Year 5 students win inaugural Architects' Journal Student Prize

Marina Eftychai Konstantopoulou and Evangelia Giannoulaki win the postgraduate award 

The AJ postgraduate award went to Marina Eftychia Konstantopoulou and Evangelia Giannoulaki  for their ‘sensitive and reserved’ Glasgow-based concept, "synchroni[city] Unravelling Urban Narratives Through Public Consolidation".  The project is an attempt to generate a precedent for a local cultural forum in Glasgow that triggers a sense of cultural belonging. The research highlighted a void of appropriate cultural spaces in the existing cultural and civic fabric of Glasgow City. Their thesis seeks to create a renewed programme of everyday cultural exchange and gathering in a suite of fascinating spaces.
 
The winners, chosen from 78 entries submitted by 44 different schools, were announced at the UCL’s new space at Here East on the Olympic Park, east London in September 2018.
 
Konstantopoulou and Giannoulaki’s Part 2 community-focused scheme for Glasgow was hailed for having successfully combined 'research and an understanding of pre-existing architectural theory as the foundation for a project which proposes a substantial architectural intervention’.
 

One juror said: “[The project] demonstrates the power of creative collaboration and offers a refreshing departure from the starchitect-manufacturing pedagogies that are inclined to over-emphasise the importance of individual portfolio projects. Their scheme offers a sensitive and reserved approach to a well-renowned site. The proposed palette and programme reflect that of the scheme’s context, and the people-centred agenda responds to urgent concerns about the future of truly public buildings.

Andrew White, area sales manager at Marley Eternit, the founding partner and sponsor of the prize, said: “We were extremely impressed by the standard of entries in both the undergraduate and postgraduate categories. The narratives behind the projects and how these were translated into the final designs was particularly interesting.

The thesis also won the Architecture & Design Scotland Urban Design Award 2018 and Commendations for the Glasgow Institute of Architects Final Parchment (Final Year Part2) prize and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Andy MacMillan Drawing Award 2018

Images of Marina and Evangelia's project can be viewed in our galleries