20 Dec Architecture Prize, the jury has its say
JuKuRIKU is a finalist for the South Tyrol Architecture Prize in the Public category. When we nominated the project, the category chosen by our studio was not the one for which we became a finalist. We tell you why. When we nominated the JuKuRIKU project for the 10th edition of the South Tyrol Architecture Prize, the category chosen by our studio was not the one for which we became finalists. We had imagined that the project would be part of the ‘Interior’ category because our intervention focused mainly on that aspect. We had endeavoured to redefine the interior spaces of the former fire brigade headquarters, later the Rifiano municipal warehouse, transforming them into a cultural centre dedicated to young people. A special centre, with a raw, building soul, in which local boys and girls could express their identity. The jury of this tenth edition grasped something further in JuKuRIKU, moving the work from the Interior to the Public. Thus we were confronted with projects as diverse as the Civic Library in Brixen – winner of the award -, the Music School in Brixen, the Intercable Arena in Bruneck, the Kindergarten in Rifiano and the service building for the sports centre in Toggenburg, among many others. The motivations expressed by Sandra Bartoli, Peter Riepl and Clemens Waldhart, together with the level of the public-related projects, are awards of which we are particularly proud. JuKuRIKU is a project with a strong public connotation “…conceived as a small city, the spaces articulated in such a way as to be able to host different activities, the raw materials used and the essential character of the environments give young people a place to make their own”. Now the jury has the floor.
“Public – What is striking is the constantly cultivated relationship with public housing, which seems to be based on a solid competition culture. The realisations are also accurate and consistent, generally complete right down to the furnishings and graphics. There seems to be no systematic, counterproductive economising to the bone, which is gratifying as it testifies to an idea of long-term sustainability and responsible use of public resources. With intelligent planning, public funds can do more than just serve their intended purpose”.