Call for Entries: 2015 AIBC Architectural Awards & Awards Jury

The Architectural Institute of British Columbia showcases the best in B.C. architecture through its highly-respected Architectural Awards program.

An esteemed jury with representation from both within and outside the profession will consider candidates for the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Awards in Architecture (both medal and merit); the AIBC Innovation Award; the AIBC Emerging Firm Award and the AIBC Special Jury Award.

While honours are given in these distinct award categories, there is one common element: Excellence.

Winners are celebrated at the Architectural Awards Reception on October 28, 2015 as part of the AIBC Annual Conference, and featured in architectureBC.

Submit An Architectural Awards Application:

For detailed information including award criteria and submission requirements, and to make your submission, please visit the AIBC Architectural Awards website.

Extended Deadline for Awards Submissions: July 6, 2015 (4:30 p.m. PST) *

(* June 29, 2015 was the original deadline for awards submissions.)

Submit An Application To Sit On The Architectural Awards Jury:

The AIBC invites applications to sit on the AIBC Architectural Awards Jury. The role of an awards juror is to consider candidates for all awards categories. Individuals who have submitted projects for consideration in the Architectural Awards will not be considered as jury members due to a conflict of interest. For detailed information and to make your submission, please visit the AIBC Architectural Awards website.

Deadline for Jury Applications: June 12, 2015 (4:30 p.m. PST)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact communications@aibc.ca.

New Registered Educational Provider: GUD Architects Inc.

GUD Architects Inc. is a Vancouver based architectural firm which collaborates with GUD Group based in Shanghai, China. Established in 1983, GUD Group is a member of the China National Real Estate Development Group Corporation. Today, GUD employs more than 600 professionals and support staff located in five offices in Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Vancouver.

To learn more about all AIBC Registered Educational Providers, please visit the AIBC website.

WoodWorks BC

Symposium 2015: Knowledge Transfer to Support Wood Building and Design
The latest research into design and construction of mid-rise and taller wood buildings will be the topic of this educational one-day event, providing you with an opportunity to be among the first to learn from thought-leaders and academics who lead our industry.

Date: May 28, 2015, 8:30am-5pm
Location: Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport, 8181 Cambie Rd, Richmond, BC
Learning Units: 5.5 Core LUs
Cost: $25 plus GST (lunch and coffee included)
Register: www.wood-works.ca/bc

The lost art of water architecture

By Hemang Desai
The Tribune, May 15 2015

Stepwells were built to collect rain water during seasonal monsoons. Primarily these structures were utilitarian. Over the period, they evolved a significant architectural style that was composite, with embellishment and exquisite carvings.

The step-wells constructed all over northern India in the middle ages and right till the modern period are a repository of knowledge about water collection, storage and distribution in water starved areas. In Gujarat, this tradition of constructing a stepwell was raised to a stunning architectural art that stands today on the world stage of architectural heritage. Read more…

(Image: The Adalaj stepwell is at once a celebration and a tribute to water as well as a record of the society in which it was built. Photo: Cyrus Mobedjee, courtesty of The Tribune)

Food for thought: the best pavilions of Expo Milan 2015

By Giovanna Dunmall
Wallpaper, May 8, 2015

The global architectural extravaganza that is the World Expo is once again upon us and it is Milan’s turn to play host.

The original master-planners, a team that included Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, walked out in 2011 after their vision for a new typology of the Expo, one based on content rather than the individualist (and often propagandist) architecture of national pavilions, was rejected by the organisers.

(Image: ‘The Nursery of Italy’ The Palazzo Italia faces the Piazza d’Acqua (the Water Square) in the design of the host country’s pavilion. Photo: (copyright) Nemesi&Partners, courtesty of Wallpaper)

The results – despite much decried construction delays and other colourful scandals – were in turn demented, elegant, garish and at times audacious; a sort of global Eurovision song contest in building form. Often the exhibition’s avowed theme, Feeding the Planet – Energy for Life, seemed merely an excuse to have a restaurant outlet and/or a shop selling national produce. Read more…