Europe 40 Under 40 - Architecture and Design Award 2008

EUROPE\'S MOST IMPORTANT AND EMERGING YOUNG ARCHITECTS AND
DESIGNERS NAMED AS \"EUROPE 40 UNDER 40\"

The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design are pleased to announce the selection of this year’s most promising and emerging design talent in Europe for 2008.
Thirty-two architects and architecture firms and eight industrial designers were selected by a jury of architecture and design practitioners that convened in New York at the end of 2007.

Geographically, the selected young recipients for the 2008 “Europe 40 Under 40®” hail from across 14 European nations : Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Spain—the best of the young best of Europe.

The “Europe 40 Under 40” program was initiated by The European Center as an annual program to spotlight and identify the next generation of architects and designers who will impact future living and working environments, cities, and rural areas.
Presented annually, the program is open to all young architects, landscape architects, urban planners, industrial designers, graphic designers, and fashion and textile designers who are under the age of 40 who are working independently or in a firm or on a specific project where they are the lead designer.

In 2007, hundreds of architecture and industrial design submissions were received by The European Centre from across Europe. “The jury selection and process was extremely difficult,” states Ioannis Karlias, Museum Vice President, The Chicago Athenaeum. “The jury was presented with hundreds of excellent projects and designs from skyscrapers and large —scale urban planning projects to the highest quality industrial designs for commercial and consumer use. It was difficult to narrow the number down to just 40.“

In the category of architecture, projects by the selected architects included: corporate architecture, skyscrapers, institutional projects, religious buildings, civic and political structures, planning projects, urban renewal, restoration/renovation, residential architecture for single family and multi-family dwellings, stores, residential or commercial interiors, sports and transportation centers, institutions, parks, monuments, and public environments.
In the category of industrial design: the latest office and home furniture, household items, and bathroom fixtures.

Projects were judged on the merit of design innovation with the emphasis on pushing the envelope on conventional methods and exploring new theories, ideas, and approaches to contemporary design.

The New York jury of distinguished architecture, education, and design practitioners included:

• Lance Jay Brown, Architecture + Urban Design and ACSA Distinguished Professor School of Architecture, City University of New York (New York)
• Roger Duffy, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (New York)
• Rijk Rieveld, Rietveld Architects (New York)
• Ronnette Riley, Ronnette Riley Architect (New York)

The program is organized by Kieran Conlon, Director/COO, The European Centre and Lary L. Sommers, Director of Administration/Marketing, The Chicago Athenaeum.

\"The idea that this program in its first year honors architects and designers from 14 European nations attests to the meaning, strength, and validity of design in Europe today,”states Kieran Conlon, Director/COO, The European Center.
“The key,” Mr. Conlon continues, “is to bring wider recognition to 40 of the most promising emerging architects working in the European Union and other countries inside Europe, fostering and encouraging new talent and new creative thinking at the forefront of the profession today.”