Roden Crater, © James Turrell / Foto Florian Holzherr

2012 Zumtobel Group Award

In the Built Environment category, the US-based not-for-profit architectural practice MASS Design Group won the Zumtobel Group Award for its Butaro Hospital project. Burera was one of the last two districts in the country without a functioning district hospital and its population of over 340,000 lacked access to a single doctor. MASS Design Group was brought in 2008 to help plan and design a first-rate facility that would reverse both the economic and health conditions of the community.

The award in the Research & Innovation category went to the French architectural practice atelier d’architecture autogérée (AAA) for their integrated research project R-URBAN in Colombes, a socially deprived suburb in the Greater Paris area. The project deals not only with ecological topics such as waste recycling and reducing the carbon footprint but also with social issues such as vocational training and job creation schemes. With the involvement of local residents, three pilot projects were developed.