Pietilä Prize for Young Architects to Tuuli Kanerva, Leo Lindroos and Antti Soini
The Building Information Foundation has today awarded the prestigious Pietilä Prize to Nervin Architecture for combining socially sustainable and climate-wise solutions into a new kind of beautiful architecture.
The winner of the 2023 Pietilä Prize is a young team of architects including Tuuli Kanerva, Leo Lindroos and Antti Soini. Their Helsinki-based practice, Nervin Architecture, formerly known as AS LL TK Architects, was established in 2019.
In its design work, the firm aims to take into account the changing needs of society and the spatial solutions they require. In the jury statement of the prize awarded by The Building Information Foundation RTS's board, the firm's focus on climate wisdom and social sustainability was praised, as well as the spatial quality and aesthetics of their architecture.
The jury also noted that the buildings designed by the team play with contrasts to a great extent and that the firm is creating a new generation’s architecture. The jury comprised architects Henna Helander and Julia Hertell from the Foundation's board and architect Francesc Palomeras on behalf of the representative assembly.
In their work, the team has explored spaces from the perspectives of social interaction, function, spatiality, landscape and experience. The office makes extensive use of climate-resistant structural solutions such as solid-material structures.
The team has won several prizes in open architecture competitions, such as Housing Reform Helsinki 2020 and Lappeenranta's Sammontalo competitions. The Housing Reform competition was looking for new ideas for housing design for three plots in Helsinki, and the proposal by Tuuli Kanerva, Leo Lindroos and Antti Soini won the one for the Jätkäsaari district. In 2019, the team won the competition for the multipurpose building Sammontalo, which is now under construction.
The award was announced in Tampere as part of the closing seminar of Tampere Architecture and Design Week.
"At this point in our careers, when our first major design project is only under construction, the support and encouragement we have received is extremely important," said Tuuli Kanerva after the award ceremony.
"Working in the construction industry is not always easy for a young architect, and that's why the support we receive from our colleagues, both experienced ones and our peers, is especially valuable", continued Antti Soini.
"The Pietilä Prize is awarded in recognition of innovative architecture. This distinguished recognition gives us a lot of confidence to continue on our path", said Leo Lindroos.
The Pietilä Prize is awarded every three years to a young architect or a group of architects in recognition of their outstanding work in reforming architecture. The prize amount is 10,000 euros.
"We hope that the thinking and work of this year's winning team of architects will inspire us to think about architecture from a deeper level, but without forgetting the surface," said Henna Helander on behalf of the jury.
The next Pietilä Prize will be awarded in 2026. All winners of the prize since 1992 can be found on The Building Information Foundation's website.
