South African architect Peter Rich is the second winner of the World Building of the Year award, for a building on the site of an ancient civilisation.
The World Building of the Year jury was chaired by Rafael Viñoly and included Kengo Kuma, Farshid Moussavi, Suha Ozkan and structural engineer Tim Macfarlane.
Jurors were impressed with a number of schemes, such as the redevelopment of Father Duffy Square in New York and Bras Basah Mass Rapid Transit Station in Singapore. Both schemes, they felt, responded to complex urban problems in highly sophisticated ways.
They also admired the winner of the Landscape category, by Chinese architects Turenscape for its imaginative qualities and strength of execution.
But after a lively debate, the jury conceded that the Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre, South Africa, by Peter Rich was clearly the most architecturally and psychologically powerful project. ‘It carries both weight and a message of complexity to the outside world, ’ commented Suha Ozkan.