The Holcim Awards Global Silver winner of 2015 focuses as much on the process of building as on the building as a physical artefact. The project exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia shows how architect Milinda Pathiraja of Robust Architecture Workshop (RAW) is contributing to the reconstruction of post-civil war Sri Lanka on the level of invigorating both the social and building fabric.

He proposed that the skills and discipline of the troops could be deployed into the building industry: replacing guns with tools. This meant training the military in a different set of skills, and since they were not trained craftsmen, the design needed to be robust and have room for tolerance. The design is repetitive to enable the ease of construction and aid training through repetition and building upon basic techniques. They created a program for building schools and used the project and construction of a community library in rural Ambepussa itself as part of the education process. Given the need for many new schools, this new knowledge has the potential to achieve scale and be replicated many times over in the future.

Beyond the impressive social dimension of the project, Milinda Pathiraja was able to go even further by constructing a building of rather remarkable architectural quality: an intelligent insertion into its context. A careful understanding of the sloping topography, an articulation of the volumes so as to integrate the surrounding landscape and the lush trees of the rainforest, the use of strong materials to provide thermal mass and lighter ones to allow for cross-ventilation, and an elegant architectural language are all operations that should not be taken for granted when working under charged circumstances.

The catalog of the Biennale notes: “So many times we have seen examples that try to tackle complex political and social challenges that fail to deliver quality architecture. Milinda Pathiraja is an exemplary case that demonstrates that the best way to do good is to start by making a good building.”

Post-War Collective wins Terra Award 2016

The community library and social recuperation project was announced Terra Award 2016 laureate in the Public Cultural Facilities category. The Terra Awards were initiated under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair “Earthen architecture, construction cultures and sustainable development” as the first international prize for contemporary earthen architecture.

The Terra Awards notes: “Earth is becoming increasingly popular in contemporary architecture: hundreds of projects of high aesthetic and technical quality are emerging across five continents. This material, which has low embodied energy, is readily available and appropriate for participatory buildings. It could help provide a solution to the needs for ecological and economical housing.” 2012 Pritzker prize laureate and former Holcim Awards winner, Wang Shu, was head of the awards jury. The prizes were presented in Lyon, France on 14 July the Terra 2016 World Congress, hosted by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Effective training and architectural proficiency

Overlapping between vocational training and environmental planning strategies, the project attempts to heal social wounds, build workforce capacity, disseminate knowledge, appreciate sustainable building and strengthen social relations. The focus on knowledge creation and retraining – and the subsequent transformation of the army into a society-building institution – intends to support the much-needed demilitarization of the country in the aftermath of its 30-year civil war.

The single-storey building mass spans across the landscape, resting on soil through rammed-earth walls and floating above rocks via galvanised iron stilts. The building informally wraps around an internal courtyard, which is also an extension of the external landscape. Its placement on site accommodates all existing trees, follows the scale of adjacent buildings and acknowledges the natural life of the physical setting.

A series of formal and informal platforms for reading are organised in and around the building; its spatial progression unfolds as an experiential journey across diverse volumes, framed views, and blurred definitions between inside and outside. The library complex consists of three building blocks: the lending and reference section (main library), the children’s library, and the research centre. The main library and the research centre are placed almost parallel to the site’s contour formation, while the children’s section runs up the hill playfully, incorporating sudden changes in spatial volumes, and framing distant views through its cubic protrusions; skylights and the protrusions bring in plenty of light and air, while also generating a formal curiosity to entice the building’s young users.

The work of Robust Architecture Workshop is on display at the Central Pavilion until November 27, 2016, as part of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. The 5th Holcim Awards competition is open for entries until March 21, 2017 at:

/awards