Awarded entries of the second edition
TRANSFER Global Architecture Platform announces the awarded entries of the second edition of the TRANSFER Architecture Video Award:
The winner of the TRANSFER Architecture Video Award 2021 is the video by Joshua Bolchover and John Lin, Split Lives, Hong Kong, 2021.
In the jury’s words, the film “shows in a very powerful way how vernacular spaces are inhabited and impacted by broad territorial and urban changes. As part of a research project, the short film brilliantly displays the dichotomy between two different realities both from a spatial and social perspective, leading to a multi-layered understanding of the built environment.”
Joshua Bolchover and John Lin set up Rural Urban Framework (RUF) as a design and research lab at the University of Hong Kong. Over the last 12 years, RUF focused on sites impacted by the dynamics between urban and rural transformation.
The jury awarded four honourable mentions:
Not by Bricks Alone, Archie Cantwell, Ireland, 2019, “raises the actual architectural and social problem of housing affordability from both a critical and ironical perspective. By cleverly exploring both documentary and fictional formats, the short film raises key questions about the processes and the actors driving the housing market.” Jury report
Art Barn, Jim Stephenson, United Kingdom, 2020, “displays in a sophisticated and sensitive way the transformation of an old barn into an artist studio. The short film beautifully captures the spatial qualities of the place and engage with the audience in a very intimate way through the conversations between the architect and the artist.” Jury report
A Short History of the Elevator Pitch, Ines Weizman, United Kingdom, 2020, “explores in a sharp way the role of an architectural element as generator of a media form. Build on a thoughtful script, the short film brilliantly unveils an intriguing narrative, beautifully displaying the close relationship between space, movement and sound.” Jury report
Grounded, Tapio Snellman, United Kingdom / Philippines, 2019, “unveils the economic pressure and transformation processes of contemporary cities in a brilliant and subtle way. Through a personal story, the short film sharply explores the dichotomy between the generic new city and the specific identity of the existing neighbourhood.” Jury report
The jury and the organisers warmly congratulate the awarded, finalists and shortlisted videos and invite you to discover them in TRANSFER.
TRANSFER Architecture Video Award is an international biannual award created by TRANSFER in 2019 to recognize the best contributions exploring innovative ways of analysing architecture, city or landscape through the short video format. As architectural editors, through this Award, we aim to explore the potential of this format, linked to the contemporary digital means of communication, both as a critical tool and as an artistic practice to reflect on our built environment.
The international jury:
Giovanna Borasi, Director, Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal / Alejandra Celedón, Professor, Head Master Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago de Chile / Josep Ferrando, Principal Josep Ferrando Architecture, Director ETSA La Salle-URL, Director Centre Obert d’Arquitectura, Barcelona / Fabrizio Gallanti, Director Arc en Rêve, Bordeaux / Daniel Kötter, Filmmaker, Berlin / Rahul Mehrotra, Principal RMA architects, Mumbai-Boston, Professor and Chair Department Urban Planning, Harvard GSD / Isabel Concheiro, Editor-in-chief, TRANSFER / Helen van Vemde, Founder, Sotto Voce Fondation
The main criteria taken into account by the jury were the contribution made by the videos to the exploration of innovative ways of analysing and experiencing architecture, city and landscape; the relevance of the chosen theme and its relationship with the cinematographic approach. The growing importance of video as an instrument for the analysis of architecture and the built environment alike can be seen in the variety and quality of the winning videos, and in the lively international interest generated by this award.
The TRANSFER Architecture Video Award 2021 ceremony took place on 29 October in the framework of the cinema encounters Ecrans Urbains 2021 at the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts of Lausanne, Switzerland, where, in addition to the announcement of the awarded entries, the finalist videos were exhibited.
