Ptuj architectural project wins Piranesi Award

The authors of the project that won the international accolade are members of the Ljubljana architectural studio Elementarna (Matevž Zalar, Ambrož Bartol, Dominik Košak, Miha Munda, Rok Staudacher, Samo Kralj) and the Škofja Loka studio Kolektiv Tektonika (Darja Matjašec, Pia Kante, Katja Mali).

The winner of the Piranesi Award and honourable mentions were selected by an international jury comprised of lecturers at this year's conference.

In picking the main winner the jury underscored that the reuse of existing buildings is central to architectural culture because it shows both respect for the environment and historical continuity.

"This project subtly stitches together a piece of urban fabric, keeping it relevant by bringing old buildings into new public uses. It has a wonderful atmosphere, integrating new elements and old with poetic conviction," the jury said.

The international Piranesi Award has been given out since 1989. This year national selectors from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Serbia nominated 53 projects.

Apart from the Ptuj glassworks revitalisation five other projects made the short list: the renovation of a Roman Catholic Church in Cserépváralja, Hungary, the horizontal skyscraper Bicocca Superlab in Milan, Italy, the Piazza Lucio Dalla e Casa di Quartiere in Bologna, Italy, the Winery Tomac in Croatia's Jastrebarsko and the Štvanice footbridge in Prague, the Czech Republic.

The Piranesi honourable mentions went to a group of architects from Arrea arhitektura, KAL A, and AKKA for the Bohinj kindergarten, Slovenia, and to the Austrian architectural studio PPAG for Rivus Vivere, an urban building block in Vienna.

"We enjoyed the linear sequence of open spaces framed loosely by buildings. This allows easy interaction between children. The wooden construction was clear and well articulated. It seems like a village made from a collection of buildings that feel like home," the jury said about the Bohinj kindergarten.

They lauded Rivus Vivere as an ambitious large-scale project that creates high-density housing while keeping the character of a city neighbourhood and creates intimate shared courtyards with different layers of privacy.

The honourable mention for a student project went to Matija Cepanec and his mentor Lea Pelivan for the Biological Corridor of Plitvica River near Croatia's Varaždin.