Press information
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Yorck Förster, Christina Gräwe, |
New from DOM publishers:
Yorck Förster, Christina Gräwe, Peter Cachola Schmal (Eds.)
German Architecture Annual 2023
That the DAM Prize for Architecture in Germany 2023 has been awarded to the extension of an existing building illustrates the significance of the topic on the current architectural discourse: it is the Landratsamt in Starnberg / District Building in Starnberg, a "wonderful example for the ever so wise, but rarely practiced principle of continuing a pre-existing build", as jury chairman Martin Haas puts it. Two of the finalists are also accomplished extensions of existing buildings: the Bundesgeschäftsstelle des Deutschen Alpenvereins e.V. / Extension German Alpine Club headquarters in Munich by ELEMENT • A Architekten together with hiendl_schineis architektenpartnerschaft, and the Dorfscheine Prädikow / Village barn Prädikow in Prötzel by Hütten & Paläste. Two further finalists are the Stadtbahntunnel / Light Rail Tunnel in Karlsruhe by allmannwappner, and the Münchner Volkstheater in Munich by LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei.
Since its launch in 2007, and from 2017 onwards in cooperation with its partner JUNG, the annually presented DAM Prize has been awarding outstanding buildings in Germany. The German Architecture Annual 2023 presents the winning project and the finalists together with the shortlisted entries from Germany and by German architects. In their contributions, respected authors provide in-depth portrayals of the 26 projects that were chosen from a pool of 102 nominations - which included three non-competing building ensembles realised by German bureaus overseas - by a jury for the DAM Prize for Architecture in Germany 2023.
The German Architecture Annual documents more than just a cross section of the most noteworthy buildings completed each year. The individual volumes also reveal which building tasks are of particular importance and currently at the forefront of public discussions - as the nominations are not limited in regard to typology, building size or use. The broad spectrum of tasks can be seen in the longlist, which has already been presented in the Architectural Guide Germany 2023 (available in German). Within that title it becomes apparent that the debate surrounding public spaces is gathering momentum, that flexible forms of housing are increasingly being experimented with and the discourse on refurbishing instead of knocking down old buildings has intensified. The urgency is reflected not only in the selection of built projects, but also in one of the two accompanying essays: in "Nichts Neues!" ("Nothing New!") Jonas Malzahn explains the poignancy of the topic and proves the point with real-life examples.
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 All images: © Aldo Amoretti |