| Vergilius Gold Award 2012 Environment and Architecture The Golden Vergilius is traveling from its hometown of Mantua to Paris for the upcoming 2012 edition. It will be hosted in the conference room at the Louvre, one of the most prominent cultural institutions in the world. It will be a multicultural journey through different lands and cultures, brought to life throughout history by architecture, environmental layout and its usage. Its visit will spread the message of the Golden Vergilius --one of coexisting disciplines and cultures-- throughout the contemporary world, where the need for integration of new cultures is especially strong in a time in which widescale global changes blur the individuality of places and peoples. At the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium, the main focus of architecture and territorial planning are the global economic recession, abandonment of the industrial system that has dominated international growth for over a century, our dependency on oil as the dominant energy source fueling our cities, and a critique of consumerist society and abuse of the land. Some of the themes discussed in this edition of the Golden Vergilius Award include alternative fuels, integration of cities with the natural environment, returning agriculture to urban centers, environmental sustainability and waste reduction. The third Golden Vergilius Award ceremony will take place on October 13, 2012 at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris. Prior to the ceremony, the winners of both this edition and the previous one will participate in a panel focused on the main theme of the 2012 Golden Vergilius: Environment and Architecture. More informations: www.premiovergilius.com Vergilius Gold Award: how it started The award was created by Monotile, a Mantua-based firm that produces raised flooring made from single-body marble and crushed stone. Since 2007, Mantua has become the ideal location for the Golden Vergilius Award. The historical teachings, taught by Italian art and architecture masters within an environment in which clients encouraged cultural exchanges, are used here to refresh intercultural dialogue on building the city of the future, in which man is at the core of the project. The historic and cultural heritage of the city must be preserved by reigniting the contemporary debate about building a location's architecture. Occasions like this attest to a vision to shape the future with an eye on innovation, while keeping traditions alive without repeating conventional values in the way some stylistic movements have done in the past. The Golden Vergilius is a recurring event aimed to encourage contact between cultures, all within the realm of multidisciplinary knowledge. |
 Updates from Facebook MVRDV's green line from Rotterdam to Seoul Skyscrapers are increasingly greener, including those in the modern megalopolises of the Orient designed by MVRDV, the Dutch studio founded in Rotterdam in 1993 by Winy MaasJacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. The 2 luxury residential towers were introduced in Seoul, Korea by Yongsan Sogno Hub, Real Estate, which is engaged in the residential planning of the Yongsan business district. The project includes two towers, one 260 metres and the other 300 metres high, connected at the centre a "cloud of pixels" where the additional services of the two buildings are located. The towers, with a total area of 128,000 m² should be completed in 2015. |