Piran Days of Architecture - Winners of the 2009 Piranesi Award

In conjunction with the 27th International Architectural Conference “Piran Days of Architecture” that took place in Piran, Slovenia last weekend, the international jury for the Piranesi Award announced the winning project: Aloni House in Antiparos, Greece by Athens-based decaARCHITECTURE. The judges praised how the traditional agricultural technique of stone retaining terrace walls becomes the spring board for transforming this domestic structure into a landscape intervention.

The jury, chaired by Yvonne Farrell, included Milton Braga, MMBB, São Paulo; Wang Shu, Amateur Architecture Studio, Hangzhou; Aaron Tan, RAD, Hong Kong; Maruša Zorec, Arrea, Ljubljana; Shelley McNamara in Yvonne Farrell, Grafton Architects, Dublin, who had a combined single vote; Diébédo Francis Kéré, Kere Architecture, Gando in Berlin; Saša Randić, Randić&Turato, Rijeka; John Wardle, John Wardle Architects, Melbourne; and Robert McCarter, Washington University, St. Louis.

A total of 31 projects took part in the international exhibition for the Piranesi Award, from Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia. The criteria of selection for the Piranesi exhibition were: considered setting in an urban or natural space; contemporary innovative spatial plan; respectful approach to the natural and cultural heritage; contemporary understanding of traditional and autochthonous architectural elements; innovative details; and considered use of color, materials, texture and light.

These are the recipients of the Honorable Mentions: