ARCity has been named as this year's winner of the RIBA International Emerging Architect prize for their project Six Bricolage Houses.
The project, in Nantou Ancient City in Shenzen, China, is a curated series of six self-built homes, built as a pioneering and innovative model for urban renewal in order to meet community needs for housing whilst integrating sensitively with the ancient streets of the historic heart of the city.
Zhang Yuxing + Han Jing, of the ARCity Office, said:
“Winning the RIBA International Emerging Architect 2024 is not only an honour but also a significant affirmation of our innovative experiments. These experiments actually originate from the urban village where the project is located. It serves as an excellent sample, cleverly integrating formal spaces corresponding to the modernist city model with informal spaces corresponding to a wild, spontaneously growing state.
"This fusion gives rise to a “contradictory unity” composed of various elements such as old and new, heritage and life, poverty and prosperity, ruins and construction, wilderness and artificiality, everyday life and monumentality.
“In this project, we strived to demonstrate that this “contradictory unity,” actively designed by architects, not only creates delightful mixed-use spaces and civic public realm but also possesses the greatest potential for sustainable growth from the very beginning. Perhaps this represents a new paradigm for future cities and architecture - what we call “Bricolage Architecture.”
The RIBA International Emerging Architect recognises those who have been practising for 10 years or less and are making a significant contribution to the field of international architecture.
