“The work of Studio Mumbai is grounded on several values crucial for Alvar Aalto. Within this perspective, design touches all elements of a project. The buildings created by Bijoy Jain and his collaborators display a strong connection to a specific place and landscape: geographical, climatic and social particularities of the environment around the architectures are considered.
In the creative process the conversation between architect and craftsmen takes place face to face; and it is from their combined perspective and mutual work, that the project takes shape. This special integration retains the human scale of the process and object of production,” states Jan Utzon, the chairman of the jury, in the jury report.
“The dominant “western” consumerist society of the modern era seems to be progressively losing any holistic conception of architecture, as adopted by Aalto. The example of Studio Mumbai as a successful programmatic collaboration between architect and craftsmen leads one to hope that this local condition can be re-integrated within future architectural production throughout the world,” the statement continues.
In the creative process the conversation between architect and craftsmen takes place face to face; and it is from their combined perspective and mutual work, that the project takes shape. This special integration retains the human scale of the process and object of production,” states Jan Utzon, the chairman of the jury, in the jury report.
“The dominant “western” consumerist society of the modern era seems to be progressively losing any holistic conception of architecture, as adopted by Aalto. The example of Studio Mumbai as a successful programmatic collaboration between architect and craftsmen leads one to hope that this local condition can be re-integrated within future architectural production throughout the world,” the statement continues.
Exhibition.- Bijoy Jain. Studio Mumbai – Alvar Aalto Medal 2020.
The Studio Mumbai exhibition showcases the work of an office where architecture and craftsmanship are seamlessly intertwined in ways that pay exemplary attention to the local conditions. Studio Mumbai has created for the Museum of Finnish Architecture a vivid impression of their architectural practice. On display in the exhibition are artifacts and handmade prototypes made from local materials. The studies in form provide an enlightening example of the office’s work process, where they serve as the artistic starting point for the buildings under construction.
Alvar Aalto Medal, carrying the name of the architect and designed by Aalto himself, was founded in 1967 in order to honor creative architectural work. Nowadays the medal is given out every three years by the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA, the Finnish Architectural Society and the City of Helsinki. The medal can be given to persons who have gained merit in the field of creative architecture in a very significant way.The award was scheduled to be handed out in 2020, but due to the global pandemic, the ceremony was postponed until this year.
The award was presented to the medallist in February at the Finnish Embassy in New Delhi, India.
The jury members 2020 were architect Enrique Sobejano from Spain, the civil engineer and urban planner Gunnar Heipp from Switzerland, and the architects Pia Ilonen and Anu Puustinen from Finland. Architect Jan Utzon from Denmark was the jury chair.
