The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is pleased to announce that it has selected 5468796 Architecture Inc. as the recipient of its first annual Emerging Architectural Practice Award.
5468796 Architecture is a Winnipeg-based collaborative studio, established in 2007. Under the guidance of Johanna Hurme, MRAIC, Sasa Radulovic, MRAIC, and Colin Neufeld, MRAIC, the office unites the diverse knowledge and experience of 12 young professionals, symbolized by the single table that they share.
5468796 believes that there are no “great project briefs,” and that it is the responsibility of the architect to find opportunities for exploration and innovation within even the most unremarkable proposal. While 5468796’s architecture always begins and operates within the parameters and realities of site, market and economy, the team also believes that every project, client, user and civic environment – regardless of budget – deserve an outcome that advances architecture in some way.
Selecting 5468796 Architecture, the jury stated that this emerging firm “represents the very best of Canadian practices. It clearly stands out on the Canadian architectural landscape and is undeniably helping to reshape it. Its work is refreshing and important in its combination of typological daring, visual playfulness and intellectual rigour – all the while thoroughly engaging in the fundamental questions of architecture and urbanism. To have achieved the breadth and quality of work at this stage in their careers — from urban pavilions to low-cost housing to multi-use commercial buildings — is all the more remarkable.”
In a short time, 5468796 has already left a lasting impression on the built environment and received a multitude of awards and global recognition, including a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture, an RAIC Award of Excellence, and several others from the Architectural Review and Canadian Architect magazine, to name just a few.
5468796 makes design advocacy an ongoing pursuit through critical practice, professorships at the University of Manitoba, and various public engagements. In 2012, the studio co-curated Migrating Landscapes, Canada’s official submission to the Venice Biennale in Architecture.
5468796 Architecture will receive its award during the Presidents’ Dinner & Awards Gala on Friday, June 7, 2013 during the 2013 RAIC-NSAA Festival of Architecture taking place from June 5-8, 2013 at the Halifax Marriott Habourfront.
The RAIC Emerging Architectural Practice Award aims to recognize the principals of an emerging architectural practice that have consistently produced distinguished architecture. The award recognizes the achievements of the principals for the quality of their built work, service to their clients, innovations in practice and public recognition.
For more information, please visit http://raic.org/honours_and_awards/awards_emerging/2013/recipient_e.htm.