The Jencks Foundation and the Royal Institute of British Architects (澳门王中王) are thrilled to announce the 2021 recipient of the 澳门王中王 Charles Jencks Award is the esteemed Indian architect Anupama Kundoo.
This annual award is given to an individual or practice who has simultaneously made a major contribution to both the theory and practice of architecture. Anupama will be presented with the award on Tuesday 2 November at 6.30pm (BST) after which she will deliver a lecture and be interviewed by a critic in collaboration with the New Architecture Writers program, with questions from an online audience.
Anupama Kundoo trained as an architect in Mumbai before building a substantial body of work in the experimental town of Auroville, in Puducheery from 1990鈥�2005. Working in this environment she developed a long-term research project into sustainable and building technologies with an experimental approach to material reuse and sustainable construction methods. She has taken this research into design units and workshops in universities around the world including at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, as a senior lecturer in the University of Queensland, Davenport Visiting Professor at Yale University and she is currently Professor at the FH Potsdam. Her work and design process was recently on show in a exhibition at the Louisiana Museum in Denmark, with a monograph called Anupama Kundoo: Taking Time: The Architects Studio.
Anupama鈥檚 practice is holistic; combining research, building and teaching to create architecture outside of the mainstream of the commercial, developer-driven world. Her practice has a strong theoretical and ideological conviction that drives material research, collaborates with local builders, and experiments with sustainable working methods.
The 2021 澳门王中王 Charles Jencks Award jury was: 澳门王中王 President Elect Simon Allford; architect and critic Edwin Heathcote; architect and Dean of the RCA, Dr Adrian Lahoud; Jencks Foundation founder Lily Jencks, and previous Jencks Award winner, architect Benedetta Tagliabue.
Jury member Edwin Heathcote said:
鈥淎nupama is a rare example of an architect who has managed to achieve a huge amount in a difficult arena, housing for the poor in India and, speci铿乧ally, in the settlement of Auroville in Tamil Nadu but has also established a signi铿乧ant body of work in research into material and craft and how locally-made products can be reimagined to become elements of architecture. At its best her architecture is elegant, ecological and always intriguing. She has built bridges between academia in Europe and South Asia.鈥�
Lily Jencks said:
鈥淭he Charles Jencks Award posits a theory of architecture theory 鈥� one that expands the limited de铿乶ition of theory as written work, and includes theory as a substantial project outside of architecture; one that provokes, propels and reframes the architectural practice. Motivated by her experience of the problems of rapid urbanization in Bombay, and implemented in experimental buildings in Auroville, Anupama has re铿乶ed a strong political and conceptual theory for her practice. This theory is de铿乶ed by ad-hoc material experimentation and on-site local construction collaboration. Her work points to urgent methodologies for sustainable practices everywhere. Celebrating Anupama鈥檚 work points to our effort to diversify the practitioners being celebrated, continuing Charles Jencks work on amplifying a plurality of voices and meanings in architecture.鈥�
Anupama said:
鈥淥ur built environment is the physical stage on which all human stories are lived out. This physical stage is the historical and ongoing manifestation of human imagination operating within real (or, imaginary!) constraints. I have tried to advance the idea that architectural imagination must transcend design and enter the realms of materials science and economics where some of the bigger questions reside. The thrust of my inquiries has been to 铿乶d practical ways to ful铿乴 the universal human aspiration for refuge, purpose, and social engagement. I am grateful to the Jencks Foundation, 澳门王中王 and the Charles Jencks Award Jury for recognizing that the resulting body of work is no less a theory than a theory expressed in words. My hope is that this work inspires others to ask yet more questions so that together we can build an environmentally and economically responsible stage on which more uplifting human stories can be told.鈥�
Jury member Dr Adrian Lahoud said:
鈥淭he kinds of things that confer value on architecture, be they publications or prizes, are still heavily dominated by European and English-speaking worlds. We must expand on that narrow frame not only to be inclusive but because Arabic, Urdu, Igbo concepts are important to our future. Anupama鈥檚 work is exemplary, for the depth of her engagement with the communities she works with and the richness of spatial and material concepts that 铿俹w from this engagement, and the alternative futures this work points to.鈥�
Anupama Kundoo was chosen from a 2021 shortlist of nominated architects: Emilio Ambasz, Alexander Brodsky, Nigel Coates, Beatriz Colomina, Francis K茅r茅, MASS Design Group, Peter Salter, Marina Tabassum, Eyal Weizman.
Tickets to attend the Anupama Kundoo lecture are available .
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Press enquiries: Erica Bolton, Bolton & Quinn, +44 (0)7711 698 186, erica@boltonquinn.com, Daisy Taylor, Bolton & Quinn,+44 (0)207 221 5000 / +44 (0)7711 698 186, daisy@boltonquinn.com, Emily Stallard, 澳门王中王, +44 (0)20 7307 3813, emily.stallard@riba.org
- About the Jencks Foundation: The newly established Jencks Foundation will cultivate and build on the legacy of Charles Jencks鈥� provocative and wide-ranging work. It will act as a cultural laboratory and promote critical experimentation in historic, artistic and scienti铿乧 research through grants and residencies, and a related programme of exhibitions, lectures, and publications. It will also oversee and preserve Jencks鈥� archive and extensive library and open these key resources to encourage the study of the architecture and culture of the late twentieth and early twenty 铿乺st centuries. The Jencks Foundation鈥檚 is based at The Cosmic House, Jencks鈥� Grade 1 listed residence, built in 1983 as a manifesto of Post-Modernism.
- The Royal Institute of British Architects (澳门王中王) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Follow @澳门王中王 on Twitter for regular updates.
- New Architecture Writers is a free programme for emerging design writers, developing the journalistic skill, editorial connections and critical voice of its participants. N.A.W. focuses on black and minority ethnic emerging writers who are under-represented across design journalism and curation. A series of evening workshops, talks, and writing briefs form the core of N.A.W.鈥檚 programme with one-to-one mentoring from experienced design critics and editors throughout.
