Inês Lobo wins 2014 arcVision Prize

Juri of the 2014 arcVision Prize - Women and Architecture

Portuguese Architect Inês Lobo is the winner of the Prémio 2014 arcVision - Women and Architecture, an international architecture award for female designers, now in its second year.

Established by Italian multinational Italcementi Group, the arcVision Prize is an initiative inspired by an entrepreneurial vision that recognizes the innovation and sustainability of the projects and constructions presented, with a special focus on the standards of technological innovation, environmental quality, cost-effective use of resources, social responsibility, functional and aesthetic research.

The 2014 jury consists of 10 women , recognized professionals from different nationalities, and includes some of the most respected and influential names in architecture, as Martha Thorne, director of the Pritzker Prize, and Kazuyo Sejima, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2010.

The decision to award Inês Lobo was unanimous, for her versatility as an architect, recognized for her ability to work on various scales and to integrate new buildings with the existing urban fabric, with a creative approach to complex architectural problems.

Upon receiving the news, Inês Lobo said: “It’s such a surprise! I am really surprised. I would like to elaborate, but it’s not easy. It’s really an important prize, with such an international vision, and also because it’s underline that it’s still difficult to be a woman architect. I am also very pleased to receive this award on occasion of the celebration for the 100 years since the birth of architect Bo Bardi, since one century ago it was even more difficult for women. But I would like to dedicate this prize – if you allow me- to all the people that make me to believe that architecture it’s a powerful way to build a better world for everybody, not matter if women or men.”

Inês Lobo | Complex of Arts and Architecture, University of Évora  

Inês Lobo | Ferreira Construction Company headquarters in Oporto

The Prize is a two-week research workshop at i.lab, the Italcementi Group R&D Center in Bergamo, and an amount of € 50,000, part of which may be devolved to social projects, at the discretion of the winner.

The jury also awarded three Special Mentions – Anna Heringer, from Germany,  Shimul Jhaveri Kadri, from India, and Cecilia Puga, from Chile – among 21 shortlisted architects from 15 countries: Austria, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, India, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and USA.