BIG Wins International Highrise Award

The award, which comes with a €50,000 prize, was given out today during a ceremony in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. A special award was given to the Housing & Development Board (HDB) of Singapore "for their exemplary leadership as a public agency realizing innovative high-rise sustainable residential community projects."

The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) nominated 30 outstanding buildings from the over 1,500 high-rises that were commissioned worldwide over the last two years. From the thirty, a jury of "experts consisting of architects, structural engineers and real estate specialists" selected the finalists and then unanimously chose BIG's innovative high-rise.

A press release on the International Highrise Award 2016 describes BIG's winning "courtscraper" design:

The hybrid of an American high-rise and a European perimeter development turns away from the building to the northeast and is orientated towards a green interior courtyard. The balconies integrated into the roof surface afford protected views of the Hudson River in the West. Almost all of the 709 apartments enjoy a view of the river and the sunset, which would have been geometrically impossible for a normal perimeter development. This sculptural prototype therefore offers a quiet, sheltered oasis within the loud city, without being closed off from it. BIG Architects have created great innovations with this building.

The four other finalists (two more in New York and two in Singapore) were honored at the ceremony:

• Four World Trade Center (New York/USA) by Maki & Associates, Tokyo/Japan
• 432 Park Avenue (New York/USA) by Rafael Viñoly Architects, New York/USA
• SkyHabitat (Singapore) by Safdie Architects, Boston/USA
• SkyVille@Dawson (Singapore) by WOHA Architects, Singapur