Semper Prize 2024 for Roger Boltshauser

¡°Only a few architects today have enough resilience to evade the current trends and pragmatic constraints,¡± writes the jury of the external pageSaxon Academy of Artscall_made about this year's Semper Prize winner. With Roger Boltshauser, the academy is honoring an architect who has been working on sustainable building materials and innovative energy concepts since the late 1990s. His work is about building with fewer CO2 emissions and taking earth out of its niche as a building material.

¡°His credo, turning the pursuit of sustainability into architecture, is comprehensive and for him begins with the quality of the design,¡± says the press release. In addition to his work as an architect, Boltshauser has been active in teaching and research for over 20 years and brings his topics into practice in his chair at ETH Zurich, where he has been teaching since 2018. ¡°Together with his office and his students, he is looking for new strategies for an architecture that is accepted, livable and flexible and can survive the various tendencies.¡±

The jury continues that Boltshauser is a builder in the traditional understanding of this term. ?He creates buildings whose meaning goes far beyond the satisfaction of temporary needs and creates meaning. They show what architecture can be today.¡± The Semper Prize has been awarded since 2007 and honors a person or working group in German-?speaking countries whose work is characterized by special qualities in sustainable construction. The award ceremony will take place on October 24, 2024 in Dresden. On this day an exhibition on Boltshauser will open at the Center for Building Culture in Saxony.