Foundations 24, the magazine of the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, is dedicated to the 6th cycle of the regional LafargeHolcim Awards and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the activities of the Foundation.

Thanks to flexibility and an enthusiastic network, the LafargeHolcim Foundation has continued to promote sustainable construction by adapting to online jury meetings, webinars and interconnecting its network of thought leaders.

For the first time, the jury meetings for the LafargeHolcim Awards were held virtually. Heads of the juries Loreta Castro, Taller Capital and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico); Mariam Kamara, atelier masōmī (Niger); Nirmal Kishnani, National University of Singapore (Singapore); Reed Kroloff, Illinois Institute of Technology (USA); and Jeannette Kuo, Karamuk Kuo Architects (Switzerland) together with Head of the Foundation’s Academic Committee Marilyne Andersen,Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – EPFL (Switzerland), share their impressions of the submissions and the jury process.

General Manager of the Foundation, Edward Schwarz gives an update on the adapted plans of the Foundation that will “definitely keep the excitement of the Awards alive. Almost 5,000 authors or teams submitted projects for our competition – there was never a doubt that we would do everything possible to do justice to this enormous effort and to complete the 6th cycle of the competition.” Given the current situation, it is not possible to rely on a binding schedule.

The pandemic has reconfirmed the relevance of the “target issues” for sustainable construction developed by the Foundation; and the importance of a built environment that accommodates social impact, environmental challenges, economic parameters and demands innovation and transferability. Foundations 24 includes interviews on how the current pandemic crisis might become an opportunity for furthering sustainable construction. Insights were compiled from Maria Atkinson, Co-founder of the Green Building Council of Australia (Australia); Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos (Mexico/USA); Marilyne Andersen, EPFL Lausanne (Switzerland); Meisa Batayneh Maani, Maisam Architects & Engineers (Jordan), Stuart Smith, Arup (Germany); and Brinda Somaya, Somaya & Kalappa Consultants (India).

Foundations 24 – 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards (flip book)

Foundations 24 – 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards (PDF)