The South Tyrol Architecture Prize will be awarded for the 11th time in March, with the jury comprising Anna Popelka, Matteo Motti, and Katharina Volgger announcing the nominated projects. Since the sixth edition, the South Tyrol Architecture Prize has been awarded across multiple categories, with an additional category introduced this year.
This year's nominations span eight categories: Residential, Public, Tourism and Work, Building in Existing Structures, Interior Space, Public Space and Social Infrastructure, Young Architecture, and for the first time, Maintenance - recognizing outstanding achievements in the care, preservation, and continuation of existing buildings.
Given the continuous and ever-increasing construction activity in South Tyrol, the prize serves to focus society's and politics' attention on building culture, thereby initiating an open social and political discourse. The organizers are particularly pleased this year about the nomination of projects that have already been controversially discussed in society and politics.
The Tourism and Work category name itself points to tourism's dominant role in the local workforce and society. However, despite the large number of submissions, a traditional hotel has never managed to win the prize in this category. The fact that housing in South Tyrol is becoming increasingly expensive, transforming from a basic right to a luxury good, is also reflected in the awards.
The Residential category has been dominated for years by the wonderful dream of single-family homes, which often seem unaffordable. Traditional housing realities like multi-family buildings or alternative housing forms are often sought in vain. It should come as no surprise that when such housing projects do exist, they are immediately awarded prizes. In fact, housing projects of Viennese origin in South Tyrol have already been crowned winners twice, bringing social democratic housing policy to conservative South Tyrol with its farmhouses, unfortunately without significant consequences so far.
This was one of the reasons why Anna Popelka, a Vienna-based architect with strong housing development expertise, was invited as a jury member this year to critically examine the South Tyrolean housing dream. Matteo Motti, a Milan-based landscape planner and public space specialist, was invited to address whether social public space still exists in South Tyrol or whether it has been completely absorbed into streets and infrastructure projects.
It should not be surprising that the Building in Existing Structures category has been a showcase category in previous editions. However, these projects equated valuable existing structures with folkloric farmhouses or similar buildings. The jury wanted to get to the bottom of this local peculiarity with South Tyrolean Katharina Volgger, who understands existing structures - in contrast to Italian monument protection - to include buildings younger than 50 years and attempts to preserve and utilize them.
The Young Architecture category, announced for the second time, also expresses a local peculiarity. In South Tyrol, young architects already manage to make a name for themselves with excellent classical building projects, thus sparing themselves the detour through low-budget projects or alternative engagements with architecture common elsewhere. This year, projects in this category stood out precisely because of their restraint or their "non-action." They displayed their own radicalism and were able to meet the challenge with finesse of realizing valuable buildings themselves without contributing to the often over-motivated construction activity in South Tyrol.
The announcement of winners and the award ceremony will take place in a ceremonial setting at the Architecture Festival on March 6 at Maretsch Castle. The complete list of nominations includes projects across all categories: in Maintenance, the renovation of Alter Widum Tartsch by Dr. Arch. Christian Kapeller and the renovation of a historic residence in Hafling by Markus Scherer Architekt are among the nominees, along with Hof Unternberg by gallmetzer-architecture and Hotel Drumlerhof by pedevilla architects.
The Building in Existing Structures category features Zischglhof by Pavol Mikolajcak Architects, Oberbuchfelder by raumdrei architekten, and projects by bergmeisterwolf. Interior Space nominations include Cinema for Seven by Lukas Mayr Architekt and Appiuskeller by Walter Angonese with Flaim Prünster architekten, among others.
Young Architecture nominees include House 6 by Arch. Matthias Delueg, Mortuary Chapel St. Lorenzen by Studio Paradiso, and projects by Arch. Philipp Steger and Alpina Architects. The Public Space and Social Infrastructure category features BASIS Vinschgau Venosta by Dr. Arch. Thomas Hickmann and various connectivity projects, while the Public category includes the New Fire Station Vetzan and Musitempl Kortsch, culminating with the House of the Mountains by Delueg Architekten.
