19/04/2024
The politics of time with Carolyn Smith
Architect and Wolfson MSt Building History graduate Tszwai So, of London-based Spheron Architects, has received another accolade for his work. The Belarusian Memorial Chapel in London won the Religion Category at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Amsterdam last week. WAF is the largest festival of its kind in the world, showcasing some of the most ambitious and impressive new buildings on Earth. It attracted more than 2,000 leading architects from around the globe to attend, and its coveted 'World Building of the Year Award' programme is one of the most prestigious accolades in the industry.
The Belarusian Memorial Chapel is the first wooden church built in London since the Great Fire of 1666, and is dedicated to victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It was the only UK building nominated in the religion buildings category in this year's competition, and it was also nominated in the Best Use of Certified Timber category. Judges commented that the 'quality of light and the sensitivity to materiality allows the interior to resonate with memory and meaning', and the chapel won the category ahead of buildings from Iran, Portugal, Australia, Thailand, Turkey, India and Singapore.
The Chapel has also recently been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2019 (EU Mies Award), and was previously awarded the 2017 RIBA London Award, and the People's Choice Award.
The Fine Arts Committee is very pleased to announce that Tszwai will hold an exhibition at Wolfson between 29 June and 22 September 2019, Emotional Architecture: Understanding Attachment to Space.
Congratulations to Tszwai.
