Hong Kong University architects win 2014 Ralph Erskine award

Joshua Bolchover and John Lin, operating at Hong Kong University, have been named the winners of the 2014 Ralph Erskine Award for their innovative architecture in China’s rural areas.

Through their architecture, Bolchover and Lin, demonstrate new ways to create better living conditions for people in rural China that has allowed them to stay there. The announcement marks the 100th anniversary of the prize founder Ralph Erskine, one of Sweden’s most prolific architects.

“John Lin and Joshua Bolchover have built a number of schools and other welfare functions in the Chinese countryside adopting a forward-looking sustainable architecture,” stated the Prize Jury in the citation. “Their architectonic solutions give proof to an innovative ability to use local techniques and materials, recycling as well as a robust approach to climate adaptation for the architectural design of important new functions in the villages.”

“It is a great honor to receive this award on what would have been Ralph Erskine’s 100th birthday. Erskine’s humanitarian approach to architecture combined with unashamedly bold form is something we aspire to in our own work,” said Joshua Bolchover.

About the Ralph Erskine Prize

Established in 1988, the Ralph Erskine Award honors an individual, group or organization for outstanding innovation in architecture and urban design that benefits the less privileged in society through improved social, ecological and aesthetic conditions. The winner receives a 10,000 USD award. Over the years, architect Ralph Erskine received several of the world’s principal distinctions and prizes for his architecture. He amalgamated the proceeds into a fund, the Ruth and Ralph Erskine Nordic Stipend Fund, administered by the Swedish Association of Architects. 

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For further information please contact:

Pehr Mikael Sällström

Mobile: 0086-131-20607540

E-mail: pm.sallstrom@arkitekt.se

Swedish Association of Architects is a professional organization for architects, interior architect