Architects Sweden Awards: Building of the Year to Johannes Norlander

– The Kasper Salin Prize, instituted in 1962, is Sweden’s oldest and biggest architectural award. Through the years several icon buildings have been awarded the prize, as the Markus Church by Sigurd Lewerentz and the City Hall in Kiruna by Artur von Schmalensee. This year the jury has rewarded every day architecture is a good sign of the ability of the Swedish architects to design buildings with less solemn functions, says Tobias Olsson, CEO Architects Sweden.

The jury statement says: ’For an exemplary well-designed everyday architecture, executed in close collaboration between the architect and the developer. A skilful and insightful design of the spaces and material processing, on both the smaller and larger scale, has consciously been at the forefront. Studio 1 is a residential building comprising qualities that will stand the test of time.’

The client, cooperative housing company HSB, calls Studio 1 ’a diamond in the treasury of HSB’. The architect is Johannes Norlander, Johannes Norlander arkitektur. It competed with three other projects, among them Nötkärnan Health Care Centre in Gothenburg by Wingårdhs, that recently was awarded at the World Architecture Festival for the world’s best building in category of health.

The winner of the Housing Prize, Katscha in Norrköping, is the result of a land use competition 2011 where the City Architect ’invented’ the plot, hanging over the Motala River on 80 pillars. Katscha is awarded for the second time: the housing project won a Gold Medal in Mipim this year. The architects are Ingrid Reppen and Kai Wartiainen, Arkitektur + Development, the client is the local builder Ivarsson Byggnads.

The jury statement says: ‘In the middle of the industrial landscape in Norrköping, Katscha almost invents its own site. The building creates new spaces and a residential architecture that is unique in Sweden. With its design and double height ceiling sections, Katscha is a valuable addition to the unique environment surrounding the Motala River.’

The Villa Prize was awarded to Mölle by the Sea by Elding Oscarson for a private client. The weekend house has a view over both sea and mountain and daylight that flows into an open plan.

The jury statement says: ’The design provides the perfect balance between openness, views and seclusion. By taking advantage of the location we find ourselves simultaneously outdoors and indoors. The robust design and the materials make Mölle by the Sea, in all its simplicity, an exciting and innovative villa of its time.’

Other prizes are the Siena Prize for best landscape, the Golden Chair for best interior architecture, the Planning Prize and the Architectural Critics Prize. As architecture should be experienced by all senses the members of the juries have examined more than 50 candidates before visiting between 20 and 30 on site.