The Beijing Vector Architects Studio won the prestigious ARCHMARATHON 2016 Award, for the harmony between nature and architecture of the project “Seashore Library”. The third edition of the event, held on May 13 to 15 in Milan, reached more than 1000 visitors and included the presentation of 42 projects examined by an international jury chaired by Luca Molinari and composed of professionals of the sector and the critics, such as Lucy Bullivant, William Menking, Wassim Naghi, Li Brian Zhang and Elie Haddad.
Moreover, it was also awarded the best project in each of the ten categories: Fine Arts Museum of Asturias Arts & Culture by Francisco Mangado & Asociados Studio for Arts & Culture category; Case Western Reserve University, Tinkham Veale University Center of the Perkins + Will Studio for the category Education Buildings; Våler Church of Espen Surnevik Studio for the category of Religious Buildings; The Foundry Social Justice Center by the 00 Architecture Studio for the Workspaces category; the Priceless Milan realized by Park Associati for the Hotel & Leisure category; Saigon house of a21 studio for Private Housing category; SOS Children's Village by Urko Sánchez Architects for the Mixed Tenure Housing & Buildings category; the Courtyard House Plugin by the People's Architecture Office for the Retrofitting & Refurbishment category; the Merchant Square Bridge of Knight Architects for the Urban Design and Public Spaces category; Luchtsingel pedestrian bridge by ZUS Architects for the Transport category.
The Maternity and Oncologic Parking project by Díaz y Díaz Arquitectos instead won the Crowd Award of the online community.
The winner project: “Seashore Library”
Located in Beidaihe New District, China, the library overlooking the ocean is located in a resort on the Bay of Bohai. This built up area aims at creating a space in which the quality of life is enhanced by nature proximity. The area comprises buildings used for free time cultural activities, the most important is exactly the Seashore Library.
The project focuses on the investigation of the relationship between spaces and the movement of human body, the variation of light and air ventilation.
The library includes a reading area, a space for meditation, a multifunctional room, a café and a relaxation area. Each room has its own layout, a way to plumb in every possible way the relationship between space and the Ocean view. These variations also affect the flow of light and wind moving within each environment, as integral parts of these spaces.
