"The topics of sustainability and energy efficiency have been very high on the agenda at the Zumtobel Group for many years now. As our business is so closely linked to the work of architects and engineers, we decided to make a targeted contribution to fostering new concepts and developments in the built environment through the Zumtobel Group Award. And we have been amazed at the immense bandwidth of the innovative approaches in this field. In future this award will be a regular feature of our commitment to sustainable development," said CEO Andreas Ludwig.

The exhibition is sponsored by Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB). Karl Sevelda, RZB Board Member responsible for corporate banking, emphasised how important it is to invest in projects with a sustainable impact: "Sustainable development and commercial success can go hand-in-hand. The RZB Group ranks among Austria's leading suppliers of financing for climate care projects. So we are delighted that RZB can be the title sponsor of the Zumtobel Group Award. RZB sees its long-standing support of the arts as a direct investment in society. And in much the same way, this award in particular makes an important contribution to anchoring the concept of sustainability more firmly in the public consciousness."

Like the organisation of the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment, the travelling exhibition has been realised in collaboration with AEDES Architektur Forum Berlin. "The Zumtobel Group Award certainly helped publicise the two outstanding winning projects, but through the Award we are actually pursuing something far more important: we are aiming to create a broad-based public awareness of how new ideas in the fields of architecture, engineering and urban planning can bring about a sustainable improvement in our living conditions. And we are delighted that, following on from the memorable award ceremony in Bregenz, we can now communicate this message through the travelling exhibition as well," said award curator Kristin Feireiss in her address last night. In April of this year, a comprehensive publication on the Zumtobel Group Award entitled "Architecture of Change" will reach the bookstores, setting out all of the nominated projects in detail. The exhibition and the book are both being sponsored by Raiffeisen Zentralbank as part of the bank's sustainability sponsoring.

The travelling exhibition will remain on show at the Zumtobel Light Forum in Vienna, Jasomirgottstrasse 3-5, until 29 February 2008. The exhibition first opened in November in Dornbirn, Austria, where the Zumtobel Group is based. Future locations will include Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin and the Zumtobel Light Centres in London, Rome, New York and Sydney, as well as the Thorn Academy of Light in Spennymoor, England.


Extract from the guest list

Raiffeisen Zentralbank
Gregor Bitschnau
T +43-(0)171707-1955
gregor.bitschnau@rzb.at


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About the Zumtobel Group Award

As the logical next step in its corporate commitment to sustainability, in the spring of 2007 the Zumtobel Group created the Zumtobel Group Award for Humanity and Sustainability in the Built Environment. The award is designed to honour sustainable solutions and approaches in architecture and engineering that make a pioneering contribution to a more liveable future. The curators of the award are Kristin Feireiss and Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Directors of Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. The award features two categories covering built and realized projects on the one hand and research work and independent initiatives on the other. The "Built Environment" category is dedicated to outstanding architectural, engineering or urban design projects realized within the last two years, which meet current demands for models of sustainable living and working and will match up to the needs of the future. The purse in this category is EUR 80,000. The second category "Research and Initiative" is dedicated to innovative research projects and initiatives in architecture and the built environment. These may be developed by NGOs or universities, or independent groups and individuals. Aiming in particular to encourage an emerging generation of researchers and practitioners in architecture and urban design, this category, which carries a purse of EUR 60,000, is intended to foster the progress of ongoing initiatives and research projects.

The Jury of the Zumtobel Group Award 2007

Stefan Behnisch (Chairman) Architect / Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart (Germany)
Yung Ho Chang, Architect, Head of Department of Architecture / Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge (USA)
Colin Fournier, Architect / University College London, London (United Kingdom)
Peter Head, Structural Engineer / Arup, London (United Kingdom)
Andreas Ludwig, Chief Executive Officer / Zumtobel Group, Dornbirn (Austria)
Enrique Norten, Architect / TEN Arquitectos, Mexico City and New York (Mexico, USA)
Kazuyo Sejima, Architect / SANAA, Tokyo (Japan)
Peter Sloterdijk, Philosopher, Dean of Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe (Germany)
Anna Tibaijuka, General and Executive Director / UN Habitat, Nairobi (Kenya)