image courtesy of AARHUS School Of Architecture

AARHUS School Of Architecture in Deanmark has announced that BIG, SANAA and Lacaton&Vassal are selected as pre-qualified candidates for the new school of architecture in Denmark. In the press release, it has been announced that 42 teams from Denmark and abroad have applied to pre-qualify for participation in the restricted design contest for the first newly built school of architecture in Denmark. The school is expected to be ready for inauguration in 2020 and will be built in the centre of Aarhus – on an area where a goods station was formerly located.

“We are very pleased with the great interest that has been shown in our new school. Over half of the applicants come from abroad – not only from Europe but also from e.g. Japan and USA. And they include many big, recognised Danish and international architects,” says Torben Nielsen, Rector of Aarhus School of Architecture.

The field of candidates was strong, but three pre-qualified candidates have now been selected. The pre-qualified candidates are:

-Lacaton & Vassal (France) along with Powerhouse and Kristine Jensens Tegnestue

-SANAA (Japan) along with B+G Ingenieure and Sasaki and Partners

- BIG (Denmark) along with Transform, Rambøll and SLA

In cooperation with Aarhus School of Architecture, the Danish Building & Property Agency has selected the three pre-qualified candidates who were found to best meet the criteria. Overall, they make up an extremely strong field. Lisa Sørensen, Project Manager at the Danish Building & Property Agency, and Torben Nielsen agree that making the selection was difficult.

“However, we believe that we have found three extremely qualified candidates who can create exciting and challenging proposals for a new school. They all have an uncompromising and convincing approach to architecture. Lacaton& Vassal master brutal and raw architecture, SANAA has a poetic simplicity while BIG can contribute with a playful and experimental approach.”

The Danish Building & Property Agency communicated the news to the pre-qualified candidates Friday morning. They were excited about the pre-qualification and look forward to getting to work. However, they must show a great deal of patience and wait until their future competitors have been identified in the open design contest.

In the beginning of December, the Danish Building & Property Agency will announce an international design contest which is open to all architects and to students of architecture all over the world. In the open design contest three candidates will also be selected. Together with the three pre-qualified candidates, they will proceed to the restricted design contest expected to take place in the autumn of 2016. In this competition they must present their idea of what the new school of architecture should look like. The winner is expected to be selected in the spring of 2017.

> via aarch.dk