Xu Tiantian's DnA Design and Architecture Wins Swiss Architectural Award 2022

Xu Tiantian, the founder of DnA_Design and Architecture studio in China, has been named the winner of the eighth Swiss Architectural Award. This biennial international architecture prize is promoted by the Fondazione Teatro dell’architettura and has been running since 2018.

The eighth edition of the Swiss Architectural Award involved a collaboration between the three Swiss Schools of Architecture: USI – Accademia di architettura, Mendrisio; EPFL – ENAC, Section d’Architecture, Lausanne; and ETHZ – Departement Architektur, Zurich. The jury, chaired by architect Mario Botta, was made up of the deans/directors of these schools: Walter Angonese, Dieter Dietz, and Tom Emerson. The Award also received organizational and operative support from the Università della Svizzera italiana - Academy of Architecture.

This collaboration reinforces the Award's national importance, making it one of the most prestigious and well-endowed architectural awards in the industry. This is further reinforced by its advisory committee consisting of internationally renowned architects and architecture critics.

The Swiss Architectural Award is designed to recognize and promote architecture that addresses contemporary ethical, aesthetic, and ecological concerns and encourages public and professional discussions. The award is given on a biennial basis to architects who are 50 years or younger (in the year the award is launched) and have completed at least three significant projects. Nationality is not a factor in the selection process.

The winner of the award, which includes a CHF 100,000 prize, will be announced on May 4th, 2023 at the Auditorium of Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio at the Università della Svizzera italiana. The ceremony will also feature an exhibition showcasing the works submitted by the candidates.

 

Xu Tiantian - DnA Design and Architecture was selected as the winner of the Swiss Architectural Award 2022 from a pool of 26 candidates from 14 different countries. The selection was made by a committee of advisors who deemed Xu Tiantian's work to fully meet the expectations of the award's promoters and jury.

The jury, in a unanimous decision, recognized Xu Tiantian for their reuse of the Shimen Bridge over the Songyin River (2016-2017), the Tofu Factory in Caizhai Village (2017-2018), and the reuse of the Jinyun Quarries (2021-2022). The reasons cited for the award were as follows:

The three works by Xu Tiantian in Songyang and Jinyun counties in China's Zhejang province impressed the jury with their combination of civic purpose and high-quality architecture. The projects aim to serve local communities and showcase a strong attention to the context, a poetic yet precise approach, and a blend of different scales and themes, including architecture and infrastructure, permanent and temporary structures, and reuse and new construction. The area is known for its traditional landscape, which is both preserved and threatened by the migration of young people to urban centres.

The jury deemed the work of Xu Tiantian to be an ideal fit for the Swiss Architectural Award, which aims to acknowledge and bring attention to architects from all corners of the globe who have made a noteworthy impact on contemporary architecture through their projects, particularly by showing sensitivity to the environment and thereby enhancing the standard of living for humanity.  

 

Jury
The jury of the eighth edition was chaired by Mario Botta and composed of Walter Angonese (Director of the Accademia di architettura, USI), Stéphanie Bru (winner, with the Paris-based studio Bruther, of the seventh SAA edition), Dieter Dietz (Director of the Section d’Architecture, EPFL-ENAC) and Tom Emerson (Dean of the Departement Architektur, ETHZ).

Advisors
The candidates for the eighth edition were nominated by a committee of advisors consisting of Manuel Aires Mateus, Lisbon (Portugal); Solano Benitez, Asunción (Paraguay); Angelo Bucci, São Paulo (Brazil); Marianne Burkhalter, Zurich (Switzerland); Sean Godsell, Melbourne (Australia); Junya Ishigami, Tokyo (Japan); Shelley McNamara, Dublin (Ireland); Valerio Olgiati, Flims (Switzerland); András Pálffy, Vienna (Austria); Elisa Valero, Granada (Spain); Paolo Zermani, Parma (Italy).

Candidates
The candidates in the 2022 edition of the Swiss Architectural Award were: Atelier Masōmī - Mariam Kamara (Niger), Bernardo Bader (Austria), Barão Hutter (Ivo Mendes Barão Teixeira, Peter Hutter, Switzerland), Giulio Basili (Italy), Bloco Arquitetos (Daniel Mangabeira, Henrique Coutinho, Matheus Seco, Brazil), Manuel Cervantes (Mexico), dekleva gregoric architects (Aljoša Dekleva, Tina Gregorič, Slovenia); Domat (Maggie Ma, Mark Kingsley, China); Estudio Flume (Christian Teshirogi, Noelia Montero, Brazil), Estudio Macías Peredo (Magui Peredo, Salvador Macías, Messico), Graux & Baeyens (Basile Graux, Koen Baeyens, Belgium), Grillovasiu (Romina Grillo, Liviu Vasiu, Switzerland), Go Hasegawa (Japan), Carla Juaçaba (Brazil), Ryan Kennihan (Ireland), LACOL Arquitectura Cooperativa (Spain), lopes brenna (Cristiana Lopes, Giacomo Brenna, Switzerland), Rozana Montiel (Mexico), Nickisch Walder Architekten (Georg Nickisch, Selina Walder, Switzerland), RAMA estudio (Carla Chávez, Felipe Donoso, Carolina Rodas, Ecuador), Sugiberri (Mayu Takasugi, Johannes Berry, Belgium), Ted’A Arquitectes (Irene Perez Pifferer, Jaume Mayol Amengual, Spain); Terra+Tuma (Danilo Terra, Fernanda Sakano, Pedro Tuma, Juliana Terra, Brazil), Tropical Space (Tran Thi Ngu Ngon, Nguyen Hai Long, Vietnam), Xu Tiantian – DnA Design and Architecture (China), Raphael Zuber (Switzerland).