JULIEN DE SMEDT ARCHITECTS wins the prestigious International Award at the Belgian Building Awards 2014

As it is by now a yearly tradition, the Belgian Building Awards will take place this Wednesday the 26th of February at Batibouw. For the 2014 edition, Julien De Smedt will be awarded the International Award. His practice, JDS Architects, located in Brussels, Copenhagen and Shanghai, has drawn over 300 projects, of which around 40 are realised in 35 countries, across 5 continents.

International Architecture from Belgium

A quick look at JDS body of work gives an immediate sense of how international their work is: from the World Championship Skijump of Oslo to a large Office Campus in Istanbul, the Iceberg Dwellings in Aarhus, Denmark or the H-Gate project in Hangzhou, China.

In Oslo, their Skijump project has become a tourist magnet rivalling with Wimbledon and the Wembley Arena, as the world’s most visited sports facility. The Kalvebod Waves project recently delivered in Copenhagen’s downtown harbour transforms the city’s relationship to the water, literally redrawing its shore to provide new spaces for public life to unfold.

In Lille, JDS Architects is building a 7000 m² mixed use complex that combines a kindergarten, a youth hostel and a business incubator around a triangular garden, representing the relations of 3 different ages of mankind: childhood, youth and entrepreneurship. Some of JDS’ latest building sites are in China, with 2 large scale offices projects in the cities of Hangzhou and Qingdao.

From Brussels, JDS Architects focuses on its European portfolio, delivering later this month a police station, commissioned by AG Vespa, in Antwerp and a house in the French Jura region.

Architect vs. Designer

Besides architecture, Julien De Smedt is now also involved in the international design scene. Late 2013 he launched his design label Makers With Agendas at Design September in Brussels, Maison & Objet in Paris and at the New Museum in New York. “Makers With Agendas is a new design capacity engaged in thinking, producting and distributing design.”, says Julien De Smedt.”

Belgian Building Awards – International Award

The Belgian Building Awards are organised by BATIBOUW in collaboration with Confederatie Bouw, Ik Ga Bouwen & Renoveren, Trends Top Bouw, the Order of Architects and the AiNB and they award the realisations of architects, builders, planners en contractors. With the International Award, BATIBOUW confirms its knowledge in the building and design sector outside of Belgium.

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