section. Third, in the course of this inversion
process, the 'garden' climbs from the court onto the roof.

The project deliberately articulates the known (house + garden)
and the unknown (membrane + inside/out logic). This
juxtaposition generates a soft and ever-changing experience
of the uncanny. The building does not strive to be a perfect object.
It is the result of a collaborative process where teams challenge
each other's understanding of how architecture manifests itself.
This is not a building: it is the encounter of different elements
and their interactions that drive architectural form.