• Six international architectural firms to design concepts for future mobility in the urban realm
• Workshop to be held in London with architects and Audi experts
• Significant milestone for the most highly remunerated German architectural award
Audi Urban Future Award
Una visione della città e della mobilità di domani
• La Casa tedesca promuove un concorso internazionale di architettura
• A Londra, l’incontro tra gli studi in gara per sviluppare la mobilità e la città del futuro
• La finale in programma alla 12a Biennale di Venezia
Ingolstadt/London May 28, 2010 – With the Audi Urban Future Award, Audi brings six international architectural firms together in a competition to develop models and visions of the future interplay between mobility, architecture and the city. The participants met to exchange thoughts with Audi experts in Ingolstadt and then elaborated their ideas as part of a workshop in London. The finale is in August; the projects will then be on display during the 12th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
“In shaping the future of the automobile, it is important to analyze trends and look beyond one’s own back yard,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of AUDI AG. “The exchange with pioneers of another discipline – but one which has many parallels to automotive engineering – is proving to be very inspiring. In particular, because the architects come from very different cultural backgrounds.”
The architects visited Audi in Ingolstadt on May 26, when they talked shop with brand experts from Technical Development, Design, and Brand and Corporate Strategy. The discussions included topics of the future such as electrification and multimedia networking – and whether these technologies will change automotive design. During the subsequent workshop at the Design Museum in London, the contestants unveiled their concepts for the city of the future and progressed their ideas for aspects such as mobility, transformation and sustainability. They were assisted by the Audi Think Tank, the two Audi design chiefs, Wolfgang Egger and Stefan Sielaff, and Stylepark AG. The competition gives each participant the freedom to choose their own approach to the topic.
The following architectural firms are taking part in this visionary competition: Alison Brooks Architects (London), Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen), Cloud9 (Barcelona), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), J. Mayer H. Architects (Berlin) and Standardarchitecture (Beijing).
Stylepark AG in Frankfurt is supporting Audi as a partner in developing the concept and thematic focus of the award. “The Audi Urban Future Award is no ordinary competition,” explains Stylepark Director Christian Gärtner. “Despite the competition of ideas among the architectural firms, the aim is to develop perspectives collectively.” For him as well, the prospect of uniting representatives from two normally separate spheres in a dialogue holds a special appeal.
The results of the competition will be presented in an exhibition curated by Stylepark at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia on the occasion of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. For the exhibition, each of the architects will produce an installation as well as models and images representing their concept of a transformed reality. The exhibition will be designed by Raumlaborberlin.
On the occasion of the exhibition opening on August 25, 2010, an international and interdisciplinary jury will bestow the Audi Urban Future Award. The architectural award with an endowment of 100,000 Euro is the most highly remunerated German architectural award. The members of the jury under the chairmanship of Saskia Sassen (London School of Economics, London / Columbia University, New York) are: Wolfgang Egger (AUDI AG, Ingolstadt), Massimiliano Fuksas (Studio Fuksas, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Shenzen), Christian Gärtner (Stylepark AG, Frankfurt), Andres Lepik (Museum of Modern Art, New York City), Ma Jun (Tongji University, Shanghai), Rahul Mehrotra (Rahul Mehrotra Associates, Mumbai/ / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge), Fernando de Mello Franco (MMBB, São Paulo), Stefan Sielaff (AUDI AG, Ingolstadt) and Rupert Stadler (AUDI AG, Ingolstadt).
Audi will document the individual phases of the Audi Urban Future Award in three publications, as well as on the website www.audi-urban-future-award.com.
Nei mesi scorsi, la Audi ha dato vita all’Audi Urban Future Award (AUFA), una competizione a cadenza biennale che coinvolgerà sei studi di architettura di fama internazionale – Alison Brooks Architects (Londra), Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen), Cloud9 (Barcellona), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), J. Mayer H. Architects (Berlino) and Standardarchitecture (Pechino) – invitati a ripensare le città, riprogettandone forma e sostanza.
Come primo passo, i partecipanti si sono incontrati presso la sede della Audi a Ingolstadt con esperti della tecnica, del design e della corporate strategy della Casa tedesca. La discussione si è concentrata su temi quali l’elettrificazione e la interconnessione multimediale, e sul modo in cui queste tecnologie cambieranno il design dell’automobile.
Venerdì scorso, poi, i partecipanti si sono riuniti di nuovo al Design Museum di Londra, per dare vita a un workshop durante il quale hanno svelato i loro studi sul futuro della mobilità e hanno esposto le loro idee in tema di sostenibilità urbana. Erano presenti all’evento anche i due responsabili del design Audi Wolfgang Egger e Stefan Sielaff e i membri dello Stylepark, l’agenzia curatrice dell’evento.
“Nel dare forma al futuro dell’auto è importante analizzare i trend del momento e gettare lo sguardo oltre i soliti confini” commenta Rupert Stadler, Presidente della Audi AG. “Lo scambio di idee con gli esperti di un settore diverso – ma con forti parallelismi con l’ingegneria automobilistica – sta dando prova di essere un’ottima fonte di ispirazione, proprio per il background ricco e variegato degli architetti coinvolti”.
I risultati della competizione saranno presentati il 25 agosto in occasione della 12a Biennale di Venezia, in un’esibizione curata dallo stesso Stylepark, presso la Scuola Grande della Misericordia. Ogni partecipante produrrà un’istallazione corredata da modelli e immagini che diano forma e concretezza all’idea.
In questa occasione si riunirà la giuria internazionale che decreterà l’assegnazione dell’Audi Urban Future Award e dei 100.000 Euro in palio. La giuria sarà presieduta da Saskia Sassen (London School of Economics, London/Columbia University, New York) e composta da: Wolfgang Egger (Audi AG, Ingolstadt), Massimiliano Fuksas (Studio Fuksas, Roma, Parigi, Francoforte, Shenzen), Christian Gärtner (Stylepark AG, Frankfurt), Andres Lepik (Museum of Modern Art, New York City), Ma Jun (Tongji University, Shanghai), Rahul Mehrotra (Rahul Mehrotra Associates, Mumbai/Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge), Fernando de Mello Franco (MMBB, San Paolo), Stefan Sielaff (Audi AG, Ingolstadt) e Rupert Stadler (Audi AG, Ingolstadt).
Tutte le informazioni sono disponibili sul sito: www.audi-urban-future-award.com.